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Well, the nominations are out and The Wire failed to get even the obligatory “final season” nod. Even if it wasn’t their strongest, I still don’t understand how the actors continue to be ignored. Isiah Whitlock Jr’s Clay Davis? C’mon. Simon and Burns did get a writing nod for the finale.

That being said, both Mad Men and Damages were nominated for Best Drama, which is pretty damn cool — especially since this is the first time a basic cable show has been up for said award. The rest of the list you can probably predict. (HBO nominated for a miniseries? Now I’ve heard everything!)

Full list can be found here.

Thank god it was Conan who was hosting that show last night or I might of had to pack it all up and quit by the halfway point. There has to be a better way to present all of these awards than to have an hour right in the middle where the only miniseries are mentioned. Miniseries at the Emmys is like the sound mixing and editing awards at the oscars. Just get on with it.

But here’s the problem, NBC (or whatever network) tries to sell this event to the public as a piece of entertainment. “Come see all of your favorite stars gathered together saying funny things” they bark. To the actual television academy, however, this is their super-bowl. This is their end-of-the-year bash. If the television industry were a tee-ball team, this would be trip to pizza-hut after the last game where one of the kids’ dad would hand out plastic “champs” trophies. There’s all ready a whole other section of the awards show that isn’t broadcast. In a way, it almost seems like none of this nonesense should ever really make it to air.

It’s like the Upfronts each spring. The masses don’t get to go (though one could argue that if the television community put on any show for the public, they’d be best off showcasing new programs), but the writers write about it and we find out the next morning– or the next minute, I guess, if they have a laptop.

In any case, the actual awards don’t matter (remember when Arrested Development won best comedy series three years ago? Whatever happened to that show?), but its fun to root for your favorites, even if the acedemy sees fit to constantly piss on your dreams.

Here’s what some others have been saying about the event. Comments range from “Conan was the best awards show host in a decade” to “I can’t believe the whole thing started with a spoof of an airplane crash” (there also seems to be much to do about a couple comments said by the winners, comments that in my opinion were so unoffensive I had completely forgot they said them until I read about it this morning. When did America get so squeamish? Oh, that’s right… always.)

Alan Sepinwall of the New Jersey Star-Ledger
Channel Island by Scott Collins
Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star

The Emmy’s. They’re here. Yay, right? RIGHT?!

The Emmy’s, of all the major awards ceremonies are kind of like your gay uncle. Sure, they bring you presents at Christmas, but they’re usually made of hummus and kind of smell.

Nevertheless, if praise is going to be doled out, it might as well be in the form of golden statues with wings… or something. Let’s get this bidness started (right after the jump)…

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Is it that time of year again? Yes. The nominations for the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards came out this morning. There has been much discussion about recent rules changes in the nominating process. The idea is that the old system catered to a specific group of “premeire” shows. The new rules are suppose to broaden the field a bit. This years nominations, while hardly shocking in their limited scope seem to suggest the “new rules” might have been lost in the mail, despite many a high profile show being snubbed completely. The nominations and my picks for winning are right after the jump…

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The Tony awards were held this past Sunday at Radio City Music Hall and brought in 7.8 million viewers for CBS (up 20% from last year). These numbers were likely padded thanks to the help of Julia Roberts who starred this year in “Three Days Of Rain” and Oprah who produced “The Color Purple” (both presented at the show).

That explains this year’s numbers, but overall, why on earth are the Tony awards even broadcast on CBS? There are scores of award shows broadcast every year, and each of those shows has a built in audience. Country fans will turn into their award show to see their favorite performers, television fans turn into the Emmys, etc. Plus, those audiences can translate nationally. Everyone in the country watching about the same television or listens to the same music. The problem with the Tonys is that its an award show based on Broadway plays and musicals. This means the only possible people it could attract are New Yorkers and theater-junkies (or star-gawkers, but even then we’re talking about the stars of the theater world, not films or tv).

I’m simply amazed that CBS feels no risk in putting this event on every year. Perhaps the Tony audience is more affluent and they can charge more for the ads. One would think it might find more success on a cable channel like Bravo or A&E. Of course, ratings were up this year, so maybe I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.

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Here are some TV happenings that you may or may not enjoy:

• The A/V Club’s Nathan Rabin discusses the peculiarities of the old Dick Cavett Show and its place in the history of televised talk-shows.
• C-Dubs finally has a web presence. America can let out a collective sigh of relief.
• And Conan to host this year’s Emmys? Crazy enough, it just might work.