The Buzz on the Emmys

Goldderby.com is the premiere awards website as voters anonymously post their comments about who they think will be nominated or win based on their own opinions and conversations with other voters.

This week, two Emmy voting panelists shared what comedies and dramas are likely to get nods next Thursday (July 19th).

For Best Comedy Series, they’re predicting “Two and a Half Men,” “Entourage,” “30 Rock,” “Ugly Betty” and “The Office.” For Best Drama Series, they’re predicting “The Sopranos,” “House,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Heroes” and…wait for it…“24.”

I never thought I would ever say this, but I really hope they’re wrong about “24.” I couldn’t stand listening to critics all across America whine for two months that the “second worst show on TV” was nominated instead of “Lost” or “Friday Night Lights.”

Remember, though, how the nominations work. There’s a popular vote by members of the Academy, which is whittled down to the top 10 nominees. An episode of those 10 shows are screened for a panel who vote on them. This year, a new twist has been added that combines the panel vote with the popular vote (a la “Dancing With the Stars”), but episode choice is still crucial.

And since “24” submitted its premiere, it’s got a good shot at being nominated. But since “Lost” submitted its outstanding season finale, I have to believe that these panelists are mistaken…

Except for the fact that apparently there was some discontent from voters who had to sit through the two-hour finale, after already sitting through six hours of shows. And “Friday Night Lights” did submit its pilot, which I found incredibly annoying, so…

In case you’re wondering the other three drama finalists were “Boston Legal,” “Dexter” and “Rome.” The other comedy finalists were “Desperate Housewives,” “Extras,” “My Name Is Earl,” “Weeds,” and “Scrubs” (which submitted the corny musical episode for some strange reason).

Here’s a look at some of the finalists in other categories, according to Goldderby:

Best Comedy Actor:
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Ricky Gervais, “Extras”
Jason Lee, “My Name Is Earl”
Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”
Charlie Sheen, “Two and a Half Men”

I’ve got to believe that Zach Braff (“Scrubs”) is also on that list as well. Baldwin, Carell and Shalhoub are locks for nominations.

Best Comedy Actress
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”
America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Teri Hatcher, “Desperate Housewives”
Felicity Huffman, “Desperate Housewives”
Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds”

I think Ferrera is the only real lock here, but I’m really rooting for Fey and Louis-Dreyfus, who isn’t getting much love from CBS.

Best Drama Actor
James Gandolfini, “The Sopranos”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Eddie Izzard, “The Riches”
Hugh Laurie, “House”
Denis Leary, “Rescue Me”
Kiefer Sutherland, “24”

I really hope that Matthew Fox is a finalist and surely Christopher Meloni (“Law & Order: SVU”) is on the list. Gandolfini and Laurie are the locks here; but with the right episode choice, Kiefer could still pull out a nomination. It’s not his fault the writers made him a guest star on his own show. But the critics will have a cow if he gets nominated and Kyle Chandler (“Friday Night Lights”) doesn’t.

Best Drama Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Medium”
Minnie Driver, “The Riches”
Edie Falco, “The Sopranos”
Ellen Pompeo, “Grey’s Anatomy”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”

I’m sure that Mariska Hargitay (“SVU”) is on this list too, and possibly Sally Field (“Brothers & Sisters”), unless she’s in the supporting category. Falco and Sedgwick are locks here. The omission that would give critics something to whine about in this category would be Connie Britton (“Friday Night Lights”).

Best Supporting Drama Actor
Michael Imperioli, “The Sopranos”
Masi Oka, “Heroes”
We’ve only got two names confirmed as finalists in this category, but they’re both locks. I really hope that Jack Coleman (“Heroes”) made the list, but I doubt it. I’d also like to see Peter MacNicol (“24”), but since he didn’t have one single great episode (He was fantastic in all of them.), it probably won’t happen. And there’s bound to be some “Lost” actors among the finalists. If it were me, I would’ve voted for Michael Emerson (Ben).

Best Supporting Drama Actress
Katherine Heigl, “Grey’s Anatomy”
Sandra Oh, “Grey’s”
CCH Pounder, “The Shield”
Chandra Wilson, “Grey’s”

Oh is the lock here.

Best Supporting Comedy Actor
Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men”
Kevin Dillon, “Entourage”
John Krasinski, “The Office”
Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
Rainn Wilson, “The Office”

Cryer is a lock because he’s announcing the nominations and so is Piven, although I’m rooting for Dillon. It would also be nice to see John C. McGinley (“Scrubs”) finally get a little Emmy love.

Best Supporting Comedy Actress
Elizabeth Perkins, “Weeds”
Jamie Pressley, “My Name Is Earl”
Vanessa Williams, “Ugly Betty”

You’ve got me on this one.

The Emmy nominations will be announced July 19th at 8:40 a.m. ET.