Emmy Nominations: Cable Domination

This morning, the Emmy nominations were announced.

Here are the nominees in the drama categories with my comments. Please note that categories with six nominees show a close vote.

Outstanding Series, Drama:
“Boston Legal”
“Damages”
“Dexter “
“House”
“Lost”
“Mad Men”

This marks the first time a basic cable series (in this case, two) has been nominated in this category. Critics are upset that “The Wire” or “Friday Night Lights” were not nominated. And I don’t know what episodes “Boston Legal” submitted, but they must have been doozies…

Outstanding Actor, Drama:
James Spader, “Boston Legal”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad “
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Hugh Laurie, “House”
Gabriel Byrne, “In Treatment”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

No surprises here…

Outstanding Actress, Drama:
Sally Field, “Brothers & Sisters”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Glenn Close, “Damages”
Mariska Hargitay, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
Holly Hunter, “Saving Grace”

None here either…

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama
William Shatner, “Boston Legal”
Ted Danson, “Damages”
Zeljko Ivanek, “Damages”
Michael Emerson, “Lost”
John Slattery, “Mad Men”

I’ve got to believe that Michael Emerson will own this category…

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama
Candice Bergen, “Boston Legal”
Rachel Griffiths, “Brothers & Sisters”
Chandra Wilson, “Grey’s Anatomy”
Sandra Oh, “Grey’s Anatomy”
Dianne Wiest, “In Treatment”

The heavy hitters took a little hit here…

Here are the Comedy categories…

Outstanding Series, Comedy
“30 Rock”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Entourage”
“The Office”
“Two and a Half Men”

I’m a little surprised that “Pushing Daisies” didn’t make the cut…

Outstanding Actor, Comedy
Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Lee Pace, “Pushing Daisies”
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Charlie Sheen, “Two and a Half Men”

Pretty much as expected…

Outstanding Actress, Comedy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”
Christina Applegate, “Samantha Who?”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds”

Notice the absence of any “Desperate Housewives.” I was sure that Felicity Huffman was a shoo-in…

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy
Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
Kevin Dillon, “Entourage”
Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
Rainn Wilson, “The Office”
Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men”

You know I LOVE Neil Patrick Harris…

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy
Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies”
Jean Smart, “Samantha Who?”
Amy Poehler, “Saturday Night Live”
Holland Taylor, “Two and a Half Men”
Vanessa Williams, “Ugly Betty”

So, Amy Poehler did make the cut. Interesting—especially since “SNL” was nominated in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series Category. Major kudos to the fabulous Jean Smart, who has been robbed two years in a row in the drama categories…

And now the reality categories…

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program:
“The Amazing Race”
“American Idol”
“Dancing With the Stars”
“Project Runway”
“Top Chef”

The big absence here is “Survivor.” Yay for “Top Chef”!

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Ryan Seacrest, “American Idol”
Tom Bergeron, “Dancing With the Stars”
Howie Mandel, “Deal or No Deal”
Heidi Klum, “Project Runway”
Jeff Probst, “Survivor”

You guys know I love “Runway,” but Heidi Klum and no Phil Keoghan of “The Amazing Race”? Sorry. Don’t get it…

And in case you’re wondering, yes, “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List” did get nominated for Outstanding Reality Non-Competition Program. PLUS, Kathy’s special, “Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell” was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special.

You know she’s thrilled about that one—especially since the Special category is presented during the Primetime Emmys. I bet she’s plotting something as we speak…

I’ll have more on the Emmys over the weekend when I take a closer look at the entire nominee list…

Photos provided by Bravo