A look at the 2011 Emmy nominations

This morning the Emmy nominations were announced, and they were nothing super surprising. It had the usual nods to past-their-prime yet popular series and the requisite nod to one or two new cult shows.

Best Drama:
Boardwalk Empire
Friday Night Lights
Dexter
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Mad Men

I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not that "Justified" didn't sneak in there. While the performances were phenomenal, sometimes the story meandered and the female distractions on the show of the Winona variety didn't help. I am thrilled "The Walking Dead" didn't get a nod. Visually stunning, it just doesn't have the writing or acting to back it up. I don't quite get all the love for this show as it's always seemed cliche and bland to me.

Best Comedy:
Modern Family
30 Rock
Glee
The Office
The Big Bang Theory
Parks and Recreation

Yeah, I'm pretty ticked about the "Glee" nomination. I don't know what Emmy's problem is, but they seem to handle drama pretty well while having a hard time with comedy. They often repeatedly honor shows way past their prime which makes me feel like they don't even watch the shows regularly. "Community" and "Cougar Town" should be a slam dunk in this category. The inclusion of "Glee" over "Community" is, in my humble opinion, unforgivable. Kudos on the "Modern Family" love, though. I already foresee it winning again, as it should. It's one of the most consistent shows on this list.

Drama Actress:
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Mireille Enos, The Killing.

I don't know who Mariska Hargitay is sleeping with to keep getting nominated every year. Probably the awards whore Tony Shaloub did. Anna Torv from "Fringe" should have taken that spot. Like John Noble, she ably handles two very different roles, displaying fantastic range. I'm really happy to see January Jones left out this time. After "X-Men: First Class," I'm convinced she, unlike Torv, does not have much range in her acting skills. I'm already predicting Margulies takes the award.

Comedy actor:
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Louis C.K., Louie
Johnny Galecki, Big Bang Theory

Drama actor:
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Timothy Olyphant, Justified.

Nothing too bizarre here. In fact, were these practically the same nominations for the Golden Globes? No complaints on my part.

Comedy actress:
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Laura Linney, The Big C
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly.

Supporting drama actor:
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
John Slattery, Mad Men
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Walton Goggins, Justified.

While I don't think he had that much to do this year, I am beyond thrilled that Walton Goggins got a nomination. In some small way, it sort of kind of eases the pain of all the years he didn't get recognized for "The Shield." He owns any scene he's in and a nomination is well deserved. John Noble from "Fringe" should have been nominated, but I'm not entirely sure who to take off.

Supporting comedy actor:
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ed O’Neill, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Chris Colfer, Glee

I'll admit, I held out hope that Nolan Gould, the boy who plays Luke on "Modern Family" would get a nom. His comedic timing and delivery are perfect and he's often my favorite part of each episode. In lieu of him, I'm still cheering for Ty Burrell. He could split his own vote, though, considering all the (absolutely deserved) nominations for "Modern Family." Either Danny Pudi or Donald Glover from "Community" should have taken a spot. With so many standard sitcom characters around (the doofus, the horndog, the bimbo, the precocious kid), those two make a unique sitcom that much better with truly one-of-a-kind characters.

Supporting comedy actress:
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Jane Lynch, Glee
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

Wow, they really dug deep for some nominations for this category and yet they still missed Busy Phillips' hilarious performance on "Cougar Town." She could have been the one-dimensional, stereotypical bimbo but she turns that character into so much more.

Supporting drama actress:
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Margo Martindale, Justified
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men.

I think there would have been riot if Martindale wasn't nominated. Furthermore, I think there might be a riot if she doesn't win. She was in a league of her own this year. I had no idea she could do what she did in making the truly terrifying mama bear of the Bennett clan.

As for the miniseries categories, it's really hard to take them seriously. I'm not saying there aren't worthy miniseries, but there are so few each year that they all get nominated because that's all there is to choose from.

Overall, I'd say the "Community" snubs bother me the most. I'd be okay if there was one or two noms just to acknowledge how great the underrated comedy is, but it was overlooked entirely. The Busy Phillips snub annoys me too, mainly because a lot of the actual nominees are in no way handing in better performances than her. The nomination that makes me the happiest is Walton Goggins for "Justified." It's nice to see a show sneak in there that doesn't have a rabid fan base like "Glee" to help put it in the public eye.

Okay, I lied. The snub that bothers me more than anything else is "Southland." Great cable shows without huge cult fanbases often get forgotten, but that doesn't mean they weren't great. Shawn Hatosy put in one of the best performances in drama television this year as Sammy Bryant, aka the detective having the worst year ever. Michael Cudlitz also stepped it up, portraying what could have been a one-note, gruff cop stereotype. Unlike "Community," it seems like the professional critical community forgot about "Southland" as well, despite more and more applauding it during its run.

At the end of the day, every year it's the same thing - I feel like the people voting in the Emmys barely watch TV.

Featured article: USA Today recommends tonight's "Justified"

I recently got into FX's excellent show "Justified," and a review of it is in the works. But in the meantime, USA Today lauds tonight's sure-to-be thrilling episode, where a lot of plots that have been building up should finally come to a head.

The link is here, but I decided to just reprint the short excerpt below for your reading pleasure.

"Critic's Corner: Justifiable praise for 'Justified'"
By Robert Bianco
If that Peabody Award recently won by Justified (* * * * out of four, 10 ET/PT) wasn't enough to make you tune toward this fabulous FX series, then this will.

Tonight's outing is the kind of artistic breakthrough that, if there's any justice at all, is certain to draw Emmy attention to the show itself, and to Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins and — tonight especially —Margo Martindale, who has a tour de force outing as Mags Bennett.

The spark is a "whoop-de-do" Mags throws to rally her neighbors against the mining company that has designs on her mountain.

But with this excellent series, nothing is as simple as it seems. Mags doesn't just have a plan, she has a dream, and Martindale brilliantly exposes every facet of her determination and delusions, to the point where we fear her and feel for her simultaneously.

There is humor and horror in near equal measure, as Boyd (Goggins) plays his trump card and Raylan (Olyphant) proves to be tougher than the Bennetts anticipated.

As for the Bennetts, note how marvelously Jeremy Davies, Brad William Henke, Joseph Lyle Taylor and Kaitlyn Dever embody the rest of the temporarily extended clan.

Or just sit back and enjoy one of the best hours you'll find anywhere this season.

My Top 10: (Modern) TV Opening Credits

These days, if we're lucky, we get an opening credits sequence before our shows complete with music and cleverly arranged clips. Many times we just get something basic, like a quick slideshow of the cast and credits with a simple theme tune. Think "Smallville" or "NCIS." But the better ones hold our attention, say something about the show, and beg us to watch them every single time they pop up.

My terms: the intro must include a song as well as credits list, so a show like "Lost" got disqualified immediately. The reverse is also true, so the intro must display its credits in a unique way, rather than just listing the cast. "Wonderfalls," "Psych," "Veronica Mars," and "Firefly" have excellent theme songs, but the credits are really no more than a cast list. The point of this Top 10 is to have the whole package. Here, we're talking about my favorite opening credits, not just my favorite theme songs. If it was just theme songs, rest assured, those previous four would definitely have been included.

I watched many intros from many shows I don't watch, and tried to include a wide variety. The problem is, though, that without watching a show, it's sometimes hard to grasp the opening theme's significance. However, upon further contemplation, I realized that a great opening theme tells you all you need to know and sets the mood for the show. I am only including modern opening credits, from about 2000 onward, because there are far too many classics to give due credit to. Unfortunately, that disqualifies "ER," which I hoped to include, but cannot. But there are plenty more excellent opening credit sequences from recent times that had to duke it out for a spot on my list.

10. "Desperate Housewives"

I've long since dropped the show and the show has long since dropped the opening credits sequence, but their intro was clever when it didn't really need to be for a primetime soap. Scorned housewives throughout art history along with the whimsical theme introduce a sense of humor and scandal right from the start of the show.

9. "Mad Men"
(Embedding was disabled on this one, so here's the link)
The silhouette of a man. The jazzy yet dramatic music. The dissolving office. The American Dream according to advertisements surrounding a man floating down, down, down until we pull back from the same silhouette lounging in a chair, cigarette in hand. This intro is the definition of suave, and wins bonus points for evoking classic James Bond opening credits.

8. "Chuck"

Yes, call me crazy, but it wasn't until the end of season 1 of "Chuck" that I realized the theme song was actually a shortened version of a real song. I had heard a number of great Cake songs before, but had never heard Short Skirt/Long Jacket, which is used as the show's theme. The intro plays like a cartoon version of Bond movie credits, thereby perfectly setting up this spy comedy.

7. "True Blood"

I've never watched "True Blood," but I've always heard about its excellent opening credits. Down and dirty Southern sleaze has never looked so good. If I wasn't generally OD'd on vampires, I might pick this show up just because of its fabulous intro. The imagery is deliciously provocative, filled with sex, religion, and death. It's unsettling, in a good way.

6. "Justified"

It would have been the predictable thing to do a simple credit sequence with a standard country song, but "Justified" embraces a modern Southern tone right from the get-go in the show. It sets the rural scene without feeling painfully outdated or cliche, which is quite an impressive feat in my opinion. I love the down-to-earth realism of the setting, in the show as well as the intro, which can seem like something straight out of a novel while also seeming like a town you could easily drive through wandering through the South. Sometimes shows set in rural locations get a little too entrenched in the mythical tranquility of small-town life or the mysterious danger of unbridled nature, but "Justified" and its opening credits sit firmly in reality, albeit a very kickass reality.

5. "Batman Beyond"/"Justice League"
(Embedding was disabled on "Batman Beyond," but the link is here and very worth the view)

I normally wouldn't classify cartoons with regular, adult programming, but I make the exception in this case. (Hey, I counted two cartoons as one point on this list, I think that makes up for the inclusion.) While they are animated series, they are definitely not cartoons in the way that, say, "Spongebob Squarepants" is a cartoon. These two are dark series from the very beginning of the 2000s that are like what I imagine superhero stories would be if a director like Christopher Nolan made cartoons instead of movies. They were absolute staples of my late childhood and, upon revisiting them a few months ago, I have to say they hold up quite well. There's a lot of scripted programming on these days that wishes it could have opening credits as badass as these two.

4. "Southland"

"Southland"'s intro immediately steps into the authenticity it strives for, showing a series of old-school LA crime scene photos. The music is intense and serious to match the raw, visceral crime footage. It all introduces us to a show that is dark and gritty, but deep as well. "Southland" isn't just a standard procedural - it has something to say and it's not afraid to aim for the gut with every plot twist and character development. The intro tells you everything you need to know about the show in less than 30 seconds. Job well done.

3. "Six Feet Under"

The theme music and imagery evoke the surreal nature of this show. Life, death, imagination, dreams, love, time, fulfillment, loss, tradition, humanity...the opening credits quickly and neatly encompassed the big themes the show spent five seasons examining.

2. "The Wire"

Five seasons, five different versions of the opening credits. I'm not just talking about different clips - they re-recorded the same theme song with five different artists. The song is called "Way Down in the Hole" and is originally by Tom Waits, whose first version is used to open Season 2. But my heart will always belong to the first season's credits, sung by The Five Blind Boys of Alabama with raw gospel funk. Much like "Southland" and "Justified," "The Wire" above all strove for realism, and did a better job of scripting real life than 99.99% of reality shows. Watching the show, you forget you're seeing a fictional program. The same characters and dialogue could play out on a security camera on a streetcorner and not feel forced or unauthentic. Likewise, the opening credits look less like a TV show ready to start and more like a very artistic person filming random scenes of crime and justice around urban Baltimore.

1. "Dexter"

Rather than go with an on-the-nose sequence of standard serial killer imagery (bodies, blood, knives), "Dexter" finds the violence in everyday life as the titular character goes about his morning ritual. Creepy and catchy, morbid and mundane, horrifyingly familiar, you won't look at your morning routine the same way again. Right away we're greeted with the Dark Passenger in normal, rote life events. We must face the evil hiding behind the innocuous. Welcome to "Dexter," where not even breakfast is safe.

Honorable Mention: "House," "Lie to Me," "The 4400," and "The Walking Dead" (only the music is linked on the last one, the actual credits aren't posted on youtube)