I don't watch "Private Practice" or "Grey's Anatomy," so I can't comment on those, but of the others I hope you give it to anybody but Matthew Lillard. I thought it was a howlingly bad performance, almost as ridiculous as Robin Williams's guest appearance last season.

Of those, I like Patrick Fischler best (he's the only person we both nominated), with Billy Burke and Stephen Root not far behind.

quote:

Originally posted by jss0058:
In Writing I probably would have gone with "Meditations..." and in directing I would have gone "The Incident" (Lost) but from your choices I would be torn between "Trust Me" or "Strange Love"

Marsha Norman's scripts for "In Treatment" have been incredibly precise, engaging, and well-written this season. There were a couple of options I could have gone with for her, but "Week Three" gave some nice insight into Paul's childhood demons, and I loved Gina's dialogue and rationalizations here. "The Incident" was too unwieldy for a spot on the directing list, but I knew that something from Jack Bender would be represented here (again), and it was with "TLADOJB."

quote:

Originally posted by 742:
I don't watch "Private Practice" or "Grey's Anatomy," so I can't comment on those, but of the others I hope you give it to anybody but Matthew Lillard. I thought it was a howlingly bad performance, almost as ridiculous as Robin Williams's guest appearance last season.

Of those, I like Patrick Fischler best (he's the only person we both nominated), with Billy Burke and Stephen Root not far behind.

Well, I wouldn't have picked Matthew Lillard unless I thought he was worth the trouble, which I think he was. His performance matched Carol Burnett's toe-for-toe in their scenes together, and the confession scene was a great showcase for him. I'm perfectly fine with selecting him here. Robin Williams was fine in his appearance last season to me too. I picked him on my list last year if I remember correctly, and I was very pleased with his Emmy nomination.

And the ATYP for Guest Actor in a Drama Series goes to . . .

▒ Billy Burke, "The Closer"

Past winners include:

Judd Hirsch, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"; Glynn Turman, "In Treatment"

Comments: This was another rich pool of contenders this year, and b/c of that, I extended the field a bit more than I normally would to include all of these performances. Željko Ivanek was striking in "House"'s "Last Resort" as a desperate patient in search of medical answers through whatever means necessary, and it's curious why he didn't use this as his guest actor submission this year. Daniel J. Travanti wasn't submitted at all from "Grey's Anatomy," but he should have been for the great performance he gave as a heartbreaking older patient so immersed in pain that he couldn't properly grieve for his deceased wife. The underrated Stephen Root was excellent as Eddie, the meek and gay vampire that Jason and Amy take hostage in their basement to milk for his V-blood. Matthew Lillard was effectively creepy and skin-crawling as a yes-man to a viper of a woman that he'd do absolutely anything to please. Joel Grey was showcased beautifully in a moving and change-of-pace right-to-die episode of "Private Practice." There's only one Jimmy Barrett, and seeing Patrick Fischler in action on "Mad Men" was an early-season jolt to the system for their sophomore outing. He's probably the closest person here to capturing that Emmy nomination this month (and possible win). But in the grand tradition of stunning and unsettling guest turns on "The Closer" (including past ATYP* nominees James Frain and Heath Freeman), I went with Billy Burke, whose character was involved in one of the few cases that Brenda (Kyra Sedgwick) couldn't close, and the way that this attorney evaded both murder and rape charges left the worst kind of aftertaste. Fortunately, in Billy Burke's case, it also left one of the best performances of the season.

The nominees for Guest Actress in a Drama Series are . . .

Carol Burnett, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
Ellen Burstyn, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
Melinda McGraw, "Mad Men"
Krysten Ritter, "Breaking Bad"
Lois Smith, "True Blood"
Ally Walker, "Sons of Anarchy"

And the ATYP for Guest Actress in a Drama Series goes to . . .

▒ Ellen Burstyn, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

Past winners include:

Kate Burton, "Grey's Anatomy"; Ellen Burstyn, "Big Love"

Yes, I remember you were a fan of Robin Williams too. I still don't know what you saw in that performance. I don't know what Emmy voters saw in it either. I couldn't stop laughing during his climactic scene. I laughed more during his "SVU" episode than I have during most of his comedies. Too often these last few years "SVU" plays the melodrama so hard that it becomes grotesquely absurd, like "30 Rock" without the irony. It's a miracle any actors make it out with their dignity intact. For instance, Ellen Burstyn and Teri Polo (good choice of Burstyn for the win!) gave heroic performances in otherwise overwrought episodes. While Swoosie Kurtz and, I think, Lillard were awful. I think Carol Burnett fell somewhere in-between; the character was played too much like Nosferatu to be convincing, but I wouldn't mind an Emmy nod for the actress.

I must also take a moment to applaud your choice of "In Treatment" for dramatic writing. I've never nominated the show for a writing award, simply because it has been too hard to pick just one or two standouts among all the finely written character work over the course of 30-40 episodes. It's a show that makes a good case for an Emmy category for writing team.

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Touch the Lord! If that Ellen Burstyn wins for that hit and miss performance at the Emmys I am going to puke. I would've gave it to any other women in the category except for the L&O: SVU women, but hey these aren't my awards lol

Ellen Burstyn was brilliant in her "SVU" guest appearance, and I latched onto that performance not particularly being a fan of the show or an avid watcher of it. I'd be happy with an Emmy nomination for her role, but a win would be warranted and very well-earned.

I just checked, and I did nominate Robin Williams for guest actor in a drama series last year. Yeah, I thought he was great there. Sorry you yet again disapproved 742, but that was one of the nominations that I had no problems with last year.

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The nominees for Single Episode in a Drama Series are . . .

“Outer Darkness” (“Big Love”)
“Now or Never” (“Grey’s Anatomy”)
“Meditations in an Emergency” (“Mad Men”)
“Family Meeting” (“The Shield”)
“Sparks Fly Out” (“True Blood”)

quote:

Ellen Burstyn was brilliant in her "SVU" guest appearance

"Brilliant" is a reach, but agree to disagree.

And I am w/742 and anyone else who didn't like that Robin Williams business that was nominated last yr. Bad writing and bad acting all wrap up in one performance.

Yes, agree to disagree. They're my recognitions to acknowledge, not yours, and in my book, Ellen Burstyn's performance was excellent. I've never had a problem with Robin Williams' performance then and still don't, but the focus of the awards is on this year's pool of contenders, not last year's.

And w/u putting out these awards you need to take the criticism, the good and the bad.

Yes, I'll take criticism when it's offered respectfully, but disrespect I won't take without response, considering the time and lengths I've expended to put this all together. If my choices are so awful to you, then don't follow them, b/c no one's forcing you to do so.

Well for the most part I like when you put, these on b/c most of the time I am in agreeance and when I do criticize I am blunt and don't sugarcoat so if that seems disrespectful to you then I apologize, but I call them like I see them. So I won't waste postages dwelling on the wins, until you next pick anyways. .

And the ATYP for Single Episode in a Drama Series goes to . . .

▒ "Now or Never" ("Grey's Anatomy")

Past winners include:

"From a Whisper to a Scream" ("Grey's Anatomy"); "Alex – Week Six" ("In Treatment")

Comments: I've mentioned before what I thought of "Outer Darkness" in terms of Michael Lehmann's notable direction and Jeanne Tripplehorn's compelling performance there. "Meditations in an Emergency" was a stunning finale outing for the entire cast of "Mad Men," and was punctuated by Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) finally revealing her season-long held secret to Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) in one of their best shared scenes on the series to date. "Family Meeting" closed the book on seven thrilling seasons of f[X]'s signature series "The Shield" and also on Vic Mackey, one of television's best antiheroes. "True Blood" managed an early-season shocker with the jolting killing of Gran (ATYP* nominee Lois Smith for Guest Actress in a Drama Series). But "Now or Never" did something even more jaw-dropping than that with one of the most discussed bait-and-switch moves I've seen done on scripted television with the reveal of "John Doe" and Meredith's reaction to that when the "007" significance comes together in her head. And with all of this going on, Izzie (Katherine Heigl) also faces life or death matters while imagining herself in the classic elevator sequence and the pink prom dress from the season 2 finale episode ("Losing My Religion"). It remains to be seen where things go exactly with season 6 of the series, but I can't wait to find out in the fall, and this episode is the reason for that anticipation.

The nominees for Best New Series are . . .

“The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” (HBO)
“Raising the Bar” (TNT)
“Sons of Anarchy” (f[X])
“Southland” (NBC)
“True Blood” (HBO)
“United States of Tara” (Showtime)

Boo Hiss! lol

But given the last ten minutes of that episode, which made up for those two hours I'll never get back, I can see why that woul warrent somekind of win.

And the ATYP for Best New Series goes to . . .

▒ "True Blood" (HBO)

Past winners include:

N/A, "Mad Men" (AMC)

I agree with this choice.

I'm enjoying your presentation on this for the third consecutive year!