On the eve of the announcement of this year's Emmy nominees, we offer last-minute suggestions for best actors, shows, writing and more.
"July 16, 2008 | Here's what we know about the Emmy nominations, which the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will announce on Thursday morning: Katherine Heigl will assuredly not be nominated. We also know -- thanks to an early short-list announcement from the Academy -- which shows are officially in contention for outstanding comedy and drama series mentions.…"
"Mary McDonnell, Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica" (Lead actress in a drama series):
One of the reasons "Battlestar Galactica" is so unlike most other science fiction shows on television is that, despite their high-tech gadgetry, "Battlestar's" characters act like real people. In the past few seasons of the show, as Laura Roslin, the on-and-off-again president of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, Mary McDonnell has been faced with some pretty outrageous situations. Roslin has nearly been killed by a team of robot executioners and has had her breast cancer cured by the blood of a robot-human hybrid child, but, throughout it all, McDonnell's performance has been so genuine and convincing that it transcends its fantastic environment and approaches the sublime.
"McDonnell's president is a reluctant leader, filled with self-doubt and struggling to reconcile her humane liberalism with the ruthless demands of her job. Although Roslin hides her private terror behind a professional facade, it often comes close to falling apart. Those moments showcase McDonnell's talents and go to the core of what makes "Battlestar" such tremendous television -- in a show about the psychic cost of politics and war, its leader bears the heaviest burden. This year, the president's health has dwindled just as, conversely, her decisions have grown more brutal and pragmatic, and she has been forced to grapple with the moral costs of her transformation. The fourth season included a loaded choice: Would Roslin allow her injured nemesis, Gaius Baltar, to bleed to death on a Cylon spaceship or replace his bandages and let him live? Her eventual decision, to save Baltar, seems to have redeemed her character, but, as always on "Battlestar Galactica," things are more complicated than they seem. Here's hoping Emmy voters get over their skittishness about science fiction and reward Mary McDonnell for one of the best performances television has seen in a long time."
Amen.
Posts: 3096 | Location: SE Pennsylvania | Registered: May 27, 2005
I don't agree with some of their choses, but this was a nice way to do these Emmy preferences. Rather than say "So and so publication endorses this actor" they flat out tell you that it's a certain writer pimping a certain actor on a certain show they enjoy.
My particular favorites were the love for Elizabeth Perkins and the love for My Life on the D List.
