Emmys 2011: What was the worst award snub? (Poll)

When I exited the Nokia Theatre after the Emmys on Sunday night, a journo pal from a local TV station said that he just saw Steve Carell and Hugh Laurie walk by, looking upset and skipping the Governors Ball.

Both had good reason to be irked, if that's what was going on. After Carell lost for comedy actor five times, most pundits believed he'd win for his final year on "The Office" -– just as Sarah Jessica Parker won her first Emmy for her last year on "Sex and the City" (2004). Laurie ("House") had lost for dramatic actor five times too, but nobody thought he'd win this year. Still, Laurie has won two Golden Globes (2006, 2007) and two SAG Awards (2007, 2009), so he probably believes Emmy voters have a grudge against him.

That's probably how Jon Hamm feels too. "Mad Men" just won best drama series for a record-tying fourth time, but its lead star has yet to claim an Emmy. Hamm won a Golden Globe in 2008. Costar John Slattery just lost for a fourth time in the supporting race.

That's nothing. TV's top-rated "American Idol" just lost best reality competition show for a ninth time.

-- Tom O'Neil

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Photo: Steve Carell in "The Office." Credit: NBC

Who'll win the Emmy race for best drama series actor?

Finally, there is suspense in the Emmy race for best actor in a drama series. Three-time champ Bryan Cranston is not in the contest since "Breaking Bad" didn't air new episodes in the eligibility period. The current nominees: Steve Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire"), Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"), Hugh Laurie ("House"), and Timothy Olyphant ("Justified").

Hamm has lost all three times in this category to Cranston, so he has never known defeat to anyone else. Maybe he has been in second place all these years? For this past season of "Mad Men," he had his best showcase ever with the episode "The Suitcase," which was submitted to Emmy judges. In it, his character Don Draper gets drunk with coworker Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) one night while working late and finds out a friend has died in California. It is a surprisingly emotional performance from a character that normally keeps everything bottled up inside.

Most pundits believe that his closest competition is with Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire"), who has already won this year at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In the season finale "A Return to Normalcy," his character Nucky Thompson, a politician with mobster ties, lets down his guard on election day with Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) when he recounts the tragic deaths of his wife and baby years earlier.

Hall has been nodded three times as Dexter Morgan, a secret, sympathetic serial killer employed by the Miami police on "Dexter." His riveting performance on last year's Emmy submission, the season finale "The Getaway," had tons of action and the surprise ending with his wife murdered in his bathtub. Since Hall couldn't win for that, it's doubtful that his latest episode submission can triumph: "Teenage Wasteland," which doesn't have that kind of energy but does feature a nice story arc depicting his search for a new set of killers while being worried that his stepdaughter is missing.

Olyphant ("Justified") is the only Emmy rookie in this field. In his episode "Reckoning," he portrays U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, who searches frantically for a murderer and ultimately drags the suspect out in the woods where he must decide whether he will live or die. It is a very compelling, forceful performance of a lawman distributing his own form of justice, not unlike the performance given by Kiefer Sutherland ("24") when when he won in 2006.

Blame cranky Dr. House because Hugh Laurie hasn't won an Emmy?

How long is too long to wait to get into Emmy's good graces?

Hugh Laurie ("House") has been nominated and lost the race for lead drama actor six times in the last seven years and is a nominee again this year. He won the Golden Globe twice (2006 and 2007) and bagged two SAG Awards (2007 and 2009), but he's still Emmy-less. Is he doomed to lose again and again?

"House" isn't as popular as it once was. It received four consecutive nominations for best drama from 2006 to 2009, but none since then. Nevertheless, the TV Academy continues to give the popular actor more chances to prevail -- and to get his heart broken on Emmy night.

Last year, pundits thought Laurie had his best chance yet at the gold thanks to his submission episode, the sixth-season premiere "Broken," a two-hour entry in which he is committed to a mental institution, spars with a psychiatrist played by guest star Andre Braugher, falls in love with Franka Potente and leaves a better, more enlightened man. The episode, which interrupted the show's usual storylines for what amounted to a TV remake of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (which resulted in Oscars for Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher), seemed tailor-made for Emmy voters but, alas, they opted for "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston for the third time.

Is Laurie's character simply too unlikable? Dr. House is an arrogant medical genius who spends the better part of most episodes berating his staff and ridiculing his patients. Perhaps the character makes it difficult for voters to sympathize with the actor. But that certainly didn't stop James Gandolfini from winning three Emmys for playing career criminal Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos," including one for an episode in which Tony beats his mistress.

Or maybe voters have simply moved on. Unlike Steve Carell, also a six-time nominee hoping to score his first win on the comedy side for "The Office," no one is talking about "House" anymore. In recent years, traditional TV procedurals, the kinds that used to dominate the Emmys ("NYPD Blue," "ER," "The Practice"), have mostly fallen out of favor. Nowadays, voters prefer to reward edgier cable fare like three-time best drama winner "Mad Men." Considering how quickly tastes have changed, "House" seems long in the tooth, perhaps even outdated.

This year, Laurie submitted the episode "After Hours," the penultimate episode of the seventh season, in which House discovers that an experimental drug he has been taking has caused tumors to grow in his leg. He attempts to surgically remove them himself but eventually needs to be hospitalized and fears that his leg will be amputated. As in "Broken," he decides that he needs to change his life. Some may argue that if he couldn't win for "Broken" he'll never win, but other actors have won for episodes not considered their best. Kiefer Sutherland lost this category when nominated for the first-season finale of "24," in which Jack Bauer finds his wife murdered, but won a few years later for 24's underwhelming fifth-season premiere. Could Laurie surprise everyone by winning this year -- or has his time run out?

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— Tom O'Neil

Photo: Robert Sean Leonard and Hugh Laurie in the "After Hours" episode of "House." Credit: Fox

Blame Michael Scott if Steve Carell loses the Emmy again?

Steve Carell has lost five Emmy bouts for portraying cringe-inducing boss Michael Scott on "The Office," which leads Emmy watchers to wonder: Is it Carell whom voters don't like, or Michael Scott?

When Emmy voters view sample episodes from nominated stars, sometimes they hold the bad behavior of their unlikable characters against them. That may be what prevented Jason Alexander from winning any of his seven nominations for playing annoying curmudgeon George Costanza on "Seinfeld." It may also have hurt Hugh Laurie, whose character on "House" is a wanton drug abuser who berates his staff –- and patients too. They're among TV's most famous characters, but Emmy voters don't want to hug them.

Of course, this factor didn't hurt James Gandolfini, who played sociopathic mob boss Tony Soprano on HBO's "The Sopranos" to the tune of three Emmys. He won the second of those awards for the third-season episode "Amour Fou," in which Tony beat up his mistress Gloria (Annabella Sciorra). Not only did voters not hold Tony's violence against his portrayer, they selected that performance over Martin Sheen, who that year submitted the "Two Cathedrals" episode of "The West Wing" in which he grieved for his beloved secretary by railing at God –- in Latin!

Much of the comedy of "The Office" comes from the bumbling ineptitude of Michael Scott, but sometimes that quality is more a hindrance than a help to Carell, as in "The Injury," which he submitted for his first nomination in 2006; Michael spends the entire episode whining about burning his foot in a George Foreman grill. In his 2010 submission, "The Cover-Up," he is paranoid about his girlfriend and hires Dwight (Rainn Wilson) to follow her. And even though "Goodbye Toby" was arguably his best submission (it's the episode in which he first meets Holly, played by Amy Ryan), he spends much of its 60 minutes engaging in cruel celebration over the departure of Toby (Paul Lieberstein), an unassuming milquetoast in human resources.

But in this year's submission, "Goodbye Michael," Michael Scott is on his best behavior. What's more, he gets to bid a fond, tearful farewell to his employees, who, after all is said and done, are sad to see him go. It's Michael at his most sympathetic, and though the character is frequently hard to hug, Carell has never been so eminently huggable; he's a well-liked actor leaving his star-making role on a high note, and he has yet to win TV's top prize. Will he finally prevail, or will Michael Scott, once again, get the cold shoulder?

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— Tom O'Neil

Photo: Steve Carell in "The Office." Credit: NBC.

Emmys: Fans react to nominations

Commenters in our forum are delighted about top Emmy nominations for new TV shows such as "Game of Thrones." They're furious over the snubs of "Fringe" and "Sons of Anarchy" and flabbergasted that last year's winner for drama actress, Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer"), was booted out. Below, sample comments. See more here.

DS0816: Glad for Melissa McCarthy. She really earned it! And so did Martha Plimpton.

sweetboroguy: I actually cut off a piece of my hat and ate it this morning because I am a man of my word. "Parks" was nominated for Best Comedy and so I ate the hat.

24Emmy: I'm glad Louis C.K. made it, but poor Joel McHale.

blueprint: Brenda Strong for voice over on "Desperate Housewives"?! How cool is that?

JJA91: All 6 cast members of "Modern Family" get in!!!

MadScntst: Thrilled for Margo Martindale, Walton Goggins, and Timothy Olyphant from "Justified" and Peter Dinklage and "Game of Thrones." Disappointed that Katey Sagal is not there, and downright xxxxed that John Noble is not there.

Marvelous Mr. Maker: No Kyra Sedgwick... Can't believe this...

AM_092: Martha Plimpton! Though not enough love elsewhere for "Raising Hope"

PaulHan: The Emmys ... where you need a federal court order to evict shows like "Mad Men" and "Dexter" and Hugh Laurie + Mariska Hargitay from the lineup.

Atypical: No Neil Patrick Harris? They can't get enough of Jon Cryer I guess ... Jimmy Fallon makes the cut in variety series over Letterman. Didn't expect that.

SkyLight: Go Kate Winslet! Get that Emmy!

Hybrid87: "SYTYCD" + Cat Deeley made me very happy. Disappointed though that Emmy voters can't seem to connect with "Parenthood" because Krause, Emerson, Graham and Whitman would have all made their categories stronger.

Sasha: January Jones, you silly blonde ... Had you gone supporting, you would have been nominated and had chance at winning.

Benito Delicias: "Community" ZERO, "Cougar Town" ZERO, "Weeds" ZERO. These people don't know comedy AT ALL.
 
Turtle: Poor Harry Shearer. At least he was nominated once (in TWO DECADES). But his continual snub is up there with yet another baffling Katey Sagal omission: How good do they have to be?!

oscarnutlen: same old boring names over and over again.

rp557: All the "Game of Thrones" love makes my day (though I would have liked more acting nominations), Well done, ATAS.

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-- Tom O'Neil

Photo: "Parks and Recreation." Credit: NBC

Emmy inside track: The race for TV drama actor

After winning the Emmy for TV drama actor three years in a row, Bryan Cranston is now out of the derby because "Breaking Bad" wasn't televised during the award's eligibility period (June 1, 2010 - May 31, 2011). That's good news for three repeat contenders who are always nominated and never win: Michael C. Hall (who won a Golden Globe and SAG Award for "Dexter"), "House M.D.'s" Hugh Laurie (two Globes and two SAG trophies) and Jon Hamm (one Globe but no solo laurels from SAG for "Mad Men").

Most pundits believe Laurie probably never will win because of the Emmy's voting method. Winners are decided by a jury of actors who watch sample episodes submitted by each nominee. Laurie gives a fireworks performance, yes, but it's of an arrogant, unhuggable character. Maybe we shouldn't discount his chances too much, however, considering James Gandolfini won three times for portraying a murderous thug on "The Sopranos."

Hamm may have a good shot this year thanks to a strong episode of "Mad Men" titled "The Suitcase," which he'll probably submit. It's a real winner, giving him a showcase to display a wide range of emotions. He even gets drunk and has crying scenes.

Hamm's toughest competition may be Steve Buscemi, who's widely considered to be "an actor's actor" starring in the white-hot new HBO series "Boardwalk Empire."

Below is a breakdown of how the race looks like right now. Expect Buscemi, Hall, Hamm and Laurie to fill up four of the six nominee slots in this category. They'll probably be joined by Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"), who was nominated last year too. Who'll nab the sixth slot?

TV DRAMA ACTOR
(Favorites)
Simon Baker, "The Mentalist"
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"
Billy Campbell, "The Killing"
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Jeremy Irons, "The Borgias"
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D."
Andrew Lincoln, "The Walking Dead"
William H. Macy, "Shameless"
Timothy Olyphant, "Justified"
Ray Romano, "Men of a Certain Age"

Poll: Why can't Hugh Laurie or 'House M.D.' win the Emmy?

"House M.D." and its star, Hugh Laurie, are proven award winners. The Television Critics of America voted "House M.D." the best TV drama series in 2004, and it hailed Laurie as best actor two years later.

Laurie won best actor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards twice (2007, 2009) and at the Golden Globes two times too (2006, 2007). Three times "House M.D." won People's Choice Awards as best drama series (2008, 2009, 2010), and Laurie won the actors' laurels once (2009).

But neither the program nor its star has ever won the Emmy for drama series or lead actor. "House M.D." was nominated for the top program prize in 2009, and Laurie earned bids for best actor four times (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009) but without success. However, "House M.D." won an Emmy for writing (2005) and directing (2008) plus others in the crafts categories.

— Tom O'Neil

Photo of Hugh Laurie: Fox TV

Emmy slugfest over best drama actor: Jon Hamm vs. Steve Buscemi

After three past losses for his work on "Mad Men," Jon Hamm will finally win best TV drama actor at the Emmys, according to three of the six pundits polled by Awards Tracker. The gurus are our forums' moderators, who monitor the Emmy voting process closely and believe that Hamm can finally prevail because of the emotional impact and range he displays in the Season 4 episode that he will probably submit to Emmy judges: "The Suitcase."

Our other three pundits are betting on Steve Buscemi in "Boardwalk Empire," which will certainly be a major Emmy contender. The hot new HBO series recently won best drama series at the Golden Globes, halting beat "Mad Men's" three-year winning streak, and may soon do the same at the Emmys.

For the last three years, the Emmy contest for best TV drama actor was dominated by Bryan Cranston, but he's not eligible now because "Breaking Bad" had no new episodes airing during the Emmy eligibility period that ends May 31. Five-time loser Hugh Laurie ("House M.D.") has never won. Other nominees last year included Hamm, Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights") and Matthew Fox ("Lost"). All may return except Fox.

Other top contenders: Simon Baker ("The Mentalist"), Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment"), Idris Elba ("Luther"), Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy"), Jeremy Irons ("The Borgias"), Andrew Lincoln ("The Walking Dead"), William H. Macy ("Shameless"), Timothy Olyphant ("Justified"), Bill Paxton ("Big Love") and Tom Selleck ("Blue Bloods").

Our participating Emmy pundits: Chris Beachum, Matthew Cormier, Marcus Dixon, Darrin Dortch, Rob Licuria and Matt Noble. Below, they rank their top six predictions for best TV drama actor according to likelihood of winning (1 is most likely). Also, see their rankings for best drama series and comedy series.

-- Tom O'Neil

DRAMA ACTOR	Beachum	Cormier	Dixon	Dortch	Licuria	Noble
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"	2	1	1	2	1	2
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"		6		3	4	6
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"			3			5
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"	4	2	6	5	3	3
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"	1	3	2	1	2	1
Jeremy Irons, "The Borgias"	3				5
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D."	5	5	5	6	6	4
William H. Macy, "Shameless"	6	4	4	4

Photos, from left: Jon Hamm in "Mad Men"; Steve Buscemi in "Boardwalk Empire. Credits: AMC, HBO