SAG Awards: TV surprises and snubs

Melissa McCarthy of "Mike and Molly" and the Showtime drama "Homeland" were among the huge raves of the TV season, but both were surprisingly among the missing when the TV nominees for the 18th Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced.

McCarthy scored an upset in September when she won an Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series for the CBS sitcom, but on Wednesday she was left out of SAG Awards' outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series category (though she did get a movie nod for "Bridesmaids"). Those nominees include Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara ("Modern Family"), Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie"), Tina Fey ("30 Rock") and Betty White ("Hot in Cleveland").

Other prominent actresses that were omitted included Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation"), Zooey Deschanel ("New Girl"), Laura Linney ("The Big C"), Laura Dern ("Enlightened") and Christina Applegate ("Up All Night").

 PHOTOS: SAG Awards top nominees

Meanwhile, Ed O'Neill and Jesse Tyler Ferguson were the only adult cast members of "Modern Family" who did not score an individual SAG nod. In addition to Bowen's and Vergara's nods, Eric Stonestreet and Ty Burrell were nominated for outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series. O'Neill and Ferguson were included in the comedy ensemble nomination for "Modern Family."

Also missing among major actors in the comedy categories were Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory"), Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother") and Louis C.K. ("Louie").

"Homeland," starring Claire Danes ("Temple Grandin"), Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin, has been one of the critical highlights of the season, but the show and its performers were left out of the nominations.

A major surprise in the drama category was the nomination of Patrick J. Adams in USA's "Suits." Lewis beat out more well-known performers, such as Hugh Laurie ("House") and Kelsey Grammer ("Boss").

Who do you think should have been nominated? Vote in the poll below or let us know in the comments.

RELATED:

The complete list of nominees

Complete list of TV nominations

 PHOTOS: SAG Awards top nominees

-- Greg Braxton 

Photo: Damien Lewis and Claire Danes in "Homeland." Credit: Kent Smith / Showtime

'The Big C' gets a big 3: a third-season renewal

'
"The Big C," Showtime's comedy starring Emmy nominee Laura Linney as a woman shaking up her life after learning she has terminal cancer, has been renewed for a third season.

The renewal comes just a few days before the second-season finale, which will air Monday.

Showtime executives said 10 new episodes would go into production early next year and will air in the second quarter of 2012.

ALSO

Late Night: David Arquette talks about Courtney Cox

"Rescue Me" recap: The Last Fire for Tommy and his crew?

— Greg Braxton

Photo: Laura Linney in "The Big C." Credit: Jordin Althaus / Showtime.

 

Television Academy Honors honors 8 shows 'with a conscience'

With its Television Academy Honors, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will pay tribute to eight programs that demonstrate the power of television to change attitudes and exemplify "television with a conscience."

The honorees selected for the fourth annual event, which will be held May 5 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, explored a range of issues including sexual abuse and assault, racism and teen pregnancy, living with a life-threatening disease and good nutrition in the fight against childhood obesity.

The recipients include "The Big C," "Friday Night Lights," "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Parenthood" and "Private Practice."

Documentaries to be honored include HBO's "Wartorn 1861-2010" and ESPN's "The 16th Man."

-- Greg Braxton

Summer ends on 'The Big C': A chat with executive producer Darlene Hunt

Note to "The Big C": You got us!

Heading into Monday's season finale, after an anxiety-ridden 12 episodes of worrying about Cathy, her Stage 4 melanoma and her crumbling marriage, viewers find themselves in an unexpected place. We grieve not for Cathy (Laura Linney) but for the lovable Marlene, Cathy's feisty neighbor and new friend, who chose suicide over living with Alzheimer's.

Fans of the show took to the Internet immediately after the Nov. 8 episode to voice their hurt and disappointment, a testament, really, to the magnetic performance of Phyllis Sommerville. But, while we will definitely still miss her, the series' first season finale (which we've seen) definitely shows there's a method to the madness of the writers. We asked creator and executive producer Darlene Hunt for a spoiler-free chat about her creative decisions and what viewers can look forward to in the second season.

"I love reading the Facebook page, and I was getting sick to my stomach as I was reading comments about how much people missed her and how devastating that was," Hunt said.  "And I was overcome with this feeling of regret — why did we do that? In a bigger sense, this show is really an exploration of mortality. And death is part of everyday life, and there is still an opportunity to explore how Marlene affected Cathy. When we lose people, do they stay in our life in some way? Do they affect the decisions that we make? Because they live in us and continue to be a part of our lives. But I think having her die and having her choose her way out the way she did, it’s an interesting theme to explore, which really highlights what the series is about."

Hunt designed the show to follow Cathy one season at a time, figuring that if the show were a hit and lasted at least six years, that would amount to 18 months in Cathy's life. The end of the show's first season is timed with the end of summer: Cathy has finally told her family she is sick and has decided to seek alternative treatments, even though she is still unwilling to try radiation or chemotherapy.

"I’m really excited to tackle the cancer element of it," Hunt said. "It was a secret the first season, and I think viewers will be satisfied to see her, really, address the cancer head on." In January, the writers will begin working on the second season, which takes place in autumn, and production begins in March in Stamford, Conn.

"While we haven’t started the writers' room yet, we’ve been doing research and having meetings to discuss themes," Hunt said. "We're also meeting with an oncologist and a melanoma survivor to talk about their journeys and expertise."