The 2011 Emmy Nominations are finally here! If you are, or consider yourself to be a television guru like myself, then the Emmys are vastly more exciting and important that the Oscars, Globes, Grammys etc.  The hosts for today’s announcement were Melissa McCarthy from “Mike & Molly” (though to me she will always be Sookie from “Gilmore Girls”) and Joshua Jackson from “Fringe” (pardon me while I go slightly fan-girl…OMG!! PACEY!! *swoon).

After watching the video of the nominations my favorite, and by far the most endearing moment in recent years was when Melissa McCarthy learned live that she was nominated for her role on “Mike & Molly”.  Her genuine shock at the announcement was charming and regardless of how tough the competition is (Laura Linney “The Big C”, Edie Falco “Nurse Jackie”, Amy Poehler “Parks & Rec”,  Martha Plimpton “Raising Hope” & Tina Fey “30 Rock” ) I’ll be rooting for her to take home the trophy!

Most of the articles out there talk about how many statues each show or network got,  who was snubbed, which nomination was the most surprising, and who is a downright lock for a trophy.  After reading the full report of nominations, (including nominations for categories like “Outstanding Children’s Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program). I realized there is a lot going on that no-one is talking about. So here are my top 5 thoughts on this year’s list.

1) Can we hear it for the AMAZING Betty White!                                                                    She racked up ANOTHER nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Comedy for “Hot in Cleveland”.  In addition to Betty White being amazing on this show, I have to say that the show itself is simply a GEM!  TV Land really hit it out of the park.  “Hot in Cleveland” is well written, funny, and fits their audience (and others who LOVE traditional sitcoms, like myself) exactly. It is very underrated, and i urge you go to Hulu and check it out now. Really, Go!

2) Miss Kristen Wiig. FINALLY she is getting the respect she deserves. Wiig is nominated for Oustanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series. If you’ve been following SNL for the last couple of seasons, my guess is you knew who Kristen Wiig was long before “Bridesmaids”.  She has been the best thing on the late night variety series for a while now, and headlining the female version of “The Hangover” has officially cemented her as an A-LIST female comedic actress.   Her humor is witty and fresh and we can’t wait to see more.  The only problem with her well deserved Emmy nomination is she is going up against Miss Betty White herself, so this could be a “sophie’s-choice-esque” decision for the voters.  Even though both ladies deserve the gold trophy, I think I’d have to give the nod to Betty here.

3) Happy to see I’m not the only person that can see the genius behind Cartoon Network’s  “Robot Chicken” .   Airing during the very popular late night Adult Swim section of Cartoon Network, Seth Green’s “Robot Chicken” is topical, smartly written, funny, and acceptably bizarre.  The little show racked up 3 nominations: Oustanding Voice-Over for Seth Green, Oustanding Short-form Animated Program, and Outstanding Animated Program.  Side note: I think that H. Jon Benjamin not being nominated for Outstanding Voice-Over  for “Archer” is tragic, but hopefully that leaves room for Seth Green to take home the gold!  If you haven’t gotten a chance to see “Robot Chicken” I highly recommend you tune in. Not only will you laugh a lot, you’ll be down-right impressed by the show’s stop-motion animation. (note: I was going to post a clip from the show, but couldn’t find one that was  “bleep” free… )

4)  After years and years of lauding praise and acclaim on AMC’s, “Mad Men”, the critics have finally noticed that their women aren’t so bad either.  Finally the academy is taking note of some of my personal favorite characters on the show.  Elisabeth Moss (“Peggy”) was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Christina Hendricks (“Joan”) picked up a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series were given out to both Randee Heller (“Miss Blankenship”) and Cara Buono (“Faye Miller”).   Long ago the show’s audience picked up on the fact that the women of the show, are actually the glue that keeps Sterling Cooper (Draper Pryce) Ad Agency Running (and keep us tuning in).  Where would Don be after a bender before a big meeting without Peggy’s ideas? Or Roger without Joan’s general fabulousness? And we all know Miss Blankenship is the only secretary that Don was EVER afraid of.  It’s time for the gentlemen to tip their hat to the opposite sex. Well done, and well deserved, ladies!

5) Lastly the one re-occurring shock for me was the number of nominations that the very controversial miniseries “The Kennedys” picked up.  The miniseries faced problems from the start. It was surrounded with negative press, mostly from historians who took offense with the historical inaccuracies in the scripts. It was set to be the first original scripted series done by the History channel and even managed to attract some notable actors to the project, mainly Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, and Tom Wilkinson.  Unfortunately History Channel choose to drop the program to due its unpopular depiction of one of America’s great and tragic families.  Instead the miniseries was shown on Reelz Channel, who acquired it after numerous other networks passed.  (Bonus points if you can tell me what number Reelz channel is on your cable. I know I can’t).  But even after all this negative press and getting buried on cable, “The Kennedys” managed to pick up FOUR nominations, including one for Outstanding Miniseries.  The other three nominations went to the actors mentioned above with Kinnear and Pepper facing off in the Lead Actor category and Wilkinson in the Supporting Actor category.   I wonder if History is regretting dropping those 4 nominations they could have added to their total.  Congrats to Reelz Channel for taking the risk, and maybe they’ll reap some gold reward for it.

I only have one prediction, no let’s call it a “hope” for the awards. Personally, I’m crossing my fingers that Steve Carell finally gets to take home a statue for The Office.  It’s the last chance for Carell’s, Michael Scott to be rewarded with something other than a Dundie, so here is my plea: Come on Academy, have a heart, give the man his due.

Yes, yes it is.

The relationship between the NHL and Versus has been a controversial one in the views of the fans and some media around the league.   Many believe that the partnership does the NHL no justice since Versus has limited availability across national cable providers (79 million homes whereas ESPN is in over 100 million) and many viewers that have the channel, don’t know where to find it.  Also the NHL is Versus’ only major sport, unless you consider the “tour de france” and Indy Car Racing, which most don’t. In addition, many casual sports fans thing the idea of a major sports league being on any channel with out the ESPN bug and ticker is just blasphemy.

The other side of the argument is that with Versus and NBC, the NHL isn’t the little brother, always being dominated by stories about what Tom Brady ate for lunch, or which actress A Rod was last seen with. With their exclusive partnership the NHL is the BIG SHARK in the NBC sports pond.  Versus showcases the sport in primetime, having national games Monday and Tuesday night during the season, and nearly every weeknight during the playoffs.  The NHL doesn’t have to fight for top billing, or worry about educating general sports announcers on the nuances of hockey.  The NHL is allotted nearly all the billing and Versus and NBC have done an fantastic job filling their studio shows and location personalities with the BEST and most interesting hockey personalities.

Over the past 4 years  the NHL’s ratings have increased dramatically: 84% worth of drama. There are many reasons for this increase. Commissioner Bettman will have you think it is simply because of the post-lockout rule changes, his “new NHL”.   Well that is probably part of it, but i also think that the Winter Classic has also done wonders for the sport’s national interest.  The outdoor game played on Jan 1st has become something that fans all across the nation look forward to. It is an uniquely interesting event that none of the other major leagues can replicate.  I also think another reason for the increase in intrest in the sport is a resurgence in the success of hockey “hot-bed” cities.  Look at your last 4  cup champions: Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Anaheim and the runners-up: Philadelphia, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Ottawa.  Let’s face it, when big markets succeed, ratings go up. (No matter how many cups the Devils win, they will always have trouble filling their arena). 

As a fan of the NHL myself, I am THRILLED for the sport and really excited about the deal. It is like watching your best friend finally get in a relationship with a guy who will pick up the bill, and send them flowers.  Hockey is fantastic sport. It is a a thrilling combination of speed, skill, hitting, toughness, smarts, and strength.  It is a sport where anything can happen. 0-3 deficits can be overcome, 2 seconds can change a victory to defeat, and  the laws of gravity and physics broken nightly in spectacular fashion.  The NHL is a fantastic product and it truly deserves to be #1 on the docket of their tv partner, and this deal with NBC will continue to provide that.  Well done Mr. Bettman. Well done NBC.

Other interesting notes from the deal: The final 3 rounds of the playoffs will have all of the games nationally broadcast with 24 being on Versus while NBC will pick up the other 4.  There will now be an NBC televised national Black Friday game on the Friday after thanksgiving (a personal favorite game of mine to attend).  More games will be available on digital platforms via streaming, which continues to keep the NHL on the right side of this evolving television distribution environment.

Lastly it has been noted that within the next 60 days the Versus network will be changing their name. (My money is on the name NBCSports) But this change shows NBC’s commitment not just to the NHL but to tackling the ESPN sports monster and becoming a force in their own right.

The show has had a couple of great challenges including having the contestants create restaurant logos, uniforms and my personal favorite, the FOOD TRUCK. But I thought this Sunday’s episode was interesting because the contestants were tested on how kid-friendly their restaurant would be. In addition to creating healthy kid-friendly food, they were asked to create a toy that the kids could play with with dining at their restaurant.   Some of the toys include Brooklyn Meatball Co.’s connect four game,  Sould Daddy’s talkig corn muffin, and Grill Billie’s Bug flashlight.

The reason this challenge intrigued me was because I recently read an article discussing that there is a bill circulating in Queens New York, that would bann toys being included in meals with “high calorie counts”.

Being an aunt of a 4, 3, and two 1 year olds I will admit that I have swung through the BK drive through to snag some easy nuggets and TOYS when babysitting.  In my experience kids don’t generally have the best diets, if they don’t like something they don’t eat it, regardless of what it is. One of my nephew HATES sweets (ice cream, cake etc) but will eat you out of every fruit in your house. The other nephew’s favorite meal is steak, and he’s 3.  So will outlawing toys in kids meals mean that kids will start eating better? Maybe, maybe not. But It will leave them with one less thing to play with after their meal.

Getting back to the show, unfortunately Grill Billies, one of the favorites, were sent packing. Well, what did they expect serving kebobs (on the stick!) and giving out kinda boring flashlights. It was no surprise that Brooklyn Meatball Co. took the win with an ingenious turkey “smash-ball” slider and the connect four game. (as pictured above). There are only 4 ideas still in the running and (thanks to hulu) I will actually be watching each week, waiting to find out what the next great restaurant will be!  Who knows maybe I’ll even track it down and grab some grub for myself once it is up and running!

While sections of the site is still under construction, I’m going to use the blog to talk about happenings that are going on in the world of media, mostly television.

Thanks for visiting!