Emmy Awards Nominations Are In, But Are They Desperately Lost?

ABC continues to see signs of its resurgence as two of its breakout hits, Lost and Desperate Housewives, swallowed up a combined 27 nominations for the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

Nominations for the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced in an early morning ceremony at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre.

In the comedy department, longtime stalwarts Will & Grace and Everybody Loves Raymond grabbed the lion’s share of nominations.

The strongest category this year looks to be best drama, which fields Lost, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, 24 and The West Wing. The tragedy here is that two brilliant FX dramas, Rescue Me and The Shield, were shut out from the big table this year. However, The Shield’s Glenn Close did nab a nomination for best lead actress in a drama. That said, it could easily be argued that Close’s stature as an actress, and not her screen time, elevated her from the supporting actress to leading actress category.

I think Lost was the best show on television in the last year and deserves to win based upon an innovative premise, a strong cast, great writing, and perhaps best of all: superior character development. Deadwood is also a strong contender in the fine HBO tradition of producing high quality and uncompromising dramas. Six Feet Under, 24, and The West Wing all have the feeling of still strong programs that have seen more glorious days.

Lost’s ensemble nature produced supporting actor nods for Naveen Andrews and Terry O’Quinn, both highly deserving of recognition.

The best comedy category shows signs that the sitcom format has also seen brighter days. Will & Grace and Everybody Loves Raymond joins Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, and Arrested Development as nominees. It’s interesting to note that Will and Raymond are the only “traditional” sitcoms here. Scrubs and Arrested Development stand out for their innovative use of voiceovers, flashbacks, high production values, and most important: both are consistently funny.

Arrested Development at times rivaled Lost for best show on television this year, and demands an award if only to further stave off what would be a truly cruel cancellation by Fox.

As the reality television format matures in America, it’s interesting to note that the only new show to break into the nominations for best reality show this year is the seldom talked about but truly great Project Runway on Bravo.

Television's most-watched show, the talent contest "American Idol," was recognized with a nomination in the reality competition program category. Other nominees were "The Amazing Race," "Survivor," "Project Runway" and Donald Trump's "The Apprentice."

I must gauge my Complaint of the Year here: Project Greenlight is a captivating, moving, funny, and fascinating look into the movie-making process. It astounds me that it has garnered neither an audience nor widespread recognition.

HBO, even without The Sopranos this year, still sets the bar for quality television by yielding 93 Emmy nominations.

HBO was the leading network with 93 nominations, even though it lacked the firepower of its hit mob series "The Sopranos," which took a break last season. CBS was second with 59 nominations, followed by NBC with 54, ABC with 51 and Fox with 49.

With basic cable stations like Bravo, FX, and USA (The Dead Zone, Monk) pumping out better shows, on average, than the Big Four, will the broadcast networks be able to compete?

Prognosis: not so good.