Noble Awards

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Drama Supporting Actor

2009-09-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Bottom is Range then Impact then Screentime and top is Empathy.

TRACK RECORD:
2008: Zeljko Ivanek, Damages (CORRECT)
2007: Terry O’Quinn, Lost (CORRECT)
2006: Alan Alda, The West Wing (CORRECT)
2005: Alan Alda, The West Wing (WRONG - SHATNER)

Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal (Roe)
R: We have aggressive cocky Jerry in the opening scene. Then he's going round the episode both adamantly defending his actions and worried for his future. Then at the end we see his more vulnerable side and his final talk with Katie a sweet guy.
I: He has two big money scenes, firstly the Muffin scene which is really funny and over the top. Then we have his closing, there's a reason Spader won 2 emmys and it is closings like these, we see him standing up there just delivering a monologue on bullying. He has our undivided attention and he does it well.
S: 15:23. Plus an additional 3:58 in Shatner's tape.
E: That final money scene on the effects of Bullying makes you want to give Jerry a hug, and completely explains his less likable actions from earlier in the episode. He also plays someone with a disability.

Michael Emerson, Lost (Dead is Dead)
R: There's present day Ben who's calculating, scared as well as grieving. Then there's Ben in the past who we see as humane, young and innocent. Plus there's the scenes with Penny where we see him have to juggle being humane and vindictive.
I: The judgement scene is a solid money scene, as he faces his dead daughter and his past actions.
S: 35:03
E: Well he killed John Locke and his daughter and tried to kill Penny. However we see real humanity here as well, he spares the life of a child, he shows remorse for his actions and is prepared to be judged, and he is grieving for the loss of his child.

William Hurt, Damages (Hey! Mr. Pibb)
R: We see a father connecting with his son for the first time, someone who seems nice and then at the end when he betrays Patty a villain. A bit of range.
I: His scene on the stand has impact and a few hammy scenes but it doesn’t have the emotional theatrics that he does in other episodes.
S: 15:22
E: Connecting to his son for the first time is empathetic but he is the villain of this episode so he's not very likable.

Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (Peekaboo)
R: We see a performance with 2 layers here. One is the tough guy drug dealer and the other is a more human caring side in his dealing with the child. He's also knocked out so we see some dreariness as well.
I: His "give me the money bitch" scenes were quite powerful money scenes.
S: 22:54
E: In many ways he's unlikable being a drug dealer holding a gun to people demanding money. We do however see a human side in his relationship with the kid which provides some empathy.

William Shatner, Boston Legal (Made in China/Last Call)
R: We see a man coming to terms with the effects of Alzheimer’s, the larger than life character that is Denny Crane (although not as much) and a man happy in his friendship with Alan.
I: There's the opening scene where he fires on all the Chinese which is hilarious then there's his wedding. But for so much of this episode he is almost literally sitting in James Spaders shadow as closing after closing is delivered.
S: 56:44. Plus an additional 00:10 seconds in Clemenson's tape.
E: You see a man who's a good friend having to come to terms with the effects of his Alzheimer’s. Add to that the fact that this is Boston Legal's final and you have a very nostalgic tape.

John Slattery, Mad Men (Six Months Leave)
R: Not much range here. He's a fairly cold and one note performance. Perhaps the scene where he and Don are chatting at the bar there's something a little different.
I: Sterling is a presence for sure but no money scenes here.
S: 15:59
E: He's a man who has no sympathy of Joan dealing with Marylyn and at the end leaves his family to be with a young secretary. He is a friend of sorts to Don, but this is a really unlikable character here.

Noble R.I.S.E. Scores
Range: Emerson (50), Clemenson (35), Paul (35), Hurt (15), Shatner (15) , Slattery (0)
Impact: Clemenson (50), Emerson (35), Paul (35), Hurt (15), Shatner (15), Slattery (0)
S-time: Shatner (50), Emerson (40), Paul (30), Clemenson (20), Hurt (5), Slattery (5)
Empathy: Clemenson (50), Shatner (40), Emerson (25), Paul (25), Hurt (10), Slattery (0)

1. Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal (155)
2. Michael Emerson, Lost (150)
3. Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (125)
4. William Shatner, Boston Legal (120)
5. William Hurt, Damages (45)
6. John Slattery, Mad Men (5)

FINAL PREDICTIONS AND ANALYSIS

Well your longshot contender here is John Slattery. His tape is just so incredibly underwhelming and seems to fall short at every level (other than Dillon it is the worst tape I have seen this year). To win tapes would need to totally disregarded. He is on the Mad Men juggernaught and is a respected actor so he does have an outside chance.

William Hurt is a darkhorse. His tape isn’t great but he is Oscar winner William Hurt in drama series nominee Damages which win this category last year (although with a better tape) and unlike Slattery there is some nice stuff on display here which voters may be able to use to justify a vote for him. However a win would require disregarding tape on some level. William Shatner is another dark horse candidate. He is a past winner so we know they like him and with the 2 part series final, sentiment and nostalgia for his character and the series will be built up. However when I first watched this episode I thought that Spader may have just won his 4th Emmy, and not much about Shatner. It is a strong performance from Shatner but I think he is too overshadowed. Michael Emerson is also a darkhorse but I almost put him up to frontrunner status because he has a lot going for him. He is the overdue candidate, is a respected actor and has a very long and powerful tape. Nevertheless the show can be hard to digest in one episode portions and I’m not sure if I completely buy this argument but they can always reward him next year. I think his biggest roadblock however is the 2 frontrunners.

Which brings us to Clemenson and Paul and it is so hard to choose between them. Both have powerful and accessible tapes. Making it even harder is that both tapes are so different from each other; it really depends on what kind of performance voters are after. The biggest negative they have is each other. Paul has a gritty, edgy tape from a series nominee whereas Clemenson has a tape that goes from absurdist comedy to heartfelt drama. It is really hard to choose and looking at the history of this category they have gone a few different ways. The case can be made that Clemenson and Shatner will split the Boston Legal vote, however looking back at this category 8 of the last 10 winners have been nominated alongside co-stars (Shatner and Alda were the exceptions, one of those years no series had 2 noms). I think this highlights the advantage of 2 actors from the same show. If Clemenson’s tape is watched early it could be forgotten until Shatner’s tape where voters are reminded of Clemenson’s performance with some nice short scenes with Clemenson in Shatner’s tape, Clemenson can also trade in on some of the Boston Legal nostalgia evoke by Shatner’s tape. This could also help Shatner but he’s only in 6 seconds of Clemenson’s tape and his tape isn’t as strong. For this reason I will predict Clemenson. I’m not very confident in it as I can see Paul taking this as well, so I’ll have to hope many of the voters in this category were bullied as children.

FROUNTRUNNERS:
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

DARK HORSES:
Michael Emerson, Lost
William Shatner, Boston Legal
William Hurt, Damages

LONGSHOT:
6. John Slattery, Mad Men

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Drama Supporting Actress

2009-09-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

TRACK RECORD:
2008: Diane Wiest, In Treatment (CORRECT)
2007: Rachael Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters (WRONG – HEIGEL)
2006: Candice Bergan, Boston Legal (WRONG – DANNER)
2005: Blyth Danner, Huff! (CORRECT)

Rose Byrne, Damages (Trust Me)
R: We see her in the power position with Patty then shocked and confused in the scene where she's arrested. Finally, there's her final scene where you see her softer and reflective side.
I: Her scene with Patty where she shoots the camera is particularly intense.
S: 30:31
E: The final scene at David's grave gets you to feel for her and view her in a more positive light. A nice way for the episode to end for her.

Hope Davis, In Treatment (Mia: Week 6)
Full disclosure, I havn’t seen any of In Treatment season 2 so am going off reviews and recaps.
R: Sounds like a tape full of sadness and reflection.
I: Most seem to think this is a bad choice so I'm assuming no huge money scene. The fact that she is the focus of the episode will help with impact.
S: Estimated 21:00
E: Talking about her issues with not having a baby and problems with her parents. Sounds like a highly emotive tape where you will feel sorry for her.

Cherry Jones, 24 (Day 7: 7:00am - 8:00am)
R: She's angry, devastated a loving mother and presidential.
I: The scene where her daughter confesses to her and she gets angry has impact.
S: 9:45
E: You really feel for her as she struggles between her loyalty to her family and her loyalty to her office. She ends up making the right decision by putting country first and you are sad for the effects it will have on her family life.

Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy (Elevator Love Letter)
R: At the beginning she's scared as she's strangled, then she is trying to be strong and at the end she weakly admits that she's not strong enough.
I: The opening scene has impact but she is sharing it with her boyfriend (as she does in most of her big scenes) who in some ways has a baityer role.
S: 10:25. Plus an additional 2:30 in Wilson's tape.
E: You feel sorry for her getting strangled and at the end as she breaks up with the guy, but in many ways this is the cold performance. And the fact that she's leaving the guy with PTSD may turn some voters off.

Diane Wiest (Gina: Week 6)
Full disclosure, I havn’t seen any of In Treatment season 2 so am going off reviews and recaps.
R: Paul apparently gets Gina all riled up here and I'm assuming she starts out her regular self.
I: Gina getting mad will provide some impact and with Paul turning the session on her will make her the focus of the episode.
S: Estimated 21:00
E: In some ways she's a cold character. With Paul putting her on the spot people may feel sorry for her or not like her angry response.

Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy (Stairway to Heaven)
R: At the beginning she is very professional and adamant, then we see her become more personally involved in the case which lead her to get sad. Then there is happiness at the end with the kid.
I: Breaking into hysterics and showdown with Derek are good but not great money scenes.
S: 9:53
E: She's trying to save a little boys life and has scenes where she breaks into hysterics. It's a very emotive performance. I to be honest didn't quite feel this and thought it was silly that she would have a 180 degree flip in principle in such a short amount of time. But voters will likely lap this all up.

Noble R.I.S.E. Scores
Range: Byrne (35), Wiest (35), Wilson (35), Jones (35), Oh (10), Davis (0)
Impact: Wiest (50), Byrne (40), Wilson (30), Jones (20), Davis (10), Oh (0)
S-Time: Byrne (50), Davis (35), Wiest (35), Oh 20), Jones (5), Wilson (5)
Empathy: Davis (50), Wilson (35), Jones (35), Byrne (20), Wiest (10), Oh (0)

1. Rose Byrne, Damages (145)
2. Diane Wiest, In Treatment (130)
3. Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy (105)
4. Cherry Jones, 24 (95)
4. Hope Davis, In Treatment (95)
6. Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy (30)

FINAL ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS:
24 seems on the outs with the emmys, Jones has no buzz and her tape is short, so I’m saying she’s out. However she’s a respected tony winning actress, on a past drama series winner and gives a nice performance so she does have an outside shot. Oh just doesn’t have a good enough tape to be in this, it is so underwhelming. If she wins it will purely be for being the overdue candidate.

Hope Davis is the dark horse here. She apparently has not submitted her best here, but that’s what was said about Wiest last year. If the voters still like this style of acting and want to reward someone new then this tony nominee could win.

Chandra Wilson gives a very emotional performance. I think it’s silly but that’s what I thought about Heigel’s winning tape, it voters fall for this blatant pulling of the heart strings then this slightly overdue actress will win here. Rose Byre is the only one here from a drama series contender and gives a long performance I would think she has a great chance but getting in her way will be... Wiest, last year’s winner returning with an apparently even better tape. This theatrical master class in acting turned on the voters here last year and I expect similar this year. This 2 time Oscar winner, respected veteran will get to put a 2nd emmy on her mantle.

FRONTRUNNERS
1. Diane Wiest, In Treatment
2. Rose Byrne, Damages
3. Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy

DARK HORSE
4. Hope Davis, In Treatment

LONG SHOTS
5. Sanda Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
6. Cherry Jones, 24

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Drama Writing and Directing

2009-09-09T04:44:00.000-07:00

WRITING TRACK RECORD:

2008: The Wheel, Mad Men (WRONG - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Mad Men)

2007: Made in America, The Sopranos (CORRECT)

2006: Everybody's Waiting, Six Feet Under (WRONG - Member's Only, The Sopranos)

2005: Walkabout, Lost (WRONG - Three Stories, House)

DIRECTING TRACK RECORD:

2008: Get Me A Lawyer, Damages (WRONG - House's Head, House)

2007: Pilot, Friday Night Lights (WRONG - Kennedy & Heidi, The Sopranos)

2006: Everybody's Waiting, Six Feet Under (WRONG - Day 5: 7:00am - 8:00am, 24)

2005: Pilot, Lost (CORRECT)

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Comedy Lead Actress

2009-09-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

TRACK RECORD:

2008: Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (WRONG - FEY)

2007: America Fererra, Ugly Betty (CORRECT)

2006: Jane Kaczmerek, Malcolm in the Middle (WRONG - LOUIS-DREYFUSS)

2005: Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives (WRONG - HUFFMAN)

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Comedy Supporting Actress

2009-09-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

TRACK RECORD:

2005: Jessica Walter, Arrested Development (WRONG - ROBERTS)

2006: Jamie Pressly, My Name Is Earl (WRONG - MULLALLY)

2007: Jenna Fischer, The Office (WRONG - PRESSLY)

2008: Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty (WRONG - SMART)

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Comedy Supporting Actor

2009-08-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Track Record:

2005: Peter Boyle, Everybody Loves Raymond (WRONG - GARRET)

2006: Will Arnett, Arrested Development (WRONG - PIVEN)

2007: Jeremy Piven, Entourage (CORRECT)

2008: Jeremy Piven Entourage (CORRECT)

2009 Final Emmy Predictions: Comedy Writing and Directing

2009-08-24T08:37:00.001-07:00

Here is the start of my final predix:

2009 Emmy Nomination Reactions: Drama, Part 2

2009-08-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

I react to the Lead Acting and Series categories:

2009 Emmy Nomination Reactions: Drama, Part 1

2009-07-31T01:59:00.000-07:00

Finally my drama reactions.

Due to living in Australia many of the nominated seasons here have not reached me yet, so my commentry is less informed. Apologies.

Also sorry for my voice, I had a sore throat when recording this.

Here I look at the writing, directing and supporting acting categories for Drama.

2009 Emmy Nomination Reactions: Comedy, Part 2

2009-07-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

The conclusion of my look at the comedy nominations (lead acting and series):

2009 Emmy Nomination Reactions: Comedy, Part 1

2009-07-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

G'Day,
well the nominations are finally out and here are my thoughts on the comedy writing directing ans supporting acting categories. It is always easier to talk about the mistakes made by the academy so don't be fooled I think they did a pretty good job this year.

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Drama Series

2009-07-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

Final category and it's a doozy!

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Comedy Series

2009-07-15T00:43:00.000-07:00

G'Day,

now I'm up to the real serious awards!

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Lead Acting in a Drama Series

2009-07-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Lead Acting in a Comedy

2009-07-09T01:39:00.000-07:00

CORRECTION: Contrary to the comments made in the above video David Duchovney DID in fact make the top 10 list last year. That information means that his chances are signifigantly greater than what I have stated. However I would keep him in the same place as Parsons has hype and Braff is a past nominiee in the final season for a 2 time best comedy series nominiee. However with showtime's great campaigns all 3 of the men are just about even in this race (it will be exciting to see who gets those 2 slots.

My thanks to janey at the envelope forums for bringing my attention to my stupid mistake and apologies for the confusion and misleading statement.

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Supporting Acting in a Drama

2009-07-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Supporting Acting in a Comedy

2009-07-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

Time to kick off the acting categories:

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Writing and Directing in a Drama Series

2009-07-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here's my next set of predictions:

2009 Emmy Nomination Predictions: Writing and Directing in a Comedy Series

2009-07-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

Thought I would up the ante this year with my nomination predictions by recording them on my webcam. So with the nomination announcement fastly approaching I'm kicking things off with writing and directing for comedy series.

"Slumdog" wins big at Oscars

2009-07-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

Here's my late review of the 2008 Oscars where Slumdog took home 8 big awards.

THE GOOD:

Slumdog Millionaire's sweep, especially for best director. I'd be lying if I said they deserved all of them (WALL-E was robbed in the music and sound categories and screenplay should have gone to Frost/Nixon). And the best picture race was looking weak without Dark Knight or WALL-E. Nevertheless it was one of the years best films and seeing it will 8 was nice.

The Dark Knight's Sound Editing win. Ledger's win was deserving as well although that was a very weak field.

THE AVERAGE:

Penelope Cruz' win. She was good and it's always nice to see a comedic performance prevail however the ladies from Doubt gave much stronger turns.

The Dutchess for costumes I guess.

Hugh Jackman did well. He kept things focused on the films nominated for his opening bit and his siging and dancing was great. However he just didn't have the wit or pressence of Billy Crystal (who also does best picture melodies) and his 2nd musical number seemed only thrown in to show off Jackman's singing and dancing chops with very no focus on the nomiabted fare.

THE BAD:

Milk had a good screenplay but no where near the brilliance of WALL-E.

Sean Penn gave a good performance but Langella should have won, making this Penn's 2nd Oscar robbery of the decade.

Kate Winslet is one of the best actor's going around but it really pained me to see her win for a performance that seemd so ridiculously crafted to win an oscar (see Extras). Add to the fact it wasn't that great compared to Melissa Leo's great Turn in Frozen River and you have one of the night's low lights.

Benjamin Button's 3 wins which all should have gone to The Dark Knight.

SUMMARY AND SCORECARD:

Decent year for Oscars despite attrocious Dark Knight and WALL-E snubs.

In every category one of my top 2 predictions prevailed and I picked the winner 15/21 to give me a success rate of 71%. (not including the short categories).

3rd Annual Noble Film Awards Nominations

2009-07-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

G'Day,
sorry for the extreme tardiness of these awards, I got caught up in Emmy mania. But better late then never and here are the winners of my 3rd Annual film awards for the year of 2008. The winners of the Noble awards are the larger pictures.

Oscar Predictions

2009-02-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

MOTION PICTURE:
1. Slumdog Millionaire (90%)
2. Milk (5%)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (4%)
4. Frost/Nixon (1%)
5. The Reader (0%)

DIRECTING:
1. Slumdog Millioanire (85%)
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (12%)
3. Milk (3%)
4. Frost/Nixon (0%)
5. The Reader (0%)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
1. Slumdog Millionaire (54%)
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (21%)
3. Frost/Nixon (19%)
4. The Reader (4%)
5. Doubt (2%)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
1. WALL-E (45%)
2. Milk (43%)
3. Frozen River (10%)
4. Happy-Go-Lucky (1%)
5. In Bruges (1%)

LEAD ACTOR:
1. Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon (31%)
2. Sean Penn, Milk (30%)
3. Micky Rourke, The Wrestler (29%)
4. Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (9%)
5. Richard Jenkins, The Visitor (1%)

LEAD ACTRESS:
1. Kate Winset, The Reader (43%)
2. Meryl Streep, Doubt (42%)
3. Melissa Leo, Frozen River (12%)
4. Anne Hataway (2%)
5. Angalina Jolie (1%)

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (81%)
2. Josh Brolin, Milk (11%)
3. Robery Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder (5%)
4. Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Doubt (2%)
5. Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road (1%)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
1. Viola Davis, Doubt (31%)
2. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Bercellona (29%)
3. Amy Adams, Doubt (20%)
4. Marissa Tomei, The Wrestler (15%)
5. Tajari P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (5%)

ART DIRECTION:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Donald Graham Burt & Victor J. Zolfo (36%)
2. The Dark Knight, Nathan Crowley & Peter Lando (24%)
3. Changeling, James J. Murakami & Gary Fettis (11%)
4. The Duchess, Michael Carlin & Rebecca Alleway (10%)
5. Revolutionary Road, Kristi Zea & Debra Schutt (9%)

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
1. Slumdog Millionaire, Anthony Dod Mantle (30%)
2. The Dark Knight, Wally Pfister (27%)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Claudio Miranda (26%)
4. The Reader, Chris Menges & Roger Deakins (10%)
5. Changeling, Tom Stern (7%)

COSTUME DESIGN:
1. The Duchess, Michael O’Connor (31%)
2. Australia, Catherine Martin (30%)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jacqueline West (29%)
4. Revolutionary Road, Albert Wolsky (6%)
5. Milk, Danny Glicker (4%)

FILM EDITING:
1. Slumdog Millionaire, Chris Dickens (40%)
2. The Dark Knight, Lee Smith (30%)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall (15%)
4. Frost/Nixon, Mike Hill & Dan Hanley (10%)
5. Milk, Elliot Graham (5%)

MAKEUP:
1. The Dark Knight, John Caglione, Jr. & Conor O’Sullivan (38%)
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Greg Cannom (37%)
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mike Elizalde & Thom Floutz (25%)

ORIGINAL SCORE:
1. Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman (35%)
. WALL-E, Thomas Newman (30%)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat (22%)
4. Milk, Danny Elfman (10%)
5. Defiance, James Newton Howard (3%)

ORIGINAL SONG:
1. "Down to Earth" from WALL-E, Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman (50%)
2. "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman & Gulzar (45%)
3. "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman & Maya Arulpragasam (5%)

SOUND EDITING:
1. WALL-E, Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood (32%)
2. The Dark Knight, Richard King (31%)
3. Slumdog Millionaire, Glenn Freemantle & Tom (30%)
4. Iron Man, Frank Eulner & Christopher Boyes Sayers (5%)
5. Wanted, Wylie Stateman (2%)

SOUND MIXING:
1. Slumdog Millionaire, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke & Resul Pookutty (30%)
2. The Dark Knight, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo & Ed Novick (29%)
3. WALL-E, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick & Ben Burtt (28%)
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce & Mark Weingarten (10%)
5. Wanted, Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño & Petr Forejt (3%)

VISUAL EFFECTS:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton & Craig Barron (45%)
2. The Dark Knight, Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber & Paul Franklin (35%)
3. Iron Man, John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick & Shane Mahan (20%)

ANIMATED FEATURE:
1. WALL-E, Andrew Stanton (90%)
2. Kung Fu Panda, John Stevenson & Mark Osborne (9%)
3.Bolt, Chris Williams & Byron Howard (1%)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:Man on Wire, James Marsh & Simon Chinn
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Departures, Japan
ANIMATED SHORT:“Presto”, Doug Sweetland
DOCUMENTARY SHORT:“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306”, Adam Pertofsky & Margaret Hyde
LIVE ACTION SHORT:“The Pig”, Tivi Magnusson & Dorte Høgh

Projected Totals:
Slumdog Millionaire: 7
WALL-E: 4
The Dark Knight: 2
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 2
Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Doubt, The Duchess: 1 each

81st Oscar Nomination Predictions (Best Picture)

2009-01-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Taking into account critical response, box office and idustry support here are how the award contenders rank:

Dark Knight
25
Wall-E
23
Slumdog
23
Button
21
Milk
19
Frost/Nixon
15
Doubt
15
Gran Torino
13
Rev Road
7
Reader
4

81st Oscar Nomination Predictions Acting

2009-01-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

I really came close to picking Alan Alda for Nothing But the Truth as a WTH? pick

81st Oscar Nomination Predictions (Directing and Writing)

2009-01-21T19:20:00.001-08:00

81st Oscar Nomination Predictions (Tech Categories)

2009-01-21T05:48:00.001-08:00

Editing
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Dark Knight
3. Frost/Nixon
4. Doubt
5. Milk

Cinamatography
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. The Dark Knight
4. Revolutionary Road
5. Frost/Nixon

Art Direction
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Revolutionary Road
4. Changeling
5. Slumdog Millionaire

Sound Editing
1. The Dark Knight
2. WALL-E
3. Iron Man
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Quantum of Solace

Sound Mixing
1. The Dark Knight
2. WALL-E
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Iron Man

Costume
1. The Dark Knight
2. The Duchess
3. Revolutionary Road
4. Changling
5. The Curious Case of Banjamin Button

Makeup
1. The Dark Knight
2. Trpoic Thunder
3. Synecdoche, New York

Visual Effects
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Song
1. “Down to Earth”, WALL-E
2. “The Wrestler”, The Wrestler
3. “Jai Ho”, Slumdog Millionaire
4. “O Saya”, Slumdog Millionaire
5. “I Thought I Lost You”, Bolt

Score
1. WALL-E
2. The Dark Knight
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Frost/Nixon
5. Doubt

Foreign Language Picture
1. Waltz with Bashir
2. The Class
3. 3 Monkeys
4. The Baader Meinhof Complex
5. Everlasting Moments

Documentary Picture
1. Man on Wire
2. Trouble the Water
3. Standard Operating Procudure
4. I.O.U.S.A.
5. Made in America

Animated Picture
1. WALL-E
2. Waltz with Bashir
3. Kung-Fu Panda

3rd Annual Noble TV Awards

2009-01-21T01:34:00.001-08:00

Well the Emmys did a good job in 2008 of honoring the best, but here are my own awards as voted by posters at theenvelope.com as well as myself. Enjoy...

The Emmys go "Mad" but still "Rock"

2009-01-21T00:58:00.000-08:00

GREAT

Zeiljko Ivanek was the highlight for me, not only did I predict him but he had the best tape and helps the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama retsain its mantle as most impressive category at the Emmys. His costar Glenn Close gave one of the best performances on television this year, she was chilling playing Patty Hewes. She was the firm frountrunner and deserved to be.

Pushing Daisies was criminally snubbed in comedy series but easily won an incredibally well deserved directing trophy.

Mad Men and Boston Legal were the best drama had to offer this year so as long as one of those took it out I was happy (to be honest Damages or Lost winning I would have been fairly happy with as well. Mad Men’s win wasn’t an upset but was very well deserved. It’s writing win was also very well deserved (even for a script that was 7 years old).

Without the Friel in the mix and Parker submitting an average tape Fey deserved to win here and she was able to. One of the great comedic performances on television here.

GOOD

Without January Jones, Yunjin Kim, Chi McBride or Jack McBrayer, supporting actress in a drama and supprting actor in a comedy were underwhealming categories but Wiest and Piven had the best tapes and deserved to beat out the weak field.

Spader had an incredibal tape which should have earnt him a 4th statue. Hamm and Laurie also had strong submissions but Cranston was a worthy winner for his great transformative performance in Breaking Bad.
Without Pushing Daisies (which should have won) there was a hole in comedy series. The Office and 30 Rock though were both good with the Office being a bit weaker than it’s previous season and 30

AVERAGE

Baldwin was great in his tape and he’s the best thing about 30 Rock. But Carell was so good in Goodbye Toby (one of the best tapes of any category submitted) the trophy should have gone to him.

BAD

Cooter was not even 30 Rock’s strongest episode nominated. Fey is a great writer but here the writing was uneven. Pushing Daisies should have won or any of the other nominiees before Cooter.

Chenoweth should have easily won this category but unfortunatly Smart took it home. Nothing aginst Smart, she should have won for 24 and I like her in Samantha Who? But her win was one for mediocrity.

TERRIBLE

The hosts and the embrace of reality TV, which did nothing to improve ratings or sustain the dignity of the awards.

SUMMARY & SCORECARD
Overall it was a very good year for the Emmys. I was able to correctly predict 7/14 of the top awards for 50% success rate.

Final Emmy Predictions

2009-01-21T00:33:00.000-08:00

Well I meant to post my final emmy predictions here but the computer hard disk crashed and I lost my graphics. I know they are over now but here are the predictions that I made jsut so that there is a record of them here.

Drama Series
1. Boston Legal
2. Mad Men
3. Damages
4. House
5. Lost
6. Dexter

Comedy Series
1. 30 Rock
2. The Office
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
4. Two and a Half Men
5. Entourage

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1. Hugh Laurie, House
2. James Spader, Boston Legal
3. Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
4. Jon Hamm, Mad Men
5. Michael C. Hall, Dexter
6. Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
1. Glenn Close, Damages
2. Kyra Sedgewik, The Closer
3. Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
4. Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
5. Marishka Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
1. Diane Wiest, In Treatment
2. Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
3. Rachael Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
4. Candice Bergan, Boston Legal
5. Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1. Zeiljko Ivanek, Damages
2. Michael Emerson, Lost
3. William Shatner, Boston Legal
4. Ted Danson, Damages
5. John Slattery, Mad Men

60th Emmy Awards, Directing and Writing Predictions

2008-09-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is the easiest race to pick, but by no means as locked up as some think it is. Entourage seems out as does the Office’s Money (unless they want to give Toby an award). 30 Rock needs to rely on being swept up in wave of love for the show. Conchords could win if the voters really like the show and want it to get something and Goodbye Toby could also win if they love the tape and want to finally give The Office the prize here. But this is Pushing Daisies to lose with this category going to pilots of single cam comedies the past 4 years in a row. Add to that my opinion that this is the best one since Arrested Development.

Barry Sonnenfeld for Pushing Daisies ("Pie-Lette") FRONTRUNNER
Paul Feig for The Office (“Goodbye Toby") DARK HORSE
James Bobin for Flight of the Conchords ("Sally Returns") DARK HORSE
Michael Engler for 30 Rock ("Rosemary's Baby") IN WITH A CHANCE
Paul Lieberstein for The Office ("Money") IN WITH A CHANCE
Dan Attias for Entourage ("No Cannes Do") LONGSHOT

This branch obviously quite likes Galactica but if Occupation/Precipie couldn’t win last year I don’t hold much hope for Six of One. I wouldn’t completely rule out the Wire, it is the only chance to honour this critically acclaimed darling and the writers may realise that. Enough to overtake this years drama series nominees that have more critical buzz? Not sure. 24 set the precedent for a serialised drama with critical buzz winning for its Pilot (the only Pilot to win in 10 years) – so Damages has a real shot especially if the Mad Men episodes split the votes. However the Emmys have made one thing clear with this category over the past 9 years they LOVE the Sopranos with 6 wins and only 1 loss (to Emmy magnet West Wing). Keeping that in mind the Mad Men episodes written by overdue Sopranos scribe, Matthew Weiner, have a great shot. Splitting votes may also not be as bigger factor as some might think with the winner from 8 of the past 9 years having multiple entries (however Lost’s 2 episodes got beat so it is possible). The question is which one will win? I’m not sure but will go with the Wheel as from what I hear the ending will stay in voters’ minds more.

Matthew Weiner & Robin Veith for Mad Men ("The Wheel") FRONTRUNNER
Matthew Weiner for Mad Men ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") FRONTRUNNER
Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, & Daniel Zelman for Damages ("Get Me A Lawyer") DARK HORSE
David Simon & Ed Burns for The Wire ("–30–") DARK HORSE
Michael Angeli for Battlestar Galactica ("Six of One") LONGSHOT

This is a great list of episodes and really the academy can’t go wrong. In my opinion any winner here will be better than last year’s champ. Boston Legal could win if they love it, but I think it’s out as compared to such innovative and more buzzed entries. 4 of the last 8 winners in this category were pilots so that should give 3 shows an edge. However I’m not sure if Breaking Bad can break through here as 7 of the past 8 winners have hailed from series that were at least nominated for drama series (the exception was much buzzed Deadwood) and the competition is stiff. House is a great episode but I’m not sure if this procedural which isn’t self contained can win over the other 2 series. It was a hard choice to pick the winner here. It is worth noting that of the past 8 years only twice has a series won writing and directing (emmy champs West Wing, Sopranos) and in both cases the same episode did not win both awards. For writing I picked Mad Men but the Wheel episode so it still has a shot. However since Damages goes at a quicker pace, has in ways a shower directing style and in recent years both serials (24) and shows which flash back and forth in time (Lost) have managed to win here I’ll pick it to win.

Allen Coulter for Damages ("Get Me A Lawyer") FRONTRUNNER
Alan Taylor for Mad Men ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") FRONTRUNNER
Greg Yaitanes for House ("House's Head") DARK HORSE
Vince Gilligan for Breaking Bad ("Pilot") DARK HORSE
Arlene Sanford for Boston Legal ("The Mighty Rogues") IN WITH A CHANCE

A good line-up of episodes here. Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development showed that a series can win this twice in a row and if 30 Rock splits votes it is possible, but I think the Office may not have a special enough episode in this competitive field to win. The hot new series with a great written episode, Pushing Daisies, could also prevail as the AD and Earl Pilots did but I feel that voters will see it as more of a directorial work. If 30 Rock wins it should be for Rosemary's Baby but I have a feeling that if voters want 30 Rock to win they are going to want to give it to Tina Fey. With it's 2 big nominations and a top 10 for series I have a feeling that the academy has a thing for Conchords and what better category to award it to than here where the 2 lead actors (and musicians) of the series will walk away with Emmys. However after missing out last year I'm suspecting they will want to give this to Tina Fey, to make sure she gets something to take home.

Tina Fey for 30 Rock ("Cooter") FRONTRUNNER
James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, & Bret McKenzie for Flight of the Conchords ("Yoko") FRONTRUNNER
Jack Burditt for 30 Rock ("Rosemary's Baby") FRONTRUNNER
Bryan Fuller for Pushing Daisies ("Pie-Lette") DARK HORSE
Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg for The Office ("Dinner Party") DARK HORSE

And just so you know how little stock to put in these predictions here is my track record:

DIRECTING COMEDY:
2007: Ugly Betty (CORRECT) -2006: Curb Your Enthusiasm (INCORRECT) -2005: Desperate Housewives (CORRECT)

DIRECTING DRAMA:2007: Friday Night Lights (INCORRECT) - 2006: Six Feet Under (INCORRECT) - 2005: Lost (CORRECT)

COMEDY WRITING: 2007: 30 Rock (Tracey Does a Conan) (INCORRECT) -2006: Arrested Development (INCORRECT) -2005: Arrested Development (Righteous Brothers) (CORRECT)

DRAMA WRITING:2007: The Sopranos (Made In America) (CORRECT) - 2006: Six Feet Under (INCORRECT) - 2005: Lost (Walkabout) (INCORRECT)

SCORE: 5/12

60th Emmy Awards, Comedy Acting Predictions

2008-09-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

G'Day,

This year I am going to post my fianl predictions for the preimetime emmy awards up here. To start things off are my predictions for the comedy acting categories. Included are the results from my Noble RISE calcuations, presented in graph form, as well as my final analysis.
So here they are:

Although a weak season of Weeds, Parker still managed to deliver an ace performance week after week. However due to serialised and subtle nature of the role she always needs to submit her best, this year she chose a dud tape and knocked herself out. Fererra has a very showy tape and she’s last year’s winner but the tape is also a bit ridiculous and it really isn’t as strong as my above score may suggest. She could win, but with her show and herself losing the buzz that propelled her to the winner’s circle last year I think she’s also out of it. Then you have the three that have a serious shot. Dreyfuss has a solid tape and she’s a past winner, but I don’t think she’s the strongest and the circumstances surrounding her previous win aren’t all present in this year’s line-up. I’ve tossed and turned between the last two. Fey has all the buzz this year and a much better tape than my score above suggests, I’d personally say she has the best tape. On the other hand you have Applegate with a great tape also (arguably the best) and is the new actress to the scene, and the last three winners of this category have won for their first season. The two things that tip it for me is that Applegate’s cancer struggle may help get her support and the hurdle that many may view Fey more as a writer/producer than an actor and think she will be rewarded in other categories.

Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (FROUNTRUNNER)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (FROUNTRUNNER)
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, The New Adventures of Old Christine (DARK HORSE)
America Fererra, Ugly Betty (IN WITH A CHANCE)
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds (LONGSHOT)

Pace gives a solid performance but its subtlety means it may not stick in voters minds. It is also worth noting that in the past 10 years only 1 man has won this category for his first season and that was (3 time winner) Tony Shaloub so the stats don't look great for Pace. I agree that Sheen has submitted his best ever (it's still the worst tape of the batch) so I guess that if he ever was to win it would be this year. But the competition is too strong and with 0 wins in major categories I get the feeling that the Emmys don't love his show. Shaloub has not submitted a great entry for him, but it still gives him heaps of screentime, an big emotional scene and he gets to play the zany impactful Adrian Monk - so he has a real chance to upset (if vote-splitting occurs between the nbc lads), but with 3 wins I don't think it is a strong enough tape (or weak enough field) to make voters excited enough to give him a 4th. Like most people think, this is a 2 horse race. Will they go with the guy with all the buzz and the most impactful scene or the more overdue guy who has the best overall tape. I'm going to go with the latter since this year Carell doesn’t have to worry about one of his competitors getting credit for his tape/performance also (Gervais). Then again last year I also predicted Carell and this race is tight.

Steve Carell, The Office (FROUNTRUNNER)
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (FROUNTRUNNER)
Tony Shaloub, Monk (DARK HORSE)
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men (IN WITH A CHANCE)
Lee Pace, Pushing (IN WITH A CHANCE)

Any of these ladies could win. Taylor is a respected veteran who delivers a lot of laughs and has the most overdue role of all the nominees but her tape has no closure so I think she will struggle. Poehler is so different to everyone else and she will ever get the most votes or the least and, with no precedent to base this, at the moment I’m going with the latter. Although Baby Mama and Tina Fey’s sucess could help. Smart has a decent but not great tape and her previous Emmy nominated role on drama series 24 will still be in voters’ minds. Add to that the respected veteran status of Taylor and you have a real contender. Then you have the best tape submitted and most deserving candidate in Kristen Chenowith who’s roles on broadway and a recent role in Emmy drama series contender may also in voters minds (not as much, probably as Smart). A victory for her will be one for the tape system, and the distinct style of Daisies and her memorable character place her in a good position. However I’m predicting Williams to win this year in the vein of Jamie Presley. She doesn’t have a great tape but has a good one and is slightly overdue from last year.

Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty (FROUNTRUNNER)
Kristen Chenowith, Pushing Daisies (FROUNTRUNNER)
Jean Smart, Samantha Who? (DARK HORSE)
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live (DARK HORSE)
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half (IN WITH A CHANCE)

Dillon’s saving grace is that actors could relate to him the best but if he couldn’t win with last year’s tape I don’t have much hope. His episode is trivial and if Entourage wins this it will be Piven, Peter Boyle learnt the hard way that the Emmys have no problem with not sharing the love. Cryer could score a win (despite not belonging anywhere near this category) he is overdue but if he does it will have nothing to do with his tape which is nothing special. To be honest I would pick Wilson for the win if he submitted The Lauch Party which was one of my favourite Dwight episodes of the series but with the poor choice I suspect he will have to wait another year. If the voters are Office fans and have admired his work on the show the tape could be good enough to score a win. Harris has a great shot with a pretty nice tape and a great character but his show isn’t an Emmy favourite show and he has to beat... Jeremy Piven, which I am a little hesitant in predicting, but I believe he has the best tape in this category quite comfortably and we know the Emmys love him. I am tempted to pick an upset, but I could even get that wrong with Harris, Wilson and even the other 2 being potential spoilers.

Jeremy Piven, Entourage (FRONTRUNNER)
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother (DARK HORSE)
Rainn Wilson, The Office (DARK HORSE)
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (IN WITH A CHANCE)
Kevin Dillon, Entourage (IN WITH A CHANCE)

And just so you know how little stock to put in these predictions here is my track record:

2007: America Fererra, Ugly Betty (CORRECT) - 2006: Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle (INCORRECT) - 2005: Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives (INCORRECT)

2007: Steve Carell, The Office (INCORRECT) - 2006: Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (INCORRECT) - 2005: Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond (INCORRECT)

2007: Jenna Fischer, The Office (INCORRECT) - 2006: Jamie Pressley, My Name Is Earl (INCORRECT) - 2005: Jessica Walter, Arrested Development (INCORRECT)

2007: Jeremy Piven, Entourage (CORRECT) - 2006: Will Arnett, Arrested Development (INCORRECT) - 2005: Peter Boyle, Everybody Loves Raymond (INCORRECT)

TRACK RECORD SCORE: 2/12 (Hopefully this year I will do better).

2nd Annual Noble Awards

2008-06-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

G'Day and welcome to my 2nd Annual Film Awards!
What a great year for film and unlike the Oscars the Noble Awards only honors the very best. So without any further ado here are the nominees and winners (which are identified by being the largest picture) for the 8 categories...

Thanks for reading my awards!

For the record here are my winners from last year:

"No Country" Beats "Blood" in Western Showdown

2008-02-26T23:21:00.000-08:00

Well after months of campaigning the Oscar seasons came down to 2 films for best picture: "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". At the end of the day although "Blood" picked up Lead Actor and best "Country" for Cinamatography it was "No Country" that nabbed Best Picture along with Director, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor.

Here are my thoughts of the night:

GREAT

LEAD ACTOR: Daniel Day Lewis’ very deserving win for what is likely the best performance in film last year.

CINAMATOGRAPHY: Glad to see any love thrown Blood’s way

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Great to not only see Michael Clayton honoured but also Swinton’s amazing performance in the film. The academy showed they are comfortable to go off the script to award the best.

ANIMATED FEATURE: Great to see the rat get an Oscar, although the film richly deserved to win more.

AVERAGE

DIRECTOR: The Coens would have been my 4th choice for the win (of the nominees) however I think the directing of this film was one of its strongest assets so am not too disappointed they won.

LEAD ACTRESS: I would have personally gone with Christie (or Linney who I haven’t seen), but Cotillard gave a good performance as well and I wasn’t too personally involved in this category. As long as Blanchett or Page didn’t win I was happy.

SUPPORTING ACTOR: I thought Wilkinson and Hoffman gave better performances and that Bardem should have been in lead. However a lot of people seem to think he’s supporting so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and he gave a strong performance.

SONG: I’m glad those 2 won (how good were their speeches?) and everyone knows Menkin didn’t need another one. However I did think “That’s How You Know” was the slightly better song, so I cant put this win in my ‘great’ section.

EDITING/SOUND EDITING/SOUND MIXING: The Bourne mini-sweep came from left field and I wouldn’t have voted for it in any of the categories (although I haven’t seen it either) but it wasn’t disappointing in any way, just surprising.

COSTUME DESIGN/MAKEIP: No surprises here and both deserved, but I would have voted for Sweeney in costumes.

HOST: Jon Steart did a nice job and had me laughing throughout the night (his Vanity Fair joke was the highlight) however failed to give a memorable performance similar to the likes of Billy Crystal or Steve Martin.

TERRIBLE

PICTURE: Once again the academy have failed to recognise the (at least near) masterpiece in the midst of the best picture nominees, well I guess now the Citizen Kane references are more spot on for There Will Be Blood. However even worse they give it to a film that I feel is incredibly flawed and overrated.

SCREENPLAY: Ironically enough I think that the weakest element of both of the films that won screenplay was in fact the screenplay. I guess both seemed inevitable but I was hoping the academy would realise how poor these screenplays were and acknowledge the far superior ones in each category.

ART DIRECTION: Perhaps I’m being a little harsh as the Sweeney Todd art direction was good but nothing compared to the art direction of There Will Be Blood this year.SCORE: Overrated and poor score from Atonement beating the much better score from Ratatouille, heck I’d give it to Michael Clayton before Atonement.

VISUAL EFFECT: I haven’t seen any of these films but it seems like Transformers should have won this hands

Annual Noble TV Awards

2008-01-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

G'Day,

Well the Emmy's did an OK job at honouring TV's best but here's my 2nd Annual Awards for TV - As voted by myself and various posters at theenvelope.com (underneath is my 1st annual awards in case you missed it):

Emmys "Rock" to a "Soprano" Tune

2007-12-18T02:07:00.000-08:00

So, here’s my new blog which will cover both the Emmy and Oscar races as well as my own personal awards for TV and Film. With the 59th Emmys Awards a few months behind us I thought it would be a good idea to start this blog by looking back at the best and worst moments of the night. The big winners were The Sopranos which won its second outstanding drama series trophy for its final season and 30 Rock which won outstanding comedy series for its first year on the screen.

SIMPLY THE BEST
Terry O'Quinn winning was probably the highlight of the night for me, he's one of the best characters on TV and makes a category that has a very strong list of past winners even stronger.

James Spader, another case of the best tape prevailing. He didn't need screen time, he didn't need buzz, he didn't need the overdue factor he just needed to be great and he was.

Sally Field was another great surprise although I wouldn't have minded her losing as much as the others.

GOOD

The Sopranos winning drama series, I probably would have voted Boston Legal but this season was very impressive and makes for a winner that isn't in the least embarrassing (like Grey's Anatomy or House would have been).

30 Rock winning comedy series. This should have been The Office's but it's a very good show and one of the better winners of the decade.

Ricky Gervais winning comedy actor. I love Carell a bit more (have to see his submission to see if he was robbed) but out of the others Gervais had the best tape and he is amazing as was Stewart, Colbert and Carell's antics afterwards.

Jeremy Piven, he won last year so his win didn't make me estatic but it was well deserved.

The Office writing win (however they couldn't really go wrong with all 5 nominees being great)

BAD

The Ugly Betty wins weren’t really that bad but I don't really like the show and Parker should have won actress plus nothing should have beaten the [Scrubs] musical for direction.

Kennedy and Heidi had an amazingly directed opening scene however the episode in it's entirety wasn't as good as Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Friday Night Lights or Studio 60’s nominated episodes, so it was a poor choice for best direction in a drama. I haven’t seen the Sopranos final yet but I was disappointed Battlestar Galactica missed out on writing in a drama.

THE CRIMINAL DECISIONS

No one should have beaten Jenna Fischer (there isn't another supporting actress on comedy TV that's in her league) add to that I don't like My Name is Earl or Jamie Pressly.

Heigel is the worst actress of all the nominees in this category and had the worst tape in the category (which I found weak to begin with). This win is close to inexplicable.

Colbert losing again, that's so ridiculous (you think they'd have learnt from last years Manilow-Gate) but at least he was a good sport and had (the winner) Tony Bennett on his show.

The Stage (I lost count as to how many winners / presenters complained about it?) and Ryan Seacrest, I thought he said he wasn't going to try to be funny, well he tried and failed.

Overall it was a good night (for winners not the show itself), but like every year could have been better.

For the record, I predicted correctely: Writing Drama (Sopranos "Made in America"), Directing Comedy (Ugly Betty "Pilot"), Supporting Actor Drama (O'Quinn), Supporting Actor Comedy (Piven), Lead Actor Drama (Spader) and Lead Actress Comedy (Fererra)

giving me 6/14 in the series categories