The 2001 Emmy nominations
July 13, 2001 6:56 AM Subscribe
The 2001 Emmy nominations were announced yesterday. The Sopranos and West Wing came in with 22 and 18 nominations each. Are these really the best that teevee has to offer?
Actually, I much prefer Hawaii Five-O Reruns!
posted by bob bisquick at 7:11 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by bob bisquick at 7:11 AM on July 13, 2001
what is this teevee thing that everyone is always talking about?
posted by almostcool at 7:25 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by almostcool at 7:25 AM on July 13, 2001
one word: simpsonsreruns.
posted by panopticon at 7:38 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by panopticon at 7:38 AM on July 13, 2001
Well, since the cancelled "Freaks And Geeks," I'd say yep, it is about as good as TV gets.
posted by spilon at 7:40 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by spilon at 7:40 AM on July 13, 2001
No Invader Zim? The blind fools.
posted by dong_resin at 7:47 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by dong_resin at 7:47 AM on July 13, 2001
I don't get why Letterman gets more nominations than Leno. Leno's show is far better.
posted by riffola at 8:30 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by riffola at 8:30 AM on July 13, 2001
Yup.
posted by barkingmoose at 8:35 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by barkingmoose at 8:35 AM on July 13, 2001
Soprano's, yes. West Wing: dubious melodrama. I can think of at least four shows consistently better than West Wing: NYPD Blue, Oz, Law & Order, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Six Feet Under is good, but still finding its tone, and I'm not sure it will succeed.
posted by MattD at 8:37 AM on July 13, 2001
Six Feet Under is good, but still finding its tone, and I'm not sure it will succeed.
posted by MattD at 8:37 AM on July 13, 2001
I can think of at least four shows consistently better than West Wing...Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Ouch. West Wing must be pretty bad.
This listing has made me realise how little TV I actually watch. Nevertheless, I will root for Conan and Jon (yes, I'm on a first name basis with them... just don't tell them).
posted by DyRE at 8:57 AM on July 13, 2001
Ouch. West Wing must be pretty bad.
This listing has made me realise how little TV I actually watch. Nevertheless, I will root for Conan and Jon (yes, I'm on a first name basis with them... just don't tell them).
posted by DyRE at 8:57 AM on July 13, 2001
(self link alert) I enjoy "Six Feet Under" too...and have links on my page to a couple of reviews of this intriguing series. One of the articles references it as a "13-part series." I hope that doesn't mean that there will only be 13 episodes total, and then no more.
posted by davidmsc at 8:59 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by davidmsc at 8:59 AM on July 13, 2001
I'm disappointed not to see ED get more nominations. Always a fun time in Stuckeyville. $10 says you won't ask Matt for an ice cream eating pony.
posted by monkeyboy at 9:01 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by monkeyboy at 9:01 AM on July 13, 2001
Six Feet Under has 13 episodes a season with HBO's weird 13-episodes twice a year thing that they do with all of their ongoing series. (Sopranos, Sex and The City, Dennis Miller, etc.) Thus far there is no word on whether it will be renewed for another 13-episode run. I hope to all that's good and holy that it is.
In any case, because of when the series started, it will be eligible for Emmys next year. If you notice which episodes of Sex and The City are up for noms right now, they're all from last summer and winter's runs, not from the batch of new shows airing now.
In any case, my only disappointment is the lack of a best lead actor in a drama nom for Sam Waterston. His work on Law & Order this year stands head and shoulders above the tired, played out, getting-nominated-just-cuz-it's-him malarky doled out by Franz on NYPD Blech.
posted by Dreama at 9:08 AM on July 13, 2001
In any case, because of when the series started, it will be eligible for Emmys next year. If you notice which episodes of Sex and The City are up for noms right now, they're all from last summer and winter's runs, not from the batch of new shows airing now.
In any case, my only disappointment is the lack of a best lead actor in a drama nom for Sam Waterston. His work on Law & Order this year stands head and shoulders above the tired, played out, getting-nominated-just-cuz-it's-him malarky doled out by Franz on NYPD Blech.
posted by Dreama at 9:08 AM on July 13, 2001
As much as I love "Buffy", the second season of "The West Wing" was absolutely the best thing I've seen on televsion since the late, lamented 19 ep run of "My So-Called Life" - brilliant, witty, smart writing, excellent characterization and, ye gods and little fishes, three minutes worth of Latin ranting, untranslated (e.g., we trust our audience enough to understand why we're doing this and why it makes sense for the character to speak in Latin) in the season finale! No other series so consistently made me laugh, think and cry (and I do not cry) as did "TWW".
My money is on "Six Feet Under" to become next year's Emmy princess, and deservedly so.
As for the rest: Marg Hellenberger? Jeezus. Kelsey Grammar? Oh yeah, because he grows as an actor every year - not. And yawn for the rest.
posted by gsh at 9:08 AM on July 13, 2001
My money is on "Six Feet Under" to become next year's Emmy princess, and deservedly so.
As for the rest: Marg Hellenberger? Jeezus. Kelsey Grammar? Oh yeah, because he grows as an actor every year - not. And yawn for the rest.
posted by gsh at 9:08 AM on July 13, 2001
I can think of at least four shows consistently better than West Wing: NYPD Blue, Oz, Law & Order, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Oz is a hilariously terrible show. It's impossible to maintain suspension of disbelief in a prison where a small group of people visit new and unusual forms of sadism and violence on each other week after week. Everyone has humped, raped, or attempted to kill everyone else at this point -- Homicide cocreator Tom Fontana had an opportunity to tell a realistic and harrowing story, and he chose to make it Melrose Prison instead.
posted by rcade at 9:15 AM on July 13, 2001
Oz is a hilariously terrible show. It's impossible to maintain suspension of disbelief in a prison where a small group of people visit new and unusual forms of sadism and violence on each other week after week. Everyone has humped, raped, or attempted to kill everyone else at this point -- Homicide cocreator Tom Fontana had an opportunity to tell a realistic and harrowing story, and he chose to make it Melrose Prison instead.
posted by rcade at 9:15 AM on July 13, 2001
I never really saw the appeal of The Sopranos. I guess it must be the strip club scenes.
as for the rest of HBO's roster, nothing is worse than the impossibly banal Sex In The City, and little else is better than Six Feet Under and the depressingly undersung Oz.
posted by mcsweetie at 9:30 AM on July 13, 2001
as for the rest of HBO's roster, nothing is worse than the impossibly banal Sex In The City, and little else is better than Six Feet Under and the depressingly undersung Oz.
posted by mcsweetie at 9:30 AM on July 13, 2001
I was kind of disappointed Queer as Folk didn't get at least one nod, but then, nobody watches Showtime anyways.
posted by benjh at 9:44 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by benjh at 9:44 AM on July 13, 2001
I don't get why Letterman gets more nominations than Leno. Leno's show is far better.
Conan wipes the floor with both of them...
posted by owillis at 9:47 AM on July 13, 2001
Conan wipes the floor with both of them...
posted by owillis at 9:47 AM on July 13, 2001
Awesome -- Malcolm in the Middle got a bunch of nominations based on the "Bowling" episode. I love that one.
i just saw that last week and it was brilliant! Okay, so maybe not brilliant, but thoroughly enjoyable... The part where he walks up the alley shouting "Look at me! Bowling is so important to me!" is hilarious.
posted by lotsofno at 10:48 AM on July 13, 2001
i just saw that last week and it was brilliant! Okay, so maybe not brilliant, but thoroughly enjoyable... The part where he walks up the alley shouting "Look at me! Bowling is so important to me!" is hilarious.
posted by lotsofno at 10:48 AM on July 13, 2001
I tried to watch one episode of Six Feet Under. Quit when I reached the gratuitous shot of a dead man's erect penis. There is absolutely no reason I'd ever want to look at a dead man's erect penis, or even a reasonable facsimile thereof. I'm hardly a prude; part of my disgust is with the fact that the only reason that shot was in there was to shock people. Just because you can show a dead man's penis on television doesn't mean you have to.
I expect, however, that they will win an Emmy next year, because anything that shocks people is obviously Art.
posted by kindall at 10:53 AM on July 13, 2001
I expect, however, that they will win an Emmy next year, because anything that shocks people is obviously Art.
posted by kindall at 10:53 AM on July 13, 2001
If you don't like 6FU, that's totally fine. But as a fan of the show I will add that the dead man's penis wasn't a normal occurance on the show. The show is rarely about shock value alone.
posted by emoeby at 11:14 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by emoeby at 11:14 AM on July 13, 2001
"Dead Man's Penis" will be a band name before the end of the week.
posted by lileks at 11:40 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by lileks at 11:40 AM on July 13, 2001
And actually, there was a reason to show the dead man's erect penis -- to illustrate yet another of the macabre oddities that undertakers face from day to day, and why choosing that career (lifestyle?) was such a difficult decision for the lead character to make.
The following episode's corpse had been cut into many pieces in an industrial accident, which led to quite a bit of dark comedy (and a very clever plot-drive) with a severed foot.
Each week tends to feature some strange little twist about the body of the featured decedent, be it that they rise from the dead and talk to the other brother, or that they need cans of cat food to perk up their drooping bosoms. In context it becomes clear that it's not meant to dishonour the dead or simply to shock -- everything is carefully crafted to reveal something about a living character.
posted by Dreama at 11:40 AM on July 13, 2001
The following episode's corpse had been cut into many pieces in an industrial accident, which led to quite a bit of dark comedy (and a very clever plot-drive) with a severed foot.
Each week tends to feature some strange little twist about the body of the featured decedent, be it that they rise from the dead and talk to the other brother, or that they need cans of cat food to perk up their drooping bosoms. In context it becomes clear that it's not meant to dishonour the dead or simply to shock -- everything is carefully crafted to reveal something about a living character.
posted by Dreama at 11:40 AM on July 13, 2001
I risk a disapproving "Grrrrr!" from my wife whenever I mention it, but I refer to the nasty HBO series as "Sluts in the City." Or "Skanks in the City."
And consider this: if there was a show about four cosmopolitan guys who sat around talking about their various conquests, or pursuit thereof, and discussing same in descriptive terms equivalent to the four females on SITC, the show would (betcha) be roundly criticized for being boorish, piggish, repressive, and insensitive. At best.
posted by davidmsc at 11:41 AM on July 13, 2001
And consider this: if there was a show about four cosmopolitan guys who sat around talking about their various conquests, or pursuit thereof, and discussing same in descriptive terms equivalent to the four females on SITC, the show would (betcha) be roundly criticized for being boorish, piggish, repressive, and insensitive. At best.
posted by davidmsc at 11:41 AM on July 13, 2001
Lileks: I'm sure you meant a band with the name "Dead Man's ERECT Penis." Uplifting & hard-driving music, no doubt. Gawd, the comic possibilities inherent in that name are endless. No, wait...that's it. Sorry.
posted by davidmsc at 11:55 AM on July 13, 2001
posted by davidmsc at 11:55 AM on July 13, 2001
"Dead Man's Penis" sounds like an Oingo-Boingo cover band, now that I think of it.
posted by lileks at 12:12 PM on July 13, 2001
posted by lileks at 12:12 PM on July 13, 2001
Sounds like a minor revision to Blind Man's Penis. Its chorus makes even more sense with "Blind" changed to "Dead."
posted by kindall at 12:45 PM on July 13, 2001
posted by kindall at 12:45 PM on July 13, 2001
...if there was a show about four cosmopolitan guys who sat around talking about their various conquests, or pursuit thereof, and discussing same in descriptive terms equivalent to the four females on SITC, the show would (betcha) be roundly criticized for being boorish, piggish, repressive, and insensitive. At best.
Davidmsc, meet Queer as Folk (USA).
(Though I have to say I love the original UK miniseries too much to be able to get into the USA version.)
posted by Zettai at 11:54 PM on July 13, 2001
Davidmsc, meet Queer as Folk (USA).
(Though I have to say I love the original UK miniseries too much to be able to get into the USA version.)
posted by Zettai at 11:54 PM on July 13, 2001
I still enjoy Law & Order quite a bit, even though none of the original cast members are still on it.
posted by ry at 10:29 AM on July 20, 2001
posted by ry at 10:29 AM on July 20, 2001
Leno's show is much better? You've GOT to be kidding. It's not only really bad, it's vile. An unfunny, phony, forced hour of garbage. Letterman remains the true heir to the Carson late-night throne.
posted by sassone at 4:59 PM on July 20, 2001
posted by sassone at 4:59 PM on July 20, 2001
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posted by caraig at 7:03 AM on July 13, 2001