PUSHING DAISIES “The Norwegians”: But Isn’t Stockholm in Sweden?

We’ve devoted considerable attention (read: whinerpantsering) to the mystery of why the delightful Pushing Daisies has not been successful at capturing enough hearts to stay alive. “The Norwegians” may help provide some answers. While I adored it–how could I not? It addressed a key character issue that sticks in my craw and had a higher-than-average [...]

30 ROCK, MAD MEN, CLOSER Top SAG Noms

This year’s Screen Actors Guild nominations, announced this morning, seem to look an awful lot like last year’s SAG nominations. There were only a few surprises, among them well-deserved nods for Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss and Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union. Also, oddly, this is the first year that House has been nominated for [...]

Golden Globe Television Nominees Offer Few Surprises

The 66th annual Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Although the televised ceremony (AKA the drinky Oscars) is generally a rip-roaring good time due to the mingling of film and television stars and the copious amounts of alcohol consumed by attendees, the awards themselves are invariably somewhat dubious, [...]

THE WIRE, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Recognized by WGA

The Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East today announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, radio, news, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2008 season. Obviously, we only care about television. And we’re excited, because finally someone has given The Wire and Friday Night Lights their due. And [...]

Emmys with a Side of Bacon

Susannah and I have been kicking back at the Emmys for a good long time now. We’ve wept. We’ve wailed. We’ve gnashed our teeth. Personally, I’ve worn sackcloth and ashes, but that’s just my general fashion aesthetic.
Part of the issue is that we can’t put our finger on what the problem is–something’s wrong (really, Academy–Entourage? [...]

Handy Dandy Guide to Returning Fall Television 2008

Suffering from Olympics withdrawal? Burned out on election coverage? Not to fear, my friend, because the new fall television season is upon us. That’s right, all (well, some) of our beloved TV shows are coming back to us. Below is a list of premiere dates for all our favorite (and some not-so-favorite) returning series. And [...]

Peabody Awards Honor Truthiness

The Peabody Awards–given each year for excellence in electronic media–have a great track record for honoring quality TV that sometimes isn’t the most visible. Previous honorees include fare as diverse as The Office, Battlestar Galactica, Good Eats, and Viva Blackpool (leading, sadly, to the debacle that was Viva Laughlin). This year’s winners include 30 Rock, [...]

LOST Leads Saturn Noms

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has announced the nominations for the 34th annual Saturn Awards, with ABC’s Lost garnering seven nods in the television categories. Showtime’s Dexter scored five noms and NBC’s Heroes received four.
The Academy, founded in 1972 by film historian Donald A. Reed, is a nonprofit organization devoted to [...]

2007 PGA Television Nominees

The Producers Guild of America unveiled its television production award nominations on Tuesday. The winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 2, at–you guessed it–the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
A complete list of television nominees is behind the cut…

2007 ACE Eddies Nominations

The American Cinema Editors have announced the nominees for their annual Eddie Awards, including, for the first time, a category for reality television programs. Winners will be announced at a nontelevised ceremony Feb. 16 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
The Eddies are interesting because they separate the one-hour television nominees into separate categories for [...]