Quality Wins

Can a high-quality television show have a major impact, even if no one watches it? In the world of the Emmy Awards, the answer, more or less, is a faith-restoring yes. When the Emmy nominations were announced Thursday morning, two of television's best—but most ratings-challenged—shows ended up on top. Those would be NBC's "30 Rock," which led comedies with a whopping 17 nominations (the most ever for a comedy), and AMC's "Mad Men" which was right behind, leading the drama field with 16 nominations. (To put this in perspective, both shows landed more nominations than "The Sopranos" did for its farewell season.) This year's list of nominees certainly left out some worthy performers and shows, but it suggests that the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) is getting closer to a nomination system that's designed to reward quality.

It's a tricky thing to come up with a system for evaluating art. That's why, some 60 years into the Emmy's existence, ATAS is still tweaking the method they use to whittle an impossibly large field into a list short enough to fit inside a small envelope. They once relied strictly on a popular vote by its membership, a method that benefits stalwarts, or strictly on small panels of judges, which benefits shows that submit a particularly compelling episode (Emmy voters don't have time to watch them all.)
 
This year, ATAS used a combination of popular vote and panel votes to come up with the nominees, and it appears to have worked in the favor of shows and performers who wouldn't have had a shot in prior years. "Mad Men," along with FX's "Damages," both made history by being the first basic-cable shows nominated in the best drama series category. Elsewhere, Amy Poehler of "Saturday Night Live" nabbed a nod for her performance in the best supporting actress in a comedy category, making her the first not-ready-for-primetime player in the show's history to be nominated in a category typically reserved for traditional comedies. And Showtime's previously overlooked "Dexter" landed nominations for its lead actor, Michael C. Hall, and a best drama nom for the series. With the new voting system and the lack of 400-pound gorillas like "The Sopranos" in the running, pleasant surprises abounded.

But of course, the new system also led to unfortunate slights. HBO's "The Wire" is likely to go down in history as the most critically embraced drama series to never be nominated for best drama. In years past, the combination of its lack of recognition and the fact that it ended last season would have given it a boost. But while the popular vote was enough to land it in among the semifinalists, the panels that viewed the submitted episode (the series finale, "-30-") must have roundly disagreed. "The Wire" received a best writing for a drama nomination, but went without a single series, acting or directing nod.

Despite this, HBO managed, as usual, to dominate with 85 nominations, more than any other network. But this year, HBO's showing wasn't as much based on its original series as on its movies and mini-series events. "John Adams" received more nominations than anyone this year, a staggering 23, while "Recount" picked up 11 and "Bernard and Doris" scored 10. Between its series entries, HBO only managed to pick up 26 nominations. That sounds like a lot, but consider the fact that AMC picked up 20 nominations for its two original shows, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad," while HBO's nominations are spread across eight of its series. Also, it's the first time in a decade that HBO hasn't gotten an entry in the best drama category. HBO certainly isn't disappointed with its 85 noms, but where original series are concerned, these factoids lend credence to the notion that AMC is the scrappy David to HBO's towering Goliath.

There was also a mixed result for ABC, which still leads noncable networks with 76 nominations, six more than the network received last year. But its tentpole series weren't responsible for the gains. Last year's comedy leader, "Ugly Betty," seemed to run into the same sophomore slump that plagued ABC hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" before it. After leading the comedy field last year with 11 nominations, "Betty" pulled up short this year with six noms. And the wildly popular "Grey's Anatomy" is down to five noms from last year's 10. (Hopefully for "Grey's" creator Shonda Rimes, aggrieved star Katherine Heigl isn't the "I told you so" type.) Luckily ABC had a surprisingly solid showing from freshman series "Pushing Daisies," which garnered 12 nominations.

If I have to nitpick, and obviously I do, I have to call out the omission of Amy Ryan as guest actress in a comedy for her incredible performance on the season finale of "The Office." The show's mockumentary style is not the easiest thing to adapt to, but Ryan immediately took to the format. Perhaps she'll have another run at it next year, as she's joining the cast as a recurring character. I also have gripes with the nomination of James Spader of "Boston Legal," yet again. He's never lost this category when he's been nominated, and if he repeated his win from last year, it would be a travesty of justice considering that every last one of his five competitors are more deserving.