By LillyKatPTR Senior Staff Writer
Last year, we swore off the Emmys.
This year, we might have to reconsider.
The best of television is now on cable - basic cable, that is - and the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Nominations concur.
PTR Fave Damages made history this morning as one of the first basic cable programs to garner a nomination for best drama series. Additionally, our faves of Glenn Close (Damages), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and Holly Hunter (Saving Grace) all earned nods in the best actress category.
True, there are still snubs. PTR Fave Annabeth Gish of Brotherhood still has not been recognized for her brilliant performance as Eileen Caffee nor has Kathryn Morris of Cold Case. Then again, this is the Emmys, so we can't completely avoid the snubbage.
But can I honestly say I'm sorry Desperate Housewives isn't included for the 9 zillionth time, or that HBO isn't dominating every single category? No. Better still, am I sorry that the best actress category doesn't actually just look like the cast of DH, or is stacked with every actor on HBO? Again, no. And, much as I wish Kathryn Morris would get her due, do I think the procedurals are churning out their best work these days? No ... except, perhaps, for Law Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay, who is once again nominated this year.Give credit to Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) for having the chutzpah to
With this year's noms, consider the networks put on notice that their overkill on lame-arse reality series and beat-until-dead procedural formulas are not nearly as interesting as they once were.
Says Close: "I think [cable's] changed the landscape of television ... [and while] I don't believe in comparison among artists, given the amazing number of talented people in this profession, to be included with a distinguished group of people is a huge honor."
Amen Glenn.
Cable is where it's at.
And finally, this year is a set of Emmy nominations I can get behind.
The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Sept. 21 and broadcast on ABC. Other Emmy honors, including those for technical achievement and guest actors and actresses in series, will be given at the creative arts ceremony on Sept. 13.
Nominees (bold indicates a PTR Fave):
Outstanding Drama Series:
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men
Outstanding Comedy Series
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
Two And A Half Men
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
James Spader, Boston Legal
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
William Shatner, Boston Legal
Ted Danson, Damages
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
John Slattery, Mad Men
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Steve Carell, The Office
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Kevin Dillion, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Tiny Fey, 30 Rock
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures Of Old Christine
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jean Smart, Samantha Who?
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Holland Taylor, Two And A Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Sources: AP; Emmys.tv
As a brief lesson to the uninitiated, the TCAs (Television Critics Association) are when the networks and cable channels have television critics from all over the country (and sometimes, the world) out to Los Angeles for two weeks to talk about what you should be watching on their channels. Translated, that means you sit through a lot of panels, and try to keep your eyes propped open Clockwork Orange style to glean information about the upcoming onslaught of new stuff from the boob tube.
The news: Hallmark is working on over 30 original movies, which means you’ll get to see mainstay stars like Ed Asner, John Schneider, Daphne Zuniga, and Donna Mills in constant rotation.
The news: Mark Cuban’s HDNet sometimes seems like a lifeline for independent films, but other times it seems like a floundering stab in the dark at trying to capture more moviegoing dollars. HDNet now premieres certain movies on Wednesday nights before they come out in the theaters on HDNet for “free,” meaning if you’re a subscriber to that channel, it’s free. Basically it’s a dumb way of saying “you’re paying for it.” You know, like the movies you see on HBO are “free.”
The news: BBC America is launching three new shows on their network, as well as adding Ted Koppel of 
Comcast had an odd mix of shows for us, presenting a new reality show for the Style Network, and touting two of their long-running shows on G4 and E! Thankfully the latter two came at the end of the day when the energy needle was bouncing on zero, and it helped wake me up and carry me through the evening.
I also asked her what she’s most looking forward to this second season. Simply, she feels as if the show is being taken to the next level.
On what her favorite things are about portraying Grace: "I think the most thrilling part about her is how alive she is. She’s truly alive. So many people are kind of asleep for long periods of time in their days and in their lives. I think Grace spends an extraordinary amount of her time really awake to possibilities, and awake to a real, true curiosity about why people do what they do. And I think that she’s also a real tester of what people are capable of, and what she herself is capable of.”
On what she enjoys most when she heads home to Georgia: "The Fox Theater and the Pleasant Peasant – right next door to the Fox. I always love to go there. I tried to hook up a tour of the Fox not long ago, and I’m just dying to do it. It’s one of the great theaters in the world, I think. And I love Krispy Kreme donuts downtown. I don’t know, I think it might be the second one in the United States. I just remember going to it as a tiny child, and it’s a place I feel I always have to go back to when I go home – which is about twice a year."
But alas, I digress. And make Jon laugh.
“So, Fritz had one scene in the pilot. I read [that] and said, ‘I don’t know what your intentions are with this character, but that’s personally what I would do if I were to do a romantic thing.’ Ironically enough, they didn’t honestly know if the role of Fritz was even going to come back seeing as it was just originally put in to further some of the exposition [of the story]. So, I basically talked myself [down] into a one scene part,” he says with a laugh.
“His patience is definitely one of his best qualities,” says Jon. “I think he’s intuitive and understanding. He reads people pretty well. He’s psychologically perceptive. I think that’s one of the reasons he’s able to be as patient as he is with some of Brenda’s insanity. Because he sees the bigger, broader picture, he’s able to put things in perspective. I also think he’s working very hard to be conscious and present in the world and, by extension, obviously in the relationship with her. It started more last year, and it’s really being developed this year. In one of the episodes early on this season, they have a great confrontation. She crosses some lines, and he gets very upset with her. But he says, ‘You have got to be honest with where you’re coming from and what you’re doing. I’m not going to judge you as to whether it’s right or wrong, or good or bad. It’s not about that. It’s about being clear with what your intentions are and what you’re doing.’ So, I think that’s a strength of his.”
“Oh, I think there are a lot of similarities. Absolutely. Well, I’m about to have a draft beer, so I’m not in recovery as far as that goes,” he says with a laugh.
"In terms of film, or something that’s got a smaller scope, it really always comes down to the story – a good story. I always ask myself, ‘Is this a story I want to tell? Why are we telling this story, and why are we telling this story now, at this time in the world?’ And sometimes, other people won’t like [something], but I’ll read [it] and say [maybe]. I just did this film – a big, sort of sci-fi, apocalyptic movie – that’s going to come out next year [called Legion]. I’d never done a movie with a whole lot of CGI and all that stuff. It filmed in Santa Fe [New Mexico] - a place I had always wanted to visit. So, sometimes, it’s just the overall [new] experience I’m interested in.”
Oh, yes. We know. It's one of the reasons why we are, unfortunately, getting quite bored with the procedural formula trap that some of our favorite shows (ahem, Cold Case) have fallen-and-can’t-get-up from at the moment. It’s great to have the cases, the crime, the bad guy off the street. But we also need to feel something for those protagonists – to care about their personal lives in some way so as to keep us invested week in, week out. We, as viewers, need to see the personal, or else we will just.stop.caring.
“Well, I have to say again that’s really gratifying to hear,” says Jon. “That’s certainly been our hope – and that’s certainly been my hope – that it would be received that way, but to actually hear that is extremely gratifying. I think it’s a tricky thing – especially in a show that has a crime story every week. You have to tell that story, solve the case, [work within] all those constraints, but the personal stuff has to be significant enough to make an impact even if it's not a whole lot of scenes. There have been a lot of shows that say, well, we’ll go home with the characters – we’ll see them at work and we’ll see them at home. And invariably, one side always gets the short end of the stick. So, it’s very satisfying to hear that [we seem to be doing it right].”
“There are a couple of great ones coming up this season - like episode three ['Live Wire']. That's the one where I really sort of lay things on the line for Brenda. We end up working a case together, and she lies to me in a very significant way. So, I kind of let her have it at the end. I enjoyed the fight we had because it was weighted with a lot of stuff – there was a big history given to it as a result of the whole arc of our relationship, and so I felt like they gave voice to something that had been brewing for long time. It was very satisfying. And, you know, I loved asking her to marry me – I loved that episode ['Manhunt']. I love the episode where I confided in her about my history ['Til Death Do Us Part'].”
Says Jon: “From a professional standpoint, I just love working with these actors. I’m always challenged and excited by all of them, I love tossing the ball around. But, I just love working [in general] - I like getting up and going to work every day. Some episodes are more challenging than others, but there is always something really satisfying [for me] about just going to work. Plus, it’s a fun set to go to. Personally, I enjoy the fact the [filming] schedule is not as long [as network schedules], and it films primarily over the summer. [That is really great] for my own personal life. You know, I’ve got my daughter – she’s 10-years-old, she’s going to be going into fifth grade. So, [this allows me] to be in and around town, there at her school. And since a big chunk of my work is during summer vacation, I don’t miss a lot of her school year. You know, one of the things you always do as an actor is you travel a lot because you’re always going where the work is. So, the fact that this is local is just fantastic. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I love to work. But from a life stand point, this is pretty great for me at the moment.”
By LillyKat
Spoken like a true producer, for whom Sedgwick is on the show, which begins its fourth season Monday, July 14th at 9 p.m. on TNT. Things look to get even more interesting between not only Brenda and the squad, but more importantly, between Brenda and fiancé Fritz Howard (played by the fabulous Jon Tenney).
“[My] parents will come back. That’s always fun and interesting to see the child that [Brenda] becomes when her parents are there,” says Kyra. “We have another amazing batch of scripts. I don’t know how the writers do it. My feeling is that we have never underestimated our audience’s ability to roll with change-ups. With one episode, we’ll give them incredibly dark, gritty, sad, grizzly show. Then, in the next show, we’ll give them slapstick comedy with a coffin rolling down some steps and a body falling out. I think [our audience] seems to like both equally well. We really trust they'll like what we give them. We never underestimate their intelligence.”
You’ve got to hand it to 
"I think when one show gets popular, it sort of [sets a] trend,” says Leon Rippy, who portrays Angel Earl. “I’m glad to see it because there was a shortage of it for a long time. I like to see flawed, female characters.”
Perhaps none are more crazy, mixed-up and conflicted than Grace Hanadarko, who blurs the line between … well, just about anything and everything that involves a line. The woman who portrays Grace relishes the freedom that has come with the ground-breaking role. But, when I asked her where Grace ranks among all the characters she’s portrayed in her illustrious career, Holly Hunter says she has a hard time ranking any of her characters.
“There’s a certain amount of freedom we have just by being on cable,” says Toussaint. “[Creator and executive producer] Nancy [Miller] and [co-executive producer] Gary [Randall] pretty much take the heat. I know Nancy goes to the mat, and I know Holly goes to the mat [for us] in terms of we can/can’t do. You know, [this] ain’t Touched by an Angel - and that’s a good thing. I think a show like [this] is really pushing the envelope – questioning spirituality, the responsibility of the church and religion to us in this day and age. We’re moving forward, and the church has got to keep up with the ideas of what is God, who has God, who doesn’t – all of that stuff has to be busted wide open, and I think [the producers are] enjoying the provocativeness of what they’re bringing out.”
"TNT has definitely given us a long leash,” says Bailey Chase, who portrays Detective Butch Ada. “We’re able to make the show we want to make. As actors, we’re able to say things we wouldn’t be able to say on network television, [which] makes it interesting for us. [And] week to week, we don’t really know what we’re going to get. Whereas Law and Order is a great show, there is certain [formula whereby] you pretty much know what you’re going to get. The names and faces are going to change in terms of the guest cast, but SVU is SVU. Saving Grace is more a show about life, and life is messy. It connects, but it’s not a straight line. It’s all over the place.”
"I do know there is a certain part of Rhetta – a certain aspect to that character – that is not experiencing a hurricane like everyone else,” says San Giacomo. “She’s just waiting to catch people as they get spun out. I mean, it’s all about Grace – it’s all about loving Grace, Grace’s life …”
"[My character on The Shield] had a conscience about what he did, but yet he constantly broke the law. Here, it becomes a little more real. [Ham] doesn’t cross that line as much. I can drink, I can kind of get out of line, but [it’s only] to a degree. It’s much more to the book. [And when I came here], I’d never played a leading man [alongside] a female ever in my career. I did a little bit of it on Cold Case, but for me to play opposite of a female [character] that I have this complete feeling for [both] as a partner and as a human being is definitely touching a lot places I didn’t previously explore. There are a lot of layers going on that I didn’t have to deal with on The Shield [but of which] I’m dealing with here.
"I was never really the kind of actor who thought he would find himself as a series regular. So, for me to really be enjoying it as much as I am is because the writing is great, and the cast is really, really great – not just as talent, but as people. The producers are hands-on and effective, but also, they’re creative individuals. [That] is kind of a rare dichotomy to have a producer be efficient [but also] have sort of a creative mindset about stuff.
“It’s easy to get complacent, [but when] we got here [for] this second season, [the] look in everybody’s eye was like, ‘Let’s do it, man.’ Because now, we’ve got a season under our belt, now people know what we can do, [so] let’s show them what we can [really] do. So, I think it’s going to set you up [nicely]. The writings [are] even tighter – if that is possible. People are really eager to get what’s been written and really [make it good]. I think that the episodes are even better than last season.