Emmy Awards: My Picks and Pans

OK, here are my initial thoughts about the winners and then some more ranting about the stupidity of Emmy voters.

Best Drama -- Grey's Anatomy, though I'd love for this to be the year of 24
Best Comedy -- Arrested Development (actors love this show and it snubs Fox)
Best Miniseries -- Elizabeth I (in a very weak field)
Best Talk/Variety -- Daily Show w Jon Stewart (once nominated, Emmy voters give it again and again. Probably the only category where all five nominees are worthy.)
Best Actor/Drama -- Kiefer Sutherland in 24 (it's his year, finally)
Best Actress/Drama -- Kyra Sedgwick in "The Closer"(just to prove they actually watch new shows)
Best Actor/Comedy -- Tony Shalhoub in Monk
Best Actress/Comedy (surely the weakest nominees of all) -- Debra Messing for Will & Grace because it would annoy me the most.

On a day when we could have been celebrating the Emmys for actually knowing what happened during the current season and rejecting Lost and Desperate Houswives, we instead had to bemoan the fact that they ignored all the new shows and picked series even more boring than them. Three of the top four actors on Will & Grace were nominated again. The West Wing. Malcolm in the Middle. Six Feet Under. The King of Queens. Is this 2006 or 2001? There's barely a category you can look at that doesn't seem bizarrely out of touch. Forget the fact that they ignored Gilmore Girls again or one of the best shows on TV, Battlestar Galactica, or any of a number of very good shows. They can barely muster up any enthusiasm for the current shows that are bad. All they did was focus on the dead or dying. This Emmys will set a record for nominations for shows that are no longer on the air -- Huff, Commander in Chief, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm (no final word, but another season isn't definite), The Comeback, Malcolm in the Middle, Will & Grace, and on and on. That's cool when you're recognizing a show killed before its time like Arrested Development or Cagney & Lacey. But when you're just knee-jerkily nominating the same names again and again it's terrible. Instead of shining the spotlight on new shows that could use a boost or God forbid simply honor the best shows on TV -- shows like Everybody Hates Chris, My Name Is Earl, Battlestar Galactica, etc. -- they're reminding us of all the shows we're glad are gone. Why would anyone who loves TV watch the Emmy Awards?