What I Want from Emmy Night

I can’t say that I ever cared about the Emmys. When you favorite show as a child is MacGyver, you’re not gonna have much to care about come awards night. About the only time I had a mild interest in the television awards was the year of Rachel’s pregnancy on Friends. I really wanted to see Jennifer Aniston and the show rewarded for a tremendous season so late in its run. But other than that, I really haven’t had any personal investment in the show.

But tomorrow night, I’ll spend my Sunday evening rooting for a handful of performers and programs that have given me a new understanding of great storytelling. I’m not fully invested in the entire slate of awards, but these five will have my full attention.

Lead Actor in a Comedy:

When I came back from my internship at NBC in Burbank, I couldn’t say enough about this upstart show called Scrubs. I was fortunate enough to spend a day with this cast during an extensive promotional photo shoot, and even having not seen the show (though I would at press tour) the cast was universally approachable and personable. After dealing with some Hollywood types on previous shoots, it was a pleasure running into this cast that I wanted to succeed.

At the top of that cast was Zach Braff, the one person I didn’t recognize at the shoot. For somebody who was clearly in over his head when the show began, Braff has shown remarkable versatility handling the diverse requirements of a hard-to-define comedy. He handles the absurdity cut-aways -- like the Fonz as ER magician -- as well as the more serious dramatic moments with remarkable skill. Comedy is hard, and Scrubs’ brand of comedy damn near impossible.

But Braff isn’t the only performer carrying a show built on difficult comedic situations. Jason Bateman has established himself as a remarkably savy and subtle comic mind as the head Bluth on Arrested Development. Surrounded by lunacy, Bateman’s straight-man reactions to his family are funnier than most of the broad comedy that the show excels at. This show does not work without him, and considering it’s the funniest show on television, that makes him television comedy’s MVP.

This is the only category where I’m hedging my bets, because I’d be thrilled for either of these actors.

Best Comedy Series:

If Arrested Development is the funniest comedy on television, Scrubs is the most versatile. For four seasons Scrubs has managed to turn out a consistently hilarious show with a surprisingly warm heart. Every episode deals with the trying conditions of a hospital, with death meeting life with unfortunate frequency, but does so with a humor that felt revolutionary after the dearth of hospital procedurals in the late 90’s. It has maintained all of its freshness over the years, and if Emmy refuses to recognize the brilliant John C. McGinley they can at least honor his show.

Best Actor in a Drama:

This one should be academic. Hugh Laurie took what could have been a completely unlikable, but brilliant physician and turned him into a must-watch character. House is not innovative in its plotting. In fact, it’s shockingly predictable. But none of it matters with Gregory House at the helm. I look at this category much as how I view the MVP award in baseball. My vote goes to the guy whose loss would completely desimate his team. Can you imagine House without, well, House? It’d probably look a lot like ER. The horror. This is my best chance for a good night.

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama:

This is my favorite character on television. Terry O’Quinn had the honorable distinction of having the “oh shit” moment that cemented Lost as the must watch show of the year. When John Locke backed away from his travel agent’s desk revealing himself as a wheelchair bound parapalegic, viewers knew they were in from an unpredictable ride.

And the personification of this unpredictability is John Locke. From his first mysterious moments where he alternated from knife-throwing bushman to orange-peel smiling, creepy old man, it was impossible to get a read on this messiah-in-training. Simultaneously stirring our sympathies and our suspicions, O’Quinn’s masterfully subtle performance jerks viewers back and forth between allegiance and aversion. With the mystery of the island still in its infancy, Locke has been able to maintain a moral ambiguity that has been the most fascinating character arc of the show. Hopefully, they’ll be able to maintain that as the castaways divide between Jack’s camp and Locke’s camp. If O’Quinn’s performance this season was any indication, viewers are in for a torturous decision.

Best Drama:

I’ve already written an entire blog on this show, so this should be no secret. Not only the best show this year, the best show I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it may be a little too “different” to garner the night’s highest honor despite it’s extraordinary quality (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and early X-Files). I’m not holding me breath, but something tells me that if the voters actually watched this show its superiority will be impossible to ignore. Unfortunately, from what I understand about the Emmys, they’re renowned for ignoring the best of television.