Emmys 2010 Nominations: ‘Dexter,’ ‘Glee’ and ‘Mad Men’

The Emmy Awards 2010, honoring achievements in television, both in series and films, will take place and be aired on NBC at the end of August. This morning, the nominees for all the categories were announced and, while some choices were expected, others were made for purely practical reasons, namely to please audiences, CinemaBlend believes. Unfortunately, others agree.

As is usually the case with major awards ceremonies, debates are bound to start – and one only has to think about the Academy Awards (the Oscars) and how much criticism the choices made there usually generate to get a vague idea. This year with the Emmys is no exception even though a strange thing can be noted: while HBO’s “The Pacific” leads the pack with 24 nods in total, “Glee” got 19 nominations in all comedy categories and “Mad Men” followed suit with 17 nods, it’s the Outstanding Drama category that’s getting people hot under the collar.

According to CinemaBlend, for instance, there are at least two (possibly three) names that should not have made the cut into what is undoubtedly the biggest, most prestigious category in the entire awards ceremony: “Dexter” and “True Blood,” with the latter being the oddest choice of the two. Actor Michael C. Hall, who plays serial killer / blood spatter analyst Dexter on the show, also scored a nomination in the Lead Actor, Drama category, which he more than deserves. However, the show, while incredibly popular and enjoying the support of a very solid fanbase, should not even have been considered as Outstanding Drama, the aforementioned publication says.

“In a clear case of ‘We picked some deserving shows and then picked the glitzy and entertaining ones to round out the group,’ the Emmy nominators took the Outstanding Drama Series category and made some pretty huge mistakes that can make one question how such oversights are possible.[…] True Blood and Dexter, while very entertaining are clearly not in the same league as the other nominees and have zero to less than zero chances of winning. They were included for one of two reasons: 1. They are extremely entertaining and garner a fair share of media buzz, so the Emmy people put them in to appease some unseen viewer fan base. 2. The nominators were so fooled by Dexter’s outward charm and Vampire Bill’s glamoring as to put them in the running. It makes no sense,” CinemaBlend says.

While “True Blood” is vapid, albeit entertaining, “Dexter” has depth and substance but lacks longevity. “Michael C. Hall is deserving of his Best Actor nomination as he is one of the truly memorable, disturbing, likable and layered characters to come along in quite awhile. My issue with the Showtime drama is, after Dex, what else is there? I would contend, not a whole lot. That was fine for Season One when we were exploring the depth of his psyche. But subsequent seasons like the third (a tour-de-force acting job by John Lithgow not withstanding) showed that beyond Dexter there wasn’t really anything happening in this world. Sure characters fall in and out of love, but do we really care? Most of that is filler until we get to the juicy parts. Is it entertaining? Of course. But an award winning drama? Far from it,” the same report argues.

As also noted above, several other media outlets are saying the same: this year, the Emmy Award nominations are biased, having been made on grounds of popularity and commercial success instead of quality and true value. Fans of the shows nominated and mentioned above are, of course, free to disagree.

Below are the nominees for the major categories:

Drama Series:

• “Breaking Bad” • “Dexter” • “The Good Wife” • “Lost” • “Mad Men” • “True Blood”

Comedy Series:

• “Curb Your Enthusiasm” • “Glee” • “Modern Family” • “Nurse Jackie” • “The Office” • “30 Rock”

Lead Actor, Drama:

• Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad” • Michael C. Hall, “Dexter” • Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights” • Jon Hamm, “Mad Men” • Hugh Laurie, “House” • Matthew Fox, “Lost”

Lead Actress, Drama:

• Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer” • Glenn Close, “Damages” • Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights” • Mariska Hargitay, “Law & Order: SVU” • January Jones, “Mad Men” • Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”

Lead Actor, Comedy:

• Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory” • Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” • Matthew Morrison, “Glee” • Tony Shalhoub, “Monk” • Steve Carell, “The Office” • Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”

Lead Actress, Comedy:

• Toni Collette, “United States of Tara” • Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie” • Tina Fey, “30 Rock” • Lea Michele, “Glee” • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “The New Adventures of Old Christine” • Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”

Supporting Actor, Comedy:

• Chris Colfer, “Glee” • Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Modern Family” • Ty Burrell, “Modern Family” • Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men” • Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother” • Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”

Supporting Actress, Comedy:

• Julie Bowen, “Modern Family” • Jane Krakowski, “30 Rock” • Jane Lynch, “Glee” • Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family” • Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live” • Holland Taylor, “Two and a Half Men”

Supporting Actor, Drama:

• Michael Emerson, “Lost” • Andre Braugher, “Men of a Certain Age” • Terry O’Quinn, “Lost” • Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad” • Martin Short, “Damages” • John Slattery, “Mad Men”

Supporting Actress, Drama:

• Sharon Gless, “Burn Notice” • Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife” • Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife” • Rose Byrne, “Damages” • Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men” • Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”

Best TV Movie:

• “Endgame” • “Georgia O’Keefe” • “The Special Relationship” • “Temple Grandin” • “Moonshot” • “You Don’t Know Jack”

Best TV Miniseries:

• “The Pacific” • “Return to Cranford”

Reality Host:

• Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race • Ryan Seacrest, American Idol • Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars • Heidi Klum, Project Runway • Jeff Probst, Survivor

Reality TV Competition:

• The Amazing Race • American Idol • Dancing With the Stars • Project Runway • Top Chef

Reality Program:

• Antiques Roadshow • Dirty Jobs • Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution • Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List • Mythbusters • Undercover Boss

Variety, Music or Comedy Series:

• The Colbert Report • The Daily Show • Real Time With Bill Maher • Saturday Night Live • Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien

Children’s Program:

• “Hannah Montana” • “iCarly” • “Jonas” • “Wizards of Waverly Place” • “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie”

Animated Program:

• “Alien Earths” • “The Ricky Gervais Show” • “The Simpsons” • “South Park”

Choreography:

• 82nd Annual Academy Awards (opening number, Adam Shankman) • Dancing With the Stars (paso doble, Derek Hough) • Dancing With the Stars (paso doble, Chelsie Hightower, Derek Hough) • So You Think You Can Dance (gravity/addiction, Mia Michaels) • So You Think You Can Dance (fear, Stacey Tookey)

Commercial:

• Anthem, Absolut • Coke Finals, Coca-Cola • Game, Mars/Snickers • Green Police, Audi • Human Chain, Nike • The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, Old Spice

Costumes: