Animation Domination: Family Guy Vs. The Office?

All those years "The Simpsons" was the best comedy on television, or second only to "Seinfeld," it never won an Emmy nomination for best comedy, having to content itself with best animated series. Apparently TV Academy rules mean that shows had to pick one category and stick to it; knowing that the best-comedy odds were long, especially in the neanderthal times of the early 1990s, the creators of "The Simpsons" and other shows generally contented themselves with the statuary from the cartoon category. When they did try for the regular comedy categories, there were no nominations forthcoming. But now, once again going where other animated shows have feared to tread, "Family Guy" is going to take a whack at it.

As reported by Variety, Seth MacFarlane and company reclassified their hourlong season opener - "Blue Harvest," a "Star Wars" parody - as a special, and entered that in the animation category, while putting the series itself up for best comedy. Of course, they still have to get a nomination from the notoriously fickle academy voters.

There's also a report that the "Simpsons" voice cast has cut a new deal with producers, earning a reputed $400,000 an episode each. Why didn't I go into voice acting? D'oh!!!!