TV with MeeVee

Comedy Actor Emmy Semis And More

The Golden Derby continues to roll out the Emmy semi-finalist lists that the Academy supposedly tries to keep secret. Today it's the lists for best actor in a comedy and best supporting actress in a comedy/comedy.

As usual, I'll boldface the ones I think are going to get one of the five nominations in each category, and make a few snarky comments in italics.

BEST LEAD COMEDY ACTOR

• Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"- Mandatory, and the funniest on the list, including Carell.
• Steve Carell, "The Office"- Mandatory.
• Larry David, "Curb Your Enthusiasm"- If he was any different off-camera, but...is this really acting?
• David Duchovny, "Californication" - Loved the pilot but this show just seems like it does the same thing every week.
• Lee Pace, "Pushing Daisies" - A likely nominee, but not overtly funny enough to win this category.
• Tony Shalhoub, "Monk" - Nominated the last five years, won three. Give someone else a chance.
• Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men" - He's really funny. But will Hollywood vote for an old-school sitcom performance like this? And will his ugly divorce life turn voters off?

The blog only has seven of the 10 actors. Who else will fill out the category? My guesses: Zach Braff of "Scrubs," Jason Lee of "My Name Is Earl," and a surprise, Jim Parsons of "The Big Bang Theory." But who gets the fifth nom? I have not a clue. Lot of buzz about Parsons, though.

TV Critics Love "Pushing Daisies," Hate "Cavemen"

(Begin pointless personal digression.) I have a soft spot for the semi-annual TV Week Critics Poll. (Read the story here and results here.) Back when the magazine was called Electronic Media, I used to be in the poll all the time, and I started talking to the people over there - we were all in Chicago at the time - and I ended up getting hired as assistant managing editor. While I worked there I ran the poll a couple of times, too, which gave me lots of time to talk to my critic friends who I only got to see on press tour otherwise. So this poll is like an old pal. (End pointless personal digression.)

But seriously, "Pushing Daisies" is better than "Mad Men"??? I don't think so. Better than "House" or "The Office"?? Really? Uh, no.

Ten Best Series
1. Pushing Daisies
2. Mad Men
3. Dexter
4. 30 Rock
5. Friday Night Lights
6. Damages
7. House
8. The Office (tie)
8. Ugly Betty (tie)
10. Californication

Worst after the jump...

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Showtime, In Staged Publicity Battle

The word "californication" began to appear on bumper stickers in Colorado and Oregon as far back as the 1970s. The slogan was "Don't Californicate Oregon" or "Don't Californicate Colorado," and it was aimed at people buying expensive vacation homes, driving up real estate prices, and generally yuppifying the whole place until the locals couldn't live their anymore.

It was perfectly natural for the Red Hot Chili Peppers to use the word for the title of their 1999 album about the dangers of the California lifestyle, just as it was perfectly natural for Showtime to use it for the title of their 2007 David Duchovny vehicle about the dangers of the California lifestyle. But I guess sales of Chili Peppers tickets and ratings for "Californication" the show have begun to sag, so they're starting a lawsuit over a word to spark some interest.

Response from professional snarks has been predictable. Hecklerspray's headline was "Chili Peppers Sue Over Rubbish TV Show" and Idolator talks about "Agent Mulder" and "Some Guy Who Worked On Dawson's Creek."  Celebitchy actually looked up a legal precedent: The unsuccessful lawsuit by the band In Living Color against the TV show "In Living Color." I'm guessing that the Chili Peppers' lawyer told them the case wouldn't go anywhere, but that they decided to sue just for laughs.

 

Morning World Series Go-Sox Linkage

• As we told you late yesterday, The Pie Maker broke the news  that "Pushing Daisies" has been picked up for a full season. So y'all bettter get on the bus and watch tonight, 'kay? You don't want to be left out of this funny, poignant and deeply weird series. To be perfectly honest I wasn't sure it would go over with America, but it has, even big time. So if you haven't tried it yet, now is the time. First pitch on the Series isn't until 8:35, and you'll be granted special dispensation to miss the first half inning as long as you don't live in Massachusetts or Colorado.
• Disappointed and underwhelmed by this week's "Heroes?" (GMMR)
• All the scoop on what happened in the season finale of "Damages," which really is the best show I'm not watching. (TV Squad)
• Like "24" hasn't got enough problems, the L.A. fires are screwing with the shooting schedule. (Buddy TV)
• My friend Tim interviewed David Duchovny while the "Californication" star kept one eye on the news, worried about the fires coming near to his house. It's a podcast. (The Bastard Machine)
• A women's-prison spinoff for "Prison Break?" Sounds porn-y to me. (Televisionista)
• Rate Schrute Farms on Trip Adviser. For real. For "The Office" fans, fun! (TV Squad)

Just How Meta Can Shows Like "Californication" Get?

The Globe points out that TV is getting awfully postmodern these days: "Californication" now involves the protagonist's semi-autobiographical novel, which we can only assume will be made into a TV show suspiciously similar to "Californication." And of course "Dexter" has added its own thread of internal debate about a serial killer that mirrors audience debate about Dexter as a person. And the next season of "Nip/Tuck" is about plastic surgeons consulting on a show a lot like "Nip/Tuck." The master of all of these is of course "30+Rock," which is quite literally a TV show about TV shows.

Just how much self-conscious reflection do we really need in our TV? Should I start blogging about blogging about TV that's about TV?

Morning Reads

Excellent recap of Monday's "Weeds" episode at TV Squad. They've finally caught up with the advance DVD and I'm going to have to start paying attention on Monday nights. I skipped "Californication" entirely this week. The Squad also recaps the first half of the season finale of "The Closer." ... Bill Murray "explains" his golf cart drunken driving arrest in Stockholm. ... The question of originality surrounding Fox's "New Amsterdam" keeps coming up. But at least Pete Hamill says he's not going to sue.

"Californication" - Boobs, Butts, Booze, Barfing, Boinking, Yet Somehow Boring

Sorry, Showtime. But to my great surprise, I just don't give a crap what happens on "Californication" anymore. You'd think watching David Duchovny as blocked novelist Hank Moody zooming around Malibu in his Porsche convertible with the painfully symbolic one headlight, banging everything in sight, slurping down drinks and dope and still having the balls to whine about how screwed up his life is, well, you'd think that would be in some way entertaining, right? I liked the pilot, but after last night's third episode I'm already sick of this  self-pitying dick. Even less do I want to see his agent jacking off to the Suicide Girls. "Entourage" looks like "Day of the Locust" next to this.

High on "Weeds," Not So Much "Californication"

"Weeds" returns to Showtime tonight for a third season, and once again it''s everything good about cable TV and single-camera comedy. Everything very definitely including Mary Louise Parker.

The premiere of David Duchovny's "Californication" follows, but how much you like it will depend on your tolerance for a) the former "X-Files" star and b) self-pitying stories about writers ruined by Hollywood. Or maybe if you're one of those people who spark a doob when they watch "Weeds," "Californication" will seem better than I think it is.

Start with "Weeds." Few shows on TV anywhere make me as happy as this tale of Nancy Botwin, a suddenly widowed suburbanite who turned to pot dealing in season one to keep her family afloat. By season two, the happy buzz of novelty had worn off and Botwin found herself running an increasingly elaborate criminal operation, including growing the weed herself. But the consequences, too, were getting more serious.