TV with MeeVee

Emmy countdown: Best actor and actress in a comedy

OK, time to look at this weekend's Emmy nominees and make some predictions before Sunday's ABC telecast. We'll start with best actor and actress in a comedy...

Best actor in a comedy nominees:

Tony Shalhoub in USA's "Monk"
Nice job Mr. Monk, but you've already won for this show what, three times? I think Emmy will pass you by this time.

Steve Carell in NBC's "The Office" (right)
The craziest dude - well, except for Rainn Wilson - on a crazy and beloved show, Carell also finds the heart inside the demented Michael Scott. Plus, Emmy tends to catch up to TV a year or two late. Carell has to be considered the favorite in this category by a slight margin.

Lee Pace in ABC's "Pushing Daisies"
A nice performance on a nice show, but not a lot of laughs. The nomination is the honor here, I think, especially since the show wasn't nominated.

Alec Baldwin in "30 Rock"
Maybe the funniest performance of the year. The controversial Baldwin has to be no more than a nose behind Carell in this category.

Charlie Sheen in CBS' "Two And A Half Men"
It's hard to win acting awards when everyone thinks you're playing yourself. This was last year's best comedy winner, and the academy took a bunch of grief for lauding such a traditional show. But I don't think the screw-the-critics vote is as strong as it used to be. Not a favorite, but I wouldn't be 100 percent surprised if he won.

(Ricky Gervais won last year for "Extras.")

Best actress in a comedy nominees:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
A lot of people like this show better than me. But still, I don't think so. There are two stronger candidates, at least the way Emmy normally votes.

Christina Applegate" in ABC's "Samantha Who?"
Adorable star of one of last season's few new hits despite the writer's strike. Oh, yeah, and bravely battling breast cancer. Got to be a favorite of traditional voters.

Tina Fey in "30 Rock" (right)
Emmy votes were cast before she did her dead-on Sarah Palin bit on "Saturday Night Live." But if there's a favorite of the media elite in this category, it's Fey. And also she's both creator and star of this very funny show. If I have to pick one favorite, it's her.

America Ferrera in ABC's "Ugly Betty"
She won last year, and most people agree that the second season of the show was a disappointment. Can't see her winning.

Mary-Louise Parker in Showtime's "Weeds"
Nominated despite the fact that most of America has never seen her show. I'd vote for her over all of them, if this was truly just an acting award. But it's not going to happen.

(Ferrera won last year.)

Tomorrow: Drama acting nominees.

Christina Applegate talks about breast cancer and surgery

"I'm going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90, so there's that," Christina Applegate told "Good Morning America" today. The ABC star confirmed that although her breast cancer was contained to one breast, she had a double mastectomy because her mother also had the disease and the star herself has a genetic mutation linked to the disease. Tears, anger and self-pity have all been part of the aftermath, she said. She now faces a long road of reconstructive surgery, even as she gears up to relaunch her sitcom, "Samantha Who?" She's also to appear on a Sept. 5 cancer-research fund-raising special that will appear on ABC, CBS and NBC simultaneously.

Christina Applegate fighting breast cancer

The star of one of ABC's few scripted hits - Christina Applegate of "Samantha Who?" - is being treated for an early form of breast cancer. Her publicist says the cancer was caught early and is not life-threatening.

The former Kelly Bundy of "Married With Children," Applegate is nominated for an Emmy for best actress in a comedy for "Samantha Who?"  No word on what this will do to the fall re-launch of her popular comedy, which made some headway on Monday nights for ABC despite the disruption of the writers strike.

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.

TCA Award Nominations - My Ballot

The highlight of my summer, professionally anyway, will be the Press Tour, two weeks in Beverly Hills interviewing TV stars with my fellow members of the Television Critics Association. Yesterday I got the ballot for our annual awards, to be given out at a ceremony on July 19. Here it is, with my picks and comments. "In each category, you may vote for zero, one or two candidates...."

 PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
__ "John Adams" (HBO)
X   "Lost" (NBC)
X   "Mad Men" (AMC)
__ "Ken Burns' The War" (PBS)
__ "The Wire" (HBO)

My Notes: According to the instructions, "Program
of The Year defines a show whose contents transcended television to become a major and commendable cultural phenomenon during the 2007-08 season." Of the nominees, I think only "Lost" qualifies as a cultural phenomenon. None of the others had enough audience to qualify. If that's really the criteria, "American Idol" or for that matter "Moment of Truth" would be a better nominee - until you hit the word "commendable." "The War" and "The Wire" were commendable but not major phenoms. "John Adams" was overrated. Beyond its entertainment value, I'm not even sure what's so commendable about "Lost." But I'm going to vote for it and my favorite show of the year, "Mad Men," despite the latter's relatively small audience.

"Arrested Development" Loon Gets Two Roles

Tony Hale, who played hook-handed doofus/mama's boy Buster Bluth on "Arrested Development," has landed not one but two plum recurring roles on series returning to the airwaves this fall. The Hollywood Reporter says Hale will join NBC's "Chuck" as Emmett, an efficiency expert sent to the Buy More store where unwilling spy-games star Chuck (Zachary Levi) and his government minders work in between world-saving exploits. Seeing how badly his talents are needed, Emmett decides to stay on as assistant manager. Hale will also join ABC's "Samantha Who?" as the new doctor to amnesiac Sam (Christina Applegate).

It's kind of interesting that these are both sophomore series that failed to live up to the hype surrounding their debuts; "Chuck" never even returned to the air after the writers strike, pending a fall relaunch. I supposed hiring Hale is a legitimate way of trying to pump up these hopefuls into real contenders. He's a funny guy. But neither one of these shows is "Arrested Development," that's for sure.

Lunchtime Links, Side of Fries

• "Battlestar Galactica" fans love "Battlestar Galactica," true, but there aren't that many of them. (TV By The Numbers)
• Crappy ratings for "Monk" and "Psych," too, in their move to broadcast. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Talking to Barry Watson of "Samantha Who?" (BuzzSugar)
• Deconstructing the TV Guide cover with "The Office." (Give Me My Remote)
• "Friday Night Lights" deal with DirecTV the new template for series survival? (NY Times)

ABC Finally Spills Spring Plans For "Desperate Housewives" And The Rest

ABC has finally unveiled its spring, post-strike debut schedule. The bad news is that "Pushing Daisies," "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money" won't return until next season. The good news is that they will return. "Desperate Housewives" returns to the scheduled April 13 with seven hours of new episodes including a two-hour season finale. Also returning with new episodes: "Boston Legal," "Brothers & Sisters," "Grey's Anatomy," "Samantha Who?" and "Ugly Betty." "Grey's" returns April 24, when "Lost" switches to 10 p.m. Thursdays. The full release with all the details is after the jump.

Seth Bullock To Join "Samantha Who?"

The Ausiello Report reports that Timothy Olyphant, who played Sheriff Seth Bullock on "Deadwood," will be heading over to "Samantha Who?" That's great. I liked him in that role and I hope he'll be good in this one.

What confuses me about the post is that Ausiello says "Samantha" is an "irresistible" show with "boffo" ratings. Is this the same show that I saw? I went back over to ABC.com and re-watched it, and I still don't like it. It's aggressively mediocre. It's got one joke that it repeats again and again. I get it: She's a bitch starting over with a blank slate.

We've seen this before: Goldie Hawn played it for laughs in the forgettable 1987 movie "Overboard," and Harrison Ford played it as a drama in "Regarding Henry." I really can't see that gimmick lasting more than about ninety minutes, but they've apparently got a whole season of this. I guess it's acceptable for Monday nights, but I wouldn't exactly call it irresistible.

Morning Links With Skim and Strawberries

• Whopping numbers for "Samantha Who?" on Monday night. The Christina Applegate comedy beat top-rated "Two And A Half Men" and even edged out its ABC brethren "Private Practice" for the fall's highest debut. (Televisionista)
• Another midseason Fox pilot in trouble? One day after an order cut for "The Return of Jezebel James," Ausiello says "New Amsterdam" is taking a production break after eight episodes. (TV Guide)
• Today's advertising note: The Travelocity Gnome has been kidnapped. Or did it just defect to Orbitz? (TV Squad)
• "Dancing With The Stars" doesn't want any more lifting. Um, whatever. (TV Squad)
• Barnhart takes TVGuide to task for a cover spoiler. (TV Barn)
• Debra Messing and "The Starter Wife" will be back in a series version. There is no God. (Hollywood Reporter)
• "Kid Nation" parents support the show. (Buddy TV)