Emmy season is here

By ANN ZIVOTSKY - For the North County Times | Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:43 PM PDT ∞

Spring cleaning has come and gone, but there's still plenty to clear from my mind. In no particular order of importance or logic, here are some of my recent random thoughts:

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The nominations for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards will be read at 5:40 a.m. Thursday, but in an effort to avoid leaks, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which awards the Emmys, went ahead and announced the top 10 shows in two categories.

These 10 shows were still in the competition for a nomination for Best Comedy Series: "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage," "Family Guy," "Flight of the Conchords," "The Office," "Pushing Daisies," "30 Rock," "Two and a Half Men," "Ugly Betty" and "Weeds." Five will actually be nominated, and here are my choices: "The Office," "Pushing Daisies," "30 Rock," "Entourage" and "Weeds."

These 10 shows are still in the competition for a nomination for Best Drama Series: "Boston Legal," "Damages," "Dexter," "Friday Night Lights," "Grey's Anatomy," "House," "Lost," "Mad Men," "The Tudors" and "The Wire." Again, only five will get the nominations. My picks: "Damages," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Mad Men" and "The

Tudors."

Other nominations on my Emmy wish list include an Emmy for either Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") or Minnie Driver ("The Riches") for Best Actress in a Drama, Jon Hamm ("Mad Men") for Best Actor in a Drama, and Mary-Louise Parker for Best Actress in a Comedy.

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Wondering what shows in the fall will be winners? Media Life Magazine asked television insiders which shows they predict will be fan favorites, and it's probably no surprise that J.J. Abram's ("Lost") new show for Fox, "Fringe," and Jerry Bruckheimer's ("CSI") new show for CBS, "Eleventh Hour," are tabbed to be breakout hits.

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How about the best television of the last quarter-century? "Entertainment Weekly" selected the "new classics" for the past 25 years in several categories, including television, and named "The Simpsons" as the best show since 1983. The magazine's writers picked that show as No. 1 and then listed "The Sopranos," "Seinfeld," "The X-Files" and "Sex and the City" in the top five. There's no doubt "The Simpsons," about to begin its 20th season, is a television icon, but "The Sopranos" or "Seinfeld" should be at the top of that list.

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What happened to my favorite channel? That's the question some readers have been asking as some cable channels are changing programming to capture new viewers. One reader asked about TV Land, once the channel to tune to for repeats of "Andy Griffith," "M*A*S*H" and "I Love Lucy." Now the channel is focusing on reality programs such as "High School Reunion" and "She's Got the Look." Viewers approaching their 40th birthday, the very viewers that TV Land executives want watching their channel, are watching TV Land in record numbers. Andy and Aunt Bea had better start worrying.

A reader asked about the weekend programming on MSNBC, which is all crime, all the time. He's right ---- turn to MSNBC on the weekend and choose from shows such as "Caught on Camera," "Lockup" and "Love and Death."

Then there's the History Channel, which used to focus on history. Oh sure, it was dubbed "The Hitler Channel" for its excessive programming about World War II, but now it's as difficult to find a history program on the History Channel ---- which has recently dropped "Channel" from its name ---- as it is to find Jimmy Hoffa's body. Now the channel is filled with "Axe Men," "Ice Truckers" and "Tougher in Alaska" men, and will be joined this fall by "Sand Hogs," about the men who dig tunnels for subways.

Sometimes a program about World War II would be a welcome sight on History.

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Finally, North County and San Diego can claim some very impressive television stars among its native sons and daughters. Carlsbad High School graduate Autumn Reeser has found success as an actress, including a role on the series "The O.C." El Camino High School graduate Sheila R. Lawrence is an executive producer on "Ugly Betty" and worked as a producer on "Boston Legal" and "The Gilmore Girls." Tony-award winning actress Sara Ramirez is a star on "Grey's Anatomy" and a graduate of the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts.

Then there's Denise Richards, a 1989 graduate of El Camino High School, an actress who was chosen the "worst Bond girl" for her performance in "The World Is Not Enough," a "Playboy" model, the ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen and now the star of her own reality show on the E! Channel, "Denise Richards: It's Complicated," where her frequent profanity is bleeped, although the censors can't cover Richards' silly ideas.

It's just a guess, but it doesn't look like anyone in San Diego is going to be claiming Richards as a favorite native daughter in the near future.

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Comedy Central has found a winner in "Reality Bites Back," a twist on the reality show genre. Ten comics compete to be funny in parodies of popular reality shows. Hosted by the very funny Michael Ian Black, "Reality Bites Back" starts strong in making fun of "Big Brother" by placing the comics in a house and calling the show "Extreme Manipulation: House Edition." Challenged to seduce a mysterious person in a dark room, the comics are shocked to discover the object of their affections are their own parents, and "Reality Bites Back" scores an immediate laugh.

Future parodies include "So You Think You Can Dive," "The Amazing Disgrace" and "Biggest Chubby." The winning comic at the end will be declared "Lord of All Reality" and will win $50,000. But viewers will win each week they watch this creative new show. "Reality Bites Back" airs at 10:30 p.m. Thursdays on Comedy Central.

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James Purefoy was the volatile Marc Antony in HBO's series "Rome," but he plays a very different historical character in "Beau Brummell: This Charming Man," which aired on BBC America last year and is now available on DVD.

Brummell, an Englishman in the early 1800s, changed the fashion world by insisting men stop wearing wigs, white powder, perfume and frills, and adopt a simple black coat, trousers instead of breeches, and plain ties. He became a friend of the Prince of Wales and enjoyed the benefits of royal influence, until he angered the prince by remaining friends with poet Lord Byron (played by Matthew Rhys from "Brothers & Sisters"), who consistently mocked the monarchy.

Purefoy delivers tons of charm as the trend-setting Brummell, who can't stop his own destructive behavior, and Rhys matches him as the society-defying Byron. The DVD includes special features profiling Brummell's influence on pop culture and filmographies of the cast. The 79-minute movie is available for $24.99 (list price) from Acorn Media Group.

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Ann Zivotsky writes about television for the North County Times. Contact her at nctimestv@cox.net.

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