Courteney Cox greatly improved as "Cougar Town" did.

Credit: ABC

Emmy Week at HitFix continues, and in fact may be stretched into Emmy Week and a Half, since we're decelerating from two categories a day to one for a bit. Yesterday, Fienberg and I handled comedy lead actors, and now it's time to discuss possible nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

As always, Dan and I are approaching this from two different angles. Dan is speculating on who will be nominated (along with some wishful thinking), while I suggest whom I would pick if I had a hypothetical Emmy ballot.

Dan's gallery of potential lead actress nominees is up, and after the jump are my picks... Read Full Post »

Larry David had a terrific season on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Credit: HBO

It's day three of Emmy Week here at HitFix, as Fienberg and I finally move on to our look at leading actors and actresses. As usual, Dan's offering up his predictions for who will be nominated (along with a bit of wishful thinking), while I'm saying who would get my votes if I had a hypothetical Emmy ballot.

First up today is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Dan's gallery is already up, and if you click through this story, you can see my picks. Read Full Post »

Mike Zimbalist directing "The Two Escobars."

Credit: ESPN

The only complaint I have so far about ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series is how irregularly it airs. Because the cable sports giant has so many live events to schedule, the "30 for 30" films don't have a stable timeslot, nor do they air on a consistent basis. Tonight at 10, for instance, the series returns for the first time in more than a month with Brett Morgen's "June 17, 1994" (a look back at an absurd, packed day in sports best-remembered for the OJ Simpson white Bronco chase), and then next week shifts to Tuesday at 9 for Jeff and Michael Zimbalist's "The Two Escobars" (about the intertwining lives and deaths of Colombian soccer star Andres Escobar and drug kingpin Pablo Escobar), then disappears again until the end of July.

But if it can be frustrating to wait and look for new films in the series, it's almost always worth the time and effort. And these next two exemplify the series' depth, breadth and power. Read Full Post »

Wendie Malick, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Betty White in "Hot in Cleveland."

Credit: TV Land

"Everybody Loves Raymond" creator Phil Rosenthal liked to say that "I'm doing this show for CBS, but in the back of my mind, it's for Nick at Nite." In other words, while he wanted "Raymond" to be a success in its original run, what he really cared about was creating a comedy that would have an enduring legacy.

Nick at Nite's sister channel, TV Land, currently packs its schedule with "Raymond" repeats, and tomorrow night at 10 introduces its first original sitcom: "Hot in Cleveland," starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick as three LA pals who accidentally land in Cleveland and decide to stick around a while, in a home with a wacky caretaker played by the great Betty White.

TV Land is, in effect, trying to cut out the middle man, creating their own classic-style sitcoms rather than buying someone else's repeats. Every cable channel goes down this road sooner or later (cue the laments about how MTV no longer plays music videos), and given how few traditional three-camera sitcoms are produced anymore - and, therefore, how many veteran sitcom actors, writers, directors, etc. are looking for work - it's a bit surprising it took TV Land this long to try.

"Hot in Cleveland" is pleasant enough, but it apes the classics far more in its style than its substance. It looks and sounds like the kind of show from the '80s or '90s that eventually wound up on Nick at Nite, but had it actually aired on, say, NBC in 1992, it's doubtful anyone would have remembered it fondly enough to want it preserved in perpetual cable rerun-hood. Read Full Post »

The Emmys may not show Ron Effing Swanson some love, but I will.

Credit: NBC

Emmy Week continues here at HitFix, and after this morning's look at the comedy supporting actress contenders, it's time to examine potential nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

As always, Fienberg and I are approaching this from two angles. Dan has his take on people he thinks may be nominated (along with some wishful thinking), whereas I figure out who I would choose if I had a hypothetical Emmy ballot.

Dan's supporting actor gallery is up, and if you click through, you can read about my struggles with another loaded category... Read Full Post »

A vending machine led off "The Good Guys" case this week.

Credit: FOX

In its two episodes post-pilot, it seems like "The Good Guys" has stopped trying to straddle the action/comedy line and is going more for straight-up comedy. Bradley Whitford's Texas accent is thicker, his character seems even more unstuck in time (and/or a complete imbecile on obvious subjects like computers), and here he spent the whole episode either puking his guts out or on the verge of doing so.

I know I said in my initial review that I bought Whitford more as an '80s cop parody than as the genuine article, but I think last night's episode probably pushed things too far in that direction. For those of you still watching, what do you think? Did you find "The Broken Door Theory" too goofy, just goofy enough, or would you rather the show keep going more for yuks?

Can Alison Brie from "Community" shoot her way into Emmy contention?

Credit: NBC

Emmy Nominations Week continues here at HitFix, in which Fienberg and I attack the possible nominees from two angles: Dan speculates on who will be nominated, while I pretend like I have an Emmy ballot and say who should be.

(Here's Dan's take on drama supporting actor and actress from yesterday, as well as my actor and actress takes.)

Today, it's time for the comedy sidekicks. While I was sleeping, Dan posted his thoughts on the probable nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a comedy, and if you click through you'll have my hypothetical ballot... Read Full Post »

Jayne dons some fashionable headgear on "Firefly."

Credit: FOX

Once again, we're spending Tuesdays this summer revisiting episodes of Joss Whedon's "Firefly." (You can find last week's review here.) This week, it's time for "The Train Job," with spoilers coming up just as soon as my story has an odor to it... Read Full Post »

Will her mad accordion skillz help Christina Hendricks get an Emmy nomination?

Credit: AMC

Continuing Emmy Nominations Week here at HitFix, it's time to turn our focus from the drama supporting actors (which Fienberg and I each dealt with earlier today) to the slightly less-crowded but still very competitive field of drama supporting actresses. Again, Dan is giving his rundown of people he thinks could be nominated (along with a few people he finds deserving but doesn't give a chance to), while I'm listing the six people I would choose if I had an actual Emmy ballot. (And I'm going based on who submitted themselves in which category; you can see the actual performers' ballot here.)

Dan's gallery is here, and after the jump, my six supporting actress picks... Read Full Post »