Now here's a surprise: the
Emmy nominations aren't infuriatingly predictable this year.
Sure, there are still some inexplicable choices (how the heck does the dismal Two and a Half keep getting nominated for one of US television's most coveted accolades?). But there are also some extremely worthy contenders among this year's nominees.
Click here to check out the nominees at the official website of the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards.
30 Rock and Mad Men scored more nominations than any other series - and they deserve it. Newcomer Pushing Daisies is nominated in 12 categories; if the series ever actually airs in Australia, you'll understand why. Damages and the amazing Dexter (which is currently airing on Network Ten - if you're not already watching, start now) are also among the nominees for best drama.
On the acting front, Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), John Hamm (Mad Men), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Glenn Close (Damages) and Michael Emerson (Lost) are among the very deserving nominess.
Want to know what's frustrating? That sublime, Emmy-nominated series get almost no attention from Australian free-to-air networks. But why broadcast quality TV when you can just air Police Rescue Hospital Emergency Fire Border Patrol every night?
There are, however, some notable snubs - the critically adored drama The Wire, which wrapped up its final season on American TV earlier this year, is nowhere to be seen. Also absent: Mary McDonnell, whose brilliant work on Battlestar Galactica has once again been ignored.
Are you happy your TV favourites have been nominated.... or furious that they've been barred? And how do you think Two and a Half Men keeps getting all these nominations?!
Here it is, folks, the first footage of
Molly Shannon and Selma Blair in action as
Kath and Kim:
Thoughts? My immediate reaction is that Molly Shannon has Jane Turner's Kath-walk down pat, and that John Michael Higgins seems like an ideal stand-in for Glenn Robbins.
But I still have issues with Selma Blair's Kim - she just doesn't seem slobby, horrible and pudgy enough to play the Kim us Aussies have come to know and love. And while her hubby, played by Mikey Day, is more handsome than Australia's Peter Rowsthorn, he seems much less desperate and pathetic!
But the big question is: where's Sharon?! Magda Szubanski's much-loved character has been renamed "Heather" for the American version of the series... but she's nowhere to be seen!
Not that I think the US adaptation is a hopeless cause. This pic of "wine time" is so Kath & Kim:
What do you think of the American Kath and Kim?The first pictures from the US adaptation of
Kath & Kim have appeared on the internet, starring American actresses
Molly Shannon and Selma Blair in the roles made famous by Australian comediennes
Jane Turner and Gina Riley. Take a look:
Shannon's Kath's blonde hair and tight, daggy clothes are spot-on, but I'm not too sure about Blair's Kim... she doesn't look fat or obnoxious enough!
For the sake of comparison, check out the original foxy ladies:
What do you think of America's Kath and Kim... and can they ever hope to match up to the Australian originals?
It's a clash of the titans! Some of the biggest names in Australian television are up to win the Gold Logie (
head over to TVFIX for the full list of nominees), billed as the highest honour that can be bestowed upon an Aussie celebrity.
This year's Gold Logie nominees are:
Kate Ritchie, who won the Gold in 2007. After her much-hyped exit from Home & Away last week, she could easily take it again.
Andrew Denton. Everyone seems to love his chat show Enough Rope, but is he a bit too geeky to win Gold?
Adam Hills, host of the music quiz Spicks & Specks. The show has a cult following, so it's possible he could come in and take the award.
John Howard - the All Saints star, not the former PM. John's a beloved actor but the odds of him winning the Gold are longer than the belts he no doubt needs to wrap around his sizeable tummy.
Chris Lilley, the chameleon comic who created and starred in Summer Heights High. That was one of the most popular home-grown shows of 2007, so he's a real contender.
Lisa McCune's turn in Sea Patrol has earned her her first Gold Logie nod since 2001. In the late '90s Lisa won four Golds in a row - can she win again?
Rove McManus is another multiple Gold Logie winner, but does he still have what it takes to score his fourth award?
Natalie Blair, despite being a relatively low-key Neighbours star, somehow manages to sneak onto the list of Gold Logie nominees for the second year running. What the...?
What do you think of the nominees for the 50th Annual Logie Awards?
Head to TVFIX for the full list of nominees for the 50th Annual TV WEEK Logie Awards.
NCIS returned to Australian screens on Tuesday night with all-new episodes. Network Ten's ads loudly boasted that it's one of the top-rated series in America but it's also a ratings winner here, pulling in more than 1 million viewers even in repeats.
Wait a minute. Huh?
Let me get this straight: NCIS - the hokey drama about a bunch of navy investigators who make the gang from Scooby Doo look like competent geniuses by comparison - is one of the most-watched TV programs in the world?
Really?
It's not that I think NCIS is bad TV. It's just tired, uninspired, and unrealistic. Watching NCIS you'd think that navy officers spend more time cracking wise than foiling criminal plots. In Tuesday night's episode Tony (Michael Weatherly) survived an assassination attempt, and his colleagues reacted by stealing all his things. Ha ha... I guess?
And are we really expected to believe that Abby (Pauley Perrette), the perky and supremely annoying goth, would be allowed to work in an elite navy unit wearing all-black and pigtails?
Who are all these people watching NCIS? If it's so popular, how come I don't know a single person who watches it? (Maybe all its fans are too embarrassed to admit they like it.)
If you're an avid NCIS viewer, please... tell me exactly what's so great about this show.
Did you know that '80s uber-soap
Dallas was responsible for bringing down a communist regime?
Well, kind of. mental_floss has compiled a list of the 10 TV shows that changed the world, and while I've never heard of most of them, it's worth a read... if only to find out the role that Dallas played in the collapse of communist Romania. [mental_floss]
Nobody takes the piss quite like
South Park, and last night the show took the piss out of everyone's favourite public holiday in a fantastic Easter special titled... er,
Fantastic Easter Special.
(I guess South Park masterminds Trey Parker and Matt Stone used up all their creativity on the episode's plot and had none left to spare for its title.)
The episode riffed on The Da Vinci Code, with Stan discovering his dad is part of a secret society that guards the secret of Easter. Turns out, clues in The Last Supper reveal that Jesus' best mate St Peter was actually a rabbit, who Jesus appointed leader of his faith because only a pure, incorruptible rabbit could be trusted to guide Christians.
Desperate to cover up the truth, the Catholic Church sent ninjas to exterminate Peter's leporine ancestor. The instalment culminated with Stan's Jewish friend Kyle killing Jesus, so that Jesus could come back to life and save the day.
That's really what happened.
The Simpsons is as toothless as an old dog nowadays, and Family Guy is more concerned with outrageous jokes than with saying anything. South Park is really the only animated sitcom with bite, and Parker and Stone have a flair for mixing satire with flat-out wackiness. No surprises the show has now racked up 11 seasons (the 12th just started in the States).
The only black mark against this episode? It premiered in the US a year ago. Get your act together, SBS.
Score one for Australian intelligence! Apparently we aren't total suckers for lowest-common-denominator TV after all: controversial game show
The Moment of Truth only pulled in around 844,000 viewers when it premiered on Nine on Tuesday night.
Moment of Truth is the show that kicked up a stink when it premiered in the US earlier this year because of its nasty premise, wherein players must answer invasive, divisive questions for a chance to win big money. A recent episode that aired in the States tore apart a marriage when contestant Lauren Cleri admitted that not only had she cheated on her husband, but she was in love with another man.
Her husband was sitting in the studio audience at the time. Ouch. To rub salt in the wounds, Lauren didn't even end up winning the cash jackpot.
Nine had intended a local version of the show, but the disappointing ratings will probably (and hopefully) nix those plans. It looks like Australians do have some taste in their TV viewing habits after all. (Though that doesn't explain why Border Security is still one the top-rated shows in the country...)
(Image: Fox)
And you thought the eliminations on
So You Think You Can Dance were shocking...
Don't tell me you weren't at least a bit surprised when the news broke yesterday that Mark Holden has quit Australian Idol. The man has been a fixture on the show for five years, and suddenly he's gone.
Who's going to deliver those ridiculous, overblown touchdowns now? Marcia?!
The Daily Telegraph first broke the story - which wasn't due to be announced until Thursday - by reporting that Holden had been fired from the long-running show in an attempt to boost ratings. Channel Ten swiftly released a statement declaring that Holden had in fact voluntarily quit the show, and that he's still on good terms with the network.
Hmmm... I wonder who to believe?
Do you reckon Mark Holden quit or was fired from Idol? And will you really be all that sad to see him go?
Just in time for the
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, TV Talk looks back at some of the most well-know gay and lesbian characters who've popped up on the small screen in recent years.
Though the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation reported in September that the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) characters on TV had dropped for the third year running, there are still plenty of homosexuals on the box.
Some are rampant, flamboyant stereotypes, others are more rounded and true to life, and one infamous character didn't reveal their sexuality until seconds before they left their show for good! Can you guess who it is?
Do you think gay and lesbian characters are fairly represented on TV, or is the small screen yet to truly embrace them?
