atkinreport.com

New blood is always a good thing, and the marquee Emmy category for best actor in a comedy series is comprised of 33% of it.

But those fresh faces are up against four major comedy heavyweights, including last year’s winner, Alec Baldwin.

 And the other nominees are:
Steve Carell, The Office
Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

As the reigning king of Emmy comedy, most pundits and odds makers agree that Baldwin will keep the throne for his role as network television executive Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock.” He also won the Golden Globe earlier this year for the role.

As The New York Times’ Brian Stelter noted, “The plotline with his romance in the middle of season gave him some great opportunities that he didn’t have in the last season.”

More than that, many Emmy voters don’t necessarily identify with the character, but resonate to their familiarity with real-life versions of Donaghy, the pompous, self-centered boss everyone loves to hate.

Mickey Richardson, CEO of Bookmaker.com, gives Baldwin a 61% chance of adding an Emmy to his trophy case.

But Baldwin has other Emmy royalty to contend with—like Shalhoub, as the brilliant but annoyingly neurotic San Francisco detective Adrian Monk, who carted home the statuette for his role on “Monk” in 2003, 2005 and 2006, and has been nominated every year since 2003.

And then there’s the drolly funny Steve Carell, who’s logged a nod in each of the last four years for the clueless, idiosyncratic boss he plays on “The Office.” He won a Globe for the role of Michael Scott in 2006, but so far, no golden Emmy true love.

It’s the same exact scorecard for Charlie Sheen, recognized four years running now for his turn as the womanizing Malibu beach house bachelor Charlie Harper on “Two and a Half Men.” Sheen can certainly nail the ladies, but maybe not the trophy.

Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” is getting some strong Emmy buzz for his performance as Sheldon Cooper, a geeky physicist who is both oblivious and imperious to everyday life and human relationships. “Sheldon is right up there. It’s a classic comedy performance that keeps getting funnier,” says TV Guide’s Matt Roush.

The other first-timer, Jemaine Clement, not only co-stars in HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords” but composes music, writes and produces the cult hit show. He’s one of New Zealand’s biggest stars, but as part of a “digi-bongo a cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo” gigging around New York City, he plays a barely coping loser doomed to musical obscurity. He’ll enter a whole new dimension if, as a long-shot, he gets the last laugh on Sunday.

———–The Funniest Women on Television——————–

They may know she was “F-ing Matt Damon,” but Emmy voters may not know that much else about the surprise entrant into the exclusive club of the funniest women on television. Yet Sarah Silverman nabbed one of the six coveted slots in the lead actress in a comedy series race.

Silverman’s brand of edgy comedy, bringing her sexuality and Jewishness to the fore in a way many people find offensive—and others find uproariously funny—is shaking up the contest. The other spots are all occupied by acclaimed actresses in more traditional shows who are veterans of the awards show circuit, proud owners of multiple trophies.
These are the other leading ladies in contention:
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Julia Louis Dreyfus, Mary Louise Parker and Tina Fey have all been here before (and I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing all of them, as well as their fellow nominee Christina Applegate), and they all deserve to be this time as well, joined by Toni Collette, whose star turn as a mom with multiple personalities in Showtime’s “The United States of Tara” obviously turned Emmy voters’ heads.

Fey will be riding the tidal wave not only of “30 Rock’s” record-breaking 22 nominations, but of her win last year in this category. Not only did her character Liz Lemon get a new love interest this year (fellow nominee Jon Hamm), but Emmy voters are clearly still madly in love with her.

And of course, her buzz from this season was intensified by her deft, iconic portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” last fall, which drew critical raves and huge numbers of viewers—and just won her a Creative Arts Emmy last weekend.

Was it all part of a master plan by Fey, who as well as taking home the statuette last year as the lead actress in a comedy series also grabbed Emmys as a producer and writer of “30 Rock?”

Tina Fey is ruling the world right now, and we’re just living in it.

Bookmaker.com gives Fey a 67% chance of adding to her collection of Emmys. But the competition is stiff, stiff, stiff. The Emmys love JLD and MLP, and Ms. Applegate may draw a large sympathy vote, both for “Samantha Who?” being shown the door and for her high-profile battle with breast cancer.

Even Silverman might have trouble coming up with some jokes about that.

,,,il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica Canyon. I used to go to this beachside boite all the time, but hadn’t been for a few years until this past Saturday night. Always got the grilled langostines which are off the menu, and this night was no exception. Aside from having to wait for our reservation, my friend and I sat down for an anticipated great meal. The waiter was a bit surly and to the point, but hey, I’m a New Yorker, so no big deal.

But after the appetizers, when my friend asked for lemon to squeeze on his fish, things went severely south. Mr. Surly said, “You don’t need any lemon. There’s already some on the fish.” And promptly jetted off. WTF? My langostines were served with a piece of lemon on a fork, so I handed it over to him. We had wine, dessert….and then it was time to go. While he went to get the car from the valet, I hit the ladies’ room.

Then, the real crazy stuff happened. The waiter ran after my friend outside and complained about the tip he was left, which was about 19% of the hefty tab. My friend, being from out of town, had doubled the 9.75% LA tax. And this wasn’t enough for this freak? After he refused to give a guest a piece of lemon? Unbelievable….

Whether you watch them or not– and their audiences are dwindling, yet still a potent force — the anchors of the network news broadcasts are among the most powerful people on the global stage, able to snag an interview with the president or just about any other newsworthy personage and jet into world trouble spots and history-making events, backed by the full resources of their respective news organizations.

It seems only fitting that in the wake of the passing of one of the greatest anchors of our time, Walter Cronkite, that there is a rare shake-up in the three coveted chairs that historically have been occupied for years and even decades at a time. 

With Charlie Gibson passing his “World News Tonight” throne on to ABC’s Diane Sawyer at the beginning of 2010, we will enter a new era of network news royalty–with two of the three seats being held by women for the first time in history.

Remember a few years back when Dan Rather was dragged kicking and screaming, which he still is, from the “CBS Evening News” desk and Katie Couric took over?  Under an intense spotlight, the perennially perky (and yes, she rightfully hated that word) television veteran tried to redefine the genre of the tradition-bound evening news broadcast, with little success. Not to mention the scrutiny of her hair, clothing and makeup that just wasn’t part of the equation when Brian Williams smoothly assumed the “NBC Nightly News” desk from long-time popular anchor Tom Brokaw. Gibson inherited his mantle following a rocky, tragic period at ABC, after Peter Jennings died and then his successor, co-anchor Bob Woodruff was seriously injured in Iraq.  He’s done an estimable job, bringing in his newscast at number two, after top-rated NBC. 

Yet the rumbling currents of criticism are already being directed at Sawyer, who’s done some very softball interviews and puff pieces during her long and successful tenure at “Good Morning America”– as well as hard-hitting broadcast journalism.

She’s a tough cookie and a classy woman, although I’ve never gotten the part where she willingly worked as an aide to the most reviled president in modern history, Richard Nixon, before she made a major career change and became the media doyenne she is today.But the tea leaves read that Sawyer’s hairstyle, hair color, lipstick, weight and wardrobe will be as much as part of the discussion as her journalistic credentials. Aside from Couric’s elevation, it’s been more than 25 years since the last female network news anchor, Jessica Savitch, made headlines for helming a network newscast (and she only held the weekend slot on NBC before her untimely death in a traffic accident).

Shamefully, much of the discourse about women in broadcasting has not evolved much beyond the superficial since then.