Report: Top 10 Emmy finalists for drama & comedy series
Low-rated critics' favorite "Friday Night Lights" made the top 10 list of Emmy finalists for best drama series, but "Brothers and Sisters" — packed with Emmy-friendly stars — did not, according to judges reporting to TheEnvelope.com.
Other surprises: "Rome" — a canceled show that aired its last episode in March — is included on the drama list, but not two current series that were considered shoo-ins by some Emmywatchers: "Rescue Me" and "The Tudors." 
"The Office" and "Weeds" made the cut-off for best comedy, but there's one surprise addition — "Extras," which has relatively low Nielsen ratings.
The HBO show got in over "New Adventures of Old Christine," which was expected to be on the list. NBC leads all networks with 6 shows in the two Top 10s. ABC has 5, HBO 4, Showtime 2, Fox 2, CBS 1. FX network was shut out.
The top 10 shows reaping the most votes for best drama and comedy series from a polling of members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences are being screened by judges this weekend at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and the academy's North Hollywood headquarters.
ATAS has not announced which series are being screened, but judges dispatched Blackberry and text-message reports to TheEnvelope.com from the panel viewings. Screenings will continue this week in Los Angeles plus a location in New York City.
Judges must view all 10 contenders in one category and rank them against each other. To determine the final 5 nominees, accountants then use the same voting method used on "Dancing with the Stars" — combining judges' scores equally on a 50/50 basis with results of the original popular vote. The voting procedure is new.
Last year judges' scores alone determined the final five per category. The current method is also being used to determine the final five nominees in the acting races. However, those judges — all fellow actors deciding a peer-group award — may view DVD screeners at home, then send in a final ballot with a signed affidavit attesting that they watched all sample episodes (one per contender). Final nominations will be announced on July 19. Various independent reports sent to us unsolicited agree that these are the finalists in the top series races, but the information is unofficial and unverified.
Here are the views of a panelist (Judge #1) who evaluated the sample episodes submitted in both the comedy and drama races — CLICK HERE and HERE!
Compare those views with Judge #2 — CLICK HERE!
TOP 10 DRAMA SERIES FINALISTS
(In parens is name of sample episode viewed by judges)
Boston Legal ("Angel of Death")
Dexter ("Born Free")
Friday Night Lights (Pilot)
Grey's Anatomy ("From A Whisper to A Scream")
Heroes ("Genesis")
House ("Half-wit")
Lost ("Through the Looking Glass")
Rome ("De Patre Vostro")
The Sopranos ("Soprano Home Movies")
24 ("Day 6: 6 a.m. - 7 a.m.")
Not Nominated:
Deadwood
Rescue Me
The Tudors
The Shield
Brothers & Sisters
Gilmore Girls
Battlestar Galactica
The Riches
TOP 10 COMEDY SERIES FINALISTS
(In parens is name of sample episode viewed by judges)
Desperate Housewives ("It Takes Two")
Entourage ("One Day in the Valley")
Extras ("Daniel Radcliffe")
My Name is Earl ("Robbed a Stoner Blind")
The Office ("The Coup")
Scrubs ("My Musical")
Thirty Rock ("Hard Ball")
Two and a Half Men ("Apologies For the Frivolity")
Ugly Betty (Pilot)
Weeds ("Cooking with Jesus")
Not Nominated:
The New Adventures of Old Christine
How I Met Your Mother
Everybody Hates Chris
(NOTE: These reports come to us unsolicited. We pass them along when we know that the sources are usually credible, but information is unofficial and unverified. We do not encourage judges to break any agreement of confidentiality that they may have made with ATAS.)
Jericho is the most compelling drama in recent TV programming and should have made the list. Is storyline is too close to home??
Posted by: Aaron | July 16, 2008 at 04:20 AM
where the hell are the nominations for Scrubs...
Posted by: JM | July 19, 2007 at 07:11 AM
DEXTER IS THE BEST!
Posted by: JF | July 19, 2007 at 04:10 AM
How about 'The Wire' not being nominated. It is truly THE best show on TV and after 4 seasons they still can't get an Emmy nod. Truly sad. Go David Simon! Hold your head high, you have the true diamond.
Posted by: Sharana | July 18, 2007 at 05:45 AM
Battlestar Galactica and the Riches weren't nominated but Grey's Anatomy was? Gross. And the TV execs wonder why no one watches the Emmys?
Posted by: Carry | July 08, 2007 at 09:26 PM
What about 'Numb3rs'? They've been putting on an exceptional show for three years now and neither the show nor any of the actors have ever been nominated. Instead, the Emmy's put up the same shows year after year - whether they've earned the distinction or not. It's as though the judges have a preset list given to them and they follow it to the letter. Why not just announce who's going to win the awards now and get it over with? It seems as though it's already been decided.
Posted by: rittenden | July 07, 2007 at 07:31 PM
I agree as to how ridiculous it is that "Brothers and Sisters" is not in the running!!! That show had an incredible season. Great story, great acting. If it doesn't make the cut for best series, it better get some recognition for its actors, cuz they were top notch.
Posted by: BD02 | July 07, 2007 at 12:23 PM
in the 80's dramadies like knots landing, dynasty, and dallas were considered dramas
now desp wives is a comedy
also comededy like maude, all in the family, good times, where comedyt (and ony 1/2/hour
and dealt with serious subjects
now we have ugly betty (one hour)
why do the emmys consider it this way
plus all the reaity shws, whic shw be game show
boston legal ally mxbeal should be comedies
Posted by: rich | July 04, 2007 at 06:22 AM
An so with the omission of THE WIRE, I'm not even watching the Emmys this year. Seriously, I maintain the people who watch these shows don't actually WATCH the shows. They sit in a room and yak about what's going on in their life, then they pick the 10 shows they've heard something about and list them in a random order of 1-10.
I actually think I could handle RESCUE ME, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, or heck even THE CLOSER over the spot ROME has. That episode was one of the weakest of their final season and couldn't even compare to one of THE WIRE's weaker episodes all the way back in Season Two. Although, part of me thinks this is as much HBO's doing as it is the judges who vote.
Basically, the Emmys have lost me forever with their no nonsense ideas of the best Dramas on television. Just mainly picking shows that have a lot of viewers should really not be the way a show makes it on the ballot.
Posted by: Heather | July 03, 2007 at 05:48 PM
Insanity. It's absolutely amazing that The Wire isn't even going to be nominated. Add in the omission of Deadwood, Rescue Me, Battlestar Galactica and The Riches and you've got one of the most laughable Emmy list of all times.
For the poster that said the list of shows not nominated looks stronger than the list that is, you're dead on.
Unbelievable. The Wire gets dissed four seasons running.
Posted by: Simon | July 03, 2007 at 04:13 PM
Heroes is OK...it's like one of those fun shoes that you watch for the excitement but not the substance. Like, a summer popcorn flick. Worthy of an Emmy? Absolutely not.
Worth a spot over The Wire? Seriously?
People may think it's odd, then, that I like Lost and think that it can and should win the drama Emmy. It's very character driven, has the right amount of mystery and is just overall very compelling. Especially since The Wire's not even being considered, my vote is for Lost.
As for comedy...
Ugly Betty is horribly overrated. It's one of those shows that's cute and charming but isn't particularly fresh or edgy comedy-wise. All of the stuff with the dead brother not being dead and coming back as a woman, the Meade patriarch conspiring to commit murder, the Suarez father having killed someone...it's very much a soap opera with a few gay and fat jokes thrown in, that either ends with a) a happy-go-lucky "look what we've learned today about acceptance" type deal or b) a ridiculous cliff hanger.
Betty will probably win, though, which is a shame, because it's certainly not the strongest comedy up there.
The Office is consistently funny, though I agree they misstepped with their submission. They would have been much better off had they sent in "Branch Closing," "A Benihana Christmas," "The Return," "Business School," "Cocktails," or "The Negotiation." The Office is constantly pushing the comedy envelope (staying relevant and edgy) and has -- unlike Betty -- developed CHARACTERS rather than CARICATURES. It's maybe not as popular as Betty, which is a shame, but I feel like there is more substance there.
Extras is another really strong, really edgy, really original comedy. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant really know how to push peoples' buttons and how to maximize their gawky appearances and sharp minds to elicit the right kind of laughs. Their writing and acting is so good that people such as Kate Winslet, Daniel Radcliffe, Orlando Bloom, David Bowie, Patrick Stewart, et al are willing to appear as warped versions of themselves.
In terms of sheer quality, for me it's between The Office, Extras, and...Entourage.
Scrubs has gone really downhill since about season 4, Two and A Half Men relies on sexual humor to get the easy laughs, Earl's premise and redneck humor is only funny and fresh for so long, and DH has bordered on insanity -- and not the good kind. I have to confess that I've never seen 30 Rock or Weeds, so I have no opinion on them.
Posted by: Kayla | July 03, 2007 at 04:06 PM
Have the people pushing for BROTHERS AND SISTERS actually seen the other shows? I've watched it and most of the others and there is simply no way B&S deserves a nomination. It is a good but certainly not great show. Its greatest merit is that it got steadily better as it went along.
I see some justice in the list. The four best shows on TV in my opinion are THE WIRE, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, LOST, and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. I was glad at least two of them got nominated. I think ten years from now as people continue to discover the masterpiece that is BATTLESTAR GALACTICA they will be flabbergasted that it received so little awards recognition (though it is likely to be the only three-peater on the American Film Institutes Top Ten TV Shows list and it won a Peabody, which is far more impressive than an Emmy).
On the HEROES debate, I watched the whole thing and each week looked forward to watching it. But it is not a deep show. It is not a great show. Both LOST and BSG are on an entirely different level in terms of depth and quality. And acting? Someone above posted that HEROES topped BSG based on cast. Obviously they have never seen BSG. Not only does BSG have a phenomenal cast--heck, they have two Oscar nominees doing what might be the best work of their careers--it also has what might be the largest cast in TV history if you count all the enormous number of recurring characters. But it is easy to minimize the merits of a show if you haven't watched it. The big difference between HEROES and BSG for me is that each episode of the former (with the exception of the spectacular episode "Company Man," which signaled with the 16th episode a huge increase of quality in the series, though the season finale was disappointing) was fun, but five minutes after it was over I had forgotten about it. And wouldn't think of it again until the next episode. Each episode of BSG, however, took a toll on me. Sometimes it took me several days to process what I had seen. Watching an episode of BSG often leaves me utterly drained and emotionally worn out. LOST can do that at times as well, though not so often. I still haven't quite gotten over the BSG season finale.
But I will be delighted if FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS wins. It is easily the best show on broadcast television today with no serious competition (except possibly LOST). The acting is just extraordinary and I will be very disappointed if Kyle Chandler doesn't walk away with an Emmy. He clearly deserves it. I just wish more people would watch it. Folks, it is NOT about football! Give it a try!
Posted by: Robert | July 03, 2007 at 02:33 PM
Brothers and Sisters should be in the Top 10! One of the best shows of the year! The best new drama. and Ugly Betty is the best new comedy... I hope Betty wins!
I hope Rome gets a nomination. Its one of the best HBO shows ever! Polly Walker is a extremely talented acctress! She deserves a nomination as well!
Posted by: Francisco | July 03, 2007 at 01:52 PM
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Where is THE WIRE?
Posted by: JQMES | July 03, 2007 at 01:36 PM
Battlestar Galactica is phenomenal, and Mary McDonnell is a tie with Sally Field for best actress. Both are crazy-good, going from light to intense to tears to powerful in one scene. In a just world, BSG and B&S should have multiple drama nods.
But if it were a just world, the Academy would realize that Science Fiction is actually a genre of TV! And Patrick Stewart would have a shelf-full of Emmys for playing Captain Picard. But he doesn't, they don't, and it isn't.
The Academy's taste is as vanilla-white and predictable as Marcia Cross's forehead.
Posted by: Strepsi | July 03, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Why not Gilmore Girls????? is the last year ;_______;
Posted by: Uny | July 03, 2007 at 11:52 AM
So the 4th Season of The Wire is the all-time highest rated season of any drama by critics according to metacritic.com--since they started recording stats, that is. I agree. I'll go further to assert it's the best season of any drama in the history of television. The fact that it's not nominated or even mentioned in the "not nominated" list says all that needs to be said about the credibility of the Emmy's. If there was any year the snub clearly says something unarguably despicable about the voting process, this is it.
Grey's Anatomy over The Wire? That's like comparing the XFL to the NFL. Yes, really.
Battlestar Galactica is light years ahead of Heroes in terms of story writing and maturity, although I do like Heroes. Likewise, Heroes is light years ahead of Lost.
Friday Night Lights was deserving. That show caught me off guard with it's great writing and great acting and cinematography. Aside from Freaks and Geeks, it's the best portrayal I've seen of events surrounding some high school kids.
Posted by: Geezus | July 03, 2007 at 09:27 AM
Who are the "people" that decide these nominations? They really need to get a CLUE. This year's best TV series by far is BROTHERS & SISTERS. For it to be passed up is either a lack of taste or just really bad judgement. There you go a new category in the award programs.. The Bad Judgement award. A year from now I predict that B&S will be sweeping the floor with awards. Friday NIght Lights? Boston Legal? give me a break, and is LOST even still on, or is it just rerunes still? WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Posted by: paul in LA | July 03, 2007 at 06:33 AM
My favorite show was not in the running! It's a travesty!
Posted by: Nix | July 03, 2007 at 05:06 AM
not including the 4th season of the wire for best drama is the most damning evidence of the emmy's irrelevance. That season of the wire was probably the greatest season of television ever produced in TV history..and it doesn't get nominated. Pathetic
Posted by: hero | July 03, 2007 at 03:13 AM
Seriously, I can't watch or pay any attention to the Emmys if they're not even CONSIDERING The Wire -- the best show on television, and it's not even close.
"Two and a Half Men"?
Sometimes I hate the world...
Posted by: Holly | July 02, 2007 at 08:17 PM
House chose Half-Wit - ewww!! one of thr worst epsiodes ever!!! right up there with One Day One Room. They must have submitted it because Dave Mathews was in it. Dave was good but the episode was full of so much AWFULNESS, I don't think his musical presence could save it. I don't get the inclusion of Friday Nights - BORING, epsecially the pilot. And I can't believe BROTHERS AND SISTERS wasn't in the TOP TEN - best show on TV!!!
Posted by: Debbie | July 02, 2007 at 08:02 PM
I can't believe the episode House chose, it's probably the worst episode of the season. As of now, I'm feeling like FNL, Heros and Grey's Anatomy are House's only real competion, probably with Grey's for the win. The episode they chose is the best of the season.
The fact that Lauren Graham and Gilmore Girls was ignored AGAIN really bothers me. And people call Hugh Laurie one of the most undderated actors on TV..
John Krasinksi is a very pleasent suprise, I think he definatly deserves it.
Posted by: Carlee | July 02, 2007 at 07:08 PM
good to see entourage get recognized as a show and not just for jeremy piven
plus "day in the valley" was a really great and fun episode.
and please let lost get recognized for the best finale ive ever seen anywhere
Posted by: ah | July 02, 2007 at 05:58 PM
It's sad that the best comedy on the air -- the adventures of Old Christine -- did not make the bake off -- it would have been nominated. Every episode of that show is hilarious.
Posted by: jake | July 02, 2007 at 05:32 PM