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Top 10 Emmy Finalists

By fred | June 27, 2008

The Emmys have released the lists of top 10 finalists for best comedy and best drama series. It’s not the nominations, just a “pre-selection”, but there’s already some (big) surprises, like the inclusion of Family Guy in the best comedy series — never an animated series made it there, but this year creator-producer Seth MacFarlane opted to have his show run for the best comedy series, while submitting a special episode (Blue Harvest) to the animated category — as well as some misses.

I mean I really wanted to see Life on the Best Drama list, and I can’t believe that once again How I Met Your Mother isn’t on the Best Comedy list ! You won’t also find Desperate Housewives (but that makes sense to me), My Name Is Earl, Scrubs, or Heroes but it is to include the one that’d have been surprising this year.

Originally, the TV academy planned to release the top 10 lists in the acting races too, but that idea is temporarily on hold while the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences chiefs survey the industry response to this unprecedented release of the program top 10s.

So below you will find the entries, and after judges ranked the entries from 1 (best) to 10, then accountants will combine their scores on an equal 50/50 basis with results of the original popular vote to determine the five nominees, which will be announced on July 17.

The order below is my personal votes, and between parenthesis are the episodes that will be screened this weekend.

TOP 10 COMEDY SERIES FINALISTS

30 Rock (Cooter)
The Office (title to come)
Family Guy (Padre de Familia)
Entourage (The Day F***ers)
Pushing Daisies (Pie-lette)
Weeds (Go)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (The Bat Mitzvah)
Flight Of The Conchords (Sally Returns)
Ugly Betty (Something Wicked This Way Comes)
Two And A Half Men (Rough Night In Hump Junction)

No, it’s not that I don’t like Pushing Daisies, but when you mix together hour-long comedies (that are more dramedies) with half-hour sitcoms, it’s always though, and I tend to go for sitcoms more. I’ll say it again : we need an additional (half-hour) sitcom category !

Also, why the Hell did Family Guy went for Padre de Familia ?? It was not a good episode, it wasn’t as funny as many others were, very bad choice IMO!

TOP 10 DRAMA SERIES FINALISTS

Lost (The Constant)
House (Frozen)
Damages (Pilot)
The Wire (Series finale, 30)
Grey’s Anatomy (Freedom, Parts 1 and 2)
Friday Night Lights (Leave No One Behind)
Boston Legal (The Court Supreme)
Mad Men (Pilot, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes)
The Tudors (#205)
Dexter (The Dark Defender)

Not a surprise to the The Constant here, if that doesn’t get Lost the Emmy, I think nothing will. So I look at this and I wish that series like Life or Breaking Bad were there as well, but…

What are your choices, your Top 5 for each of the above categories ?

Posted in News
Shows: 30 Rock, Boston Legal, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Damages, Dexter, Entourage, Family Guy, Flight Of The Conchords, Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, House, Lost, Mad Men, Pushing Daisies, The Office, The Tudors, The Wire, Two And A Half Men, Ugly Betty, Weeds