Since I have such definitive opinions on the Emmy nominations (The Comeback? Will &Grace? Two and a Half Men?) I decided to turn to my television nemesis and see what he has to say. Who exactly are these Emmy Elders who were supposed to change the Emmy nomination process? - Karen
Emmy Voter #1: The starstruck cinephile. Deeply resentful of the fact they're stuck in television, will vote for any actor or actress with a film background, no matter how marginal, long ago, or dubious their contributions
Identifying votes: Stockard Channing for Out of Practice (cancelled), Geena Davis for Commander-in-Chief (cancelled), and Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer (ok, she probably deserves it, but that's not why she's nominated).
Emmy Voter #2: The autopilot. Votes the same shows, actors, and actresses every single year, regardless of quality, cancellation, or acts of god. You might know them as the ones who kept Frasier and Dennis Franz hip deep in gold statues throughout the 90's.
Identifying votes: The roughly two dozen nominations for Will & Grace, The West Wing, and Malcolm in the Middle - cancelled shows no one's cared since the turn of the century.
Emmy Voter #3: The Mr. Burns/Norma Desmond. Desperate to stave off their own obsolescence, the patron saint of shows and talents considered cutting edge anywhere from 3-30 years ago.
Identifying votes: William Shatner for Boston Legal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for The New Adventures of Old Christine, Scrubs and Arrested Development for Best Comedy.
Emmy voter #4: The lush. While just about every voter is at least an honorary member of this group, the hardcore are simply too drunk to properly fill out a ballot.
Identifying votes: All nominations pertaining to Two and a Half Men.
Emmy voter #5: The voice of reason. That rarest of breeds, he/she shakes their head like the rest of us at the snubs of Hugh Laurie and Lost, the elevation of Law & Order: SVU to award status, and could care less about the absence of Desperate Housewives from the Emmy roster (though why it keeps getting put up against comedies remains a mystery, as it's the first soap ever to be categorized as such).
Identifying votes: Jean Smart for 24, The Office for Best Comedy, and The Sopranos for Best Drama (haven't seen the latest season, but even subpar Sopranos beats 99.9% of network fare cold).
Karen Woodward - Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I've lived in Los Angeles since 1994. A communications major at University of Colorado, ...
