My Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Drama Series

As you can see, my Dream Emmy Ballot experiment took a backseat to real life. I still want to get these out before the Emmy nomination announcements on July 19, so I'm giving it the old college try. Next up is Outstanding Drama Series.

Remember, these picks are my "wouldn't it be nice" nominees and not real predictions because it's just easier to dream than try to face reality. If you want more legit insights, I'm sure you can find some online.

Boardwalk Empire
It's a period drama on HBO with a pretty heavy-hitting cast, so I'm pretty sure Boardwalk Empire will be getting another nomination.


Breaking Bad
Even though I'm wildly behind on my Breaking Bad catch-up, and I cannot watch more than one episode at a time, I can see that it's definitely one of the better shows on the air. I don't know if it's the "best" per se because being dark and twisted isn't enough to win me over, but I'm sure I'll get all of the hype once I'm further along. Regardless, not adding Breaking Bad to my ballot would be idiotic.

Game of Thrones
See Boardwalk Empire (sans heavy-hitting cast). Plus, it'd be nice if a genre show could catch on again to be an Emmy staple.

Homeland
This was one of my favorite new shows, so I just had to add it to my dream ballot. The thing is, it's worthy of the love and is a pretty safe bet. I don't know if it has enough juice to topple Mad Men and/or Breaking Bad, but it has a decent chance.

Justified
I'm probably in the minority because I didn't think Season 3 of Justified was better than Season 2, and it wasn't one of the best seasons of a drama, but it was still pretty great. And I actually watched it, so I felt obligated to add it instead of going for something like Downton Abbey.

Mad Men
It's Mad Men, did you really think I wasn't going to include it on my list?

So there you have it. Those would be my top six contenders for Outstanding Drama Series if I controlled the Emmys. Agree? Disagree? Who would your nominess be?

My Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

As you can see, my Dream Emmy Ballot experiment took a backseat to real life. I still want to get these out before the Emmy nomination announcements on July 19, so I'm giving it the old college try. Next up is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and this will probably be the least dramatic category of the bunch.

Remember, these picks are my "wouldn't it be nice" nominees and not real predictions because it's just easier to dream than try to face reality. If you want more legit insights, I'm sure you can find some online.

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
He's a big-ish name movie star on an HBO drama, so why not put him on the list?

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
He's the lead on the "best" drama ever, so why not put him on the list?

Jon Hamm, Mad Men
He's Jon Hamm and the lead on another one of the "best" dramas ever, so why not put him on the list?

Jason Isaacs, Awake
He's Lucius Malfoy and the lead on a good show that no one watched, so why not put him on the list?

Damian Lewis, Homeland
He's the male lead on one of the best new shows of the season, so why not put him on the list?

Timothy Olyphant, Justified
He's the lead on another one of the "best" dramas ever, so why not put him on the list?

So there you have it. Those would be my top six contenders for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series if I controlled the Emmys. Agree? Disagree? Who would your nominess be?

News: 2011 AFI Awards Announced

The American Film Institute released its Top 10 of 2011 lists, and I wanted to share my initial thoughts on the television category. This year, the AFI decided to recognize the following television programs:

• Boardwalk Empire
• Breaking Bad
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Game of Thrones
• The Good Wife
• Homeland
• Justified
• Louie
• Modern Family
• Parks and Recreation

I really cannot complain about the drama side of things since shows like Breaking Bad and The Good Wife have been critical darlings for years now, and I'm glad that Justified got some recognition for its vastly improved second season. I'm a little surprised that rookie shows, Game of Thrones and Homeland, made the list, but their selections are deserved. The only drama on the list that I'm not so sure about is Boardwalk Empire, but I haven't seen Season 2 yet, so maybe it's gotten better.

The comedies are another story. First off, I'm glad that Parks and Recreation was added to the list. I know that I don't write a lot about the show, but it is a consistently entertaining show that deserves more recognition. I started watching Season 1 of Louie, and I can understand where the love is coming from, so I'm fine with its inclusion as well. For the life of me, I don't get why Modern Family is listed once again because it's been struggling for the past two seasons. I'm not going to say that shows like Glee or Community are more deserving, but there has to be another sitcom out there that's better than Modern Family. Ah well.

What are your thoughts on AFI's list of the best television programs of 2011?

The Small Screen Podcast, Episode 9: Is The New Season Looking GRIMM?

"The Small Screen Podcast" is back for Episode 9. This week Kristal and I discussed the recent renewals of cable's biggest hitters, the shows that we think have the most promise, and NBC's Chuck and Grimm.

Episode Breakdown:

Intros: Start - 1:21

TV News & Discussion: 1:21 - 21:52

• Renewals for The Walking Dead, Homeland, Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, and American Horror Story, and back 9 order for Bob's Burgers: 1:21 - 9:55
• Grimm's Strong Debut...For a Friday: 9:56 - 12:28
• Fall's Most Promising New Show - Homeland, Revenge, New Girl: 12:29 - 21:52

What We're Watching (SPOILER WARNING): 21:52 - 49:15

• Grimm: 21:52 - 31:49
• Chuck: 31:50 - 49:15

Closing: 49:16 - End

Check out the episode below or download it over at iTunes:

For more, follow us on Twitter:

Kristal: @kristal_bailey

Marcos: @poppas2cents

TV Report Card: Week of October 3, 2010

My brother got married this weekend, so I didn't have as much time to put together this week's TV Report Card, but I wanted to crank one out just for the heck of it:

Sunday
Boardwalk Empire: "Broadway Limited"

After this week's Boardwalk Empire, I realized that I could skip the first thirty minutes, and it'd be fine because so much of the show is needless exposition. I appreciate what Boardwalk is trying to achieve, but the first three episodes have taken so long to develop an interesting storyline that I'm starting to lose interest. For example, I really don't remember what happened during this week's episode. One thing that did stick out was how the show tried to be graphic for the sake of being shocking. I don't need to see things being shoved up some guy's junk or gratuitous sex scenes that add nothing to the story. I know they add these elements to make the show more "real" and "gritty", but usually it's just distracting. The characters are still interesting enough, and the conflict between Nucky and Jimmy could lead to some good stuff, so I'll be sticking around for a little bit longer.

GRADE: C-

TV Report Card: Week of September 26, 2010

Here is this week's TV Report Card:

Sunday
Boardwalk Empire: "The Ivory Tower"

This week's Boardwalk Empire was hit or miss for me. On one hand, "The Ivory Tower" was a great character study about Nucky and how he's a chameleon. After watching the episode, it's easy to see why he's where he is today because he can be slippery, ruthless, and sensitive. The scene where Nucky lost the $3,000 he made Jimmy pay him as his "cut" on roulette was cold, calculating, and brilliant. The rest of the episode was unsettling; from the gratuitous sex stuff to the creepy moment involving Agent Van Auden. I know these kind of scenes are supposed to give the show "realism", but they just took me out of the episode. I can still see the potential of Boardwalk Empire, but the organized crime elements need to start revving up to keep me interested.

GRADE: C

TV Report Card: Week of September 19, 2010

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Show Reviews: BOARDWALK EMPIRE

For me, the new television season started tonight with the series premiere of HBO's Boardwalk Empire. Now, I fully admit that I'm going to have to watch the pilot a few more times to fully appreciate everything that went on, but I did want to share my initial thoughts.

After "Boardwalk Empire", I tweeted about how I wanted to like the episode more than I did, but I also realized that the show has potential. Like with any show, it's hard to judge an entire series solely on its pilot, which is why I'm going to be sticking around for a few weeks, but tonight's episode didn't blow me away right off of the bat.

Since it looks like Boardwalk Empire is going to be a heavily serialized show, the first time out had to establish the universe and plot lines, which explains why the first part of the pilot took its time to build up steam. It wasn't until Jimmy confronted Nucky about his station in life and what he did to change it that I started to get on board with the show.

While the story of the first episode took some getting used to, the world created and the characters that occupy it did impress me immediately. The production designers did an amazing job and were able to create a visually stunning version of 1920's Atlantic City, and it's a setting that I'm excited to explore.

As for the characters, Steve Buscemi has made a career at playing characters like Enoch "Nucky" Thompson. He's ambitious, scheming, and generally slimey, but he's not a one-dimensional character either. Watching Nucky help out Margaret and observe premature babies being taken care of (creepiest storefront ever by the way) indicated that there's more to the character. Also, Jimmy Darmody quickly became the most intriguing character, and Michael Pitt did a good job at showing us the challenges some vets face after they've come home.

Again, the one thing I've learned TV over the years is you have to give a new show some time to find its legs, which is why I'm willing to give Boardwalk Empire a few more weeks to really suck me in to this visually striking world.

Watch: BOARDWALK EMPIRE Promo

HBO's Boardwalk Empire looks GOOD! Looks like I'm going to have to add it to my rotation this fall.