My intentions were to have these posted almost immediately after the nominations were announced this morning. Unfortunately, technical problems can wipe out even the best of intentions. Here they are, albeit a little late, followed by analysis.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Boston Legal
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes
House
The Sopranos
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
2 1/2 Men
Ugly Betty
OUTSTANDING MINI-SERIES
Broken Trail
Prime Suspect: The Final Act
The Starter Wife
OUTSTANDING MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
Inside The Twin Towers
Longford
The Ron Clark Story
Why I Wore Lipstick to My Masectomy
OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef
OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show
Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Hugh Laurie, House
Denis Leary, Rescue Me
James Spader, Boston Legal
Kiefer Sutherland, 24
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Patricia Arquette, Medium
Minnie Driver, The Riches
Edie Falco, The Sopranos
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
William Shatner, Boston Legal
Masi Oka, Heroes
T.R. Knight, Grey's Anatomy
Michael Emerson, Lost
Terry O'Quinn, Lost
Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Aida Turturro, The Sopranos
Lorraine Bracco, The Sopranos
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Ricky Gervais, Extras
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, 2 1/2 Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Jamie Pressley, My Name Is Earl
Jenna Fischer, The Office
Holland Taylor, 2 1/2 Men
Conchata Ferrell, 2 1/2 Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Jon Cryer, 2 1/2 Men
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
ANALYSIS:
I'm heartbroken to see Friday Night Lights snubbed, particularly Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton's portrayal of Eric and Tami Taylor, the most realistic couple on television. If any show needed an Emmy boost, this was it. If you start watching this show, I promise I'll stop writing about it.
I was stunned to see the exclusion of Lost, which had a great second half of the season. As much as I like Heroes, Lost is far more deserving. I honestly didn't expect to see nominations for two other superior shows, Battlestar Galactica and The Wire, and they didn't come. The Shield, Dexter, Brotherhood, and Deadwood also had deserving seasons.
The comedy nominations are a little easier to take. I bet this is Ugly Betty's year.
How many times has American Idol won best reality competition? Zero. America may vote for it, but NATAS members don't. My early money is on Project Runway.
Justin Timberlake's much-viewed "box" video on SNL was nominated for best song, along with two of the songs from the Scrubs musical episode. Unfortunately, the Emmy telecast doesn't include Best Song performances.
Jeff Field
NBC Action News Executive Producer
Share your thoughts on the nominations in the comments section below.