Emmy Nominations: Love for 'Friday Night Lights,' 'Mad Men' & 'Modern Family'

Image credit: NBC via New York Post.

As it rounds the corner of its final season, Friday Night Lights and its two lead actors, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, have received Emmy nominations for the wonderful conclusion to the series which moved and delighted me. Though it’s highly unlikely that FNL will receive any Emmys -- it’s up against Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and Game of Thrones in best drama, Chandler faces Mad Men’s Jon Hamm who had a stupendous year while Britton is competing with Julianna Margulies’ powerhouse turn in The Good Wife), it’s nice to see the gang from Dillon, Texas get some props for a change.



And it was a testament to the outstanding high quality of the humor, writing and performances in Modern Family to see that all the parents in the show were nominated for an Emmy, the show is in contention for best comedy (an honor it won last year) and one of its funniest episodes, “Caught in the Act,” is vying for best comedy writing. It’s been nominated for 17 Emmys, deservedly so.

Image credit: AMC.

Then there’s my beloved Mad Men which has been nominated for 19 Emmys. A favorite for best drama, which it has won for three consecutive years, the amazing Don and Peggy-centric episode “The Suitcase”  (where they stayed up all night working on the Samsonite campaign) was nominated for best writing, Miss Blankenship (Randee Heller) was nominated for best guest actress and Elisabeth Moss is up for best actress.

Other nominations that made my day: Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation, Michelle Forbes for her poignant work on The Killing and Andre Braugher’s Men of a Certain Age nod.

Who was left out of the Emmy 2011 party?

All the folks from Parenthood. No nominations. Zip. Nada. I thought for sure that Peter Krause would be on the list for his Adam Braverman (I’m thinking specifically about the episode where he punched the guy in the grocery store for mocking his son who has Asperger’s), or Mae Whitman for her portrayal of troubled teen Amber Holt.

Rescue Me. Its sixth season was strong and powerful and grim as Denis Leary’s Tommy Gavin, like Don Draper, hit his alcoholic rock bottom. (Both depictions were ugly and gripping.) Certainly the series and Leary deserved nominations.

Ray Romano. He proved, in his second season as the put-upon divorced dad Joe with a gambling problem on Men of a Certain Age, that he has acting chops.

Michael B. Jordan as Vince Howard from Friday Night Lights. During these past two seasons, Jordan has given an achingly beautiful performance as the East Dillon Lions’ quarterback who struggled with his previous criminal entanglements with deadly gangs, with his father returning to the fold after serving jail time (and disappointing his son by reverting to substance abuse), his mother’s rehab from drug addiction and omnipresent poverty.
Nick Offerman from Parks and Recreation. Just for the episode where he sported dreadlocks. Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness. Seriously. He made me laugh out loud.
 
The folks from The Middle. I adored the episode where Frankie and Mike Heck attempted to "take back" the house from their kids but, inevitably, failed.

What nominations pleased you? Which omissions annoyed you?

Image credits: New York Post, Michael Yarish/AMC.