TVSquad

The Outstanding Comedy Series category is one of the toughest of the big Emmy categories to predict. Why? Well, if you look at the list of nominees the last few years, you'll see why: What's considered a comedy? In 2005, Desperate Housewives was nominated; with what's gone on during the show this year, you'd be hard pressed to nominate it as a comedy this year. Same could be said of Ugly Betty, which got a nod in 2007.

In addition, the Emmy committee has a tendency to nominate the same shows repeatedly despite signs of decline -- Two and a Half Men is still funny, but does it deserve a nod every year? -- leaving less slots open for new blood.

So, between Men, 30 Rock, and The Office, all of which should get nominated, that leaves two (or three?) slots open. Who should go in there? Well, I can think of two right off the bat... and they're both on CBS.

Seth McFarlane is trying to break the Emmy barrier by having Family Guy compete with such shows as 30 Rock and The Office. For the second year in a row, Family Guy is being submitted as a nominee for the general comedy series category (as opposed to the animated 'toon category).

I'm ambivalent about this choice. On one hand, a lot of great comedy has come from animation that certainly is on par with the live-action television comedies. On the other hand, if a comedy series did compete against live sitcoms, I'd prefer it was The Simpsons or South Park which historically have been much better at intellectual humor than anything McFarlane has produced. It's also difficult to do a direct comparison since cartoon shows are more flexible storytelling vehicles than live sitcoms. It's like having an unlimited special effects budget.

I note that McFarlane and company have also jumped on the Obama campaign poster parody bandwagon. That's so six months ago.

What are the odds that this is the year that How I Met Your Mother makes it into that hallowed circle of Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series? If it were up to me, I'd rank HIMYM over Two and a Half Men, for instance, but I'm not the one filling out the ballot. One thing working in Mother's favor this year, though, is that on July 16 when the nominations are announced, there will be six nominees in each category instead of five.

The folks behind the HIMYM Emmy campaign must believe they have a good shot. Look at this trade ad that TV Week reprinted. It's a good ad; clever and memorable. The nod to Magritte is unmistakable, and attests to the wit of the show's creators. If this doesn't send a subliminal message to Emmy voters, nothing will.

Somebody needs to give 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin a shoulder to cry on. Seriously. In this recent interview the Emmy nominee not only mourned his lost youth -- he's just turned 50 (in April) and realizes that he'll never play professional baseball or dance in the ballet (really, Al, you think that was ever likely?) -- but he talked about quitting acting entirely. Hard to believe it, but here are his words:

"There's other things to do. ...So I'm trying to decide what to do when I quit this business. ...Yeah, I do have to find another career. I don't want to do this. I don't."

It's hard to figure out exactly what's behind Baldwin's words, unless we take it on face value and believe that he just doesn't want to act anymore.