TVSquad

The Emmy Award nominations will be announced a week from this Thursday, and The Hollywood Reporter got a bunch of TV stars (both Emmy winners and nominees) together at a roundtable* to discuss the awards, and it's pretty lively.

While Ted Danson talks about it taking nine times before he won the Emmy for Cheers in 1990, David Spade explains that he was more bummed about not winning a Golden Globe for his role on Just Shoot Me more than not winning the Emmy, because he was beaten by Gregory Peck, who won for a really short cameo. Bryan Cranston reveals how his guest stint on The X-Files many years ago led to his role on Breaking Bad, and Alec Baldwin explains that it's actually OK that he doesn't get to swear on 30 Rock like his friends who have pay cable shows can.

Neil Patrick Harris makes some comments that reality show-haters will love.

* For the sake of journalistic accuracy, I actually have no idea if the table was round or not. It could have been a long rectangle.

Another day, another list of 10 semifinalists from the Emmys. This time, it's the Best Actor in a Drama.

There are a lot of the usual suspects on the list (which will be knocked down to five nominees in the next round), including actors from Dexter, Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad, and House. One show that's not represented is Lost. I thought Matthew Fox did some great work this season, especially his drunk/screwed-up scenes.

After the jump, the list of the ten semifinalists (also check out those in contention for Best Actress - Comedy, Best Supporting Actor - Drama, Best Comedy, and Best Drama).

All I can say after word came out today that they AMC renewed Breaking Bad is FINALLY! What the hell took so long? Every bit as critically acclaimed and amazing as the already renewed Mad Men, this meth and cancer dramedy defies description and blows away expectations. After the strike-shortened seven episode first season, AMC has committed to a full thirteen-episode run for its sophomore effort; no word yet on when the new season will film or air.

Bryan Cranston is a veritable tour de force in the role of Walter White, the high school chemistry teacher who begins producing meth to procure the funds necessary for his family to get by after he dies. Aaron Paul is equally strong as his half-witted cohort in crime, and the two of them are the grimmest comedy duo since ... well, maybe ever. Each week the series surpassed expectations by getting better and better, and that was only seven weeks. I can't imagine nearly twice that!

[via Ain't It Cool News]

Here is Reason #243 why I like Neil Patrick Harris, or NPH as people have taken to calling him: He thinks that How I Met Your Mother is perfectly OK without all the guest stars. And, yes, that includes that nutty gal from Louisiana.

"I worry that if they start Will and Grace-ing us too much, that the show will suffer, " NPH told Erin Carlson of the AP. He's referring to the fact that W&G spent many of its later years building comedy around a parade of high-profile guest stars. He went on to say that "we're all really proud of the content of the show. I mean, viewership is not our game. It's the network and the studio's game, you know. It's the promotion department's game."

NPH feels he's in "the minority" with his view, according to the article, and he thinks the fact that the show is opposite Dancing with the Stars (or, as he calls it, "an awkward reality dancing competition") has caused the network, as well as creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, to scramble for viewers.

(S01E07) Well, I have to say that while this finale did establish a certain status quo, albeit a highly precarious one, it was by no means a satisfying series ender. Thus, I fully expect that AMC will renew this amazing show for a second season post haste. Did you here me, AMC? Whatever you need to do to secure these actors and get this ball rolling. And maybe give us at least 13 episodes next time, eh?

(S01E06) I hadn't even realized how quickly this season has gone by until the closing moments told me that next week was the season finale. That's way too soon, and yes I understand there was a pesky writer's strike which played havoc with production schedules. But Breaking Bad is just too good of a show that's just starting to find its groove. Bryan Cranston just constantly blows me away with his performance, and Aaron Paul continues to find ways to turn what could be a very one-dimensional, archetypical street thug into a complex personality.

(S01E05) This episode served as a bridge in our larger story to the next chapter of both Jesse and Walt's lives. In the previous installment, Walt withdrew from the sordid world of drug trafficking and focused on his family, revealing his cancer and looking at the varying options available to him. Meanwhile, his erstwhile partner Jesse had a bad drug reaction and sought refuge in the home of his parents, which didn't turn out as well as he had hoped. Here they both continued their efforts to move on with their lives, to varying degrees of failure.

(S01E04) This episode was about calming down and reassessing one's life and family. We got to see Walter open up and share his cancer with his extended family, albeit reluctantly and only done really because Skyler couldn't handle it alone. Walter, in fact, remained incredibly stoic, silent and passive about his impending fate. He also stayed true to his original vision, which was not to leave his family with a mountain of debt.

As for Jesse, we finally got to meet the rest of the Pinkman clan and they're nothing like you'd expect - or they're exactly like you'd expect - and yet somehow they appeared to have a profound influence on where Jesse's life is heading and what he wants to do about it.

(S01E03) "I thought we were going to Cold Stone Creamery." Walt, Jr. with Hank

With this episode we come to the conclusion of what would be considered the "First Act" of the Breaking Bad saga. I have to say that I was very impressed with this conclusion, and with the opening arc. Cranston continues to dominate the screen with his tragic portrayal of a desperate man who's health is clearly failing more and more with each passing moment. Hard decisions are made, and the hardest and best decision he's made yet looks to be the one the episode ends on.

(S01E02) "Is this going to be on the murder?" -- question asked by a student in Walter White's class, or at least how he heard it.

Things are starting to unravel fast for our "odd couple" of meth makers. Last episode left them with two dead bodies in the back of a wrecked RV filled with meth ingredients. How could it get worse? Well, what if one of those dead bodies isn't so much ... dead that is? The boys haven't sold any drugs yet, Pinkman's house is falling apart and White's marriage may not be far behind. Cranston's getting well deserved raves for his stellar performance, but as with most buddy comedies, and let's face it this is becoming a very dark comedy, it takes two great actors to pull it off, and Aaron Paul's Pinkman is an amazing foil for Cranston's White.

(S01E01) "Tell me why you're doing this. Seriously."
"Why do you do it?"
"Money. Mainly."
"There you go."
"Nah, come on. Man, some straight like you, giant stick up his ass, all of a sudden at age, what, 60; he's just gonna break bad."
"I'm 50."

If your idea of a dashing leading man doesn't include a guy in his fifties wearing his Fruit of the Loom briefs and a lab smock, then you're not watching the right shows. Bryan Cranston is one of television's most under-appreciated actors. While Jane Kaczmerek was Emmy-nominated seven years in a row for her work on Malcolm in the Middle, and was constantly talked about, Cranston only picked up three nods. It looks like he might have another chance at Emmy gold as his performance in Breaking Bad is amazing.

What's going on at the other TV blogs via the internets.

• Could TV ratings actually increase because of the strike?
• Here's The Shield's Shawn Ryan on the strike.
• First Diane Keaton, and now Colin Farrell.
• Lou Dobbs, interviewed by Esteban Colberto.
• Which cast member of The View has had a threesome?
• Oh, never mind, Chris Daughtry actually meant to say he loves American Idol!
• Breaking Bad debuts on AMC tomorrow night.
• Why Margaret Cho won't do Ellen Degeneres' show.
• Brian Williams grabs a red-eye flight.

AMC already has one critically acclaimed and Golden Globe nominated drama under its belt with the brilliant Mad Men. A second new series, Breaking Bad, hopes to follow that success, beginning in January. Malcolm in the Middle's Bryan Cranston stars as a high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime in order to support his family after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. If it's half as good as Mad Men it'll be twice as good as most of what's on TV.

But not content to wait around to see how Breaking Bad does critically and commercially, Variety reports that AMC has no less than four more shows in various stages of development, including two westerns. Westerns haven't been able to find success on the broadcast networks in years. Now by "Western" I'm talking the John Wayne/Clint Eastwood brand of Westerns with gunfights and saloon whores, not the likes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, which did find an audience but was a very different kind of show.

(S01E01/S01E02) I'm about to give you fair warning. In addition to being a husband, father, writer at TV Squad, and Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist I have also been in improv for 5 years. So, my review is may be slightly tainted.

That being said, I didn't think Thank God You're Here was an utter disaster. I also didn't think it was a laugh-until-you-pee hit, either. It was interesting to watch and mildly entertaining, even in those scenes where you knew the actors were waaaayyyy out of their element. And there was plenty of that.

As Julia mentioned last month, NBC is launching a comedy improv series with an impressive guest list (details below). Thank God You're Here is adapted from an Australian improv series that's part game show, part Whose Line is it Anyway? Contestants will have to choose doors where a comedy sketch is taking place. The guest will be welcomed with the line, "Thank God You're Here!" and they will have to improv their way into the scene. Judges/hosts will be Kids in the Hall's Dave Foley and In Living Color's David Alan Grier.

Guests scheduled to appear include Jennifer Coolidge, Fred Willard, Bryan Cranston, Jason Alexander, Wayne Knight, Ana Gasteyer, Chelsea Handler, Joel McHale, George Takei, Tom Green, Nicole Sullivan, Tom Arnold, Fran Drescher, Shannon Elizabeth, Paul Rodriguez, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Mo'Nique, and Alanis Morrisette.

I have always been a sucker for Whose Line is it Anyway?, so I'm going to give this one a chance for sure. Thank God You're Here premieres on two Mondays, April 9 and 16 at 8 pm, before moving to its permanent timeslot on Wednesday, April 18 at 8 pm.