TVSquad

On Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen plays a vulgar playboy, a shallow guy who's more interested in booze, women and having a good time than being responsible and working hard. The role has earned him a couple of Emmy nominations and a lot of money. A lot of money. In fact, in a new poll from TV Guide, Charlie Sheen is the highest paid actor on TV, making $825,000 per episode; in a season of 23 shows, that comes out to nearly $20 million.

That's more than he could make in the movies, and unlike films, Charlie can keep on raking it in on Two and a Half Men for years. The show is a huge hit in syndication, so more episodes will simply mean more money down the road.

Right behind Charlie on the list is fellow CBS leading man, CSI's William Petersen. He's making $600,000 an episode. He's only doing ten episodes this season, but since he's also an executive producer on the series, he's probably making even more.

With seven separate nominations in the Guest Actor and Actress categories, it's hard to believe that any 30 Rock guest stars were left off this year's list. The men nearly swept the nominees list for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, earning four of the five available spots. The ladies made up half of the Guest Actress category; not bad!

Still, a few brilliant and hilarious performances were left out. You can't argue with nominations for Will Arnett and Elaine Stritch, but I'd swap one or two of the nominees with a few of my own favorites. Check out my list of overlooked 30 Rock guest stars after the jump. And yes, I left out Jerry Seinfeld. Emmy got that one right.

Earlier today I did a first take on the Primetime Emmy nominations, sharing with you my first impressions and noting a few surprises. Now, I'm going to finish what I started. Please, share your comments and your opinions about the nominations.

9:23: Here are all of the nominations. Leave your comments below as to what should have been nominated but wasn't and the nominations that make you roll you eyes and say, "give me a break..."

9:22: I have a feeling James Spader is going to lose this year.

9:20: Battlestar Galactica fans will be happy to see a nom in the writing category.

9:18: So...no nomination for The Wire? That's going to make fans throw their TV sets through their windows (though TV sets are harder to lift nowadays...maybe they'll just kick them in). Still not sure why Jon Cryer is "supporting" and Charlie Sheen is "lead" on Two and a Half Men.

9:15: So I lied. Instead of reposting up here I just went back to the entries below (oh, the wonder of the internet!) and put show titles in, made them italic, made everything easier to read.

The Emmy nominations will be announced tomorrow morning at 8:30am, and I'll be live-blogging the announcement, so come back here at that time for all the news. Well, actually, you won't have to "come back here" if you never leave, right? So please keep TV Squad open in a separate window as you do the rest of your web surfing and keep hitting refresh for the latest news. Thank you.

I'm sure a lot of the usual suspects will be in the mix when they announce the nominees: Lost, House, Desperate Housewives, The Wire, Hugh Laurie, Boston Legal, etc. But there are several shows and actors that I'm really pulling for and should get nominations, if the world is fair. My list after the jump.

Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week.

1. Emmy nominations. If Moonlight and Jericho aren't nominated for every award, fans are gonna be pissed. (Thursday at 8:30am on E!, ABC, CBS, and NBC. We'll also have live blog coverage here!)

2. Season premieres of Monk, Psych, The Closer, and Saving Grace. Remember when summer was all about reruns? (The Closer and Saving Grace premiere tonight on TNT, while Monk and Psych premiere Friday on USA.)

3. The Gong Show. A remake of the classic show that has three judges choosing the very few talented performers out of dozens of terrible ones. Wait, that sounds like American Idol. (Thursday at 10 on Comedy Central.)

4. TV Squad reports from the TCA tour. Follow us here and on Twitter. All the hip kids are doing it!

5. It's Star Trek Week here at TV Squad. We'll all be dressed as our favorite character as we post reviews, lists, and essays about the original series.

6. Mad Men marathon. The second season starts on July 27, so grab your Lucky Strikes and some bourbon and settle in for an all-day season one marathon. (Sunday starting at noon on AMC.)

Is there a new trend in the television landscape? Could be. At the TCA panel for Mad Men, creator Matt Weiner, revealed that the show is only going to run four more years.

That's right, the man has a plan. Each season of Mad Men will jump ahead approximately two years, so that when Don Draper's story comes to an end, it will be 1969. Can you imagine how radically the show will look by the end of the 1960s? With their attention to detail, it'll be amazing.

So what's the trend? It's setting an endpoint for a series. Battlestar Galactica did it, and Lost has as well. Traditionally, American television series run and run and run until the creators choose to end or the network calls it quits which usually corresponds to viewers having tuned out.

The Emmy nominations won't be announced until July 17, but we can tell you right now without a doubt that Ugly Betty's Rebecca Romijn will not be among the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy category at the Emmys. No, we're not psychic. It's just that her spokesman has confirmed that her name was never actually submitted. DOH! And why was that, you wonder. No good reason, said her rep, "It was an oversight."

According to L.A. Times' Tom O'Neil, this isn't really that far-fetched an occurrence. Tim Allen, at the height of his Home Improvement success, missed a chance for an Emmy nomination when somebody fumbled the ball. The next year, his paperwork was hand-delivered, accompanied by the University of Southern California marching band.

Romijn's omission -- on the surface -- looks like a mistake. Yes, it's true that her status on the show is going from series regular to recurring, but I don't believe she purposely kept her name out of the running to in some way act out in protest against the show. It makes no sense? How is she hurting Ugly Betty by not getting an Emmy nomination? No, this was a screw up, nothing more.

To many people, William Shatner is a beloved TV icon. To others, he's a shameless self-promoter, a commercial pitchman for everything from margarine to hotel rooms. Few feel neutral about Shatner, so this story may come as something of a surprise. William Shatner rarely watches himself on TV and film. Like a lot of actors, when he works, he's in the moment and doesn't go back and study what he did and why. It's been working for him. As Denny Crane on Boston Legal, he's won two Emmys in the last three years.

Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of summer dying. Only a few more weeks 'til Jerry Lewis comes out on stage and the kids are back and school and we're reviewing the new fall shows.

In the meantime, ABC has a plan: they're bringing back The Nine again and running a marathon of shows the last week of August. Ha! Just kidding. I think ABC is done kicking that show around. But they do have a plan for the rest of the summer: they're going to run Emmy-nominated episodes of their shows, including Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, According To Jim, Extreme Makeover, and Grey's Anatomy. The episodes will feature sneak previews of the new fall season.

And I'm sure I speak for all of America when I ask, "According To Jim was nominated for an Emmy?"

Looking at the Emmy nominations announced this morning, one word comes to mind: BORING.

Or maybe two words, if you add "safe." I mean, come on. I don't usually watch Friday Night Lights, Dexter, or Battlestar Galactica, but even I know that those shows should have been nominated for something (beyond technical and writing awards). Instead we get...Tony Shalhoub again? He's fine, but there has to be someone else who they can plug in there. Grey's Anatomy and House for Best Drama? That's not to say that the shows nominated aren't good and solid, but when you take a look at the dramas that were left out...gah.

Beyond the major nominations (Best Comedy, Best Drama, Lead Actor and Actress, etc), there are other nominations where a lot of your favorite shows actually show up. After the jump, I'll highlight several.

9:16am: Head on over to AOL for more coverage, photos, and a complete list of all the nominees.

9:15am: I learned two things doing this liveblog. One, the internet can act funny sometimes, and two, I really did need that caffeine.

9:10am: Fans of Lost, Dexter, and Friday Night Lights probably aren't happy this morning.

9:06am: Interesting that Felicity Huffman was nominated, but no one else from Desperate Housewives was, and the show was overlooked.

9:04am: Yes, I'm surprised that Studio 60 didn't at least get some nod, you know?

8:59am: Notes...24 wasn't nominated, though I guess that didn't surprise too many people.

8:48am: Best Comedy: Entourage, The Office, 30 Rock, Two and a Half Men, Ugly Betty

8:47am: Lead Actress, Comedy: America Ferrera, Tina Fey, Felicity Huffman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mary Louise Parker.

8:46am: Lead Actor, Comedy: Alec Baldwin, Steve Carell, Ricky Gervais, Tony Shalhoub, Charlie Sheen

8:45am: Best Reality Show: Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway, Top Chef.

8:44am: Lead Actress, Drama: Minnie Driver, Edie Falco, Sally Field, Kyra Sedgwick, Mariska Hargitay, Patricia Arquette (six nominees this year? Interesting...)

8:43am: Lead Actor, Drama: James Gandolfini, Denis Leary, James Spader, Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie

8:42am: Best Drama: Heroes, House, Boston Legal (is this a comedy or drama?), Grey's Anatomy, The Sopranos

We'll have full coverage of the Emmy Award nominations tomorrow (Thursday) morning starting just before 8:30 Eastern Time. That's 5:30am on the West Coast, where they announce the nominations. Crazy Hollywood people getting up so early.

In the meantime, head on over to AOL and pick who you think is going to be nominated tomorrow in several categories, including Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Then come back here tomorrow morning for the live blog and see how you did.

The Emmy Award nominations won't be announced until July 19, but some of the shows on the list might have been leaked online already.

TheEnvelope.com says that they have the list for the "intermediate" stage of Emmy voting, and that the ten shows in the running for Best Drama are Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Dexter, House, 24, Rome, The Sopranos, and Boston Legal. The ten shows in the running for Best Comedy are The Office, Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, My Name Is Earl, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, Two and a Half Men, Entourage, Extras, and Weeds. The final list will be cut down to five nominees in each category.

American Idol's executive producers, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, will NOT be bringing their innovative or creative golden touch to the Emmys this year as previously reported. According to the TV academy, Lythgoe and Warwick have backed out of producing the Emmy telecast because of a demanding schedule.

"After we wrapped the enormous effort of Idol Gives Back, we looked at our upcoming slate of projects including the American Idol finale and the additional shows we will be involved in this summer, and realized that we could not devote the creative energy and time necessary to make the Emmys outstanding for the Television Academy and FOX," Lythgoe and Warwick said.

TV academy chairman Dick Askin stated, ''We respect Nigel and Ken's decision and are fortunate that Ken Ehrlich has agreed to return.'' Ken Ehrlich is a veteran producer of several Emmy and Grammy telecasts.

The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards will be televised live September 16 on FOX from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Emmy nominations will be announced July 19.