Emmys to Get 'Desperate'

The nominees for the 57th Annual Emmy Awards, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences's annual awards for the best of television will be unveiled on July 14th.

Two words that are sure to appear quite often on nomination morning are 'Desperate' and 'Housewives'. ABC's darkly funny breakout hit, a victor at this year's Golden Globe awards and Screen Actor's Guild awards is the frontrunner to get a boatload of nominations in the comedy categories including a possible FOUR nominations in the Best Actress category with lead actresses Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria possibly dominating the slots.

The breakout hit will compete with last year's Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy champ, the critically adored but ratings challenged "Arrested Development" and "Everybody Loves Raymond", the hit CBS show which ended it's run this year.

With "Sex and the City" ending it's run last year and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" not airing new episodes in time for Emmy qualification, the cable Emmy magnet HBO will hope it's latest hit "Entourage" will occupy that slot seemingly reserved for them. "Will & Grace", the former Emmy favorite, will likely again occupy that last slot but with declining ratings and a critically panned season, it's far from a lock.

The long overdue medical comedy "Scrubs", the "Friends" spin-off "Joey", USA's detective dramedy "Monk" or CBS's other hit family show "Two and a Half Men" may also take that plum spot.

In the drama category, the field is a little more difficult to handicap. Sure to take one spot is the glossy, highly rated CBS/Jerry Bruckheimer production "C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation" thanks to it's big ratings and the much-talked about Quentin Tarantino directed season finale.

Last year's Outstanding Drama Series champ, "The Sopranos" did not air any new episodes in the Emmy qualification period and thus will be sitting out this year. But two of HBO's critically acclaimed smash hits that got their share of awards attention this year "Deadwood" and "Six Feet Under" will be running for major nominations this year along with the recently cancelled Dust Bowl fantasy drama "Carnivale".

All of them will also have to face off with ABC's other breakout hit, the ensemble "Survivor"-like drama "Lost". Other Emmy veterans, the nail-biter, real time thriller "24" and the Oval Office drama "The West Wing" will likely occupy spots.

Also hoping to get nominations this year are defunct but critically adored shows CBS's "Joan of Arcadia" and the WB's "Jack & Bobby", F/X's "The Shield" and "Nip/Tuck", Showtime's "Huff!" and "Queer as Folk", Emmy favorite David E. Kelley's "Boston Legal", the spy thriller "Alias", the other Bruckheimer/CBS hit collaboration "Without a Trace" and the most popular critically adored "Law & Order" show, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit".

The acting categories are always trickier. But none trickier than in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series with about a dozen or so legitimate contenders even with James Gandolfini out of the way.

The Emmys are known for giving sentimental nominations to recently deceased, highly respected actors so it won't be a surprise to see Jerry Orbach, who won the SAG award, to pop up in this category for "Law & Order".

Other strong possibilities include last year's champ James Spader reprising his Emmy winning role in "The Practice" in the spin-off "Boston Legal", Golden Globe winner Ian McShane for his role in "Deadwood", the male lead in a fine ensemble of plane crash survivors in "Lost", Matthew Fox, CBS/Bruckheimer dramatic leading men Anthony LaPaglia ("Without a Trace") and William Petersen ("C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation"), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" hothead Christopher Meloni, recent Tony nominee Hank Azaria for "Huff", TV brothers Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall from "Six Feet Under", former Emmy winner Michael Chiklis for "The Shield", plastic surgeons with plastic lives Julian McMahon and Dylan Baker from "Nip/Tuck" and Emmy nomination veterans Kiefer Sutherland of "24" and Martin Sheen of "The West Wing".

The female dramatic front is a little less trickier. Whether or not their shows get nominations this year, Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under") and Emmy magnet Alison Janney ("The West Wing") will be getting the first two spots.

Conroy's "Six Feet Under" co-star Rachel Griffiths's chances are less assured. She's returning to the lead category this year after submitting herself as supporting the last time "Six Feet Under" is on the Emmy race. Despite being tabloid fodder, the future Mrs. Ben Affleck and pregnant "Alias" star Jennifer Garner will likely return to the category this year, thanks to her surprise SAG award win.

Christine Lahti ("Jack & Bobby") and Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia") will be hoping Emmy voters will remember how good their respective cancelled shows were.

Women with badges Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") and Marg Helgenberger ("C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation) will be running for nominations this year and thanks to her Golden Globe win, Hargitay is way out front.

Glenn Close seemed to be getting Emmy nominations for any TV work she does so her well-received foray in "The Shield" will likely get her yet another Emmy nod. Newcomers Patricia Arquette ("Medium"), Evangeline Lilly ("Lost") and Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars") are also all hoping to get their first invitations to the party.

Jason Bateman was snubbed for a nomination last year for "Arrested Development" but he should have no problem getting the nod this year with "Frasier" out of the way and that Golden Globe win helps.

Former Emmy champ Tony Shalhoub will surely return. Less likely is Matt LeBlanc getting a nomination for his Emmy nominated "Friends" role in the spin-off show "Joey" which was greeted with, at best, mixed reviews.

Ray Romano was also snubbed last year but he'll likely return to this category as this is "Everybody Loves Raymond"'s last Emmy hurrah. If he's ever going to get an Emmy nomination, this year would be long-overdue Zach Braff's best chance thanks to his Golden Globe nod and increased profile this year.

A possible newcomer to the party this year is Charlie Sheen for the hit "Two and a Half Men". Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace") and Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle") will have a difficult time getting another Emmy nomination for their respective shows.

The lead actress in a comedy is the easiest. All you have to do is fill three or four spots with "Desperate Housewives" stars and put Emmy fave Patricia Heaton for her last "Everybody Loves Raymond" bid for an Emmy in the last spot. But not so fast. Eva Longoria's chances is not as secure as the other three stars, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman.

She can easily be replaced by returning perennial nominee Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle" fame or returning Emmy champ Debra Messing of "Will & Grace". Bet on the former.

Reality shows are here to stay and so is the Emmy category honoring them, the Outstanding Reality/Competition Series. The usual
suspects, "The Amazing Race", "American Idol", "The Apprentice" and "Survivor" will all return. The fifth nominee last year "Last Comic Standing" has been cancelled and thus opening a fifth spot for either the boxing show "The Contender" or the UPN's supermodel show "America's Next Top Model".

The Emmys have always been one award show that's ripe full of surprises. Even moreso than the Oscars. This year like any other will have them, whether pleasant or unpleasant.