Dish Of Salt: Emmy Day (July 6, 2006)

Thursday was Emmy nomination day and that means everyone here at Access Hollywood was in scramble mode.

It’s become tradition that all the entertainment shows interview as many nominees as possible to air on their shows that night. This means essentially we have to try and predict who we think the big nominees will be. Our producers call up the actors publicists and try to pre-arrange interviews should their clients be nominated. This way we can have a camera crew ready early in the morning to shoot the interviews. The nominations happen around 5:30am West Coast time and then we have until about noon to get everything shot. Usually we’ve pre-arranged most of the interview based on our predictions and we get pretty close but this morning we wound up scrambling a little bit. New voting rules helped a whole group of newcomers get the nomination and left some regulars out of the mix.

I spent my morning, with one nominee we actually predicted correctly, “Entourage” star, Jeremy Piven. Piven was deservedly, if you ask me, nominated in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category for the second year in a row for his brilliant turn as ruthless agent, Ari Gold. Despite some recent tabloid reports suggesting Piven may be more like his character than we think, I found him to be very sweet and charming. I can’t remember one other celebrity who invited our crew into his home offering water, orange juice and pretty much anything else we wanted. I jokingly requested Huevos Rancheros and I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t been kidding he would have obliged.

He heard the good news first thing this morning when he got the call at his Malibu home, “when you hear the phone ring today you know it’s good.” Up against Piven are two first time nominees, Jon Cryer for “Two and Half Men” and Will Arnett for “Arrested Development” which sadly was cancelled this year after only three seasons. Too bad because it?s the funniest show to appear on TV since “Soap.” Cryer told Tony Potts he was sitting around in his underwear when the call came in about his nomination and he got a call from cast mate, Charlie Sheen wishing him congrats. Rounding out that category are two departing favorites, Bryan Cranston for “Malcolm in the Middle” and Sean Hayes for “Will & Grace.” My pick: Piven.

It was a good morning for Julia Louis Dreyfus who’s finally found success after “Seinfeld” with her CBS sitcom, “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” She helped make the announcements and found herself on the list for Best Actress in a Comedy. Julia told Tony Potts, “I’m just out of my mind I can’t believe it!” She’ll be going up against two departing stars, Debra Messing for “Will & Grace” and Jane Kaczmarek for “Malcolm in the Middle.” The two surprises in the category come from two shows that have already been cancelled, Lisa Kudrow for “The Comeback” and Stockard Channing for “Out of Practice.” My pick: Kudrow

The only “Will & Grace” cast member to be snubbed was Eric McCormack which has got to hurt. Megan Mullally did make the Best Supporting Actress in a comedy list alongside first time nominee, Jaime Pressly for “My Name is Earl”, who told us this morning, “this is the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me!” Alfre Woodard was big surprise in the category for her role on “Desperate Housewives” considering this year she was the only one nominated from the show. No Teri, Felicity, Marcia, Eva or Nicollette. Big snub and a reflection on the fact that most folks felt the show lost its way this year. I was thrilled to see Elizabeth Perkins get the nomination for her role on Showtime’s “Weeds” which most TV critics including this one will tell you is way better than Desperate. Season one is out on DVD next week and it?s worth every penny if you haven’t seen it. Cheryl Hines rounds out the category for her role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” My Pick: Perkins

We accurately predicted Kyra Sedgwick would get her first nomination this year for her role on TNT’s “The Closer.” That meant a very early interview was already set up with her on the show’s Santa Clarita set. Joining her in the Best Actress in a Drama category, Mariska Hargitay who has a new bouncing bundle of joy, her son was born on June 28th. A final Emmy farewell for two actresses from departing shows went to Allison Janney for “The West Wing” and Frances Conroy for “Six Feet Under” while Geena Davis gets a nomination for her now cancelled show, “Commander in Chief.” That’s gotta be a nice slap in the face to ABC for pulling the plug on the critically acclaimed show. My Pick: Sedgwick

A snub for “Soprano’s” star and past winner, James Gandolfini, left some room open for first timers to grab a nomination in the Best Lead Actor in a Drama, Chris Meloni for “Law & Order: SVU” and Dennis Leary for “Rescue Me.” Meloni was on a boat with his family when the announcements were made and as luck would have it he didn’t have a cell phone. Kiefer Sutherland picks up his fourth nomination here and more stars from departing shows are in this category with Peter Krause from “Six Feet Under” and Martin Sheen for “The West Wing” nominated. My Pick: Leary

Only one big surprise in the Lead Actor in a Comedy category: Kevin James who after seven seasons on the show gets a nomination for his role on “The King of Queens.” The funny thing is that whether or not the show is coming back is a mystery. It did not make it onto the fall schedule. James goes up against Emmy vets, Larry David for “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, Tony Shalhoub for “Monk”, Charlie Sheen for “Two and Half Men” and Steve Carell for “The Office.” My Pick: Carell

Last years Best Drama Series, “Lost” didn’t even get a nomination this year for the show or any of its actors. Look for “Grey’s Anatomy” to most likely dominate this category this year up against “House”, “24” “The West Wing” and “The Sopranos.”

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