PBS was the big winner at the 33rd annual edition of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards Monday. 

MAKE YOUR OSCAR PREDICTIONS

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

The pubcaster's flagship program "P.O.V." won five awards, "Frontline" took home two Emmys for reports on uprisings in Syria and Egypt while "Independent Lens" and "Nature" claimed one apiece. 

Among the commmerical nets, ABC and CBS each won seven Emmys.

For the alphabet net, "20/20" and "Nightline" earned two Emmys each. Three special reports -- "Gadhafi Speaks," "Crisis in Libya" and an investigation into Solyndra -- each won an award.

"60 Minutes," the centerpiece of the Tiffany net's Sunday night lineup, won five Emmys for the segments "Gospel for Teens," "Hard Times Generation: Families in Cars" and "The Next Housing Shock." Both "48 Hours" and the "CBS Evening News" won an Emmy each. 

NBC won three Emmys: the controversial Bob Costas interview with Jerry Sandusky on "Rock Center," the "Dateline" segment "Rescue in the Mountains," and a design award for the Education Nation event. 

CNN claimed two Emmys for its breaking news coverage of the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Murbarak and the "AC360" special on bullying.

Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, longtime co-anchors of Univision’s evening newscast "Noticiero Univision," were feted with lifetime achievement honors during the Oct. 1 ceremony at New York's Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center. 

The full list of winners -- spread across 42 categories including Breaking News, Investigative Reporting, Outstanding Interview, and Best Documentary -- can be found here.

It has been a tale of two Emmys for "30 Rock" in its six season run.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

The first three seasons were bountiful, with three straight wins as Best Comedy Series (2007 - 2009) and 14 trophies overall. The last three have been an absolute bust: 41 nominations with no wins.

With the seventh and final season debuting this Thursday on NBC, will creator and star Tina Fey be able to come up with 13 dazzling episodes to earn some Emmys next September? As it is a shortened season ending in January, the next cycle of kudos (Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Emmy Awards) will be their last.

The premiere episode is appropriately titled "The Beginning of the End." Liz Lemon (Fey) is alarmed by the shockingly bad fall program schedule put together by Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). She is also caught up in the ultimate bridezilla wedding plans of Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski).

In addition to the three top Emmys, Fey herself won as Best Comedy Actress in 2008 and as the writer of the episode "Cooter" that same year. Baldwin prevailed as Best Comedy Actor in 2008 and 2009. They and the show contended unsuccessfully for each of the last three years. 

"30 Rock"  has also won for guests Tim Conway (2008) and Elaine Stritch (2007), casting director Jennifer McNamara (2008 and 2009), sound mixers Bill Marino, Tony Pipitone, and Griffin Richardson (2008), writer Matt Hubbard (2009) and picture editor Ken Eluto (2009).

KEEP READING

In a controversial decision, next year's Emmys will combine the lead and supporting races for Movies/Miniseries, meaning we'll have only two acting winners (one man, one woman) instead of the usual four in the longform categories.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

This ruling has received its fair share of outrage in our Gold Derby forums, but the Emmys seem unlikely to change their minds. The two new races will be called Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries and Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries.

This year's Emmy winners in the longform races were lead actress Julianne Moore ("Game Change"), supporting actress Jessica Lange ("American Horror Story"), lead actor Kevin Costner ("Hatfields and McCoys") and supporting actor Tom Berenger ("Hatfields and McCoys").

If the categories were combined this year like they plan on being next year, which two performers would have made it to the stage and which two would have stayed in their seats?

It seems like a no-brainer Costner would have triumphed over co-star Berenger as Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries. Costner received most of the praise for the popular miniseries, while Berenger gave much more of a subtle performance.

KEEP READING

Tony Soprano has muscled his way to the top of the heap again. The New Jersey mobster, portrayed by three-time Emmy champ James Gandolfini on the HBO drama "The Sopranos," was chosen by Gold Derby forum posters as their favorite TV character of the first decade of the 21st century.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

The top five lineup also included Liz Lemon (Tina Fey, "30 Rock") in second place, John Locke (Terry O'Quinn, "Lost") in third, Michael Scott (Steve Carell, "The Office") in fourth, and Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, "24") in fifth.

Performers for 19 of the top 20 characters earned Emmy nominations; the exception was Michael K. Williams for his work as Omar Little on "The Wire." Nine of them won at least one Emmy. 

Below, the complete list of characters, performers and programs. For a closer look at each of these, VIEW GALLERY. 

1. Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), "The Sopranos"
2. Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), "30 Rock"
3. John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), "Lost"
4. Michael Scott (Steve Carell), "The Office"
5. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), "24"
6. Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), "Lost"
7. Walter White (Bryan Cranston), "Breaking Bad"
8. Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), "Damages"
9. Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy), "Six Feet Under"
10. Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), "Deadwood"
11. Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), "Arrested Development"
12. Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco), "The Sopranos"
13. Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), "The West Wing"
14. Don Draper (Jon Hamm), "Mad Men"
15. Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), "Will and Grace"
16. Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), "The Wire"
17. GOB Bluth (Will Arnett), "Arrested Development"
18. Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), "Sex and the City"
19. Tami Taylor (Connie Britton), "Friday Night Lights"
20. Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), "Dexter"

KEEP READING

At this year's Emmys, "Modern Family" was a shoo-in to win its third straight trophy as TV's Best Comedy Series. Next year, however, it has its work cut out for it thanks to the long-awaited premiere of the new season of "Arrested Development."

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

The former Fox series is already a proven Emmy winner, claiming five awards in 2004 (Best Comedy Series, Comedy Directing, Comedy Writing, Comedy Casting and Single-Camera Picture Editing) and one more in 2005 (Comedy Writing). Despire all these accolades, the cult comedy could never attract enough viewers and was sentenced to an early demise by Fox in 2006.

Nearly a decade later, Netflix announced they would be bringing the show back for a brand new season of hilarity with the entire cast in attendance. Emmy watchers are itching to find out whether the internet site will be the first non-televised medium to earn a major nomination, and chances are looking extremely good that it will. In the many years between new episodes, "Arrested Development" achieved a popularity it never had while it was actually airing, and currently has an enormous amount of buzz heading into its 2013 return.

While "Modern Family's" cast has taken a huge amount of slots in the Comedy Supporting Actor/Actress categories at the Emmys over the past few years, the return of "Arrested Development" will surely give them a run for their money. While series star Jason Bateman will likely enter the Comedy Actor race once again (the race he lost in 2005), the remaining eight cast members will all duke it out in the Comedy Supporting categories.

Previous nominees in the supporting races Jeffrey Tambor (2004 and 2005), Jessica Walter (2005) and Will Arnett (2006) are now frontrunners to return to the nomination block, while never-nominated Portia de Rossi, Michael Cera, David Cross, Alia Shawkat and Tony Hale could hear their names called for the first time.

KEEP READING

In 2010, Julianna Margulies had won a Golden Globe and SAG Award for the first season of "The Good Wife" and was favored to win the Emmy, but she submitted an underwhelming episode to Emmy judges. Most pundits predicted her to win anyway. She had the momentum.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

But Kyra Sedgwick had the episode. The star of "The Closer" had previously lost four nominations, and her show had lost most of its media buzz from earlier seasons. The only thing working in her favor was her submission, which pundits generally agreed was the best in her category. And she won.

Last year, we expected slam-dunk wins by Steve Carell ("The Office") and Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"), who had strong submissions. Both lost, as did Jane Lynch's who had a one-two punch – an emotional performance in her "Glee" submission, plus her hosting performance in Kristen Wiig's "Saturday Night Live" entry.

Melissa McCarthy's Best Comedy Actress upset for "Mike and Molly" was largely attributed to her success in "Bridesmaids." Kyle Chandler's Best Drama Actor victory for "Friday Night Lights" seemed to be a sentimental choice.

The submissions, it seemed, didn't matter as much after all.

But this year, the submissions certainly mattered. Those intangible, external factors that often play a major role in deciding other industry awards – momentum, history, sentimentality, veneration – mostly fell by the wayside. It's the episodes, stupid.

And when I say stupid, I address mostly myself. For instance, after I watched Jon Cryer's Best Comedy Actor submission for "Two and a Half Men," a sinking feeling set in. His performance in "Frodo's Headshots" was the biggest and broadest in the category, full of screaming, suffering, a botched suicide attempt, and then an uplifting ending. I immediately moved him into second place in my predictions, behind "Louie's" Louis C.K. (whose performance in "Duckling" I still personally prefer), but then I chickened out and dropped him back down to third behind Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm").

C.K. and David had the intangible factors on their side: cool factor (C.K. was the critics' darling and an edgy TV auteur) and due factor (David had never won an award for "Curb"). All Cryer had was the broadest, showiest performance showcase in a category that usually favors the broadest, showiest performance showcase.

I had the right idea when predicting Best Drama Supporting Actor. "Breaking Bad" villain Giancarlo Esposito had the intangibles on his side as well, but I went out on a limb for his co-star Aaron Paul, who submitted "End Times," an episode full of emotional fireworks in which he is grief-stricken over a poisoned child and holds Bryan Cranston at gunpoint. That submission won out.

So did Julie Bowen's. Her "Modern Family" entry, "Go Bullfrogs!," featured a drunken Claire mistaking a straight friend for gay. That flamboyant turn trumped the emotion surrounding "Desperate Housewives" star Kathryn Joosten, a beloved Hollywood insider who recently died of cancer. It's rare for the Emmys to bestow awards posthumously, as we have previously documented. Judging panels are notoriously unsentimental.

KEEP READING

FX’s hit animated series “Archer” was not nominated this year and I wanted to bring it into the broader Emmy discussion.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

For those who have not seen it, the show centers around Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), a self-centered, womanizing secret agent who is employed at an agency run by his equally narcissistic mother (Jessica Walter).

The show is slated to begin a fourth season in January of 2013. Since debuting in 2010, it has received very favorable reviews from critics, maintained a core fan base and has even managed to increase it’s viewership with each new season.

While the show has never been nominated for Best Animated Program, it did make a mark at the 2010 Emmys when Benjamin scored his first ever nomination for voice acting on the show. Since then, however, the show has been completely ignored by Emmy voters.

Why have the Emmy voters been so resistant to nominating this show?

The scripts are amazing, the animation is great and the voice acting by all involved is impeccable. FX also makes a point to include the show as part of its Emmy campaign.

The only possible reason I can think of is the crude sexual humor. But lower quality shows with the same sort of humor, such as “American Dad” and “The Cleveland Show”, have broken through this barrier.

One other reason might have to do with the nominating process itself. The ballot for Best Animated Program lists a specific episode next to the show and that episode is supposed to be the one on which the nominating committee bases it’s judgement.

This year, "Archer" submitted the first part of its two-episode season finale. While the episode is solid and even features Emmy favorite Bryan Cranston, the people responsible could have picked a stronger episode. Those episodes include “Bloody Ferlin” where the agency’s gay agent returns to West Virginia to help his pot farming brother or “Drift Problem” where Archer’s birthday gift, a super spy car, is stolen.

KEEP READING

Before “Homeland” cleaned up at Sunday’s Emmy ceremony, a lot of the talk here at Gold Derby centered on “Mad Men”, “Downton Abbey” and “Breaking Bad” when it came to the category of Best Drama Series.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

Whenever “Breaking Bad” came up, the recurring sentiment from many here was that the content of the show would be too dark and unappealing to Emmy voters.

I must dispute this. While “Breaking Bad” is a dark show with characters and situations that are nicely described as less than savory, this type of material is no stranger to being rewarded by Emmy voters in the series categories.

This was proven in 2004 when “The Sopranos” finally claimed the trophy for Best Drama Series after four failed attempts. While the greatness of that show was never in question, many thought that the content of the show would be hard for Emmy voters to swallow as well as the concept of a show centered on a modern family in organized crime. While the show was regularly rewarded in the acting and writing categories, it would lose the top honor to safer options “The Practice” and “The West Wing”.

While the show’s fifth season was fantastic, that win in 2004 was clouded by the fact that the show was way overdue for the honor. From what I recall, the dissatisfaction from the press and viewers over “The West Wing” taking the honor for a fourth consecutive year was a real wakeup call to the Emmy voters. Similar feelings also factored into the show other win for Best Drama Series in 2007 for its final season.

The similar almost universal praise for “Breaking Bad” from both its fans and critics could prove to be a factor in the next two years at the Emmys.

But “The Sopranos” is not the only show with dark characters and situations to walk away with this top honor. In 2006, “24” waltzed away with five Emmys including the trophy for Best Drama Series. The show would always feature Kiefer Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer trying to save the day, but in the process doing things that made viewers cringe. The fact that this show was able to take this honor in liberal Hollywood should make all the arguments against “Breaking Bad” null and void.

Then there is this year’s champ “Homeland”. The show’s lead character is a U.S. Marine who was been co-opted by Al Qaeda and (in Damian Lewis’s winning tape) attempts to take out the Vice President and several other high profile positions by blowing himself up in an underground bunker. This dark material took the top prize last night for its first season.

KEEP READING

The 2012 Emmys came on Sunday night and now we are left to digest what went well and what is making our stomachs ache. Here’s my take on what happened.

THE GOOD
“Homeland” as the big winner brought something truly new to the table for the Emmys. The wins may not have been what I wanted, but were well deserved nonetheless.

JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION IN OUR FORUMS

GET OUR FREE GOLD DERBY EMAIL ALERTS - CLICK HERE

The “Modern Family” skit about the girl who plays Lily was completely hysterical. It’s always funny to have a little child be a complete devil, but throwing in a slightly racist bit with Ken Jeong from “Community” was genius!

While I was devastated that Giancarlo Esposito lost, his reaction to his "Breaking Bad" costar, Aaron Paul, taking the prize was actually really nice. Minutes later, Esposito had the usually meaningless task of introducing the winners of the guest categories, but he still had a big smile on his face and seemed truly happy to be there. Way to keep your spirits up Giancarlo!

The “Breaking Bad” segment was funny, although I thought it would have been better to have Dean Norris play the Don Knotts role since he’s the law enforcement part of the show.

The speech by Eric Stonestreet was nice to watch since he paid tribute to his "Modern Family" on-screen husband, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and said that there is no Cameron without Mitchell. Amen to that.

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon tackling Jon Stewart on his way to collect his 10th Emmy for Variety Series.

Kevin Costner winning Best Movie/Mini Actor for "Hatfields and McCoys." 

Ricky Gervais and Tina Fey as presenters.

The photographers taking pictures of winners right after their speech was a real nice touch. 

THE BAD
Wins by Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men") and Maggie Smith ("Downton Abbey"). Cryer might have had a good tape, but the show should go the way of Old Yeller, without all the compassion in taking it out.

Jimmy Kimmel’s hosting wasn’t bad, but it was average. Hopefully, with CBS having the ceremony next year, the network will return to their winning formula of having Neil Patrick Harris host.

KEEP READING