ABC is Every Woman

The FCC is fining ABC for an NYPD Blue episode that showed a woman's nude butt. Not sure why this particular incident is fine-worthy compared to the many other butt shots on the series over the years, but here's an unintentionally (I think) hilarious quote from the AP article:

The agency said the show was indecent because "it depicts sexual organs and excretory organs specifically an adult woman's buttocks."

The agency rejected the network's argument that "the buttocks are not a sexual organ."

Oh, FCC. You so dirty.

Stereotypo

Am I being overly sensitive, or is this MSNBC chyron a little racist?


They also misspelled "low"

For the record, Sen. Obama actually said, "We have set the bar so low that the modest improvement in what was a completely chaotic situation ... is seen as progress, when it's not."

Eanh, I'm probably just being overly sensitive. It's not as glaring a typo as this one.

If I Picked The Emmy Nominations 2007

I won't go into any detail this year. But as always, television is great. So much great work that deserves to be rewarded. To see last year's picks for Comedy and Drama, click the links.

Now on with this year's best of the best:

Best Comedy Series

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Office
Scrubs
30 Rock
Weeds

Runners-Up: Andy Barker, P.I., Campus Ladies, How I Met Your Mother, My Name Is Earl, Ugly Betty

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Desperate Housewives, Entourage, Everybody Hates Chris, Extras, Help Me Help You, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Notes From the Underbelly

Best Actress in a Comedy

Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Runners-Up: Carrie Alzley (Campus Ladies), Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program), Christen Sursin (Campus Ladies)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives)

Best Actor in a Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Zach Braff, Scrubs
Steve Carell, The Office
Jason Lee, My Name Is Earl
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock

Runners-Up: Ricky Gervais (Extras), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!), Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I.), Tony Shalhoub (Monk)

Runner-Up to the Runners-Up: Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris)

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Jenna Fischer, The Office
Mindy Kaling, The Office
Angela Kinsey, The Office
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
Jamie Pressly, My Name Is Earl

Runners-Up: Melora Hardin (The Office), Ashley Jensen (Extras), Clea Lewis (Andy Barker, P.I.), Becki Newton (Ugly Betty), Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Rachael Harris (Notes From the Underbelly), Judy Reyes (Scrubs), Nicollette Sheridan (Desperate Housewives), Phyllis Smith (The Office), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty)

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Justin Kirk, Weeds
John Krasinski, The Office
Stephen Merchant, Extras
Michael Urie, Ugly Betty
Rainn Wilson, The Office

Runners-Up: Harve Presnell (Andy Barker, P.I.), Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Paul Lieberstein (The Office), Jack McBrayer (30 Rock)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Donald Faison (Scrubs), Neil Flynn (Scrubs), Dule Hill (Psych), Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Hamish Linklater (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Romany Malco (Weeds), Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), John C. McGinley (Scrubs), Eddie Steeples (My Name Is Earl)

Drama Series

Friday Night Lights
Lost
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Veronica Mars
The Wire

Runners-Up: Dexter, Heroes, The Nine, Rescue Me, The Shield

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Brothers & Sisters, Dirt, Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Nip/Tuck, The O.C., The Riches, The Sopranos, 24

Best Actress in a Drama

Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Minnie Driver, The Riches
Calista Flockhart, Brothers & Sisters
Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls

Runners-Up: Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), Courtney Cox (Dirt), Edie Falco (The Sopranos), Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters), Evangeline Lilly (Lost)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy), Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck)

Best Actor in a Drama

Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Michael K. Williams, The Wire

Runners-Up: Enrico Colontoni (Veronica Mars), Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck), Matthew Perry (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), Kiefer Sutherland (24), Bradley Whitford (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Michael Chiklis (The Shield), Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy), Matthew Fox (Lost), Eddie Izzard (The Riches), Denis Leary (Rescue Me), Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck)

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama

Lisa Edelstein, House
Katherine Heigl, Grey’s Anatomy
Adrianne Palicki, Friday Night Lights
Sarah Paulson, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Amanda Peet, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Runners-Up: Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), Sara Ramirez (Grey’s Anatomy), Patricia Wettig (Brothers & Sisters), Chandra Wilson (Grey’s Anatomy), Shannon Woodward (The Riches)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Yunjin Kim (Lost), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Kim Raver (The Nine), Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), Emily VanCamp (Brothers & Sisters), Kate Walsh (Grey’s Anatomy)

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama

Zach Gilford, Friday Night Lights
Dave Annable, Brothers & Sisters
John Scurti, Rescue Me
Steven Weber, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Andre Royo, The Wire

Runners-Up: Jack Coleman (Heroes), Michael Emerson (Lost), T. R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy), Rob Lowe (Brothers & Sisters), Frank Vincent (The Sopranos)

Runners-Up to the Runners-Up: Timothy Busfield (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), Francis Capra (Veronica Mars), Dominic Chianese (The Sopranos), Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars), Jorge Garcia (Lost), Edward Herrmann (Gilmore Girls), Josh Holloway (Lost), Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), Chi McBride (The Nine), Masi Oka (Heroes), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls), Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters), Jim True-Frost (The Wire), Everybody else on The Wire

A Crash-mas Story

Happy Second Annual Crash Day!



Unlike last year, there were no official mayoral ceremonies to mark the occasion. However, there were two notable crashes in Los Angeles today, both literal and metaphorical.

As the old Crash Day saying goes - If a director of quintessential 80s movies is crashed into by an Hispanic driver, we're due for six more weeks of racial intolerance (it certainly doesn't mean we're due for six more weeks of Paul Haggis-produced television).


Only one of these filmmakers ever won an Oscar

The Last Samurai Virgin

What do you think of when you see this photograph of Ken Watanabe from The New York Times (courtesy of The Hot Blog)?



Because all I can think of is this:



Which got me wondering what it would look like if they'd gone in a different direction:

Stand By Your Cameraman

The most shocking thing about Hillary Clinton's announcement this morning is how poorly produced her "I'm In" video is. The camera never stops panning back and forth for no reason, as though the cameraman is subliminally shaking his head at her run for the presidency. It's like an episode of Friday Night Lights!


Because I really do like Senator Clinton, I'll refrain from making the obvious Blair Witch Project analogy

While kittens and children with ADD may appreciate the visual stimulation, I got motion sickness and couldn't focus on a single word she said. Not a greak kick-off to her campaign. Maybe she could've borrowed Barack Obama's tripod.

Golden Girls

Charlie's Angels 3?

In their cover story this week, Entertainment Weekly is happy to point out the Academy Awards' ageism when it comes to the Best Actress award. Yet, before this issue, with "The Silver Foxes" on the cover (Meryl Streep (57), Helen Mirren (61) and Judi Dench (72)), when was the last time the magazine put a woman over 50 on its cover? Or over 45?

In the last three years, three women older than 45 have graced the cover - though all three appeared as part of the cast of a television show with younger and/or male co-stars: Mary McDonnell (54), Lorraine Bracco (51) and Patricia Heaton (47). Before Bracco, the last cover girl over 50 was... Meryl Streep (54 at the time), who had to share the spotlight with Al Pacino.

In that time, the oldest women to get a solo cover were Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman (both 42 at the time), though each had to settle for being one of five collectible Desperate Housewives covers that week. The oldest woman to own a cover outright? Halle Berry, at 37.

Meanwhile, just in the past year, old fogeys like Mel Gibson (50), Clint Eastwood (76), Hugh Laurie (47), Samuel L. Jackson (57), Al Gore (58), Tom Hanks (49) and Howard Stern (52) have had solo shots on the cover. And that's not including gentlemen like Randy Jackson (50), Simon Cowell (47), Tim Gunn (53) and Terry O'Quinn (53) who shared covers.

Granted, Entertainment Weekly's cover selections are reflecting the general ageism/sexism double standard of Hollywood and society as a whole. But perhaps they should at least acknowledge that they're part of the problem.