Creative Arts Emmy nominations 2008

Whoo, it's the Emmy nominations! Or rather, the Schmemmys as we like to affectionately call them. There are, like, a million categories and you can read the full list by clicking just above, but here are just some of the many "highlights":

Outstanding Drama Series
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
James Spader, Boston Legal
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Charlie Sheen, Two And A Half Men

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
Ralph Fiennes, Bernard and Doris
Ricky Gervais, Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
Paul Giamatti, John Adams
Kevin Spacey, Recount
Tom Wilkinson, Recount

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
Susan Sarandon, Bernard And Doris
Judi Dench, Cranford (Masterpiece Theatre)
Laura Linney, John Adams
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
William Shatner, Boston Legal
Ted Danson, Damages
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
John Slattery, Mad Men

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jean Smart, Samantha Who?
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
David Morse, John Adams
Stephen Dillane, John Adams
Tom Wilkinson, John Adams
Denis Leary, Recount
Bob Balaban, Recount

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Eileen Atkins, Cranford (Masterpiece Theatre)
Ashley Jensen, Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
Alfre Woodard, Pictures of Hollis Woods (Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation)
Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun
Laura Dern, Recount

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality - Competition Program
American Idol - Ryan Seacrest, Host
Dancing With The Stars - Tom Bergeron, Host
Deal Or No Deal - Howie Mandel, Host
Project Runway - Heidi Klum, Host
Survivor - Jeff Probst, Host

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series
30 Rock - Rip Torn as Don Geiss
30 Rock - Will Arnett as Devin Banks
30 Rock - Steve Buscemi as Len
30 Rock - Tim Conway as Bucky Bright
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Shelley Berman as Nat David

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series
ER - Stanley Tucci as Dr. Kevin Moretti
In Treatment - Glynn Turman as Alex Sr.
Law & Order - Robin Williams as Merritt Rook
Mad Men - Robert Morse as Bertram Cooper
Nip/Tuck - Oliver Platt as Freddie Prune
Rescue Me - Charles Durning as John Gavin, Sr.

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series
Carrie Fisher as Rosemary Howard - 30 Rock
Edie Falco as Celeste 'C.C.' Cunningham - 30 Rock
Elaine Stritch as Colleen Donaghy - 30 Rock
Polly Bergen as Stella Wingfield - Desperate Housewives
Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey - Desperate Housewives
Sarah Silverman as Marci Maven - Monk

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series
Ellen Burstyn as Nancy Dutton - Big Love
Diahann Carroll as Jane Burke - Grey's Anatomy
Cynthia Nixon as Janis Donovan - Law & Order: SVU
Anjelica Huston as Cynthia Keener - Medium
Nip/Tuck - Sharon Gless as Colleen Rose

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special
Bill Maher: The Decider • HBO •
George Carlin: It's Bad For Ya!
James Taylor: One Man Band (Great Performances)
Kathy Griffin: Straight To Hell
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
The Kennedy Center Honors

Outstanding Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow • PBS
Dirty Jobs • Discovery Channel
Extreme Makeover Home Edition • ABC
Intervention • A&E
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List • Bravo

Two nominations for Kathy Griffin! I hope Kathy Griffin wins again and pisses everyone off again with another controversial acceptance speech. I love Kathy, that girl lives for that kind of shit hitting the reactionary fan.

By the way, that super cool mosaic portrait of Kathy at the top is by the very talented Jason Mecier.

Kathy Griffin - "For Your Consideration"

LMAO! Have you been watching Seaons 4 of Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List? We're behind with the show here in the UK so simple I'm the impatient sort and I just can't wait, I've ended up I allegedly watching it on YouTube. I'm so grateful that there are gay guys in the US who have the technical know-how to record these shows and upload them on YouTube.

Now, I know that Kathy isn't exactly everyone's tasse de thé, but I find her hilarious. She's ballsy, she tells is as she sees it and she's fearless with her choice of material. This week's episode was the one where Kathy decides that she now wants a Grammy to go along with her Emmy so she comes up with the idea of recording a comedy CD with the sole purpose of getting her a Grammy nomination.

The CD, "For Your Consideration" (see what she's done there) is out now and I downloaded it after the show and it's Kathy in rare form with her familiar topics of her Mom, Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. The only dull bit was where she goes on and on and on about her boyfriend at the time, Steve Wozniak. Well, after all that, it turns out that she wasn't even sleeping with him! She told US magazine this week:

"We were dating, but were just friendly. I never f----d him or anything!"

"The truth is, we really were friends the whole time."

I've listened to some of her other shows, "Hot Cup of Talk", "Kathy Griffin is not.... Nicole Kidman", "Straight to Hell" and "Strong Black Woman" and wondered why Kathy had never put out any of them onto CD. Now that she's finally done it, d'you reckon she'll get that Grammy nomination? Oh, I hope so, even if just so she can go to the awards ceremony, cause a scene and generally stir up trouble and piss off as many self-important celebrities as she can.

Kathy Griffin pisses off Barbara Walters and is no longer welcome at The View

Just when things were going so well for our Kathy: sold out shows; an Emmy; a new season of her reality telly show; a super rich boyfriend.. she now gets canned from The View again. Page Six of the New York Post reports:

There's a first time for everything, and for the first time in her career, Kathy Griffin was re-banned from a show. "I was supposed to be on 'The View' [today]," said Griffin, who performs her final sold-out stand-up show tonight at Madison Square Garden. "But then I get a call from [producer] Bill Geddie, and he says, 'You were too mean to Barbara [Walters] on your last special, so you can't come on.' Can you believe it? I've been banned before but never re-banned!" Griffin does a spot-on impersonation of Walters, but she didn't insult the TV legend any more than usual on her last special for Bravo.

Well, that's kind of a back-handed compliment I guess. At least our Kathy can take solace in the fact that Barbara Walters actuallys know who she is now, or at least her terrified gay staff do. Not so long ago, Kathy had this to say about Walters:

".. I talk about going on The View and having this really uncomfortable moment with Barbara Walters, and I don’t think Barbara Walters knows who I am. I have been on The View with her twice. I think if someone said, do you know who Kathy Griffin is? Barbara Walters would say, 'no.'"

I think it was Kathy's revelation from girls' talk in the make-up room of The View that Barbara prefers to use Astroglide lubricant to moisten things up down 'there' that must've been the final straw. That was a bit below the belt!

Advocate cover girl Kathy Griffin!

This month's Advocate cover girl is D-Lister Kathy Griffin, with a lot of help from Mr Photoshop. I saw Kathy on Jimmy Kimmel the other day (I watched it on YouTube and was very funny as usual) and she was talking about having done a photoshoot for Advocate but that she wasn't convinced that they'd end up putting her on the cover. I don't know why she was worried as she must know how much the gays love Kathy. The Pope should make her our patron saint. Well, Kathy got the cover with the full airbrushing treatment so I bet she's thrilled. She's probably already got it framed and hung up in her A-List house next to the Emmy.

19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Nominees

The gays like to give out awards too. Here are the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Nominees: ""This year's honorees have used the power of their words, their music, and their art to advocate on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. They are changing hearts and minds, and opening people's eyes to the common, human experiences we share, and it is our privilege to honor them."

Film - Wide Release
Across the Universe (Revolution Studios)
The Jane Austen Book Club (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stardust (Paramount Pictures)

Film - Limited Release
The Bubble (Strand Releasing)
Dirty Laundry (Codeblack Entertainment)
Itty Bitty Titty Committee (Pocket Releasing)
Nina's Heavenly Delights (Regent Releasing)
Whole New Thing (Picture This! Entertainment)

Drama Series
Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Degrassi: The Next Generation (The N)
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)
Greek (ABC Family)
The L Word (Showtime)

Comedy Series
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Exes and Ohs (Logo)
The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
The War at Home (Fox)

Individual Episode (in a series w/o a regular LGBT character)
"Boy Crazy" Cold Case (CBS)
"Do Tell" Boston Legal (ABC)
"Free to Be You and Me" Kyle XY (ABC Family)
"The Gangs of Camden County" My Name is Earl (NBC)
"Sin" Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

Television Movie, Mini-Series or Anthology
Daphne (Logo)
The DL Chronicles (here!)
The State Within (BBC America)

Documentary
Camp Out (Logo)
Cruel and Unusual: Transgender Women in Prison (WE tv)
For the Bible Tells Me So (First Run Features)
Freddie Mercury: Magic Remixed (VH1/Logo)
Small Town Gay Bar (Logo)


Reality Program
"Chase/Lane" Trading Spouses (Fox)
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo)
Project Runway (Bravo)
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (SciFi Channel)
Work Out (Bravo)

Daily Drama
All My Children (ABC)
As The World Turns (CBS)

Talk Show Episode
"Born in the Wrong Body" The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
"Gay Around the World" The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
"Gay Athletes & Rappers: It's Not In to be Out" The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)
"Growing Up Intersex" The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
"Transgender Kids" The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)

TV Journalism - Newsmagazine
Born in the Wrong Body (MSNBC)
"A Church Divided" In the Life (PBS)
"Don't Ask Don't Tell" 60 Minutes (CBS)
"My Secret Self: A Story of Transgender Children" 20/20 (ABC)
"A Royal Scandal" Primetime: Family Secrets (ABC)

TV Journalism - News Segment
"The First Casualty" Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
"Gay Homeless Teens" Uncovering America (CNN)
"Gospel of Inclusion" Uncovering America (CNN)
"Sent Away to 'Change'" Good Morning America (ABC)
"Sex Change Controversy" Paula Zahn Now (CNN)

Newspaper Article
"Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight" by Jane Gross (The New York Times)
"Girl/Boy Interrupted" by Lauren Smiley (SF Weekly)
"In a Progressive State, a City Where Gay Life Hangs by a Thread" by Andrew Jacobs (The New York Times)
"Line in Sand for Same-Sex Couples" by Teresa Watanabe (Los Angeles Times)
"What the Heart Wants" by Lane DeGregory (St. Petersburg Times)

Newspaper Columnist
Christine Daniels (Los Angeles Times)
Alfred Doblin (The Record [Bergen, NJ])
Mark Morford (San Francisco Chronicle)
Frank Rich (The New York Times)
Rebecca Walsh (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Newspaper Overall Coverage
The Boston Globe
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times
The Seattle Times
San Francisco Chronicle

Magazine Article
"Akinola’s Power Play" by Kerry Eleveld (The Advocate)
"Dying to Come Out: The War on Gays in Iraq" by David France (GQ)
"The Kingdom in the Closet" by Nadya Labi (The Atlantic Monthly)
"(Rethinking) Gender" by Debra Rosenberg (Newsweek)
"Special Report: Gays at War" by Marc Haeringer, William Henderson, Michael Rowe, Corey Scholibo, and Bernice Yeung (The Advocate)

Magazine Overall Coverage
The Advocate
CosmoGIRL!
Entertainment Weekly
Newsweek
Us Weekly

Digital Journalism Article
"Gay Newsmen - A Clearer Picture" by James Hillis (AfterElton.com)
"Gender and the Pulpit" by Lauren McCauley (Newsweek.com)
"Officially 'I Do'" by Tracy Stokes (BET.com)
"Oregon State Coach Fulfills Dream of Becoming Father" by Graham Hays (ESPN.com)
"Why the T in LGBT is Here to Stay" by Susan Stryker (Salon.com)

Digital Journalism – Multimedia
"The Advocate 40th Anniversary'" (Advocate.com)
"Fuera del Closet: Gay Hispanic Immigrants in Dallas" by Sergio Chapa (NewAmericaMedia.org)
"Landmark Moments in Gay Hollywood" by Mark S. Luckle (EW.com)
"Uncovering America: Fighting for Acceptance" (CNN.com)


Music Artist
Bloc Party, A Weekend in the City
The Cliks, Snakehouse
Melissa Etheridge, The Awakening
Rufus Wainwright, Release the Stars
Patrick Wolf, The Magic Position

Comic Book
American Virgin by Steven T. Seagle (Vertigo/DC Comics)
The Boys by Garth Ennis (Dynamite Entertainment)
Midnighter by Garth Ennis, Brian K. Vaughan, Christos Gage, Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, and Keith Giffin (Wildstorm/DC Comics)
The Outsiders by Judd Winick, Greg Rucka, and Tony Bedard (DC Comics)
Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore (Abstract Studio)

Advertising – Electronic
"Change" Levis
"Goodbye" Orbitz
"Jewels" & "Time" Dolce & Gabbana
"Rejected" Chemistry.com
"Tu Pride - Jaime" MTV Tr3s

Los Angeles Theater
Act A Lady, by Jordan Harrison
Anything, by Tim McNeil
Avenue Q, book by Jeff Whitty, music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Havana Bourgeois, by Carlos Lacamara
The Long Christmas Ride Home, by Paula Vogel

New York Theater – Broadway & Off–Broadway
100 Saints You Should Know by Kate Fodor
All That I Will Ever Be by Alan Ball
The Beebo Brinker Chronicles by Kate Moira Ryan and Linda S. Chapman
Some Men by Terrence McNally
Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam

New York Theater – Off–Off Broadway
1001 Beds by Tim Miller
BASH'd: A Gay Rap Opera by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow, music by Aaron Macri
I Google Myself by Jason Schafer
Yank! book and lyrics by David Zellnik, music by Joseph Zellnik
The Young Ladies Of by Taylor Mac

So, what does it take to become a Gay Icon?

There's an interesting article on AfterElton about how exactly a celebrity sets about to become a Gay Icon, in particular, Grey's Anatomy actress Katherne Heigl. They ask John Epperson, who drags up as Lypsinka to imitate many of the great movie glamour queens, to described why certain women become Gay Icons:

“Gay men feel like outsiders in our heterosexual, patriarchal society.. Consciously or subconsciously they are often drawn to other people who are outsiders. This applies to female stars of all stripes, who are outside the realm of everyday life due to something that makes them unusual, whether it's their beauty or their sexuality or their vulnerability — qualities that come through on the screen, large or small.”

They go through the usual list of Gay Icons: Barbra Streisand, Better Midler, Joan Crawford, Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Sex and the City gals and Cher (of course, Cher!). They missed out on Madonna and Kylie though.

Anyway, this got me thinking. Apart from the predictable list above, who are your favourite Gay Icons? Moi, I love French singer Mylène Farmer. Her extravagent antics over the years have caught the eye of many a gay guy. As for Katherine Heigl, just the way she said "Sh*t!" when she won her Emmy the other week was enough to win me over. I love a glamour gal who knows how to cuss.

Kathy Griffin gets some heat from the God botherers over her Emmy award joke

Oh, it just had to happen, didn't it? Kathy Griffin is taking some serious heat from the God botherers after her joke at the Emmys when her show My Life on the D-List won for best reality TV show. So much so that her joke is apparently going to be edited out of the show when it's televised at the weekend. You know, just in case it offends anyone. Oh, come on, Kathy Griffin offends everyone! That's her job and that's why we love her.

All Kathy did was make fun of all those dumbass actors who go on stage to accept their awards and thank Jesus, as if he's looking down on them and picking his favourite Emmy/Oscar winners. To recap, Kathy said: “Can you believe this shit? I guess hell froze over. … a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. So, all I can say is, ‘suck it, Jesus.’ This award is my god now.”

The Catholic League president (of all people...) Bill Donohue said in his statement of sorts: “Mel Gibson. Michael Richards. Isaiah Washington. Imus. Jerry Lewis. Every time a celebrity offends a segment of the population, he pays a price, in one way or another. The question now is whether Kathy Griffin will pay a similar price for her outburst." You know, I think Kathy will be just fine since she isn't a racist or a homophobe. The Jesus Freaks may try to make a huge deal out of this, but any sane person realises that it was a typical Kathy joke which probably won't even get televised and gives us one less reason to bother watching the Emmy broadcast.

Donohue goes on to pontificate: "The ball is now in Griffin’s court. The self-described ‘complete militant atheist’ needs to make a swift and unequivocal apology to Christians. If she does, she will get this issue behind her. If she does not, she will be remembered as a foul-mouthed bigot for the rest of her life.” What a wonderfully warm Christian attitude, Jesus would be proud! I hope Kathy never apologies and I very much doubt she ever would.

Besides, since he's so damn touchy, Donohue should hear that story Kathy tells about why Paula Abdul is always late for everything. Now that really is offensive.

Kathy Griffin finally wins an Emmy - Hell freezes over!

Hilarious comedien Kathy Griffin finally won her Emmy for My Life on the D-List. The show won the prize for best reality program and Kathy said: "Can you believe this s**t? “I guess hell froze over.. A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this. Suck it, Jesus. This award is my God now."

I love the way that Kathy is a rampant atheist. She should come back over to England and do some stand-up, she'd fit right in. If anyone won an award here and thanked Jesus, their career would pretty much be over. Here, going to Church is just for weddings, christenings and funerals. Any more than that is just a little big vulgar.

Kathy Griffin is now gay!

Kathy Griffin hosted the GayVN awards show this week in San Francisco. Although Kathy has previously said that she’s burning out on emceeing gay charity events (“How many gay bingos can I host?’) America's funniest lady earned herself an GayVN as an "Honorary Gay" and it's about time. Kathy loves her gays and we love her! Griffin says she identifies with gays because she, too, feels like an oppressed minority a female comic in a male-dominated field, where dumb-ass jock presenters still introduce her with: “Normally, I don’t think that chicks are funny, but here’s one that is: Kathy Griffin!”

Griffin has a huge gay following. I read in an article that she explains that this is because with gay audiences “nothing’s off the table. They’re up on their dish and along for the ride.” Kathy loves keeping up with the “gay lies,” as she calls them, which with their element of fabulousness make them so much more salacious than straight lies. A favorite: “Tom Cruise and John Travolta have a gay island, and a couple times a year they invite people to their island, and it’s gay Sodom and Gomorrah,” she says. “I don’t believe it for a second. If they can get pictures of Frank Gifford, they can get pictures of Tom Cruise.”

LOL

"You know, you’re interrupting Judge Judy"

I was saddened this week to hear that Kathy Griffin's Dad passed away. Kathy is a very funny lady and I love listening to her comedy stand up where she skewers ridiculous celebrities in her inimitable manner. Gawd knows what she's currently saying about Britney and Anna Nicole!

On her webpage Kathy says: "Thank you for all of your lovely comments and inquiries about my Dad. He passed away last Saturday, February 17th at 2pm here in L.A. He had a very far reach in this world and is already missed by so many.

His ascerbic, rapier wit and true heart of gold made for a wonderful combination in a great man. He died from complications due to congestive heart failure AND multiple myeloma. Please keep my mom and my siblings in your thoughts and prayers. What can I say? I just loved him so much."

Here's a picture of Kathy and her Dad, from her hilarious Emmy nominated TV show, "My Life on the D-List".