Fuck The Emmys:
I now declare the Emmys to be invalid in my own personal universe. Like Spider-Man unmasking, The Atom's wife being a psychotic murderer and Batman being a dick, these things do not exist for me. Because I look at the Emmy nominations and here's what I see:

In Best Drama, we've got two medical dramas, a mob show on its last legs, an action show with fast-paced but pretty insipid writing and a cancelled political show that lost its heart three seasons in. Now, I'm a fan of 24, but no way do I think it's award-winning. Hell, I liked this season of The Sopranos, but it's way down on the list too.

You know what's missing? Lost, for one. Best writing, directing, acting, production, etc. on television. It's a genre show that's so good you forget it's a genre show, and it does business like no genre show in the history of television. Battlestar Galactica, for another, although if pushed, I'll admit that I think that it, like 24, is a good but maybe not "Best Drama" level good show. Oh, and where the *fuck* is the Shield? That is hands down, bar none the best show on TV, and I don't care if you tell me it's a little too over-the-top, it's pure fucking realism compared to 24, or the sexcapades of Grey's Anatomy, or the grumpy doctor mysteries of House. Hell, I'd even guess The Shield is a more accurate reflection of L.A. cop life than West Wing is of any White House in history. So it ain't that.

My Best Drama picks? Lost, The Shield, Veronica Mars, Rome (over The Sopranos) and either 24 or Battlestar Galactica. Oh, and if Deadwood were eligible this year, it'd be up there.

Best Comedy? Points for Arrested Development, but really, isn't that kind of a pointless slot at this point? The show is over, the cast and creators have all moved on, why not nod towards a show that still needs the Emmy buzz? How about Entourage, which had a fantastic season two? Of course, you don't even need to take AD out of the running for that, you could dump Two and a Half Men... how the hell did that get in there anyway? I'd agree with most of this slot, actually, as Scrubs, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Office are all damn funny, even if I'm not a huge fan of that last one myself. But no Entourage? Bullshit. And that's not even getting into Weeds being totally overlooked as well.

Lead actor in a drama is missing big names. Edward James Olmos deserves a nod. I'd argue for most of the male leads on Lost, although I guess that technically most of them would fall into Supporting Actor categories. Still, Josh Holloway and Terry O'Quinn most certainly belong on this list at least. How about Michael Chiklis, whose take on Vic Mackie has just gotten more interesting as things went on? This is a tough category, because everybody here earned their way in, but I can't help but feel that O'Quinn and Chiklis, at the very least, were better than all five nominees.

Lead actress is even worse, because too many of the actresses here, while great, weren't in the best years of their career by any means. Geena Davis and Allison Janney both suffered from weak writing and weak character arcs that underplayed their strengths, and much as I like Mariska Hargitay, was there really something harrowing and interesting on SVU this year that they haven't done before? Mary McDonnell absolutely deserves to be here for her conflicted yet strong-willed President Roslin on Battlestar Galactica. Kristen Bell certainly deserved a nod for sassy, smart yet vulnerable Veronica Mars.

How do you nominate Scrubs for best comedy and not give a nod to Zach Braff or Donald Faison for lead actor in a comedy? That's really the only *huge* omission in this category, but it is notable.

Lead actress will get big points from EW for giving Lisa Kudrow a nod for The Comeback, but I want to know where the hell Mary Louise Parker's nomination was for Weeds.

Supporting Actor in a comedy is close, but I'd say that either Jon Cryer or Sean Hayes should have fallen out for Kevin Dillon's hilarious portrayal of Johnny Drama on Entourage. Sure, Jeremy Piven's in there, and he deserves it, but Dillon is at least half the reason I love the show. Oh, and Scrubs has any number of great supporting actors as well, notably John McGinley and Neil Flynn. Credit the Emmy nominations for getting Will Arnett in there, but that also highlights the travesty that is missing David Cross for his work on Arrested Development.

I've got no real comment on supporting actress in a comedy. I'd argue for Debi Mazar on Entourage, but she's such a small character that it's hard to argue too strenuously, even if she's great with what she's given in the role.

Supporting actor and actress in a drama should be more or less filled with Lost castmembers. Yunjin Kim. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Jorge Garcia. Naveen Andrews. Harold Perrineau. Daniel Dae Kim. All of these folks deserve nominations.

Oh, and the Guest Actor nods? No Forest Whitaker, whose driven IAD agent in The Shield was as good as Emmy-nominated Glenn Close's police captain in the previous season? Ridiculous.

I'm also going to guess that Daily Show and Colbert Report could split the vote in Best Variety and lose, which would be a shame, as one of those two shows should really get the win.

Overall, after all the hype about the new selection process, the Emmy nominations are the same old disappointing selection we always get.