THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609060087
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: 162 lines
HERE'S SOMETHING to think about when you're watching television's Beautiful People receive their Emmys on ABC Sunday night starting at 8:
``The Late Shift,'' the Home Box Office film based on a book about the rivalry of late-night TV hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman, had more Emmy nominations (seven) than Leno and Letterman combined.
Does this mean the actors who played these guys on HBO are better than Leno and Letterman themselves?
If you can figure out what's in the minds of the members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences who nominate and then crown the primetime players, you're a step ahead of Angela Lansbury.
This Emmy thing is a puzzle to her.
She's been nominated 16 times and has yet to win.
``I find it pretty peculiar to have been recognized with so many nominations - sixteen! - and never won. It would be nice if it finally happened this year,'' said Lansbury not long ago after being presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Television Critics Association.
Not far behind is John Goodman of ``Roseanne.'' He's 0-for-8, and has been nominated for a ninth time in 1996 for his work in a supporting role in ``A Streetcar Named Desire.''
If you think that's weird, Angela, get a load of this: Three TV specials in which awards are passed out - the 68th annual Academy Awards, the 38th annual Grammy Awards and the 1995 Tony Awards - are up for Emmys.
Awards for the awards shows! Too much.
The NBC hospital drama, ``ER,'' leads all shows in Emmy nominations with 17. Among comedies, ``The Larry Sanders Show Starring Garry Shandling'' on Home Box Office leads the parade with 12.
``Seinfeld,'' the highest-rated sitcom, has 11 nominations, including one for the actor (Larry Thomas) who played the Soup Nazi on the NBC series' funniest episode last season.
Ever wonder what series won the most Emmys? ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show,'' with 29.
Ever wonder what actor and actress won the most statuettes? Moore with eight Emmys and Ed Asner with seven. Producer Dwight Hemion has the most Emmys. Seventeen.
Ever wonder where the name ``Emmy'' came from?
It evolved from ``immy,'' the engineers' nickname for the image orthicon TV camera tube. In 1948, the awards were first called ``Ikes,'' short for the TV iconoscope tube.
Nobody liked Ikes. Or Immys. Dorothy McManus of Culver City, Calif., posed for the image of the winged goddess on the 24-carat gold trophies. She's Emmy.
Lansbury is too much the lady to fuss and gripe about never winning the Emmy, Immy or Ike. ``When you think of the hundreds of actresses who work in television today, and never receive a nomination, it is pretty incredible to be nominated so many times,'' she said.
It's even more incredible that she's never won. She has Tonys. But no Emmys. Will this be Angela Labsury's year?
Your humble columnist's selections in the following categories:
Lead actress in a drama series - Gillian Anderson, ``The X-Files''; Kathy Baker, ``Picket Fences''; Christine Lahti, ``Chicago Hope''; Sherry Stringfield, ``ER''; Angela Lansbury, ``Murder, She Wrote.''
Should win - Lansbury. The trouble with her is that she makes playing Jessica Fletcher look so easy, the voters overlook her.
Will win - Stringfield of ``ER.'' She plays a doctor on a hectic schedule who was raising a baby abandoned by her spaced-out sister. Meaty role.
Lead actor in a drama series - Andre Braugher, ``Homicide: Life on the Street''; George Clooney and Anthony Edwards of ``ER''; Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits of ``NYPD Blue.''
Should win - Braugher, who plays a complex guy in Detective Frank Pembleton, and played him well for three seasons. It's hard to believe this is his first nomination.
Will win - Franz. Again. His Sipowicz character went through hell last season, which is an actor's dream come true.
Lead actress in a comedy series - Ellen DeGeneres, ``Ellen''; Fran Drescher, ``The Nanny''; Helen Hunt, ``Mad About You''; Patricia Richardson, ``Home Improvement''; Cybill Shepherd, ``Cybil.''
Should win - Four-time nominee Hunt, now that Candice Bergen has taken herself out of consideration after winning five times. Hunt's the best thing in a sitcom that lost its way months ago.
Will win - Richardson. June Cleaver should have been such a sharp, smart TV wife.
Lead actor in a comedy series - Kelsey Grammer, ``Frasier''; John Lithgow, ``3rd Rock From the Sun''; Paul Reiser, ``Mad About You''; Jerry Seinfeld, ``Seinfeld''; Garry Shandling, ``The Larry Sanders Show Starring Garry Shandling.''
Should win - Sandling. He doesn't get enough credit for being the centerpiece of a wonderful ensemble company.
Will win - Lithgow. Emmy voters love over-the-top performances.
Reiser hosts Sunday night's telecast in Pasadena, Calif., with a little help from Michael J. Fox and Oprah Winfrey. (At 6 p.m., E! Entertainment Television sets up cameras for a pre-Emmy show in Pasadena.)
Lead actress in a miniseries or special - Ashley Judd, ``Norma Jean and Marilyn''; Jessica Lange, ``A Streetcar Named Desire''; Helen Mirren, ``Prime Suspect: Scent of Darkness''; Mira Sorvino, ``Norma Jean and Marilyn''; Sela Ward, ``Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story.''
Should win - Lange, in the most competitive category of the Emmys. Her performance as Blanche DuBois was one for the ages. Magnificent.
Will win - Lange. On her mantel, the Emmy will go nicely with her Oscar.
Lead actor in a miniseries or special - Alec Baldwin, ``A Streetcar Named Desire''; Beau Bridges, ``Kissinger and Nixon''; Laurence Fishburne, ``Tuskegee Airmen''; Alan Rickman, ``Rasputin''; Gary Sinise, ``Truman.''
Should win - Sinise. He studied for months to get inside the Truman role, and succeeded to the point that you forgot he was the legless lieutenant from ``Forrest Gump.''
Will win - Rickman. It's that over-the-top thing again.
Comedy series - ``Frasier,'' ``Friends,'' ``The Larry Sanders Show Starring Garry Shandling,'' ``Mad About You''; ``Seinfeld.''
Should win - ``The Larry Sanders Show Starring Garry Shandling,'' due back on HBO in November. Biting satire. Well-written scripts played out beautifully by blue-chip cast.
Will win - ``Seinfeld.'' The industry this year toasts a series that is making many people and one network very wealthy.
Drama series - ``Chicago Hope,'' ``ER,'' ``Law & Order,'' ``NYPD Blue''; ``The X-Files.''
Should win - ``Law & Order.'' Everything about this most literate of TV dramas - the writing, editing, photography, the acting in even the smallest roles - is superb.
Will win - ``ER.'' The NBC show is on a roll.
Miniseries - ``Andersonville,'' ``Gulliver's Travels,'' ``Hiroshima,'' ``Moses'' and ``Pride and Prejudice.''
Should win - ``Gulliver's Travels.'' It was an almost-too-good-for-TV fantasy of state of the art special effects, marvelous actors in supporting roles and Ted Danson in the lead role better than I ever expected him to be.
Will win - ``Gulliver's Travels.'' It'll also win Emmys in five or six other categories.
Made-for-television movie - ``Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story,'' ``The Heidi Chronicles,'' ``The Late Shift,'' ``Truman''; ``Tuskegee Airmen.''
Should win - ``Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story.'' Sela Ward was terrific playing the troubled woman who was a big star in TV news.
Will win - ``Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story.''
And here are my other selections:
Supporting actor in a comedy series - Jason Alexander of ``Seinfeld.'' He's been nominated six times, has zero Emmys. This is his year.
Supporting actress in a comedy series - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ``Seinfeld.'' After five nominations and zero Emmys, she's also due.
Supporting actor in a drama series - James McDaniel, ``NYPD Blue.'' Is there a stronger supporting actor on TV than his Lt. Arthur Fancy? I don't think so.
Supporting actress in a drama series - Julianna Margulies, ``ER.'' She's won the Emmy before and deserves it again for her edgy performance as nurse Carole Hathaway.
Variety, music and comedy series - ``Muppets Tonight!'' Not much competition here. Jay and Dave have not had one of their best years. Bill Maher of ``Politically Incorrect'' is on a roll. But I say it will be Miss Piggy and friends. ILLUSTRATION: NBC Color photos
[Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt...]
Color CBS photo
[Angela Landsbury...]
Graphic
[w/Color photos]
BONKO'S PICKS
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
NBC photo<
John Lithgow, starring with Jane Curtin in ``3rd Rock From the
Sun,'' is a good bet to win an Emmy as lead actor in a comedy. by CNB