I didn’t know the best way to title this, but by ‘Specialty Channels,’ I mean what MTV used to be when it was actually ‘Music Television.’ I have mentioned it before on how they have officially removed the ‘Music Television’ part off their logo, a good ten years after we all already knew that they were no longer that station (MTV Finally Realizes the Truth). In that post, back in February 2010, I went into how I remembered MTV and how it sucked more every year after I finally got the station. I also briefly mentioned stations like Syfy, TBS, and TNT, but I want to add to that.

I was looking at the TV grid, and I can’t help but notice CMT (Country Music Television), which I don’t watch, but a few movies catch my eyes and then I see the station it’s on and it makes me go “What the fuck?” Now, showing TV shows like Dukes of Hazzard semi makes sense when it comes to country, being quite southern in theme and all, and I guess when they have showed the movie Son-In-Law kind of works too, with the whole “farm-living” and the square dancing, but The Whole Nine Yards? I have that movie, watched it a couple of times, and I can’t think of anything remotely ‘country.’ It stars Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry and it’s about a hit man. But CMT is really showing it, see it down for Oct. 26 at 8pm.

I’ve noticed over the years as A&E changes from more artsy programming to more modern cutting edge with acquisition of off network rights to The Sopranos, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami, then again, at the same time they have some reality series called Parking Wars. I looked at a description for an episode, it seems to be about traffic violations, seriously? The network also takes some cues from Discovery and puts in some shows that skew male, having Dog the Bounty Hunter and Steven Segal Lawman. It’s nothing like the A&E I remember not watching, now I sometimes tune in to an episode of Criminal Minds, and used to, I hate admitting this, but I did watch Criss Angel Mindfreak within the first three seasons of that, which was probably around the same time the network started changing its ways.

History channel (which just so happens to be owned by A&E) has some series that don’t look to be anything related to history. Then again, they kind of have a tagline now, “History Made Every Day,” that probably allows them to get away with it, because, afterall, tomorrow will see today as history, or something. One notable series that bothers me when I see an ad for it, Ice Road Truckers. Again, I bet it skews male, but it has absolutely no historic-related significance. At least there are some programs that are relevant, such as Cities of the Underworld, which I caught a few, it was some pretty interesting stuff. A bunch of truckers cussing at each other, no thank you.

Let’s see, I love Syfy, but even when it was The Sci-Fi Channel, it still had wrestling, which I never understood. Fiction, sure, yeah, but wrestling is not science fiction. Although, I think I really started looking down at the network more when they added some stupid Mary Knows Best, which was just too much, I think I’ll rather watch wrestling than some proclaimed “psychic” juggling family and her “work.” I’m not gonna be all geeky and complain about programs that aren’t “true” sci-fi, as I look at the network as a sci-fi/fantasy specialist, that is when they don’t air wrestling, other than that, it’s somewhat consistent, just wish it’ll get rid of Smackdown (which, yep, skews male). Seriously, is it something networks just want now?

Discovery isn’t all too bad. They used to be all nature documentary stuff, but they also like this skewing male (and younger as well) with shows like Dirty Jobs and Mythbusters, but for the most part, these shows, I think, work. They can be educational, especially Mythbusters (the science stuff), though I’m sure most people watch that because they like blowing stuff up. So, yeah, the network has changed from its boring days, but it still has the occasional documentaries, and hasn’t branched out to wrestling.

Although, its sister station, TLC (the Learning Channel), years ago looked like it was all about getting some younger viewers when LA Ink came into the picture. I never watched it, but I thought it strange for a show about a female tattoo artist to be on TLC. Maybe it’s just me, but mostly, the net seems to stay consistent with stuff I don’t want to watch, and again, I admit, shameful, I used to watch those home decorating shows they used to have, which I assume no longer have new episodes (I haven’t watch TLC in years, so forgive me if I don’t really know everything on TV).

Let’s see, what other one is there. Well, TBS and TNT still kind of don’t stick with what they represent fully. TBS has the “Very funny” tagline, but last week, I clearly remember seeing Titanic on the schedule (still proud of myself, I think I’m the only person in the free world that hasn’t see that movie), while TNT make knock out a few comedies or two, despite bragging that they “know drama.”

Oh, Cartoon Network, not so much. Live action is more prevalent now than it has been, even having an original new series, Tower Prep, which, according to TitanTV, it’s a drama. Yeah, things are changing there, though I think now it’s a matter of youth oriented programming, at least before the adult swim programming comes on at night.

Um, can I bitch that VH-1 Classic has gone rogue showing movies now, and not even music-related ones, like VH-1 and, well all of MTV has gonna down the toilet (though they have syndication rights to That 70s Show, which I like, and I know this being less than a week to Halloween, MTV will be showing Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and also, Underworld: Evolution, but still MTV has gone down the toilet, just look at Jersey Shore; if you want to know why other countries laugh at us, that’s why, although, maybe some may start taking pity out on us? Not all of us are that stupid.). Anyway, I seem to be rambling again, VH-1 Classic still shows more music videos or music-related documentary shows (like Behind the Music stuff) in one year than MTV and VH-1 have in the last five years, combined. (I don’t really know for sure, it’s more of a mere observation, but I think it sounds about right.

ABC Family still has family friendly programming, but also, they got some stuff I could watch, such as That 70s Show also. Plus some movies such as Billy Madison and Robin Hood Men in Tights airing sometime in the next week, which I’m sure will have that little ‘Parental Discretion Advised’ warning before the show starts. But, as I said, the net, which years ago added the little more maturity to appeal to teens, I’m sure, still has programs watchable by five year old kids.

I think that does it, sure there are other weird programming choices among the cable nets, but this post is long enough.

LATER…-ish

Quickly want to note I was looking at the TV schedule, thanks to TitanTV, which is an online TV schedule I’ve used for years, and have been using more since I’ve become DVR-less in order to know when what is new, or even on.

At least for me, Wednesday are extremely congested. Right now, I’m home for the 1st time during this TV season (its the 3rd week), so I’m currently watching the new ABC series Better With You,, which isn’t all too bad. But the 8pm hour itself, there’s nothing there. But the 9pm hour, not only is there the broadcast airings of CBS’s Criminal Minds (set DVD-Recorder for, always) and ABC’s hour comedy block of Modern Family & Cougar Town (which I can watch live today, but in the future, they’ll have to wait for me to stream online), on the cable side, there is still new eps of Ghost Hunters on Syfy (which I’ve missed the last 2, have to stream them online, in which there is an 8-day delay, luckily, today I can watch the 11pm encore instead ), and also, Mythbusters returns on Discovery Channel, and again, I’m gonna have to watch the encore at 12am.

10pm hour is calmer, today is the premiere of the 2nd half of the 14th season of South Park on Comedy Central (in which, if I ever have to work a night again, in the future they’ll be online viewers), and starting Nov. 10, Psych‘s 5th season returns, and I believe the 2 overlap for two weeks, so Psych is of higher priority, but though there is an encore at 12am, as long as Mythbusters is still new, Psych would have to be online, because Discovery doesn’t have full episodes of their shows online.

Phew, even if I had a DVR, there are still 2 shows that have to wait (Mythbusters in encore, and Ghost Hunters in encore or online). I hate mornings, but honestly, I almost prefer having a morning shift, just so I can be home for the madness.

Now that I finally got a chance to watch the premiere of The Event (I recorded it last week with Chuck b/c of work, but wanted to originally wait to see the 2nd week ratings, but had to watch since I’m off today and can watch it) and decided against Undercovers (I was interested in it initially, I mean, come on, it is JJ Abrams we’re talking about, but as the premiere got closer and the ads ran, it looked less and less interesting, and the ratings for it showed that others thought so too). I caught the pilot of No Ordinary Family, which doesn’t premiere until Tues, Sept. 28 at 8/7c when ABC allowed 5,000 people to stream it online. I caught Nikita, watched the first two eps actually, but, didn’t watch the third one. I watched the pilot for Hawaii Five-O last week online at cbs.com, but ended up not watching CBS’s new Thursday comedy Shit My Dad Says (I still refuse to use the symbols) and new Friday series Blue Bloods like originally planned, so I can’t say anything about those.

So, of the new series I caught, how do they stack up?

Well, obviously, because I no longer have a DVR, I find it a little difficult to just check out a new series, run the risk of actually liking it, and having to fit it into my schedule, which, though I work part-time, it’s still annoying. So several series I chose to not watch because they didn’t hold enough of my interest to begin with, they were more of a curious show, so that’s why I didn’t watch the new William Shatner (that and, I already had two shows I watch on Thurs. at 8, Vampire Diaries on the CW and FOX’s Bones), and despite wanting to check out Tom Selleck’s new series, I opted out to not have to record anything to DVD (let the damn thing rest) and watched Haven on Syfy instead. But, several shows I still HAD to watch, so let’s start with Monday:

Hawaii Five-O on Mondays, 10/9c PM on CBS, is a remake of the classic series. There were several key factors in my decision to continue as plan to watch the series (the next day online). One: Alex O’Loughlin. The guy can’t seem to catch a break. Moonlight, I still think, would’ve rebounded if CBS stuck with it and carried it into the vampire craze, but it got canned, as did his next series, also on CBS, the medical drama from last season, Three Rivers. Two: Len Wiseman directed (well, the pilot at least), and he also directed the first two movies of the Underworld franchise. Three: James Marsters is at least in the pilot, and given the character he played (the bad guy), looks like there could be more appearances? (see a pattern yet, kind of vampiric background in this show, don’t you think). Four: along with Marsters and O’Loughlin, two more stars of the genre line, Daniel Dae Kim, who was in Lost, and Grace Park of Battlestar Galactica fame. Five: Yes, this is a crime drama, but it is certainly a fun one, with a fantastic cast. Will I continue to watch? Based on the pilot, yes, I plan to watch, and recommend it if for some reason you don’t watch ABC’s Castle (which I do).  Oh, side note, anyone notice how William Sadler (Roswell, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey) played Steve McGarrett’s (O’Loughlin) father, well he also played Dr. Yablonski’s (O’Loughlin) uncle on Three Rivers. Interesting? Another great casting choice, although Steve’s dad gets killed.

The Event on Mondays 9/8c PM on NBC, is, well, a very interesting drama. Despite the mass advertising for this series, I still wasn’t turned off from watching it. Maybe it’s because all the trailers made me really want to know what “the Event” actually is, and the pilot, though may be a bit hard to follow, moved fast and, well, ended with a shitload of questions. Is this the next Lost? No, most certainly not, but with Heroes gone, a strange new series is what NBC needed, and the ratings were strong with the pilot, but I’m worried that it may be lost to some people. I really hope that those that watched it weren’t turned away, because, right now, this is about as close to a Lost replacement we got. Factors for me to watch the pilot: One: Jason Ritter, sometimes, it just takes an actor or two to make me watch a series, again, he hasn’t had a lot of luck with shows, having been in two past CBS series that bit the dust (though, the drama Joan of Arcadia did manage a 2nd season, while the comedy The Class died after one, which was a shame b/c that was hilarious), I just think that though this is a show with a large cast, he stands out. Two: Large cast and lots of complexity, it’s the Lost formula, it was what NBC had with Heroes, bring in a huge cast of knowns and unknowns, make sure to start a lot of questions (“What happened to Leila?,” “Who are the prisoners?”, “What happened to the plane?,” and the main one, “What is the Event?”, that’s just the pilot, and I may have missed a few), it brings in mystery and intrigue, which I like. Three: Cast is pretty huge, along with Ritter, there is also Laura Innes (ER), Zeljko Ivanek (who has been on True Blood, 24, Heroes, Damages), Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls, Aliens in America), and Blair Underwrood (Dirty Sexy Money serving as the President of the US, along with a decent cast of relative unknowns. Four: Action, yep it’s got that too, plus the jumps from one scene to another kind of remind me of 24, making is suspenseful. Will I keep watching? I’m on the edge of my seat.

No Ordinary Family on Tuesdays at 8/7c PM on ABC, like I said, I caught the pilot online, so I don’t need to watch the premiere, but it runs like your typical intro pilot. Since this has yet to premiere on broadcast, I don’t want to say much, but there really isn’t much to give away, since the ads cover it well. A family with some problems crash and find themselves with superpowers. Yes, it’s a family with superpowers, and the powers they get come from what they need (to overcome weaknesses, basically). The father feels less masculine, now he has super strength, the mother is busy and doesn’t have time for much, now she has super speed, the daughter is a typical teenager who basically just wanted to snoop into peoples lives, now she’s telepathic, and the son sucks at math, now he’s a math wiz. As far as what made me watch it, One: Julie Benz, who played Darla on Buffy and Angel, and was more recent on Dexter (before her character bit the dust), she’s got the fan fare behind her, as does Michael Chiklis, who was in The Shield. That’s pretty much it, other than being sci-fi/fantasy. Will I keep watching? I’ll check the next episode to see how it goes, sci-fi/fantasy shows tend to need a few extra episodes before you can get into it, but it doesn’t overly scream WATCH, just yet.

Nikita on Thursday 8/7c PM on the CW, ah, this show I already stopped watching. I never watch La Femme Nikita, but this spy chick going rogue wanting to take down a secret gov. agency, and she’s got a spy on the inside, blah blah blah. I’m sorry, sure it’s got the kick-ass action and attitude, but I just don’t really care about any of the characters enough to even watch one more episode. I don’t miss it, and it’s something I can’t overly describe as to what the main problem is. It is an oddball on the CW, I agree they kind of need more shows like that. I wanted to watch it because, One: an action show on the CW is very rare, but for the most part, the series was hyped and looked like something I could watch. Will I watch more? Eh, nope.

Now to wait to see 2nd week ratings to see if whatever shows I do watch can make it. And then in a few months, I should have some midseason shows to look forward to, one of which is the Matthew Perry comedy Mr. Sunshine on ABC, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

Many, many, many TV-related sites have all their ‘Returning TV’ lists as well as ‘New TV’ lists; an all in one guide to this fall TV season (I’ve done a ‘new series to watch list’ after the upfronts, in two parts: Part One (ABC/FOX/NBC), Part Two (CBS/CW), in case you’re interested). *Note, I have since decided not to watch a few, since it’s difficult to find time to watch all these shows (unless I got paid, which would be sweet, BTW, as retail sucks), also a few video clips appeared to have expired, I’ll update it when they premiere and I can review them further.

Back to what I’m getting at here.

I watch a ton of TV shows, I counted 19 shows returning this season (3 of which had already returned) just on the broadcast nets alone (ABC/FOX/CBS/NBC/CW). Monday is a big day, with 9-20-10 seeing the returns of How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 6th season), House (FOX, 7th), Chuck (NBC, 4th), in the 8pm hour alone. Of course, I love them all, but I push Chuck more, since Mondays are so blah, Chuck is the fun-fast action-spy-adventure that takes away the Monday blah. Plus, another reason to watch this season: Linda Hamilton (yo, it’s Sarah Connor, dudes), Eric Roberts (who was in Less Than Perfect with Zac Levi, and will be in the upcoming Syfy Sharktopus, and in The Expendables), Olivia Munn, Dolph Lungdren (you know, from Rocky IV, as well as this year’s The Expendables), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk, dudes), Bronson Pinchot (remember, Balki Bartokomous), Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice dude), Harry Dean Stanton (Alien), and Timothy Dalton (James Bond #4, I think), phew, that’s a lot of guest stars. Check out a 5 min look at Chuck:

And of course, ABC’s Castle (3rd) comes back that day as well, in the 10pm hour. Tuesday already saw the return of CW’s Life Unexpected (9pm, 2nd) and NBC’s Parenthood (10pm, 2nd), and on 9-21 will be the return of NCIS (8th) at 8pm on CBS (plus the spin-off series 2nd season, which I ended up stop watching). Wednesday, 9-22, is all about the return of ABC’s comedy lineup, including EMMY winning series for Best Comedy, Modern Family (9pm, 2nd), and at 9:30pm Cougar Town (2nd), which will feature guest Jennifer Aniston (cue Friends reunion), and on the serious side, CBS’s Criminal Minds (9pm, 6th) continues to be a powerful night, it’s one crime-procedural that continues to improve itself (like NCIS, this year it’ll have a spin-off series in the midseason). Thursday, we saw the return of CW’s hit The Vampire Diaries (8pm, 2nd), which I like watching, but admit there are lots of room for improvement (it’s not Buffy, that’s for damn sure), and on 9-23, FOX’s Thursday brings us the return of Bones (8pm, 6th) and Fringe (9pm, 3rd).

New paragraph, as September 24th, 2010 is the most important night in television, remember it. The CW has it’s most powerful night (sorry for using the word ‘powerful’ again), but it really is. 8pm start it off with the TENTH (yes, 10th) and FINAL season of one of the most beloved series from the WB era that transitioned to the CW (it’s 5 on WB and now 5 on CW, kind of like Stargate SG-1, which had 5 on Showtime and 5 on what was the Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy). Smallville is monumental, because, knowing it’s the last, means they can pull out all the stops and close the series that’ll give it justice. Also, it will beat SG-1 in terms of having the most produced episodes for a sci-fi/fantasy series in the US (they’re still tied in terms of there being 10 seasons). And hey, Clark may (hopefully) now finally FLY. Actually, I believe they said they will finally do that, plus the teaser with the Superman suit (from Superman Returns). Check out this CW official video clip, highlighting Clark through the seasons, it’s just purely awesome:

And then at 9pm, the 6th season of the BEST TV SHOW, Supernatural (sorry for the shouting, it’s just all too exciting). Last season, was all about the impending apocalypse, now, with Sera Gamble now taking the helm as showrunner, it’ll be more about the monsters that go “bump in the night.” The premiere is set a year after the events of the 5th season finale. And thanks to TNT, next week, starting on the night of Sept. 23 at midnight and ending at 8pm the next day, a beautiful 20 hour Supernatural marathon. Catch a few, including the end of the 5th, and watch the premiere of season 6 on the CW at 9pm (might as well watch Smallville before it, the marathon does end at 8pm, so why not?). Check out this preview clip from the CW:

And then there is Sunday, which has FOX’s ‘Animation Domination,’ with the 22nd season premiere of The Simpsons, plus returns of Cleveland Show, Family Guy and American Dad.

Obviously, the series I like the most are highlighted by embedding video clips, but I also push FOX’s Thursday with Bones and Fringe as well as Criminal Minds on Wednesday, and just to pick one series on Tuesday, my favorite is Parenthood (Lauren Graham, come on Emmy people, recognize brilliance), and my fave Sunday is Family Guy, but I want to keep this post from getting too long. Too many video clips can be annoying.

And, remember, this is just broadcast, there are a few cable ones too, but I won’t get into that now.

[Please, excuse what is babbling on my part, I've had about a 3-4 hr nap in the last 24 hrs, yesterday evening actually, so I'm a bit tired]

I found out that Syfy has a bit of a weird programming issue. Originally I thought the new series Haven was gonna end its freshman season with a 2 parter on Sept 24 (starting at 9pm, against the premiere of the CW’s Supernatural.) I had already made my mind to watch the one true best TV show ever, Supernatural, and catch Syfy’s Haven in a late night encore. Turns out, Haven will be new through Oct. 8 and will remain in the 10PM timeslot. So, yay, I can still watch the CW (Smallville returns for a final season starting the 24th of September, leading into Supernatural‘s 6th season return), then flip and watch Haven. Then after Oct. 8th, I only have 2 shows to watch on Fridays. But the issue is, Smackdown starts on Oct. 1 and will be a new lead-in for Haven, with only 2 eps to go at that point. And the 2 eps before those will be on after, I believe, Warehouse 13 repeats, because its current lead-in, Eureka (another fantastic series), has its summer finale on Sept. 10th. This leaves a freshman series on its own for 2wks and then with a new lead-in (which, based on the wrestling show Syfy stupidly still airs, WWE NXT, which sees a little over a million viewers, it makes sense that Smackdown will be a poor lead-in). This means, the last 4 eps of Haven in the series will see a major ratings drop. I hope Syfy understands that enough that they’ll still renew it and consider keeping it paired with Eureka in some way. What I don’t get, is if Warehouse 13 only got a 13 episode renewal, why not have had it paired so they would’ve been new together and there wouldn’t have been some lead-in change up toward the end of Haven and Eureka could’ve been on Tuesdays before WWE NXT, but I’m just a viewer, what do I really know about programming.

So, really, this post is my way of advertising a pretty good series Syfy has now, Haven, that now looks to stand a possible cancellation if that ratings drop occurs b/c of their great programming. I like it better than Warehouse 13, Stargate Universe, and Caprica.

Speaking of Caprica, remember it debut its 1st season back in January of this year, ran through, I think, March for its spring finale. Well, it was supposed to have returned in the fall, but Syfy felt it necessary to damage its ratings more by not airing the 2nd half of its still 1st season until, well, January. 9 months between episodes is a LONG time. Only premiums can really get away with that. I still stand by that the 9-10 month hiatus ABC had for Pushing Daisies b/c they failed to order post-strike episodes to keep some episode flowing in April and May of that 2007-2008 season, is what killed its ratings enough to cancel it. As well as NBC doing the same thing to Chuck which caused what was a no-brainer renewal for it in its 1st season to on-the-bubble status since. Luckily, NBC had ratings fails with Heroes and others that Chuck managed to make it to a 4th season.

And Syfy isn’t the only cable net doing weird things with a freshman series. Because White Collar has a 16 episode 2nd season, it’ll be split, so it’s summer finale airs on Sept. 7th, while Covert Affairs will still be on for another week, with a 2-hr finale (it had an 11 episode order, apparently) on Sept 14 (so it’ll be on at 9PM). Now, Covert Affairs has the luxury to have built on its White Collar lead-in, seeing about a million more viewers actually. So, it’s not in trouble, but it could still see a hit if a good portion of those viewers watched because it was on after White Collar. Another thing, this 2-episodes on the 14th puts it in the 9pm hour where CW will premiere Life Unexpected (yes, I do like watching that, shut up). Not to mention the fact that Warehouse 13 will also still be new. Not that those two shows could dent Affairs, its just, it makes my TV schedule crazier than it already is.

But probably the one that annoys me, and this affects Eureka and True Blood (I know, completely different shows). Labor Day Weekend. Syfy and HBO aren’t showing new episodes, so that makes 1 week between the penultimate episode and the finale (in Eureka‘s case, a midseason finale, but the rule still applies). I don’t like a week in between the last two eps of a season (or midseason, whatever). It’s ANNOYING. And it was exactly the same last year on HBO, so start True Blood a week earlier next year, so the finale occurs before Labor Day Weekend (then you can have a marathon of the whole season or something, during). Also, it would make there be 4 new episodes in the beginning of the season before the 4th of July Weekend (another weekend without new eps), instead of just 3.

—
EDIT 9/14/10 – it’s getting weirder, Syfy has decided to bring Caprica back a little sooner (Oct 5 at 10pm) pushing the return of Sanctuary to Friday Oct 15 at 10pm. So those of us looking forward to a new season of Sanctuary have to wait a little longer, while Caprica fans who were already aware of a January premiere, get it sooner? (wouldn’t it have made sense for Caprica to take the Friday 10pm spot. Afterward, Syfy tweeted that it’s a good thing for Sanctuary fans, then they can promote it longer. They barely promote it now, but it didn’t take long to promote the quick return of Caprica, just a note.

I managed to watch the first hour, but at 9pm, I had actual TV to watch (Leverage on TNT, and True Blood on HBO), so I tuned away. Then I returned back at 10pm, but muted the volume so I could watch The Pillars of Earth finale re-broadcast thanks to Netflix having Starz Play (great mini-series, BTW).

First presented category was a huge let-down, as Neil Patrick Harris was once again robbed of Emmy gold. Fortunately, they aired the winners of the Creative Arts Emmy (which were announced over a week ago) for Guest actors, in which NPH did win for his guest stint on Glee (which was the only ep I watched; two reasons: NPH was a guest and the great Joss Whedon directed). Though it is great for new blood to win, thanks to Modern Family and Glee, but overall, it was standard. When it came to mini-series, if it’s on HBO, it’ll win (The Pacific), same for TV-movies. Meaning, no Supporting Actress win for Kathy Bates, b/c it was for a Syfy miniseries (Alice). But, this is typical, it’s expected.

In the whole night (not counting what was previously announced, the Guest Actors), Modern Family won the Outstanding Comedy, and that was who I was pulling for. (Take that 30 Rock!). Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien lost to Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which kind of sucks (it would’ve been so nice to say something like “suck it NBC,” but him getting nominated was still more than Leno ever did for the show, so we can still say, “suck it NBC.”) But, Mad Men winning for drama is getting annoying. I don’t watch the series, thought about it, but it just doesn’t look appealing. Though I was pulling for True Blood, I was being realistic and knew it wouldn’t win (it actually won nothing this year, not even any one of the 4 Creative Arts Emmy [BTW, that's just a fancy way of acknowledging technical nods]. So, I was then pulling for Lost, only because I did use to love watching it, and it was the last season, but Lost got completely snubbed this year.

But, as I said, it’s expected. You’re not gonna have sci-fi/fantasy series make any kind of Emmy sweep, but what they do usually get are technical nods. But I looked into the winners for this year, and not much there neither. There were 12 nods, including major ones (Drama series, Lead Actor (Matthew Fox), 2x for Supporting Actor (both Michael Emerson and Terry O’Quinn), Guest Actress (Elizabeth Mitchell), plus for Directing and Writing), but it didn’t even win the technical nods (nothing on Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Picture Editing, Music Composition, and Art Direction). I thought sci-fi/fantasy series would be easy wins for at least technical nods. I was wrong.

In the past, yes, even Smallville has won for Sound Editing a few times, but it has lost as well, and this year, no nod (nothing from the CW was actually nominated, including Supernatural, despite buzz). Here is one technical category that annoys me: Special Visual Effects. This year it went to, no not Stargate Universe (which had 2 entries), no not Caprica, no, not V, no, none of the shows that have space crafts and use special effects on an epic scale, nope, it went to, get this…CSI. Yep, more reason to hate the Emmys, sci-fi series can hardly win for technical categories which they utilize more than most dramas out there. I mean, come on, space shows losing a special effects nod is like Metallica losing the first Heavy Metal Grammy to Jethro Tull (oh wait, that DID happen). So, I could go on and on about the injustice of award shows, but that would take forever.

Here’s another: Prosthetic Makeup, in which the nods were The Pacific (WWII mini-series), Grey’s Anatomy (medical drama), Nip/Tuck (plastic surgeon drama), Castle (detective series), and True Blood (supernatural series). Of those, and I love Castle and used to watch Nip/Tuck, one sci-fi/fantasy series is nominated (and lost), but the only prosthetic I can remember for the particular episode (“Scratches”) is the maenad scene (clawed hand scratching Sookie). As for the others, I understand use of prosthetic makeup for creating dead bodies and stuff, but wouldn’t sci-fi/fantasy series (such as, IDK, Sanctuary) use more when creating say a bigfoot like character? BTW, the winner was a tie between The Pacific and Grey’s Anatomy.

Let’s go back to Sound Editing, that’s a popular one for shows I watch (Stargate Atlantis and Smallville have both each won in the past, and True Blood and Supernatural each have exactly one nomination under their belts). Apparently, shows I watch have great sound, and this year it went to 24 (which I did watch, up until the end), and on the losing side: Lost, Breaking Bad, Fringe (another one I watch), and True Blood (yes, I love this show). So five nods, three are sci-fi/fantasy, but none of those won. Going back, Fringe makes good use of prosthetic makeup as well, wonder why that didn’t get recognized? Oh yeah, sci-fi/fantasy, I guess it’s too obvious of a win?

Whatever the reason for sci-fi/fantasy series having hard times at the Emmys, even in technical categories, the few wins in the past for them (Patricia Arquette winning her 1st year for Medium and Kristin Chenoweth winning last year for Pushing Daisies, and the 9 wins Lost has gotten in the past, including Drama Series in the 1st year), aren’t opening any doors for the Emmys to wake up and see that there is a whole world of imagination out there. Lost deserved a win because, even though I stopped watching in the middle of the third, I can’t deny what it did for television. The risk ABC took for a series with a huge, heavy mythology and large cast, may never again be copied. Networks can try all they want, but Lost was in a category of its own. 12 nominations and not a single win for a truly groundbreaking TV series is a huge error on the Academy’s part, and hopefully the Golden Globes will make up for it.

And I know I’m not the only one that thinks that maybe the Emmys should do more than just change their voting ways (which didn’t work) or add an extra nod to their Outstanding Drama and Comedy series categories (that just added an extra loser), they need to re-work it. It’s no secret that cable and premium shows have a better edge over broadcast networks. They could separate Broadcast nets (shows of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and if it ever could happen, CW) from cable (USA, TNT, F/X, AMC, and again, if it ever could happen, Syfy, among others) from premium (HBO, Starz, Showtime), only for major categories (drama/comedy series, lead and supporting actor/actress nods, and maybe directing and writing as well). Or, instead, being there are shows like Chuck and Leverage that Emmy voters have issues classifying (comedy/drama/actions are just difficult to categorize), have a Action as well as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy category, at least with majors (for Series, and at least Lead Actors/Actresses), that way they can recognize outstanding achievements in all aspects of TV, not just the typical The Closer and Mad Men and any mini-series/movie-HBO-airs of the world.

So maybe next year, I won’t even bother tuning in for one minute, even if someone good hosted (I loved NPH last year and Fallon did alright this year). Because, why bother, anything I REALLY like is never even gonna get considered.