Good luck to them all!

“Grey’s Anatomy” favored over “West Wing” at Emmys
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – ABC’s hit medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” is favored to sew up the top award at Sunday’s Emmy Awards and foil a bid by newly departed NBC political saga “The West Wing” for a record fifth term as U.S. television’s best drama series.
TV pundits say first-time nominee “Grey’s Anatomy,” coming off its breakthrough season as one of prime time’s most watched shows, also faces a strong challenge from critically acclaimed Fox network spy thriller “24,” a perennial Emmy contender.
Two other nominees are considered long shots in this year’s Emmy drama race — the Fox hospital show “House” and HBO’s celebrated gangster hit and past Emmy winner, “The Sopranos.”
In the contest for best comedy series, the heavy favorite is NBC’s workplace satire “The Office,” adapted from a British series of the same name. Its star, Steve Carell, is the consensus pick as best comedic actor for his role as clueless boss Michael Scott.
The stars of two lesser-known cable series, Denis Leary of the FX firefighting drama “Rescue Me” and Kyra Sedgwick from TNT’s cop show “The Closer,” are seen as front-runners for the lead dramatic acting honors.
Former Emmy-winning “Friends” co-star Lisa Kudrow is favored to scoop the prize as best comedy actress for HBO’s short-lived sitcom “The Comeback.”
If those predictions prove true, it would mark at least a partial success in efforts to energize an entertainment awards show long notorious for recycling the same shows and stars year after year.
Sunday’s Emmys are being closely watched by the TV industry as a test of new nomination rules designed to give newcomers, low-rated series and smaller networks a better shot at the major categories.
One group of TV critics taking part in an odds-making poll posted on Los Angeles Times-owned Web site The Envelope.com picked “Grey’s Anatomy” to edge out “24” — competing in 12 categories as the most nominated series overall this year — in the race for best drama. “West Wing” was ranked a close third in the handicapping.
In the comedy race, “The Office” is favored to fend off challenges from recently canceled past winner “Arrested Development” from Fox, as well as the NBC hospital sitcom “Scrubs,” HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and the bawdy CBS series “Two and a Half Men.”
If “West Wing” manages an upset, the White House drama starring Martin Sheen will enter the Emmy record books with an unprecedented fifth victory as best drama (surpassing four-time winners “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law”). It also would be the first show named best drama after ending its network run.
Moreover, with Sheen and co-stars Allison Janney and Alan Alda considered strong contenders in three acting categories, “West Wing” stands a good chance of at least tying the record now held by “Hill Street Blues” for the most prime-time Emmys overall, 26, amassed by a single drama.
Adding an extra bit of drama to the show is the fact the ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co., plans to air the blockbuster film “Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” opposite the NBC telecast.
The counterprogramming of “Pirates” was widely seen as retaliation for this year’s virtual Emmy shut-out of two hit ABC shows that scored big last year, “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives.” But ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson has insisted his network scheduled the film before this year’s Emmy nominees were revealed.
“All eyes are on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ because if it wins, it will be a huge embarrassment to ABC,” The Envelope.com columnist Tom O’Neil told Reuters, referring to the possibility of the ABC show copping the top Emmy while the network pirates away viewers from the awards telecast.
In other categories, British performer Helen Mirren is considered a shoo-in as best lead actress in miniseries or movie for her title role in the HBO production “Elizabeth I.”
And the nation’s most watched show, the Fox talent contest “American Idol,” is the front-runner to win the prize for best reality competition program.
The 58th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by NBC late-night comedian Conan O’Brien, will be broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.