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Here’s to those who were snubbed!!!

Emmy voters snub serial killer, teen athletes
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – While mob boss Tony Soprano was embraced once again by Emmy voters on Thursday, they apparently drew the line at serial killers.
Michael C. Hall is a critics’ favorite for his title role on the Showtime network drama “Dexter,” playing a charming forensics investigator who murders criminals by night. But he was one of several noteworthy Emmy prospects who failed to clinch a nomination.
Hall earned a nod in 2002 for his portrayal of the prodigal son who returns to run his family’s funeral business on HBO’s now-departed hit “Six Feet Under.”
Many critics thought he was equally deserving of a mention for his chillingly nuanced role as Dexter Morgan.
Another glaring omission from this year’s race, for some Emmy watchers, was the NBC football drama “Friday Night Lights.” The freshman show, nearly canceled due to low ratings, was a leading critics’ choice for best drama but failed to make the cut except in two minor categories.
Some popular past Emmy winners also failed to secure a spot in the leading categories this year.
Last year’s big victor, the Fox espionage thriller “24,” was shut out of the top drama contest, as was the 2005 champion, ABC’s hit castaway thriller “Lost,” which got snubbed for a second year in a row.
The lack of Emmy love for “Lost” was especially surprising in light of revised voting rules designed to address flaws blamed for the show being overlooked last year, said show-business awards pundit Tom O’Neil, host of the Los Angeles Times’ Web site www.TheEnvelope.com.
Meanwhile, Fox’s smash hit “American Idol” earned seven more nominations on Thursday, including a fifth bid for best reality competition program. It remains to be seen whether it will lose again to CBS rival “The Amazing Race.”
O’Neil says “Idol,’ whose Emmy tally now stands at zero wins for 22 total nominations, is just three losses away from tying the record held by Bob Newhart’s second sitcom, “Newhart,” as biggest series loser in Emmy history — zero wins for 25 nominations.
Still, Hall’s failure to land a nomination for “Dexter” was “the single biggest disappointment on the acting side” for many critics, he said.
Not that the voters of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are unwilling to recognize the work of actors who play morally corrupt or emotionally damaged characters.
James Gandolfini has three best-actor Emmys, and was nominated again this year, for his role as conflicted New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano.
And all four of his latest rivals for best actor in a drama play checkered roles. James Spader stars as an ethically challenged lawyer on “Boston Legal,” Hugh Laurie as a pill-popping, grouchy doctor on “House,” Denis Leary as firefighter battling all manner of personal demons in “Rescue Me” and Kiefer Sutherland (last year’s winner) as a secret agent who tortures people on “24.”