BuzzSugar

What Do You Think About the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:58:52 -0700

Bryan Cranston is taking home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Breaking Bad for the second consecutive year. He beat out Simon Baker, Michael C. Hall, Hugh Laurie, Gabriel Byrne, and Jon Hamm.

As much as I wanted to see Jon Hamm grace the podium, Cranston is definitely deserving of the statue. What do you think of this win? Vote on all my Emmy Awards polls here!

TV Tonight: Breaking Bad

BuzzSugar — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:30:54 -0700

It took a while for me to get into AMC's drama series Breaking Bad, but once the show got its claws into me, I could hardly do anything but watch. I once spent the better part of a weekend powering through the episodes I hadn't seen yet, and I get antsy waiting for 10 p.m. to roll around on Sundays so I can see what Walt White (Bryan Cranston) has gotten up to now.

Actually, it's a lot like how I felt when I watched the very first season of Weeds - which is funny, because the shows have some things in common. Both have a central character who turns to drugs as a way to make money in a time of great distress (in the case of Breaking Bad, Walt's diagnosed with cancer that's presumed to be terminal). Both also have a character in law enforcement who's just a wee bit too close to all the drug action (here it's Walt's brother-in-law, who works for the DEA). And in both shows, I find myself rooting for a main character (Walt, Nancy Botwin) whom I'm not even sure I like anymore.

Walt's done some bad things over the first two seasons of Breaking Bad, but last week's episode may have shown the darkest side of him yet - right when his son is promoting him as a hero. From AMC's preview, it looks like a lot of Walt's secrets will be coming out tonight, and I can't wait to see how this episode sets us up for season three. Will anybody else be watching? To check out the preview, just read more.

Photo courtesy of AMC

Break Into Breaking Bad Before Season Two Begins

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:30:25 -0800

AMC's Breaking Bad - you know, its critically acclaimed series that isn't Mad Men - came and went all too quickly during its first season. But seven episodes were enough for Emmy voters, who honored star Bryan Cranston as the year's best dramatic lead actor.

The show returns for a full second season on March 8 at 10 p.m., and if you still have some catching up to do, clear about seven hours from your schedule and dive right in: AMC is showing a marathon of first-season episodes starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 6. Not sure you can stay up till 3 a.m. to watch the adventures of Walt White? The season one DVD is out on Tuesday, and all the episodes are also available on iTunes.

If you're just looking for a taste, you can watch the pilot episode for free online. And if you really want to cut down on your catch-up time, you'll only need 90 seconds for AMC's season one recap video. To check it out, just read more.

Photo courtesy of AMC

Odds and Ends From the Emmy Press Room

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:30:51 -0700

I'm still feeling the afterglow today from my time in the Emmy press room, where so many happy stars came to talk about their big awards. There are a bunch of tidbits I didn't get to share with you live, so to see what Bryan Cranston, Paul Giamatti, and Laura Linney had to say, read on!

Bryan Cranston was maybe the happiest guy on Earth when he came back to the press room, clutching his Emmy in one hand and the envelope with his name on it in the other. "I thought I was the dark horse, I really did," he said. "I thought I should have been in the back of the pack. Breaking Bad only had seven episodes to air. I didn't know if that would be enough sampling for the academy to take a look. I'm shocked and wonderfully surprised."
Cranston also talked a little about his bald head, a look he's currently sporting for the role as his character is going through chemotherapy (he's also lost 17 pounds, he said). Immersing himself in a character that way, he said, is "something actors dream about." That said, he compared baldness to having a skull made of velcro. "There are all kinds of things that are sticking to my head - fuzz, a jujube . . . "
Someone asked Jon Hamm about his reaction to his success and whether he was getting either a) shy or b) a big head. After laughing that both of those things were true, Hamm got serious: "I still feel like I'm in 10th grade and no one will talk to me at lunch," he said.
Laura Linney said she's still got a huge stack of history books by her bed, long after her work on John Adams was done. "I had a real understanding of how people get addicted to American history," she said, because each person leads to another. "I'm still reading, actually."

To hear from Jerry Bruckheimer, Jeff Probst, and January Jones, just read more.

Jeff Probst shrugged off criticism about the Emmys opening when he came backstage to talk about winning the Outstanding Reality Host award. "Did that work? I don't know," he said. "I give a lot of credit to [producer] Ken Ehrlich and those guys in terms of putting up with us."
Speaking of that opener, Jeremy Piven poked some fun at it during his acceptance speech and then went on at length about it backstage. "I thought we were being punked as an audience," he said. "There was that awkward - you know, like in the movie The Producers, [play-within-a-play] Springtime for Hitler? It was that confusing moment like, you know, what's happening right now?"

During the Mad Men session, January Jones declined to hint at where Betty's storyline is going, but she did say it's been fun to play the darker side of Betty. "The first season was all Betty sort of imploding," she said, "and the second season she's sort of exploding."
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner made an interesting point when reporters asked how it felt to be the first basic cable show to win an outstanding series award. "I'm surprised that there's such a segregated and caste system at the Emmys - I was unaware of it," he said. "I have this amazing cast. None of them were asked to present tonight."
Before he started rambling about inappropriate things, Barry Sonnenfeld praised the upcoming season of Pushing Daisies: "The scripts are better than last year," he said. "I think they're funnier. I think all of the actors have really gotten into their characters."
Wishing The Amazing Race would stop submitting its name after six straight Emmy wins? Don't count on it. "I doubt it, I really do," producer Jerry Bruckheimer said when asked if the show would step aside. "We love these statues."
Though Paul Giamatti was widely expected to win for playing John Adams, he claimed he had no expectations himself. "Not an optimist," he said. He compared his work on the miniseries to an endurance test (while wearing a hot wig): "I had to do everything," he said. But, on the other hand, "I got to do everything, which was amazing - run the emotional gamut and ride a horse . . . "

Source

First Look: Breaking Bad

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:30:00 -0800

AMC struck it big with its first stab at original scripted programming: the Golden Globe-winning drama Mad Men. The cable channel's newest series starts Sunday, and with scripted shows fading fast due to the strike, it couldn't come at a better time.

Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston - best known as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle - as Walt White, a high school chemistry teacher with a struggling family. He's the kind of guy who just lets life happen to him until he's diagnosed with a terminal illness. That's when he decides to make a change, creating a meth lab in an old RV and generally raising hell. It sounds a little like Weeds meets The Bucket List, and that's an intriguingly bizarre combo.

With new TV dwindling by the day, are you up for giving Breaking Bad a shot? To watch a couple of previews, just read more.

Photo and videos courtesy of AMC

Announcing the 2009 Emmy Winners!

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:32:15 -0700

Well, the Emmys are over, and we have our full list of winners. Were you guys surprised by this year's picks? (Check out all my Emmy polls here.) I thought the show started out pretty unexpectedly when underdogs Kristin Chenoweth and Toni Collete took home trophies, and there were a few other surprises along the way. Towards the end, though, the big wins seemed pretty predictable with Mad Men for drama, 30 Rock for comedy - no surprises there.

I had a lot of favorite moments of the night - more on those later - but mainly, I just enjoyed seeing Neil Patrick Harris as host. I loved everything from his opening to Dr. Horrible, and most of you thought his opening number was pretty great, too.

For the full list of 2009 Emmy winners, just read more.
COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock

DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men

MINISERIES
Little Dorrit

ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Toni Collette, United States of Tara

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Glenn Close, Damages

MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE
Grey Gardens

REALITY HOST
Jeff Probst, Survivor

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race

ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Brendan Gleeson, Into The Storm

ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Michael Emerson, Lost

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Ken Howard, Grey Gardens

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Cherry Jones, 24

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House Of Saddam

WRITING FOR A COMEDY
30 Rock ("Reunion," Matt Hubbard)

WRITING FOR A DRAMA
Mad Men ("Meditations in an Emergency," Kater Gordon, Matthew Weiner)

WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSICAL OR COMEDY SERIES
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Steve Bodow, Jon Stewart, David Javerbaum, Josh Lieb, Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Jason Ross, Tim Carvell, John Oliver, Sam Means, Rob Kutner, J.R. Havlan, Rich Blomquist, Wyatt Cenac, Elliott Kalan, Rachel Axler)

WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Little Dorrit (Andrew Davies)

DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
The Office ("Stress Relief," Jeff Blitz)

DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Little Dorrit (Dearbhla Walsh)

DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
American Idol ("The Final Three," Bruce Gowers)

ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS
81st Annual Academy Awards" ("Hugh Jackman Opening Number")

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
ER ("And in The End," Rod Holcomb)

LIST OF WINNERS IN THE CREATIVE ARTS CATEGORIES

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Michael J. Fox, Rescue Me ("Sheila")

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live: Presidential Bash 2008

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Law & Order: SVU ("Swing")

GOVERNORS AWARD
Sheila Nevins, HBO Documentary Films

ANIMATED PROGRAM (FOR PROGRAMMING ONE-HOUR OR MORE)
Destination Imagination (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends)

ANIMATED PROGRAM (FOR PROGRAMMING LESS THAN ONE HOUR)
South Park ("Margaritaville")

ART DIRECTION FOR MULTI-CAMERA SERIES
How I Met Your Mother ("Shelter Island, Not A Father's Day")

ART DIRECTION FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
Pushing Daisies ("Dim Sum Lose Some")

ART DIRECTION FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Grey Gardens and Little Dorrit

ART DIRECTION FOR VARIETY, MUSIC, OR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
American Idol ("Episode 821-822") and 2008 MTV Video Music Awards

CASTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock

CASTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
True Blood

CASTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Little Dorrit

CHOREOGRAPHY
81st Annual Academy Awards ("Musicals Are Back") and So You Think You Can Dance ("Adam and Eve/Silence")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A HALF-HOUR SERIES
Californication ("In Utero")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A ONE-HOUR SERIES
The Tudors ("Episode 303")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Little Dorrit: Part 1

CINEMATOGRAPY FOR NONFICTION
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations ("Laos")

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING
Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment ("What Did I Sign Up For?")

COMMERCIAL
"Heist," Coca-Cola

COSTUMES FOR A SERIES
Pushing Daisies ("Bzzzzzzzzz!")

COSTUMES FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Little Dorrit: Part 3

COSTUMES FOR A VARIETY/MUSIC PROGRAM OR A SPECIAL
So You Think You Can Dance ("Episode 415-416A")

DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL
"Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony" (Bucky Gunts)

DIRECTING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (Marina Zenovich)

MAIN TITLE DESIGN
United States of Tara

MAKEUP FOR A SERIES, MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR A SPECIAL (PROSTHETIC)
Grey Gardens

MAKEUP FOR A SINGLE CAMERA SERIES (NON-PROSTHETIC)
Pushing Daisies ("Dim Sum Lose Some")

MAKEUP FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL (NON-PROSTHETIC)
MADtv ("Episode 1405")

MAKEUP FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE (NON-PROSTHETIC)
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation)

MUSIC DIRECTION
"Streisand: The Concert"

MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE)
Legend of the Seeker ("Prophecy")

MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR A SPECIAL
Into the Storm

ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC
Great Performances

PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES (SINGLE-CAMERA)
Breaking Bad ("ABQ")

PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
30 Rock ("Apollo, Apollo")

PICTURE EDITING FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE (SINGLE-CAMERA)
Taking Chance

PICTURE EDITING (SHORT FORM)
81st Annual Academy Awards and "Stand Up to Cancer"

PICTURE EDITING FOR A SPECIAL (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
"Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger"

PICTURE EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
This American Life ("John Smith")

PICTURE EDITING FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING
Project Runway ("Finale Part 1")

HAIRSTYLING FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
Mad Men ("The Gold Violin")

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL
Dancing With the Stars ("Episode 709")

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Grey Gardens

CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA - NONFICTION
"The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience," nbc.com

CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA - FICTION
"The Dharma Initiative," DharmaWantsYou.com.

LIGHTING DIRECTION (ELECTRONIC, MULTI-CAMERA) FOR VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY PROGRAMMING
American Idol ("Finale")

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
"The Kennedy Center Honors"

SPECIAL CLASS PROGRAMS
"Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony"

SPECIAL CLASS - SHORT-FORMAT LIVE-ACTING ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS
"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," drhorrible.com.

SPECIAL CLASS - SHORT-FORMAT NONFICTION PROGRAMS
"Writer's Draft"

CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
Wizards of Waverly Place

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PROGRAM
Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? With Maria Shriver and Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Coming Home: When Parents Return from War

NONFICTION SPECIAL
"102 Minutes That Changed America"

NONFICTION SERIES
American Masters

REALITY PROGRAM
Intervention

EXCEPTIONAL MERIT IN NONFICTION FILMMAKING
The Memory Loss Tapes

WRITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

SOUND EDITING FOR A SERIES
Battlestar Galactica ("Daybreak: Part 2")

SOUND EDITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Generation Kill: The Cradle of Civilization

SOUND EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
"102 Minutes That Changed America"

SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR)
House ("House Divided")

SOUND MIXING FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Generation Kill: The Cradle of Civilization"

SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR AND ANIMATION)
Entourage ("Pie") and Weeds ("Three Coolers")

SOUND MIXING FOR A VARIETY OR MUSIC SERIES OR A SPECIAL
81st Annual Academy Awards and The 51st Annual Grammy Awards

SOUND MIXING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)
"102 Minutes That Changed America"

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A SERIES
Heroes ("The Second Coming/The Butterfly Effect")

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
Generation Kill: The Cradle of Civilization

STUNT COORDINATION
Chuck ("Chuck Versus the First Date")

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A SERIES
American Idol ("Episode 834A")

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE, OR SPECIAL
"Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony"

VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE
The Simpsons ("Father Knows Worst")

WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
"Chris Rock - Kill The Messenger"