[IMG:L]The lights went out on The Sopranos on June 10, but the accolades continue in the form of 15 Emmy nominations and a pair of awards bestowed on the HBO drama by the Television Critics Association at a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 21, likely foreshadowing many trips to the podium on Emmy night. Creator David Chase, several producers, and cast members Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco were on hand to accept awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama and the Heritage Award, which recognizes a program’s impact on society and popular culture.
“You helped make our show a success in the early days, very early on, and I’ll never forget it,” Chase told the media assemblage in his acceptance speech. After the ceremony, Falco talked about the award season as “the last hurrah” for The Sopranos. “This is the last round of award shows and after that it will go away, but hopefully it will have its own longevity,” she mused, adding that she stays in touch with the cast and crew and misses working on the show.
Alec Baldwin, recognized for Individual Achievement in Comedy on 30 Rock, misses it too, and expressed his disappointment that he’ll now never have the chance to appear on the mob drama in an amusing anecdote about his efforts to meet David Chase. “You have no idea how hard I worked to get on The Sopranos,” confided Baldwin, who finally encountered the producer one sweltering summer day, standing bare-chested in the men’s room of the Four Seasons restaurant in New York as he was attempting to dry his sweat-soaked shirt with the hand dryer. Baldwin is also nominated for an Emmy, as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
[IMG:R]Dexter star Michael C. Hall, snubbed by the Emmy nominating committee, won the Individual Achievement in Drama award for his portrayal of a serial killer on the Showtime series, and the football-themed family drama Friday Night Lights, also ignored by the TV Academy, was named Outstanding New Program by the TCA. “There are a lot of shows that maybe deserved it as much or more than us but nobody needed it as much as us,” noted executive producer Jason Katims as he accepted the award.
Lead actress Connie Britton echoed his gratitude. “I really do feel like we owe our existence and our second season to you [critics]. We are so, so grateful. I am so happy to be here. In terms of the Emmys, it would have helped us, but there are a lot of really deserving people out there so it was a crapshoot.”
Freshman hit, fan favorite and multiple Emmy nominee Heroes was named Program of the Year, and creator Tim Kring was joined by several cast members to accept. Off stage, Masi Oka, whose portrayal of Hiro Nakamura earned him an Emmy nomination for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, confided, “Thank God you guys liked our show. If you didn’t, we would be screwed!”
[IMG:L]”We have all been on shows that weren’t as celebrated by TV critics. They devote their lives to watching television and forming opinions on it. It’s nice that they think that what we are doing has some resonance,” said Zachary Quinto, who plays the villainous Sylar. Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet) put it another way: “Monday, you might think [critics] are idiots. Tuesday, they like your show and they become geniuses. Immediately their taste has taken a step in the right direction,” he quipped.
As Heroes’ second season begins, Hiro will be in feudal Japan, and Sylar will also inhabit “a radically different landscape than you would expect to find him in, both literally and figuratively.” The characters begin in different parts of the world, and “they start being drawn together and then you start to see pairings,” Coleman added. Mr. Bennet has “a new job which brings me into contact with new people, some of which doesn’t go very well.” Regarding his daughter Claire, “New secrets arrive quickly and it has challenged our newfound disclosure pact.”
While he acknowledges the reality of sophomore season pressure to match or top a brilliant debut season, Coleman feels confident enough in the writers and scripts so far to state that “that those who have been following will be rewarded and those who are new to it will be welcomed, and they’ll get it.”
The Office won the Outstanding Achievement in Comedy award for the second consecutive year, and Discovery Networks’ docu-series Planet Earth was honored twice, for Outstanding Achievement in both News and Information and in Movies, Miniseries and Specials. Mary Tyler Moore, recipient of the Career Achievement Award, didn’t attend but addressed a letter to the TCA in which she joked, “You’ve been pretty kind to me through the years and I’m grateful for the encouragement. Had it been 100 percent, God knows where I might be today.”
ABC Family’s Kyle XY was cited for Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming. “To be acknowledged by the critics is amazing—so flattering,” said series star Matt Dallas, hoping the award was a sign of things to come. “The show is even bigger and better than last year, and hopefully it will draw an even bigger audience.”
