TV Shows Liked By Democrats and Republicans Differ Greatly

According to Experian Simmons, a media research firm, there is no overlap between the most watched shows by Democrats and Republicans.

One of my students in my #CSP19: LGBT Rights in the Era of Obama and Google class pointed out  the list to me, and commented on the cognitive dissonance of the members of the anti-gay political party enjoying watching a show (Modern Family) which prominently features a gay white male couple raising a Vietnamese baby girl.

That's an interesting observation. What I notice from the list is that the shows which are in my DVR are Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Survivor, and 30 Rock. We just stopped watching Desperate Housewives, V and Damages this year. I have tuned into Countdown with Keith Olberman but prefer The Rachel Maddow Show.

Surprisingly, the shows that I prefer to watch live (or within 7 days of taping) are Modern Family and Survivor, which are on the Republican list. You can count me in the significant fraction (20%) of Californians who would "almost never consider" voting for a Republican candidate for any office.

So, clearly I exhibit some kind of partisan hybridity in television selection!

Emmy Award Results: Nailed It!

So, yesterday while I was at the Hollywood Bowl experiencing The Chemical Brothers throwdown, the Emmy Awards were being handed out a few miles away. Earlier in the day I made a bunch of predictions about who would win (mostly in the comedy categories). Here's the official list of winners:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy -- Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy -- Modern Family

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy -- Jane Lynch, Glee

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy -- Glee

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy -- Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy -- Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program -- Top Chef

Outstanding Writing for a Drama -- Mad Men

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama -- Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama -- Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama -- Brian Cranston, Breaking Bad

Outstanding Directing in a Drama -- Dexter

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama -- Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding Drama Series -- Mad Men

Outstanding Comedy Series -- Modern Family

First of all, I nailed all the Comedy Acting Categories (Parsons, Falco, Lynch, Stonestreet) and I said that Modern Family should win but that Glee probably would. I'm happy that what I thought shoudl win, actually did. In the Drama category, I really wanted Lost to go out with a win but Mad Men pulled it off for the third year in a row.  I have never seen a single episode of that show (the whole 50's romanticism/nostalgia makes me ill) but isn't it peculiar how on BOTH of the winners for Best Series there is not a single African American major or minor character? Things that make you go "Hmmmmmm."

On a lighter note, I am very happy that Kyra Sedgwick won, The Closer is one of my secret pleasures every summer, (along with True Blood) and she is the best thing in a great ensemble cast. Also, Temple Grandin, an HBO made-for-TV starring an absolutely amazing Claire Danes cleaned up in the Miniseries or Television Movie categories by picking up 5 awards. It's an amazing true story about a woman diagnosed with autism in the 1950s who was able (through an excellent teacher and loving mother) to go to college and graduate school and become a designer of cattle slaughterhouses due to her affinity with animals. I highly recommend renting Temple Grandin.

Emmy Nominations For Lost, Glee and Modern Family

The 2010 Emmy nominations were announced this morning and some of my favorite shows ended up with nominations.

OUTSTANDING COMEDY
Glee
Modern Family
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Nurse Jackie
30 Rock
The Office

OUTSTANDING DRAMA
Lost
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Mad Men
True Blood
The Good Wife

The shows in bold are the ones that I watch regularly. I've seen Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office (just took it out of the DVR this season) and watched the first 6 episodes of Nurse Jackie for the flight from London to Los Angeles this week. Glee doesn't need any more hype so I would vote for Modern Family.

As for drama, I am very happy that the final season of Lost was acknowledged, along with True Blood. I have never seen a single episode of Mad Men, The Good Wife or Breaking Bad. I've seen Dexter but it is just too weird for me. In this category I'd vote for Lost but I wouldn't be upset with a win by True Blood.

On the acting front, Matthew Fox, the main lead of Lost finally got nominated for Outstanding Actor, as did Michael Emerson (Ben) and Terry O'Quinn (Locke) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a drama (both have won for their amazing work on the show before). Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) also got nominated as Outstanding Guest Actress for the final episode "The End."

Not too surprisingly, in the comedy section Glee performers Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Chris Colfer all were nominated, as were Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth in Outstanding Guest roles. Modern Family cleaned up in the supporting categories as Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Ty Burrel got nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara got nominated in the corresponding actress category. Basically every single adult character in the show was nominated except for Ed O'Neill who plays the husband of Vergara and the father of Ferguson and Bowen. Both members of the gay couple played by Stonestreet and Ferguson were nominated. Colfer's character in Glee is another gay character that was nominated.