And the nominees are....

Emmy nominations were annouced this morning. For a full list, go here. The awards will be handed out on September 16 at 8pm on FOX.

Here are my highlights in the major categories:

Outstanding Drama Series:
Boston Legal
Grey's Anatomy *But The Wire really deserves this award, or at least to be nominated!"
Heroes
House
The Sopranos

Outstanding Comedy Series:
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
*What about Girlfriends or Everybody Hates Chris?*

Outstanding Miniseries:
Broken Trail
Prime Suspect: The Final Act (Masterpiece Theatre)
The Starter Wife

Outstanding Reality Series:
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Patricia Arquette (Medium)
Minnie Driver (The Riches)
Edie Falco (The Sopranos) *This win is long overdue!*
Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters)
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)

Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
James Gandolfini (The Sopranos)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Denis Leary (Rescue Me)
James Spader (Boston Legal)
Kiefer Sutherland (24)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters)
Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy)
Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy) *I love, love, love Chandra, but she was shortchanged this season.*
Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy) *I was really impressed by the range and depth of Dr. Yang's character this past season.*
Aida Turturro (The Sopranos)
Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos)

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
William Shatner (Boston Legal)
Masi Oka (Heroes)
T.R. Knight (Grey's Anatomy)
Michael Emerson (Lost)
Terry O'Quinn (Lost) "He makes Lost worth watching.*
Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos)

Guest Actress in a Drama Series:
Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy) *A wonderful performance.*
Elizabeth Reaser (Grey’s Anatomy)
Marcia Gay Harden (Law & Order: SVU)
Leslie Caron (Law & Order: SVU)
Jean Smart (24)

Guest Actor in a Drama Series:
Christian Clemenson (Boston Legal)
Forest Whitaker (ER)
David Morse (House)
Tim Daly (The Sopranos)
John Goodman (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) *One of the highlights of this short-lived show.*
Eli Wallach (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)
*What about Tracee Ellis Ross?*

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:
Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl)
Jenna Fischer (The Office)
Holland Taylor (Two and a Half Men)
Conchata Ferrell (Two and a Half Men)
Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty)
Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds)
*What about Golden Brooks?*

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:
Kevin Dillon (Entourage) *I initially wanted to give this to Ari, but since Jeremy Piven has already won this award, it's time for Drama to shine.*
Jeremy Piven (Entourage)
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men)
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
Rainn Wilson (The Office)

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series:
Dixie Carter (Desperate Housewives)
Laurie Metcalf (Desperate Housewives)
Elaine Stritch (30 Rock)
Judith Light (Ugly Betty) *I've had a soft-spot for her since Who's the Boss?.*
Salma Hayek(Ugly Betty)

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series:
Martin Landau (Entourage)
Sir Ian McKellen (Extras)
Stanley Tucci (Monk)
Giovanni Ribisi (My Name Is Earl)
Beau Bridges (My Name is Earl)

Baldwin Hills: The Black Laguna Beach

If this tells you anything, it took two viewing of the hour-long premiere of BET's new reality series, Baldwin Hills, for me to figure out exactly what this show is all about.

I do give BET a slight thumbs up for showcasing middle-class and upwardly mobile Black teens who aren't:
a. doing/selling drugs
b. talking ebonically
c. dressed like strippers/or have their pants hanging around their ankles

But, as with everything BET does, the execution lives MUCH to be desired.

Here's the basic rundown: Baldwin Hills, also known as the Black Beverly Hills, is an upscale neighborhood in southeastern Los Angeles that borders other less-desirable sections, like Inglewood and Crenshaw. The cast is mostly drawn from residents of the weathly Baldwin Hills Estates enclave, with a few "others" sprinkled in.

The casting follows the typical stereotypical reality TV guidelines:

- Garnette is the stuck-up rich girl who looks down on those who are less-privileged.

- Willie is the artsy, "why can't we all just get along" one, with a crush on rough-around-the-edges Sal, who is literally The Fresh Prince, having moved from the hood up to the hills.

- Stacie is the "ghetto" girl from the "J" aka "Jungle" aka the projects. Quite predictably, she doesn't get along with the rich girls, and clashes with arch-rival Garnette when she pushed up on Gaven (Garnette's crush) at Jordan's party.

- Divalicious Garren and her BFF Rocqui are the high-maintenance chicks. In fact, Garren is a model, supposedly once dubbed by Oprah as "mini Naomi." Garren has her eye on Moriah, the "youngin" whose mom won't let him party unless his big bro chaperones. Not cool.

Ironically, I like the guys better than the gals. My fave so far is Jordan. He's a budding entrepreneur/party-promoter/hustler. Very ambitious. I like that. But he needs to finish school first, as his mom constantly reminds him.

Ashley (actress Vanessa Bell Calloway's daughter) is cool, too. Of all the rich girls, she doesn't seem as "affected" but we'll see as the season progresses.

I do have two pet peeves about this show:

1. It seems overly scripted. While I know all reality shows are somewhat scripted, this one seems obvious, but what makes it worse is that these kids clearly don't have the talent for acting to make it seem believable. What a coincidence that Staci just happened to be at the coffee shop when Willie, Garnette and her partner-in-crime Makensy drop by. Yeah right. I could almost see them reading from the teleprompter.

2. I fear that this show is going to focus too heavily on contrasting the haves and the have-nots. I think it was somewhat insensitive to spilt-screen Staci shopping at Rainbow (a discount clothing store) for $4.99 shirts for Jordan's party, while Ashley, Garnette, et. al dropped more than $500 at Christian Audigier on customized Ed Hardy shirts. I'd rather them focus on the ties that bind these kids - being Black in America is a struggle regardless of where you live and your social or ecomonic standing.

I'm a hopeless fan of these type of shows, so I'll be watching. How about you?

Grey's Spinoff Recast

This just in from TVGuide.com: When Private Practice debuts this fall, Addison (Kate Walsh) will have a new BFF – Audra McDonald. A spokesperson for ABC Studios confirms that the four-time Tony winner has been tapped to replace Merrin Dungey in the role of Dr. Naomi Bennet.

I think this was a wise decision. Not to be totally superficial, but I just feel any chemistry between Naomi and Sam (Taye Diggs). Audra is stunningly beautiful and I hope she's able to pull this off. Private Practice is going to need all they help it can get.