Show Emmy nods make Housewives Housewives' feel at home Maria Elena Fernandez Los Angeles Times Things are never quite perfect on Wisteria Lane even when Desperate Housewives lands 15 Emmy nominations nominations nominations nomina nomina- in its first fust year Sure there was that nod for best comedy series and a writing acknowledgment for creator Marc Cherry who concocted the dark comedic soap out of his relationship with his mother But the academy followed in the footsteps of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and excluded Eva Longoria while acknowledging her three cohorts Marcia Cross Teri Ten Hatcher and Felicity Huffman for lead actress And that left Cherry and company feeling a little wistful as they celebrated the shows show's other triumphs Its tough enough to get three actresses actress actress- es nominated said Cherry who watched the nominations on CNN by himself and didn't realize he had been nominated until a producer on the show told him Had we been able to get Eva I it would have been unprecedented I 1 wish we had gotten that because she's done marvelous work to bring that character character character char char- acter to life but Ive I've got my fingers I crossed for her for next year In a television season in which three new ABC ensemble series Desperate Housewives Lost and Greys Anatomy attracted viewers in droves peer approval was icing on the cake for forthe forthe forthe the actors writers and producers involved Lost received 12 nominations nominations nominations nomina nomina- including best drama and Greys earned three Emmy nods But the shows' shows sprawling casts posed a challenge in the nomination process It means some actors on the same shows will be competing competing competing com com- with each each other with others opting opting opting opt opt- ing to enter in supporting categories that might make it easier to win For the ladies of Wisteria Lane Cross said there was no question The four actresses are featured equally in the series and all deserve to be in the lead category Eva is not a supporting player she's definitely a lead so there really is no question as to what category she should be in Cross said Sure it would be wonderful for us all to be nominated but Eva Longoria is in hi Toronto shooting a movie with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland And she's only 30 and is on a meteoric rise and she's going to leave us usall usall usall all in the dust Because we got so many nominations its it's a true recognition of the work we are all doing so we are all very excited today Touchstone Televisions Television's decision to throw Desperate Housewives into the awards race as a comedy starting with the Golden Globes last year surprised Cherry In recent years Ally a one-hour one legal show won in the comedy category paving the way for offbeat shows that defy categorization Television is evolving the academy is evolving and people are realizing that viewers are evolving said Mark president of Touchstone Television which produces Desperate Lost and Greys You have a generation generation generation gener gener- of people whose view of drama and comedy is filtered through the prism of such reality shows as MTV's The TheReal TheReal TheReal Real World and theres there's been an evolution evolution evolution tion growing from that Cherry who has been publicly ambivalent about the decision to enter in comedy rather than drama said he was feeling more comfortable with it now that the industry had supported it Ive always felt we weren't a good fit with drama and not a perfect fit with comedy because we have our own tonality tonality tonality tonal tonal- ity Cherry said Im sure its it's a little odd to people that were we're in comedy but our show is a little odd so that's OK The challenge with Lost an ensemble ensemble ensemble ble with 14 characters that reveals the back story of one character per week in Emmy Continued on Page 10 Emmy Cont Cant from page 6 flashbacks was deciding who could compete in the lead category category category cate cate- gory and who would be better petter suited for supporting roles foles Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly threw themselves into the lead actor races the rest of the cast competed for supporting nominations Only Terry OQuinn who plays Locke the voice of the island and Naveen Andrews who plays Sayid an Iraqi soldier soldier soldier sol sol- sol sol- dier and romantic hero were nominated What we do is really a group effort Andrews said Its not like a film is it Every episode is different and in every episode who is in the forefront is different Im I'm a Londoner and for me to receive this acknowledgment from a country Ive I've chosen to tomake tomake tomake make my home is quite special and makes me feel Ive I've made the right move 7 |