To All 'Mike & Molly' Naysayers...Mrs. Blankenship Kudos...Plimpton Nom...Parks & Rec...

For everyone who makes fun of Mike & Molly, listen up: Melissa McCarthy is awesome, and she was just nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series - for a show everyone too-hip-for-the-room loves to make fun of. Congratulations to her!

Watch her find out about her nomination - as she announces her nomination! What?



And in other Emmy kudos, the incredible Martha Plimpton from the hilarious Fox series Raising Hope, also got a nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. Very well deserved. She is truly funny, quirky and wonderfully snarky on this show (alongside Cloris Leachman - also nominated for Outstanding Guest Starring Appearance in a Comedy Series).

And in a surprising, yet not really surprising twist - Randee Heller, who gaves us the irrepressible, cranky and once "hell cat" Mrs. Blankenship on Mad Men was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. If she doesn't win, I will be disappointed. As much as I like fellow Mets fan Julia Stiles and the other ladies in this category - Loretta Devine, Alfre Woodard, Joan Cusak and Cara Buono (who portrayed Faye on Mad Men) - I don't think the competition can measure up to Heller's fantastic performance. Heller went from attractive, relatively young woman, to dowdy 60's matron convincingly. Blakenship wasn't just a character, she was a force who shuffled off this mortal coil the same way she shuffled into Don Draper's office.


But you know what sucks on this Emmy nomination day? The snubbing of Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson. As someone on Gawker said earlier today and I'm paraphrasing: "I can live with this knowing that Ron Swanson would have hated to have been nominated."

However, great news for his show Parks and Recreation, grabbing its first Emmy Nomination in Best Comedy Series category. Even though NATAS' darling comedy of the century - Modern Family - will probably kick ass on September 18th, it's so good to see not only the most refreshing show on television get recognized, but one of its' stars, Amy Poehler, get an Outstanding Actress in a Comedy nomination as well. (The outstanding funny ladies in a comedy series category is brimming with talent. Tina Fey, Laura Linney, Martha and Melissa....a tough category indeed).

Oh, and Community was robbed. They deserve at least top writing credit for some creativity. Perhaps their quirky approach leaned a bit on the gimmicky side, and turned off some NATAS voters?

And finally, Glee? Really?

Full listing of Emmy nominations on NYTimes. com.

Broadway Moment: 'Company'

Stephen Sondheim's classic 1970 hit Company is one of the most thrilling Broadway shows I've never seen live. It only exists to me as a YouTube clip, Great Performances revival on DVD or "Original Broadway Cast Recording" - with the forever wonderful Elaine Stritch as Joanne, and Dean Jones as Bobby, the man with the Peter Pan complex who realizes through the love of his married friends, that being singular isn't really "Being Alive".

If you watched the Tony Awards last Sunday, you probably enjoyed a performance of one of Company's show stoppers, "Side by Side"sung by television's and Broadway's best: Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Martha Plimpton, Patti LuPone, Craig Bierko and Neil Patrick Harris (perhaps my favorite person right now) as the aforementioned Bobby. Company was revived and performed at the New York Philharmonic earlier this year. It was filmed for limited theatrical release, and will be shown at various theaters with selected dates starting tomorrow - June 15, 16, 19 and 21st.

I cannot get enough of this incredible score. Here's a clip:



Source: New York Philharmonic - 'Company'