Emmy Nom Shortlist Revealed

The folks over at the L.A. Times’ Envelope were the lucky recipients of some assorted BlackBerry messages from judges at the Emmy contenders panel screening over the weekend, and, based on that input, they’ve compiled a list of the top ten contenders in the two key categories. They were also kind enough to point out some of the snubbed series in these categories. From their site:

TOP 10 DRAMA SERIES FINALISTS
Boston Legal
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
House
Lost
Rome
The Sopranos
24

Not Nominated:
Deadwood
Rescue Me
The Tudors
The Shield
Brothers & Sisters
Gilmore Girls
Battlestar Galactica
The Riches

TOP 10 COMEDY SERIES FINALISTS
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
Extras
My Name is Earl
The Office
Scrubs
Thirty Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Not Nominated:
The New Adventures of Old Christine
How I Met Your Mother
Everybody Hates Chris

Perhaps most amusing are the comments they actually received from the judges. Says one judge:

“I gave my number one vote to ‘Lost.” It was by far and away the best thing in the room in my opinion, followed by ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it through ‘Rome.’ That show is absolutely stroke inducing. A minute more and I would have cracked.”

The same judge says: “’30 Rock’ would win with [their submitted episode]. Watch out for that show. That’s all I have to say. Haha. I wasn’t really even that much of a fan before today.” That’s right, folks. The people choosing your Emmy winners are the same people haphazardly typing “Haha” into their BlackBerries.

Shedding further light on all the MFA thesis analysis that goes into these decisions, another judge notes that he “thought ‘Entourage’ was the best. I ranked it number one, but maybe that’s just because I love the show so much as a regular viewer.” He put ‘The Office’ “somewhere in the middle — I can’t remember.”

Good God, people. Joan Rivers puts more thought into analyzing the dresses people wear to the Emmys than you put into choosing the winners.

The Emmy noms will be formally announced on July 19.