‘Lincoln,’ ‘Les Mis,’ ‘Playbook’ Lead SAG Awards

Steven Spielberg’s Civil War saga “Lincoln,” the Victor Hugo musical adaptation “Les Miserables” and the lost-soul romance “Silver Linings Playbook” lead the Screen Actors Guild Awards with four nominations each.

All three films were nominated Wednesday for overall performance by their casts. Also nominated for best ensemble cast were the Iran hostage-crisis thriller “Argo” and the British retiree adventure “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”

“Lincoln” also scored individual acting nominations for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. “Les Miserables” had individual nominations for Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, plus a nomination for its stunt ensemble. “Silver Linings Playbook” also had nominations for Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro.

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series:
Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Damian Lewis, “Homeland”

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series:
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”
Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Asylum”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Louis C.K., “Louie”
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Amy Poehler, “Parks & Recreation”
Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family”
Betty White, “Hot in Cleveland”

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Breaking Bad”
“Downton Abbey”
“Homeland”
“Mad Men”

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series
“30 Rock”
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Glee”
“Modern Family”
“Nurse Jackie”
“The Office”

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries
Kevin Costner, “Hatfields & McCoys”
Ed Harris, “Game Change”
Woody Harrelson, “Game Change”
Bill Paxton, “Hatfields & McCoys”
Clive Owen, “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries
Nicole Kidman, “Hemingway & Gellhorn”
Julianne Moore, “Game Change”
Charlotte Rampling, “Restless”
Sigourney Weaver, “Political Animals”
Alfre Woodard, “Steel Magnolias”

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will air Sun., Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on TNT and TBS.

Shows Renewed & Cancelled for New TV Season

It’s that time of year again – when networks renew, cancel and greenlight shows.

As I write this, more and more shows are being added and removed, but this is the most current (as of Tuesday, May 15)

Here is a list of shows renewed or cancelled for the 2012-2013 season:

ABC:

• America’s Funniest Home Videos
• Happy Endings
• Wife Swap
• Shark Tank
• Dancing With the Stars
• Revenge
• Don’t Trust the B— in Apt 23
• Private Practice
• Body of Proof
• Modern Family
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Once Upon a Time
• Castle
• Suburgatory
• The Middle
• Scandal
• NEW: Nashville, Red Widow, Red Van Ma, Zero Hour, Family Tool, Neighbor, Last Resort, 666 Park
• CANCELS: GCB

NBC:

• Parks and Recreation
• 30 Rock
• Smash
• Up All Night
• Parenthood
• Law & Order: SVU
• Fashion Star
• The Office
• Whitney
• The Voice
• Grimm
• Community
• CANCELS: Awake, Are You There, Chelsea?, Bent, Best Friends Forever, Harry’s Law
• NEW: Next Caller Please, Chicago Fire, Guys With Kids, Revolution, Animal Practice, Go On, The New Normal

CW:

• Nikita
• America’s Next Top Model
• Hart of Dixie
• Gossip Girl
• The Vampire Diaries
• 90210
• Supernatural
• CANCELS: Ringer, Secret Circle

CBS:

• 2 Broke Girls
• Blue Bloods
• Person of Interest
• NCIS: LA
• Amazing Race
• The Good Wife
• Survivor
• The Big Bang Theory
• Hawaii Five-O
• How I Met Your Mother
• NCIS
• The Mentalist
• Undercover Boss
• Criminal Minds
• Two and a Half Men
• CSI: NY
• CSI
• CANCELS: Unforgettable, A Gifted Man, CSI: Miami, Rob, NYC 22
• NEW: Vegas, Elementary, Friend Me

FOX:

• American Dad
• The Simpsons
• X-Factor
• Kitchen Nightmares
• Touch
• Bones
• Glee
• Raising Hope
• New Girl
• The Cleveland Show
• Fringe
• CANCELS:  I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Breaking In, Alcatraz, The Finder

Which shows are looking forward to this fall? I want to know if Hell’s Kitchen will be renewed?! Still waiting for that answer!

2012 SAG Award Winners

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
*WINNER Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role
*WINNER Octavia Spencer, The Help
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Comedy Series
*WINNER Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Steve Carell, The Office
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Comedy Series
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
*WINNER Betty White, Hot In Cleveland

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
*WINNER Modern Family
The Office

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseries
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Betty White, The Lost Valentine
*WINNER Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseries
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
*WINNER Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail
Greg Kinnear, The Kennedys
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
James Woods, Too Big to Fail

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Drama Series
Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law
Glenn Close, Damages
*WINNER Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Julianna Margules, The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Drama Series
Patrick J. Adams, Suits
*WINNER Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series
*WINNER Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role
George Clooney, The Descendants
Demian Bichir, A Better Life
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
*WINNER Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
*WINNER Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture
Bridesmaids
The Artist
The Descendants
*WINNER The Help
Midnight in Paris

Outstanding Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture
The Adjustment Bureau
Cowboys & Aliens
*WINNER Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
X-Men: First Class

Outstanding Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Television Series
Dexter
*WINNER Game of Thrones
Southland
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
True Blood

Game Changing Moments in 2011

It’s December which means every end of the year list you can think of will start multiply as the month goes on… so why not add to the list?

Recently on TV Week I found article that listed Twitter’s 2011 Trends by categories like movies, US TV Shows, musical artists, sports events and news topics. In an ultra-shocking nutshell, Justin Bieber won them all (!), yes even musical artists! Now that would be a truly frightening world wouldn’t it if that was real!

Upon second glance after realizing I slipped in that joke, media professionals can actually learn from this list.

How?

Besides the obvious that every human now owns a Twitter account, that word of mouth can be created or generated.

For instance, I know #Glee is popular. Duh, but what’s going on with the story lines that I can use that to my advantage? Or I can see that #SNL is also high on the list. Why? Watch it and observe. Maybe you won’t be able to glean an answer or like that type of humor, but guess what? Others are and paying attention to it. Granted, it’s not an election year – yet – which means watch out!- but until then people are still watching it and more importantly, talking about it and probably (re)watching online clips at work that Monday with others who did not see the show that week.

It’s all about those elusive and precious water cooler moments.

The Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes, Kids Choice and MTV VMAs are also on the list. Which means they’ll probably be there next year as well. Use that to your advantage. If you know you’re going to get a captive audience, show off your greatest assets. It may not pull in billions of viewers, but it’s the word of mouth that generously makes up for it. Did you see Beyonce’s stomach? No? But did you hear about it?

Can you see where I’m going with this?

I also love the fact that the NBA is number 2 on the sporting event list! Got more action time than the actual game!

As for movies, Batman: Dark Knight Rises is #8. Which can only mean more attention as time goes on toward an eventual release date. Just shows the interest is still out there. Granted, teaser photos were released – but it all just keeps adding up to one hell of a hyped film!

As for news stories – those bind us together now. We all now share these experiences in common – remember when the world didn’t have internet or 24-hour cable news and we didn’t know what was happening across the globe at any random moment of the day? Those days are long gone. For instance, Japan’s tsunami really started to hit land around 11pm (Reno time) – but no matter what news-related channel I flipped to, I could watch the carnage unfold live right in front of my curious eyes. Twitter also proved to be a huge ‘human factor’ during Haiti’s earthquake and aftermath. Lost families found each other – searchers could be summoned to certain areas, and relief efforts could be assembled within minutes where need was located most.

I do think it’s interesting that Osama’s death ranked #5 on the list, while the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton ranked three spots higher on the same list. I could have sworn it would have been the other way around. But – once again I also think time plays a factor. Maybe not many people were up to watch the wedding in the U.S., as say in England and other parts of Europe. That massive population could have outranked weary and tired Americans who had a hard time staying awake around 3am. You do have to be somewhat conscious to type something on Twitter you know? But – I also know that’s why ‘texts from last night’ exists.

I don’t know – maybe Osama’s not important anymore – old news you know? The wedding was new and fresh; Osama had always been out there. Even the May/October rapture ranked above him. There’s also the thought that pop culture overrules news items like Osama – but that then wouldn’t explain why Japan was #1. I’m no expert – just an observer.

Another interesting tidbit – #Christmas is #6 on the overall list. It’s December 6^th. It’s below the #NBA, #LadyGaga, the #JonasBrothers, #Soccer/football and of course #JustinBieber. Maybe people really do still watch the NBA! I gave up after Michael Jordan retired.

I think another moment would be just using the word game changer. Why? Because it’s been so over-used and diluted, it now needs to go away along with win-ning!

Point is – spend some time with lists like this – study them. If not for research, it’ll still make for a great conversation around the water cooler at work.

Kellene’s 2011 Primetime Emmy Predictions

In case you haven’t heard, this Sunday is the 63^rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

Let me first admit – I am a horrible handicapper for the Emmys. I’m way better off predicting the Oscars, but nonetheless I still like doing it. So, if you hoping to win your Emmy pool – be warned!

The Emmys are always a gamble to predict. And their history has shown that too. I don’t know why, but they are just hard to guess – which could also be a good thing, because you never know what could happen AND there’s the potential for many surprises.

I will only focus on major categories –

(stars indicate last year’s winners) My choices for this year are underlined.

Outstanding Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire

Friday Night Lights

Game of Thrones

Dexter

* Mad Men

The Good Wife

Sometimes this category is horrible to predict. Like this year. I think it will be between Boardwalk and Mad Men, but the Good Wife could be a dark horse. Friday Night Lights doesn’t feel strong to me. And Game of Thrones – the name turns me off and may not be taken seriously. It may have had a better chance during the Lord of the Rings Oscar era, but not now. Boardwalk just feels good to me. On a side note, I’m surprised Walking Dead didn’t make the cut – could have replaced Friday Night Lights on this list.

Outstanding Comedy Series  

Glee

* Modern Family

The Big Bang Theory

Parks and Recreation

The Office

30 Rock

Emmy favorite 30 Rock vs. (still) newcomer Modern Family? Big Bang and Parks and Rec seem like fillers to me in this category. And Glee – seems to only be a Golden Globe favorite. Modern Family had some really great shows this year – and the writing – wow. I think, sad to say, but 30 Rock may be becoming a dinosaur in this category. And Modern Family is taking over.

Outstanding Lead Actor in Drama

Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire

Kyle Chandler – Friday Night Lights

Timothy Olphant – Justified

Michael C. Hall – Dexter

Jon Hamm – Mad Men

Hugh Laurie – House

The man who won this category the past three years – Bryan Cranston – wasn’t even nominated this year. So, that opens this category wide open. I so badly want Hugh Laurie to win, but Boardwalk, I think could gain some momentum this year. It may come down toHammand Buscemi.

Outstanding Lead Actress in Drama

Kathy Bates – Harry’s Law

Mariska Hargitay – Law and Order: SVU

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife

Mireille Enos – The Killing

Connie Britton – Friday Night Lights

Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men

Another horrible actor category to predict. Kyra Sedgewick won last year, but the Closer no longer airs, so she’s out. Think Julianna Margulies has a good shot, since the show is basically centered around her, and she did really well with ER, so maybe this could be a redemption of sorts for her. But Kathy Bates has an Oscar, so she knows what she’s doing. And Harry’s Law was fun to watch.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in Drama

Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones

Josh Charles – The Good Wife

Alan Cumming – The Good Wife

Walton Goggins – Justified

John Slattery – Mad Men

Andre Braugher – Men of a Certain Age

I love Alan Cumming – amazing Broadway actor – but can he beat the Mad Men mystique? This one, and the next category are really hard to predict. Josh Charles could be a good contender, but I’m going to go with my wishes on this one.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in Drama

Kelly Macdonald – Boardwalk Empire

* Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife

Margo Martindale – Justified

Michelle Forbes – The Killing

Christina Hendricks – Mad Men

Christine Baranski – The Good Wife  

I’d like to see Christine Baranski win – she previously won for Cybil way back in the day, but she’s versatile and could pull it off. But – Archie Panjabi has a streak going – granted its one win, but it’s still a win in this category for the same character. No one else really stands out to me.

Outstanding Lead Actor in Comedy

Louis C.K. – Louie

Matt LeBlanc – Episodes

Steve Carell – The Office

Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock

* Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory

Johnny Galecki – The Big Bang Theory

So do you reward the actor who left his series or do you give an Emmy to a past winner? Alec Baldwin has won three times, and 30 Rock is an Emmy darling, but is that enough to help him? And Jim Parsons – who deserved to win last year – can he win back-to-back? I watch Big Bang, but I don’t remember anything that really stood out that cemented his win. Matt LeBlanc won for Friends years ago, so he may a chance. And despite his failed Joey Show, and ‘dumb’ character, he’s actually a really good actor. And then there’s Steve Carell. Could voters ‘waste’ their vote and give him a nice send off?

Outstanding Lead Actress in Comedy

* Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie

Laura Linney – The Big C

Melissa McCarthy – Mike & Molly

Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation

Martha Plimpton – Raising Hope

Tina Fey – 30 Rock 

Falco’s win surprised me, but she too is an Emmy darling. Remember The Sopranos? I’d really like Martha Plimpton to win. There were a few episodes where I wondered if she’d be nominated. Melissa McCarthy is even a bigger surprise. But Tina Fey is the queen of this category. I just don’t know if it’s good overall that 30 Rock (and Mad Men) keeps winning. Fewer people will watch the Emmys since it’d be repeat winners every year.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy

Chris Colfer – Glee

* Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family

Ed O’Neill – Modern Family

Jesse Tyler Ferguson – Modern Family

Ty Burrell – Modern Family

Jon Cryer – Two and a Half Men

Chris Colfer won this year’s Golden Globe and Eric Stonestreet won the Emmy last year. Sometimes the Golden Globes can be good predictors, but not in this case. I think it will come down to those two men. Jon Cryer has a small shot as a previous winner. I think it would be nice if Ed O’Neill won just because he’s been around for some long and this is his first ever Emmy nomination. You’d think all the Modern Family men would cancel each other out, but only some of them do. Stonestreet remains king.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in Comedy

* Jane Lynch – Glee

Julie Bowen – Modern Family

Sofia Vergara – Modern Family

Kristen Wiig – Saturday Night Live

Jane Krakowski – 30 Rock

Betty White – Hot inCleveland

Think Jane Lynch may have this one locked up again, but Kristen Wiig is always there luring in the shadows. Jane Krakowski’s got the background, but I just think Lynch will win. She’s on a streak that may be hard to beat (right now). Betty White, despite her recent hot streak, may not be enough to win this category – sorry. Her competition may be too hard.

Outstanding Reality Program

The Amazing Race

American Idol

Dancing With the Stars

Project Runway

So You Think You Can Dance

* Top Chef

I really thought last year Project Runway would finally win. Nope – instead it was a fellow Bravo show – Top Chef. American Idol has been nominated nine times. Amazing Race has won 7 times. Yes, 7. While that’s great, again I think Emmy voters should spread the wealth. So I think that one is out. Dancing seems too fluffy to me, and American too amateur – karaoke too me. SYTYCD could be lumped into the same category. I just think voters want something classy, something that could be taken seriously – I hope that makes sense. I think I gotta go with Top Chef – just because it won last year so it’s got a good chance again this year.

Looking back – my choices look safe – meaning all the same people from last year. See if that’s true again this year. I really didn’t expect that to happen.

Emmy Winners and Guns N’ Roses Tour?

Gwyneth Paltrow and Justin Timberlake are Emmy winners.

They earned comedy series guest-star honors, which were presented over the weekend at the creative arts Emmy Awards.

Paltrow was recognized for “Glee” and Timberlake for hosting “Saturday Night Live.”

Timberlake shared in another Emmy for co-writing his opening monologue, about not wanting to sing.

“Boardwalk Empire” wins a leading seven trophies, including art direction and makeup.

The main Emmy show airs live next Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Guns N’ Roses have scheduled three concerts, giving fans reason to hope for an actual tour.

They haven’t toured in theU.S.since 2006. They’ll be playing on the 28th and 29th of

October in Orlando andMiami,Floridaand on the 12th of November inKansas City.

Rolling Stone speculates that with such a big gap between shows, the band may announce more dates.

Axl Rose is the only original member who’s left in the band.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Emmy Embraces ‘Mad Men’ With 19 Nominations

The Emmy nominations are out and “Mad Men” is leading the series pack with 19 bids, including best drama.

The sharply observed view of 1960sAmericareceived 19 Emmy nominations Thursday and has a chance to repeat for a fourth time as TV’s best drama. Stars Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss are up for lead acting honors.

If it picks up a fourth win, it’ll tie “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “The West Wing” for most best drama wins.

Other contenders in the best drama series race were HBO’s new prohibition era series “Boardwalk Empire” with a total of 18 nods, CBS legal program “The Good Wife,” freshman fantasy “Game of Thrones,” “Dexter” and “Friday Night Lights.”

Among comedy series, “Modern Family” will face off for best program against veteran “30 Rock,” first time nominee “Parks and Recreation,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Office.”

ABC’s “Modern Family,” which took the top comedy prize last year, earned a total of 17 nominations, including mentions for stars Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara.

Fox’s quirky musical comedy “Glee”, which dominated last year’s Emmy nominations, got just 12 mentions this year, including best comedy and supporting acting nods for Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch. But it failed to grab any spots in the lead acting categories.

HBO’s miniseries “Mildred Pierce” had the largest number of nominations with a total of 21, including nods for its stars Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood.

The controversial miniseries “The Kennedys,” which was dropped by the History channel and given a second chance by the lesser-known ReelzChannel, received 10 nominations, including best miniseries and acting bids for Greg Kinnear as President John F. Kennedy, Barry Pepper as Robert Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as family patriarch Joe Kennedy.

Five of the 12 nominated comedy and drama series are first time nominees. The acting categories featured a slew of Emmy rookies including Melissa McCarthy in freshman comedy “Mike & Molly,” Martha Plimpton for “Raising Hope,” Mireille Enos in the AMC crime drama “The Killing” and Timothy Olyphant in the modern Western drama “Justified” on FX.

“OK, keep it together,” a surprised nominations co-announcer Melissa McCarthy said when she realized she was a nominee for her sitcom “Mike & Molly.”

Familiar faces have a chance to claim — or reclaim — Emmys, including last year’s lead comedy actress winner Edie Falco of “Nurse Jackie” and Jim Parsons, best actor for a comedy for “The Big Bang Theory.” Both were nominated this year, with Parsons’ co-star Johnny Galecki earning his first bid for the show.

Steve Carell earned a best comedy actor nomination for his final season of “The Office,” his last chance to win an Emmy statuette for his role as TV’s most clueless boss.

Matt LeBlanc, best known for his role as Joey in “Friends,” received a lead comedy actor bid for playing a screen version of himself in the satiric show business series “Episodes.” “I knew I was on some prediction lists and stuff like that, but it’s not the kind of thing you expect,” he said by phone. “You just work hard. If you get recognized for it, that’s great, but if not, it’s OK, too.”

And proving that the Betty White phenomenon still has legs: The 89-year-old wonder nabbed a best supporting actress bid for the sitcom “Hot inCleveland.” If she wins, it would be her eighth Emmy. “I am so thrilled. How lucky can an old broad be?” she said by phone a few minutes after her agent woke her. “I wasn’t even thinking about the nominations because I didn’t even think there was a chance.”

“Project Runway” was nominated in the reality category for the seventh consecutive year and host Heidi Klum got the happy news while filming an upcoming episode. The show has never won, but Klum said getting nominated proved it is still relevant.

“What I always say when I talk to my designers, ‘One day you’re in and the next day you’re out — as quick as that.’ There’s always great new shows that come in, and they can kick you off just as easy as you came on. Therefore, we’re very happy to be nominated again.”

“Sarah Palin’sAlaska” was submitted by TLC in four categories, including best reality series and cinematography, and was blanked. Shows that made the reality series cut include “Hoarders” and “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List.”

Conan O’Brien’s switch to TBS after a bitter departure from NBC didn’t hurt him in the nominations: “Conan” earned a bid for best variety, music or comedy series and will compete with, among others, perennial winner “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.” A writing nomination also went to “Conan.”

NBC’s late-night pick, Jay Leno, was snubbed in the categories, as was CBS’ David Letterman.

“It is great that we are recognizing the spectrum of television. We are here to celebrate television and let our audience around the world know how great TV is,” said John Shaffner, chairman of theAcademyofTelevision Artsand Sciences.

The Emmys will be handed out at a ceremony inLos Angeleson September 18 on Fox, hosted by “Glee” star Jane Lynch.

AP, Reuters

‘Glee’ Star Jane Lynch to Host Emmy Awards

Get out the megaphone: “Glee” star Jane Lynch will be hosting the Emmy Awards.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Thursday that Lynch will host “The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards” honoring excellence in prime-time TV. The ceremony will be held atLos Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and will air Sept. 18 on Fox.

Lynch stars as a megaphone-wielding cheerleading coach who bullies students on the hit Fox series about a high school glee club.

The actress says she’s “tickled pink” to be chosen as Emmy host. The awards show will be executive produced by Mark Burnett of “Survivor” and “Celebrity Apprentice” fame.

The 50-year-old Lynch has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as Sue Sylvester on “Glee.”

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Sign of the Future: # on Your TV Screen

The millisecond I saw this I knew it would eventually become a trend. Soon you can expect nearly every show you watch to display one on your TV screen. It could become really #annoying .It’s also another sign showing how important Twitter is becoming to society. No one can hide from it anymore.  

Cable networks are now starting to add Twitter hashtags to the bottom of their shows.

“We’ve noticed shows like Glee and Idol trend while the show is on, but fans often use different hashtags,” says Fox marketing president Joe Earley.

It’s true: While some fans might have been using “#Glee” in their Twitter posts, others might have been using “#Gleeks” or “#WhiteRappers.” Says Earley: “We thought if we provided the official hashtags, then more posts would aggregate.”

Earley adds that Fox experimented with the graphics “so they’d be noticeable to those who use them, but not irritating to those who don’t.”

Fox began the practice last week with Fringe, and has also started putting hashtags at the bottom of the screen on Glee, Bones and the new Christian Slater comedy Breaking In.

Such a move was probably inevitable, as social networking has already proven to be a help in driving viewers to watch TV as it’s airing (rather than later on a DVR).

NBC next week launches NBC Live, a whole site devoted to promoting its shows via social media, while CBS just recently held its own “Tweet Week” devoted to its shows.

Comedy Central jump-started the hashtag trend last month during the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump, which powered the channel to its most-watched Tuesday in history on March 15. Comedy Central credited some of that success to its decision to run a “#trumproast” hashtag at the bottom of the screen throughout the special; the channel said it was used more than 27,000 times on Twitter during the telecast. And not all of those Tweets had to do with Trump’s hair.

From TV Guide

‘Black Swan,’ ‘King’s Speech’ Win Costume Awards

“Black Swan,” “The King’s Speech” and “Alice in Wonderland” are tops in costumes.

The three films claimed prizes Tuesday at the 13th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards. “Swan” was honored for excellence in contemporary film, “Speech” won the period film prize and

“Alice” was recognized as the best fantasy film.

Jenny Beavan, who designed “The King’s Speech” costumes, and Colleen Atwood, who created the “Alice in Wonderland” costumes, are also nominated for Academy Awards.

The costumes for “Glee,” “Boardwalk Empire” and TV movie “Temple Grandin” were also honored.

The Costume Designers Guild was founded in 1953 and comprises 700 film, TV and commercial costume designers.

 (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)