The fall TV season has begin to dribble out, with a few new shows launching this week. But Sunday's Emmy Awards is really the ceremonial ending to the last season.
Fox has the Emmys this year, with "Glee" villain Jane Lynch as the host. It airs at 7 p.m., following a one-hour "Countdown to the Emmy" at 6, all on Channel 6.
Here are my picks for the Emmy winners in the top categories:
Lead actress in a comedy: Laura Linney in "The C Word," Edie Falco in "Nurse Jackie," Amy Poehler in "Parks and Recreation," Melissa McCarthy in "Mike and Molly," Martha Plimpton in "Raising Hope," and Tina Fey in "30 Rock."
As much as I love Tina Fey, I'm pulling for Amy Poehler in "P&R." Her Leslie Knope isn't as goofy as originally written, and I credit Poehler for putting some flesh and blood in the character.
Lead actor in a comedy: Matt LeBlanc in "Episodes," Jim Parsons in "Big Bang Theory," Steve Carell in "The Office," Johnny Galecki in "Big Bang Theory," Louie C.K. in "Louie," and Alec Baldwin in "30 Rock."
Louie C.K. is a different brand of comedy actor, and his FX show is different from the normal sitcom. I'm hoping that works in his favor.
Comedy series: "Glee," "Parks and Recreation," "The Office," "Modern Family," "30 Rock," and "The Big Bang Theory."
Hands down, it's "Modern Family."
Lead actress in a drama: Elisabeth Moss in "Mad Men," Connie Britton in "Friday Night Lights," Mariska Hargitay in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Mireille Enos in "The Killing," Juliana Margulies in "The Good Wife," and Kathy Bates in "Harry's Law."
In this farewell year for NBC's "FNL," I'm going with Connie Britton.
Lead actor in a drama: Steve Buscemi in "Boardwalk Empire," Michael C. Hall in "Dexter," Kyle Chandler in "Friday Night Lights," Jon Hamm in "Mad Men," Hugh Laurie in "House," and Timothy Olyphant in "Justified."
As in the last category, I'm going with Kyle Chandler from "FNL."
Drama series: "Boardwalk Empire," "The Good Wife," "Mad Men," "Friday Night Lights," "Dexter," and "Game of Thrones."
It's a hard pick, but I'd sure like to see "Boardwalk Empire" take it.
"The Interrupters" hits home: Channel 12's Mike Gousha is hosting an panel discussion on violence prevention in Milwaukee in an event co-sponsored by Milwaukee Film and the Marquette University Law School tied to the Milwaukee Film Festival airing of the documentary, "The Interrupters."
The film, by "Hoop Dreams" director Steve James, looks at three Chicagoans who turned from violence to "interrupting" violence.
The panel discussion will be held at 12:15 p.m., Sept. 26, at Marquette's Eckstein Hall. Seating is limited and if you're interested, email rsvp@milwaukee-film.org to guarantee a seat.
On TV: Time Warner Cable is airing Saturday's Wisconsin-Northern Illinois University game at 2:30 p.m. on Channel 306 for "Wisconsin Sports Pass" subscribers. It should appear on Time Warner's on-screen program guide sometime today. With ESPN3 airing the game, it's also available on smartphone or table via the WatchESPN app.
- Former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske appears on the Oprah Winfrey Network in a special called "Confronting..." at 9 p.m. Saturday, with a repeat at midnight. Geske, a Marquette University distinguished professor of law, runs the Marquette Law School's Restorative Justice Initiative and special features victim/offender meeting in two cases dealing with intoxicated use of a vehicle.
- Travel Channel's "Sand Masters" features the episode filmed at Noah's Ark Waterpark at 7 p.m. Sunday.
- In case you somehow missed it, Sinatra-style singer Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. won on NBC's "America's Got Talent."
- Meanwhile, CBS has renewed "Big Brother" for another season next summer, just as Rachel Reilly won the 13th go-round.
If it takes puppets, then so be it: Believe it or not, these ESPN puppets do a pretty good job of laying out just how the Nielsen Media Research TV ratings work:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
