So what you're saying to yourself is they must be three very good nominations. House must be up for Best Dramatic Show.

Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Television Show Created in the History of Television Shows or something equaling that.

Well you'd be right about Best Actor. Hugh Laurie was again nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Dramatic Series.

I knew he would be and so did you. It didn't stop me from gripping the arms of my recliner until I heard his name read however.

He's been nominated every year except the one disastrous time the Television Academy wanted other actors to have a chance at a statuette. I love Chris Meloni too but over Hugh Laurie? For heaven sake!


So what of these two other nominations?
 

Those two very warranted salutes came in the area of Outstanding Stunt Coordination and Outstanding Sound Mixing.

I'm not going to decry these two nominations. I think House deserves every one they receive. But can I talk to you all as a fan girl for a moment? Thank you. Hugh Laurie is one of our finest actors. You may have noted I said 'our' as if America is laying claim to him. I did. So there!

But as wonderful as Hugh is he doesn't make up the things House says as he goes along. There has to be people creating those words. There needs to be a Doris Egan or a David Foster. House is about oddly enough a character named House.

Which works out pretty neatly for all concerned. So how does a show with a central character played by an actor who is nominated for outstanding work as that character not get a nomination for outstanding dramatic series? I'll give you a minute to decipher that sentence.

What the Academy of Television Sciences is saying is that Hugh's work is outstanding but the show, not so much. The series is called House. Laurie is House. He is outstanding so doesn't that mean the show is outstanding too? And let's talk a moment about supporting cast.

Where were Lisa Edelstein and Robert Sean Leonard on the list?  An actor can do his very best work but if no one is there for him to interact with then you have a Shakespearian soliloquy. Fine for Hamlet but not going to draw big week after week with viewers. Then there is direction. Someone is behind the cameras telling the 'outstanding actor' which way to spin a line, where to stand and how to best take the scene where it needs to go.

The director also knows how to film the scene in a way to get the most impact out of it. I would also like to point out Hugh did a stint as director himself during season six. What about Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series? Season six of House included James Earl Jones, David Strathairn and Andre Braugher, three pretty outstanding actors.

Do I sound bitter? I don't mean to. I think I'm more perplexed. So we have our three nominations. Let's focus on the biggest. Hugh Laurie has now received five nominations for House. We won't discuss the failed experiment that was 2006. With that exception he has been nominated for every season he has portrayed Dr. Gregory House.
 

Isn't it time he won?

The academy hasn't been handing him these nominations because he's a swell guy. He's earned them year after year. If you're in to such things as awards and kudos, Hugh has a pretty good list and some bling on his mantle piece. He has won back-to-back Golden Globe awards, two Screen Actor's Guild awards, two Television Critics awards, two Satellite awards, and three People's Choice awards, one for each year he was nominated by the TV watching folks at home. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated him five times for a Golden Globe. Doesn't that say something?

So viewers think he's outstanding, the critics think he's outstanding, other actors think he's outstanding, why is it Emmy hasn't caught up yet? Okay I've been beating the drum for my favorite actor long enough. Hugh Laurie is once again the horse I'm backing in this year's Emmy race. I've bet on him every year he has been nominated and every year I lose indignantly. Maybe this year will be different.