A couple of nights ago, on the Tonight Show, Kelsey Grammer was asked why he was denied an Emmy nomination for his performance in Boss last season. His response? It might have had something to do with the fact that he is a Republican.
“It may have to do with several things, honestly, but I think it’s possible … I mean, I am a … I’m a declared out of the closet Republican in Hollywood,” said Grammer. He went on to say, “Do I believe it’s possible that some young person, young voting actor — or even older voting member for the Emmys — would sit there and go, ‘Yeah, that’s a great performance, but ooooooooooooh, I just hate everything he stands for?’ [Cue sarcasm.] I don’t believe that’s possible.” Via EW
It’s true, Grammer’s performance on Boss last season was a blistering tour de force. The man pulled Shakespeare out of his ass and shook him around like a rag doll. Besides Kathleen Robertson’s frequent nudity, there was no better reason to watch Boss than Kelsey Grammer’s evil performance. If you’re not watching the show, which returns tomorrow night, you’re missing a nicely written, brilliantly performed, tightly-wound political drama (with lots of nudity!).
So, despite all of that, why was Grammer denied an Emmy nomination? It had nothing to do with the fact that he was a big old George W. Bush supporter. I mean, the Emmy voters love to nominate people for going full retard; there’s no reason they wouldn’t nominate someone who politically supported one. It’s more likely that one of these five reasons is responsible for Kelsey Grammer’s snub:
1) Boss was seen by only 300,000 people a week. To put that in perspective, earlier this year, L.A. Complex set the record for the lowest ratings EVER for a show on a broadcast network with 646,000 viewers. That’s twice the ratings of Boss.
2) The show is on Starz! Starz is the home of Spartacus and, er, Spartacus: Vengeance. Even when Starz was airing one of television’s best comedies, Party Down, (which had even lower ratings than Boss), no one was watching the network. You know what deserved an Emmy nomination before Grammer for Best Actor? Party Down for best sitcom. And Party Down starred a bunch of pinko commie liberals.
3) Because Boss is brilliantly acted soft-core porn. Of course, that’s part of the appeal for me (people that complain about too much sex on great television shows make my head spin), but Emmy voters aren’t going to vote for soft-core porn. You think the sexposition in Game of Thrones is gratuitous? On Boss, they don’t even combine it with exposition: Kathleen Robertson or Hannah Ware’s characters just like to take a break from the action of f–k every once in a while. Good for them!
4) Damian Lewis in Homeland, Jon Hamm in Mad Men, Hugh Bonneville in Downton Abbey, and Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire all delivered as good or better performances than Grammer in SHOWS THAT PEOPLE WATCHED. Michael C. Hall? I could see the debate, but you know who else didn’t get nominated? Timothy Olyphant. Now, that’s the real crime here (and Olyphant is not a Republican, so far as I know).
5) Because Bryan MOTHEREFFING Cranston in Breaking Bad is going to win it anyway.
Now shut the f— up, Grammer, stop playing the victim, go buy your 17th wife something nice (family values!), and keep turning in strong performances on Boss until someone pays attention to the show.
