Entries from January 2006 ↓

In response to an email I sent as a New York State resident and constituent, asking her to vote no on the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the United States Supreme Court, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sent back the following statement, spelling out her objections.

The nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States is a matter of great importance to all of us, our children, and future generations of Americans. This nomination comes to us at a time when many of our cherished constitutional rights and freedoms are imperiled.

The Constitution commands that the United States Senate provide the President with meaningful advice and consent on judicial nominations. I take this constitutional charge seriously. I have carefully reviewed the Committee’s
hearings and Judge Alito’s extensive record and have concluded that I cannot give my consent to his nomination to the Supreme Court.

EXPANDING THE CIRCLE OF LIBERTY
The key to our history has been to expand the circle of freedom and opportunity. That has been the common thread through all the periods of progress in America: greater rights and responsibilities of citizenship and equality. And each time that we have made strides, there have been voices of opposition. There have been those who have wanted to go back. And at those moments of profound importance to America, the Courts have been the guardians of our liberties and stood on the side of greater freedom and opportunity. Consider cases like:
* Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down the notion of “separate but equal.”
* Baker v. Carr, which invalidated discriminatory state apportionment schemes and paved the way for the concept of “one man, one vote.”
* Griswold v. Connecticut, which recognized a right to privacy in the Constitution.
* Roe v. Wade, which established that women have a right to choose.

We need a judge who will take us forward, not back - keeping with our history of progress. Despite his distinguished credentials, Judge Alito has not shown himself to be that judge. In his career, he has not shown any dedication to civil rights, women’s rights and the right to privacy that we need in the next Supreme Court Justice. Time and again, when given the opportunity, he has voted to narrow the circle, to restrict the rights Americans hold dear. And now is not the time to go backwards.

Without the progress we have made in the past 230 years - without the expansion of that circle - I certainly would not be standing before you on the floor of the United States Senate. There would be no opportunity for women in public life. But mine is not the only example. Voting rights would be restricted. Equal opportunities in education and in the workplace would not exist. And none of us would have the right to privacy. Our nation would not be what it is today. Our greatest strength has always been our commitment to enlarging the circle of rights and equality. That great American commitment has made us a beacon around the world.

This nomination could well be the tipping point against constitutionally-based freedoms and protections we cherish as a nation. I fear that Judge Alito will roll back decades of progress and roll over when confronted with an
Administration too willing to flaunt the rules and looking for a rubber stamp. The stakes could not be higher.

* Roe v. Wade is at risk.

* The privacy of Americans is at risk as wholesale wiretaps on Americans could be authorized.

* Environmental safeguards, laws that protect workers from abuse or negligence, laws that keep automatic weapons of the streets: all are imperiled.

When I ran for the Senate, I told my constituents that I would only vote for judges who would affirm constitutional precedents like Roe, Brown and other landmark achievements in expanding rights and the reach of equality for all
Americans. This is about more than rhetoric. This is very real to me and my constituents. The American people are counting on us not to be a rubber stamp, counting on us to make sure that the President’s nominee will not take us
backwards.

I also view Judge Alito’s nomination through the prism of the seat he will fill. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has shown throughout her career of distinguished service to the Court that one Justice can protect our constitutional rights. Justice O’Connor, while conservative, was a mainstream jurist. She appreciated the advancements we have made as a society and fought to ensure that they would continue on. While I have not always agreed with her rulings, she understood that her vote was often the deciding vote on which key civil liberties and rights rested and exercised it with care.

Judge Alito has not demonstrated a similar commitment to these values. On the contrary, Judge Alito proudly announced his personal opposition to a woman’s right to choose early in his career in his now infamous 1985 job application for a position in the Reagan Administration. Although he has tried to distance himself from the comments in that document, his time on the bench shows an unapologetic effort to undermine a woman’s right to choose. I believe that abortion should be rare and understand that it is a decision of conscience, but I also believe it should be a constitutionally protected decision between a woman and her doctor. Judge Alito does not share this view, and we can be certain that free from the constraints of Supreme Court precedent, he will intensify his campaign to roll back these and other important privacy rights.

The extreme right wing of the Republican Party was up in arms when President Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Court to replace Justice O’Connor. Their reaction has been enthusiastic, effusive, and ecstatic this time around. Why? Because they know what they are getting.

Judge Alito’s constrained view has not been limited to issues of privacy. While on the Third Circuit, Judge Alito has rarely sided with individuals seeking relief from discrimination on the basis of race, age, gender, or disability. In
fact, in the vast majority of civil rights cases, Judge Alito has sided with those who would infringe on the civil rights of Americans. For example, in several dissents, Judge Alito has called for curtailing the reach of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark statute prohibiting discrimination against women and minorities in the workplace.

CHECKS AND BALANCES
I also fear the he will not respect the system of checks and balances our Founding Fathers so carefully set out in the Constitution.

No one who has read the Federalist papers or who read the debate that our Founding Fathers had when constructing the Constitution could underestimate the importance that they placed on having three truly independent and equal branches of government. Checks and balances have long protected us against abuses of
power. Again, considering Judge Alito’s record, I do not believe he understands or respects this central principle.

Judge Alito has sought to expand the power and purview of the Executive Branch while simultaneously stripping Congress of its authority, undermining our system of checks and balances and curtailing the rights enjoyed by private citizens. For example, while working for the Reagan Administration, Judge Alito made the argument that Cabinet officials who are charged with authorizing illegal wiretaps of Americans in this country should be entitled to absolute immunity.

At a time when the President and his party stand accused of political overreaching and abuse of power, we must demand from our judiciary a respect for the proper role of each of our three branches of government. Judge Alito’s
excessive deference to presidential authority coupled with his restrictive view of congressional authority tell me that he does not have the proper the reverence for the separation of powers.

THE POWER OF CONGRESS TO PROTECT
And, even worse, while expanding the reach of Presidential power, Judge Alito also holds a harshly limited view of what the government can do to help ordinary Americans.

Judge Alito said it all in 1986, when he was a young lawyer with the Reagan Administration. He wrote that in his estimation, it is not the role of the federal government to protect the “health, safety and welfare” of the American
people.

Judge Alito has long advocated a view of limited Congressional authority, which if adhered to, would undermine a whole host of civil rights protections, health and safety regulations, standards for protecting our air and water, food and drug quality regulations, laws regulating firearms, as well as vital programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Since his ascension to the Third Circuit, Judge Alito has aggressively sought to promote this theory of limited Congressional power. For example, in 1996 Judge Alito voted to invalidate parts of our federal gun laws, arguing that there was no evidence in the record to determine that Congress had the power under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to enact legislation that regulated the sale of machine guns. In another case, Judge Alito wrote an opinion striking down Congress’s ability to make a state agency comply with the Family and Medical
Leave Act. Just three years later, the Supreme Court, with a similar set of facts, reached precisely the opposite conclusion.

Likewise, in several criminal cases, Judge Alito has shown blatant disregard for a defendant’s fundamental right to be tried by an impartial jury, chosen free of racial or gender prejudice and that has been properly instructed on matters of law. He has also narrowly construed other constitutional criminal procedure protections, arguing often in favor of granting law enforcement officials great latitude to conduct unauthorized searches and seizures.

Frequently, Judge Alito has also narrowly interpreted our asylum law, voting to reject the claims of foreign persecution by prospective immigrants.

Judge Alito’s opinions on these and other topics remind us that judicial activism can come in many forms. Adopting an unnecessarily narrow view of the Constitution or our laws to reach a desired outcome is a form of judicial
activism that is no less offensive than subscribing to an overboard interpretation of the law in order to reach a specific result.

CONCLUSION
Judge Alito may hold a seat on the Supreme Court for a generation, long after President Bush has left office. Perhaps through eight to ten presidential elections, decades of progress would fall prey to his radically conservative ideology, jeopardizing not only civil rights, civil liberties, health and safety, and environmental protections, but also fundamental rights like the right to privacy. Our federal government could be transformed into one where Congress is made irrelevant and the President is permitted to make up the rules as he goes. Judge Alito’s vision of America cannot be what our Founding Fathers intended for us. He would take us backward when it has never been more important to move forward.

I sincerely hope that my concerns about Judge Alito are unfounded, but I suspect they are not, and our children will pay the price. He has not demonstrated a proper respect for the rule of law, our Constitution, and the principles
Americans hold most dear. I therefore cannot give my consent to his confirmation.

Fayard Nicholas, the Tony Award winning choreographer who was one half of the athletic dance duo The Nicholas Brothers, died Jan. 24 of pneumonia and other complications of a stroke, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Nicholas was 91. With his brother, Harold, Mr. Nicholas wowed audiences with their wildly aggressive tap routines, which included slides across the floor and a signature to-the-floor leg splits done without the use of their hands to break the impact. The younger brother, Harold, died in 2000. (Fayard is on top in the photograph.)

Their work influenced dancers from Gene Kelly to Fred Astaire to Debbie Allen to Gregory Hines to Savion Glover.

Mr. Nicholas won the Best Choreography Tony Award in 1989 for his work on the revue Black and Blue. The brothers appeared on Broadway as early as the Depression era, in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936. The were also featured players at the Cotton Club, and a career in Hollywood followed.

They performed with Gene Kelly in the M-G-M picture “The Pirate” (1948). Other film work had them dancing together without having genuine speaking roles (so their work could be edited out when the film played the racially intolerant South).

Fred Astaire went on record saying their work in “Stormy Weather” (1943) represented some of the most perfect choreography captured on film. The dance sequence in the latter picture was called “Jumpin’ Jive.”

In the number, according to AP, “the brothers tap across music stands in an orchestra with the fearless exuberance of children stone-hopping across a pond. In the finale, they leap-frog seamlessly down a sweeping staircase.”

Like so many dancers of their era, they started in vaudeville They were inspired by their musician parents, who played in orchestra pits.

“One day at the Standard Theater in Philadelphia, I looked onstage and I thought, ‘They’re having fun up there; I’d like to do something like that,’” Fayard recalled in a 1999 interview, according to AP.

The created an act called “The Nicholas Kids” and by 1928 they bowed in vaudeville. They were known for performing in top hat and tails. The Cotton Club in Harlem is where they got noticed.

The Nicholas Brothers appeared in Broadway’s Sammy, a specialty concert starring Sammy Davis Jr. in 1974. Fayard appeared in the musical St. Louis Woman in 1946, and the brothers danced the specialty song “All Dark People” in the 1937 musical comedy Babes in Arms, which had racial intolerance as part of its plot. That song is no longer part of the licensed version of the Rodgers and Hart show, and a lyric-less version of it was used in the Encores! concert version that played City Center in 1999.

Harold Nicholas returned to Broadway in The Tap Dance Kid and Sophisticated Ladies. The brothers were awarded Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.

Mr. Nicholas was married three times. He married dancer Katherine Hopkins in 2000.

From Playbill.com

Former NBA star and now New York Knicks team president Isaiah Thomas has been called for a foul by a former Knicks employee.

Anucha Brown Sanders, who had been with the team since 2000 as their Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Operations, is suing Thomas and Madison Square Garden for sex discrimination and retaliation, alleging Thomas made unwelcome sexual advances towards her and refused to stop, and that when she complained, she was fired by MSG.

A lawyer for The Garden counters that the lawsuit is “fabricated and outrageous.”

I’m not the only person who thinks there’s nothing special about Kobe Bryant’s 81 point performance over the hapless Toronto Raptors the other night. Basketball, being the ultimate team sport, is supposed to be about shared responsibilities, playing offense and defense, passing, setting picks, running screens, etc.

To score 81 points means you aren’t looking to distribute the ball. You have your mind focused only on getting yours and not setting up your teammates. That’s not basketball. That’s also why I am so over the NBA. They are single handedly ruining a great sport.

But in the part of the world where basketball is still about the fundamentals and less about selfish individualism, ESPN has an interesting breakdown on the men’s college basketball teams who may be on the verge of getting squeezed out of NCAA tournament selection. While not likely to happen, my alma mater has been on a down turn lately.

While I await your picks to help me fill out my SAG awards ballot (read below), it’s time once again to talk football.

Of the 32 teams that opened NFL training camps back in July, we are now down to just four for this weekend’s NFC and AFC Championships. Historically this is the weekend when some of the best games of the year are played, even better than many of the past Super Bowls. Any of these four teams could win today, home field advantages and season records notwithstanding.

Thus making my picks this week, it’s a combination of research, gut instinct and roll of the dice. But here are some things I’m looking at:

The home teams, Seattle and Denver, were both undefeated at home during the regular and post seasons. The visitors, Carolina and Pittsburgh are undefeated on the road in post season.

Seattle and Denver head coaches Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan, respectively, have both won Super Bowls, while Pittsburgh’s Bill Cowher and Carolina’s John Fox are still looking for their first wins in the big game.

In post season play, Carolina leads all teams in total offense, with 384.5 yards per game. Their opponent Seattle is third with 334.0; Pittsburgh fifth with 320.5; Denver eighth at 286.0.

On defense, Carolina has allowed the fewest yards in the post season, at 207.0; Seattle allowed 289.0, Pittsburgh 316.0 and Denver 420.0.

Which defense matches up better against their opponent’s offense? Which team will be able to do what it wants to do on offense? Here’s where the gut instinct kicks in.

Pittsburgh plays a bruising defense and likes to pound the ball on offense. They are big up front on both sides of the ball. Their defense caused fits for Indianapolis and stationary quarterback Peyton Manning, but they’ll be opposing a scrambler in Jake Plummer. They’ll have to shut down Denver’s running game to force them into passing and make Plummer run a lot. Bronco’s receiver Rod Smith is one of the league’s best and a team leader, but the Steeler defensive secondary shut down arguably the league’s premiere receiving corps in the Colts.

Pittsburgh’s offensive line matches up favorably with Denver’s defense which may allow them to control possession and mix up the offense more easily. They’re gonna try to run on Denver and I think the stats above favor Pittsburgh in a ground game.

But Pittsburgh is 1-4 in Championship games. They have to prove they can win the big one.

In the NFC, Seattle running back Shaun Alexander’s health is the big question mark. He suffered a concussion in last week’s win over the Redskins, and whether the league’s MVP is 100% by game time is uncertain. He’ll get hit a lot by Carolina’s physical defense, and if he can’t play the whole game, that forces Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck to throw. Seahawk receivers are good but not great.

Carolina’s primary offensive weapon is their great receiver Steve Smith. Seattle has spent all week plotting how to defend him. If they are successful, Carolina is forced to run, with backup running back Nick Goings in to replace the injured DeShaun Foster. But few teams have successfully shut down Smith all season and too much emphasis on stopping him could give other Carolina receivers opportunity to shine.

Seattle has one of the noisiest stadiums and most rabid fans in the NFL and if Seattle is leading or the game is close, they’ll be a factor that could make it difficult for Carolina to communicate on the field.

I’m looking forward to two great games regardless of whether or not I’m right. but here are my picks.

AFC Championship Game
Pittsburgh at Denver
3:00
CBS

NFC Championship Game
Carolina at Seattle
6:30
FOX

Super Bowl XL
Sunday, Feb. 5
Detroit, Michigan
AFC Champion vs. NFC Champion
6:00 p.m.
ABC

As many of you know, I am a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Next weekend, on Sunday, January 29, SAG will hold the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring individual and ensemble performances in motion pictures and television from productions released in 2005.

Well, if you’ve been reading my blog, you surely know I’ve been busy for the past year and a half and thus haven’t had a lot of time to get out to the movies or even watch a lot of primetime network teleivion shows.

But my ballot has to be returned by this Friday, January 27 and I haven’t got a clue who to vote for. I could pick people whose work I’ve liked in the past, or just throw a dart at the ballot and let fate take its course, but I won’t. So I’m asking for your help.

Listed below is the complete roster of nominees. You don’t have to give me your opinions on all of them, but if you pick any categories, give me a) WHO you think should win in that category and b) WHY they are better than their competitors in the field. Give me a justification for the pick.

I’ll take everyone’s opinion under advisement before I fill out my ballot.

The SAG Awards will be telecast live on Sunday, Jan. 29, on TNT and TBS at 8 PM ET/PT, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT

12TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Russell Crowe / CINDERELLA MAN – Jim Braddock (Universal Pictures)
Philip Seymour Hoffman / CAPOTE – Truman Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Heath Ledger / BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – Ennis Del Mar (Focus Features)
Joaquin Phoenix / WALK THE LINE – John R. Cash (20th Century Fox)
David Strathairn / GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. – Edward R. Murrow (Warner Independent Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Judi Dench / MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS – Mrs. Laura Henderson (The Weinstein Company)
Felicity Huffman / TRANSAMERICA – Bree (The Weinstein Company)
Charlize Theron / NORTH COUNTRY – Josey Aimes (Warner Bros.)
Reese Witherspoon / WALK THE LINE – June Carter (20th Century Fox)
Ziyi Zhang / MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA – Sayuri (Columbia/DreamWorks/Spyglass)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Don Cheadle / CRASH – Graham (Lionsgate)
George Clooney / SYRIANA – Bob Barnes (Warner Bros.)
Matt Dillon / CRASH – Officer Ryan (Lionsgate)
Paul Giamatti / CINDERELLA MAN – Joe Gould (Universal Pictures)
Jake Gyllenhaal / BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – Jack Twist (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams / JUNEBUG – Ashley (Sony Pictures Classics)
Catherine Keener/ CAPOTE – Nelle Harper Lee (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Frances McDormand / NORTH COUNTRY – Glory (Warner Bros.)
Rachel Weisz / THE CONSTANT GARDENER – Tessa Quayle (Focus Features)
Michelle Williams / BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – Alma (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (Focus Features)
Linda Cardellini - Cassie
Anna Faris - Lashawn Malone
Jake Gyllenhaal - Jack Twist
Anne Hathaway - Lureen Phillips
Heath Ledger - Ennis Del Mar
Randy Quaid - Joe Aguirre
Michelle Williams - Alma

CAPOTE (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Bob Balaban - William Shawn
Marshall Bell - Warden Marshall Crutch
Clifton Collins, Jr. - Perry Smith
Chris Cooper - Alvin Dewey
Bruce Greenwood - Jack Dunphy
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Truman Capote
Catherine Keener - Nelle Harper Lee
Mark Pellegrino - Dick Hickock

CRASH (Lionsgate)
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges - Anthony
Sandra Bullock - Jean Cabot
Don Cheadle - Graham
Matt Dillon - Officer Ryan
Jennifer Esposito - Ria
William Fichtner - Flanagan
Brendan Fraser - Rick Cabot
Terrence Howard - Cameron Thayer
Thandie Newton - Christine Thayer
Ryan Phillippe - Thomas Hansen
Larenz Tate - Peter

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. (Warner Independent Pictures)
Rose Abdoo - Millie Lerner
Alex Borstein - Natalie
Robert John Burke - Charlie Mack
Patricia Clarkson - Shirley Wershba
George Clooney - Fred Friendly
Jeff Daniels - Sig Mickelson
Reed Diamond - John Aaron
Tate Donovan - Jesse Zousmer
Robert Downey, Jr. - Joe Wershba
Grant Heslov - Don Hewitt
Peter Jacobson - Jimmy
Frank Langella - William Paley
Tom McCarthy - Palmer Williams
Dianne Reeves - Jazz Singer
Matt Ross - Eddie Scott
David Strathairn - Edward R. Murrow
Ray Wise - Don Hollenbeck

HUSTLE & FLOW (Paramount Classics)
Anthony Anderson - Key
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges - Skinny Black
Isaac Hayes - Arnel
Taraji P. Henson - Shug
Terrence Howard -DJay
Taryn Manning - Nola
Elise Neal - Yevette
Paula Jai Parker - Lexus
D.J. Qualls - Shelby

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Kenneth Branagh / WARM SPRINGS – Franklin Delano Roosevelt (HBO)
Ted Danson / KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX – David MacEnulty (A&E)
Ed Harris / EMPIRE FALLS – Miles Roby (HBO)
Paul Newman / EMPIRE FALLS – Max Roby (HBO)
Christopher Plummer / OUR FATHERS – Cardinal Bernard Law (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Tonantzin Carmelo / INTO THE WEST – Thunder Heart Woman (TNT)
S. Epatha Merkerson / LACKAWANNA BLUES – Rachel “Nanny” Crosby (HBO)
Cynthia Nixon / WARM SPRINGS – Eleanor Roosevelt (HBO)
Joanne Woodward / EMPIRE FALLS – Francine Whiting (HBO)
Robin Wright Penn / EMPIRE FALLS – Grace Roby (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Alan Alda / THE WEST WING – Arnold Vinick (NBC)
Patrick Dempsey / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Derek Shepherd (ABC)
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House (FOX)
Ian McShane / DEADWOOD – Al Swearengen (HBO)
Kiefer Sutherland / 24 – Jack Bauer (FOX)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette / MEDIUM – Allison Dubois (NBC)
Geena Davis / COMMANDER IN CHIEF – Mackenzie Allen (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay / LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT – Det. Olivia Benson (NBC)
Sandra Oh / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Cristina Yang (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick / THE CLOSER – Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (TNT)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Larry David / CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM – Himself (HBO)
Sean Hayes / WILL & GRACE – Jack McFarland (NBC)
Jason Lee / MY NAME IS EARL – Earl Hickey (NBC)
William Shatner / BOSTON LEGAL – Denny Crane (ABC)
James Spader / BOSTON LEGAL – Alan Shore (ABC)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Candice Bergen / BOSTON LEGAL – Shirley Schmidt (ABC)
Patricia Heaton / EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND – Debra Barone (CBS)
Felicity Huffman / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – Lynette Scavo (ABC)
Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE – Karen Walker (NBC)
Mary-Louise Parker / WEEDS – Nancy Botwin (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

THE CLOSER (TNT)
G.W. Bailey Det. - Lt. Provenza
Michael Paul Chan - Lt. Michael Tao
Raymond Cruz - Det. Julio Sanchez
Gina Ravera - Det. Irene Daniels
Tony Denison - Det. Andy Flynn
Robert Gossett - Captain Taylor
Corey Reynolds - Sgt. David Gabriel
Kyra Sedgwick - Dep. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson
J.K. Simmons - Asst. Chief Will Pope
Jon Tenney - FBI Agent Fritz Howard

GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC)
Justin Chambers - Alex Karev
Patrick Dempsey - Derek Shepherd
Katherine Heigl - Isobel “Izzie” Stevens
T.R. Knight - George O’Malley
Sandra Oh - Cristina Yang
James Pickens, Jr. - Richard Webber
Ellen Pompeo - Meredith Grey
Kate Walsh - Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd
Isaiah Washington - Preston Burke
Chandra Wilson - Miranda Bailey

LOST (ABC)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Mr. Eko
Naveen Andrews - Sayid
Emilie de Ravin - Claire
Matthew Fox - Jack
Jorge Garcia - Hurley
Maggie Grace - Shannon
Josh Holloway - Sawyer
Malcolm David - Kelley Walt
Daniel Dae Kim - Jin
Yunjin Kim - Sun
Evangeline Lilly - Kate
Dominic Monaghan - Charlie
Terry O’Quinn - Locke
Harold Perrineau - Michael
Michelle Rodriguez - Ana Lucia
Ian Somerhalder - Boone
Cynthia Watros - Libby

SIX FEET UNDER (HBO)
Lauren Ambrose - Claire Fisher
Joanna Cassidy - Margaret Chenowith
Frances Conroy - Ruth Fisher
James Cromwell - George Sibley
Rachel Griffiths - Brenda Chenowith
Michael C. Hall - David Fisher
Tina Holmes - Maggie Sibley
Peter Krause - Nate Fisher
Justina Machado - Vanessa Diaz
Freddy Rodriguez - Federico Diaz
Jeremy Sisto - Billy Chenowith
Mathew St. Patrick - Keith Charles

THE WEST WING (NBC)
Alan Alda - Arnold Vinick
Kristin Chenoweth - Annabeth Schott
Janeane Garofalo - Louise Thornton
Dulé Hill - Charlie Young
Allison Janney - C.J. Cregg
Joshua Malina - Will Bailey
Mary McCormack - Kate Harper
Janel Moloney - Donna Moss
Teri Polo - Helen Santos
Richard Schiff - Toby Ziegler
Martin Sheen - Josiah Bartlet
Jimmy Smits - Matthew Santos
John Spencer - Leo McGarry
Bradley Whitford - Josh Lyman

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (FOX)
Will Arnett - Gob Bluth
Jason Bateman - Michael Bluth
Michael Cera - George-Michael Bluth
David Cross - Tobias Fünke
Portia de Rossi - Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Tony Hale - Buster Bluth
Alia Shawkat - Maeby Fünke
Jeffrey Tambor - George Bluth, Sr./Oscar Bluth
Jessica Walter - Lucille Bluth

BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
Rene Auberjonois - Paul Lewiston
Ryan Michelle Bathe - Sara Holt
Candice Bergen - Shirley Schmidt
Julie Bowen - Denise Bauer
Justin Mentell - Garrett Wells
Rhona Mitra - Tara Wilson
Monica Potter - Lori Colson
William Shatner - Denny Crane
James Spader - Alan Shore
Mark Valley - Brad Chase

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO)
Shelley Berman - Nat David
Larry David - Himself
Susie Essman - Susie Greene
Jeff Garlin - Jeff Greene
Cheryl Hines - Cheryl David
Richard Lewis - Himself

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
Roger Bart - George Williams
Andrea Bowen - Julie Mayer
Mehcad Brooks - Matthew Applewhite
Ricardo Antonio Chavira - Carlos Solis
Marcia Cross - Bree Van De Kamp
Steven Culp - Rex Van De Kamp
James Denton - Mike Delfino
Teri Hatcher - Susan Mayer
Felicity Huffman - Lynette Scavo
Brent Kinsman - Preston Scavo
Shane Kinsman - Porter Scavo
Eva Longoria - Gabrielle Solis
Mark Moses - Paul Young
Doug Savant - Tom Scavo
Nicollette Sheridan - Edie Britt
Brenda Strong - Mary Alice Young
Alfre Woodard - Betty Applewhite

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (CBS)
Peter Boyle - Frank Barone
Brad Garrett - Robert Barone
Patricia Heaton - Debra Barone
Monica Horan - Amy McDougal-Barone
Doris Roberts - Marie Barone
Ray Romano - Raymond Barone
Madylin Sweeten - Ally Barone

MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
Jason Lee - Earl Hickey
Jaime Pressly - Joy Turner
Eddie Steeples - Darnell
Ethan Suplee - Randy Hickey
Nadine Velazquez - Catalina