Actress (Musical or Comedy)

• Christina Applegate – Samantha Who? (ABC)
• America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)
• Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
• Anna Friel – Pushing Daisies (ABC)
• Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)

ABC has the odds here, but SNL alum Fey has this one.

Here’s the best of the remaining nominees (my picks underlined):

FILM

Best Drama

• American Gangster (Universal)
• Atonement (Focus)
• Eastern Promises (Focus)
• The Great Debaters (Weinstein/MGM)
• Michael Clayton (Warner Brothers)
• No Country for Old Men (Miramax/Paramount Vantage)
• There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage/Miramax)

Musical or Comedy

• Across the Universe (Revolution/Sony)
• Charlie Wilson’s War (Universal)
• Hairspray (New Line)
• Juno (Fox Searchlight)
• Sweeney Todd (DreamWorks/Paramount/Warner Brothers)

Once is a huge omission here. Hopefully, the Academy Awards will not forget this very deserving musical film. Juno is getting surprise nominations that probably won’t come at Oscar time.

Foreign Language Film

• 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania)
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France, United States)
• The Kite Runner (United States)
• Lust, Caution (Taiwan)
• Persepolis (France)

Animated Film

• Bee Movie (DreamWorks)
• Ratatouille (Disney)
• The Simpsons Movie (Fox)

My heart (and funny bone) favor The Simpsons, but I have to go with the best one.

Director

• Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd
• Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
• Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Ridley Scott - American Gangster
• Joe Wright – Atonement

Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will be Blood), Paul Greengrass (Bourne Ultimatum), and Sean Penn (Into the Wild) instead of Schnabel and Scott would’ve made stronger contenders. Wright’s masterful unedited tracking shot alone is enough for his nomination.

Original Score

• Into the Wild - Michael Brook, Kaki King and Eddie Vedder
• Grace is Gone - Clint Eastwood
• Kite Runner - Alberto Iglesias
• Atonement - Dario Marianelli
• Eastern Promises - Howard Shore

Original Song

• “Despidida” - Love in the Time of Cholera - Shakira/Antonio Pinto
• “Grace is Gone” - Grace is Gone - Clint Eastwood/Carole Bayer Sager
• “Guaranteed” - Into the Wild - Eddie Vedder
• “That’s How You Know” - Enchanted - Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz
• “Walk Hard” - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story-Marshall Crenshaw/John C.Reilly/Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan

Comedic songwriting is hard (remember South Park?), so Walk Hard could steal here from the veteran Disney team. Again, Once is shockingly omitted and could have as many as two Oscar nominations.

TELEVISION

Best Mini-Series or Movie

• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (HBO)
• The Company (TNT)
• Five Days (HBO)
• Longford (HBO)
• The State Within (BBC)

Best Musical or Comedy Series

• 30 Rock (NBC)
• Californication (SHOWTIME)
• Entourage (HBO)
• Extras (HBO)
• Pushing Daisies (ABC)

Best Dramatic Series

• Big Love (HBO)
• Damages (FX)
• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
• House (FOX)
• Mad Men (AMC)
• The Tudors (SHOWTIME)

Best Actress (Mini-Series or Movie)

• Bryce Dallas Howard – As You Like It (HBO)
• Queen Latifah – Life Support (HBO)
• Debra Messing – The Starter Wife (USA)
• Sissy Spacek – Pictures Of Hollis Woods (CBS)
• Ruth Wilson – Jane Eyre (PBS)

Best Actor (Mini-Series or Movie)

• Adam Beach – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO)
• Ernest Borgnine – A Grandpa For Christmas
• Jim Broadbent – Longford (HBO)
• Jason Isaacs – The State Within (BBC)
• James Nesbitt – Jekyll (BBC)

Supporting Actress

• Rose Byrne – Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
• Katherine Heigl – Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
• Samantha Morton – Longford (HBO)
• Anna Paquin – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO)
• Jaime Pressly – My Name Is Earl (NBC)

Supporting Actor

• Ted Danson – Damages (FX)
• Kevin Dillon – Entourage (HBO)
• Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
• Andy Serkis – Longford (HBO)
• William Shatner – Boston Legal (ABC)
• Donald Sutherland – Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)