Emmy judges leak award finalists

We and everyone else expected Emmy nominations to be announced on July 19th, but an enterprising reporter at the Los Angeles Times’ awards shows blogsite is getting Emmy judges to leak him early information from Academy of Television Arts & Sciences screenings that began in Los Angeles this weekend and continue during the week in LA and New York.

Tom O’Neil has come up with the Top 10 finalists for Best Drama and Best Comedy Emmys– and he claims that HBO’s canceled Rome made the drama list while supposed shoo-ins Rescue Me and The Tudors did not. On the comedy side, HBO’s Extras has apparently kept The New Adventures of Old Christine out of the comedy running.

Tom also has some Actor and Actress picks– and he’s not through yet. He’s begging others in the know to email him more tips! We can only hope the chummy old school LA Times vets don’t raise a dust storm over his tactics. What does he think he is, a blogger, tabloid, or some kind of 21st century journalist or something?

In the end, there will be five nominees in each category. Check out the Top 10 finalists… then narrow it down from there… after the jump…THE LA TIMES’ LIST OF THE TOP 10 FINALISTS FOR
BEST DRAMA AND BEST COIMEDY EMMY AWARDS

TOP 10 DRAMA SERIES FINALISTS
(In parentheses is name of sample episode viewed by judges)
Boston Legal (“Angel of Death”)
Dexter (“Born Free”)
Friday Night Lights (Pilot)
Grey’s Anatomy (“From A Whisper to A Scream”)
Heroes (“Genesis”)
House (“Half-wit”)
Lost (“Through the Looking Glass”)

TOP 10 COMEDY SERIES FINALISTS
(In parentheses is name of sample episode viewed by judges)
Desperate Housewives (“It Takes Two”)
Entourage (“One Day in the Valley”)
Extras (“Daniel Radcliffe”)
My Name is Earl (“The Trial”)
The Office (“The Coup”)
Scrubs (“My Musical”)
Thirty Rock (“Hard Ball”)
Two and a Half Men (??)
Ugly Betty (Pilot)
Weeds (“Cooking with Jesus”)

ACTING EMMY FINALISTS

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “New Adventures of Old Christine”
America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
Teri Hatcher, “Desperate Housewives”
Felicity Huffman, “Desperate Housewives”
Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds”

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
James Gandolfini, “The Sopranos”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Eddie Izzard, “The Riches”
Hugh Laurie, “House”
Kiefer Sutherland, “24″

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Minni Driver, “The Riches”
Edie Falco, “Sopranos”

BEST SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Masi Oka, “Heroes”

BEST SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
CCH Pounder, “The Shield”

–Tabloid Baby