ABC/Scott GarfieldI'll be honest. Normally, I sleep through the SAG Awards nominations (even though, yes, I am live on camera as the names are called off—don't let the open eyes fool you). 'Cause, see, year after year, the Screen Actors Guild tends to nominate the same veteran actors and veteran shows over and over and over, and it has all the effect of Dramamine mixed with fuzzy slippers.
But this morning, something wonderful—dare I say, miraculous—happened. Some newcomers actually squeaked in!
Most notable, of course, are Miss America Ferrera (aka Ugly Betty), the sweet and talented young thing who managed to nab a nomination for herself in the only category with six nominess, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy. Among established thespians like Megan Mullally, Mary-Louis Parker, Felicity Huffman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, our beloved Betty and Emmy nominee Jaime Pressly got nods. Two newcomers in the same category? That's nothing short of a newbie coup!
And though you might think it made Sandra Oh a wee bit uneasy to read off the names for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama—which did not include hers—I can tell you I spoke with her just moments ago, and she was literally glowing over the nomination for her Grey's costar (and queen of the "Quit staring at my va-jay-jay" line!) Chandra Wilson. "I called [Chandra] right away when I heard," Oh recalled. "I said, 'Are you up? Are you up?!' And she was, and she was so excited. She has to go right in to work in every scene today, but she'll be floating through it."
Oh also mentioned she felt the SAG Awards are "the best one, because your peers are the ones voting."
Though plenty of first-timers were nominated this morning—The Office, Ugly Betty, Weeds, Steve Carell, Jeremy Piven, Entourage, Dexter's Michael C. Hall (did I ever mention I like that show?)—I must say I'm also a bit appalled at the lack of love for Lost and Heroes. Lost won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama last year but was completely shut out this year (much like we saw with the Emmys), which is so very wrong in so many ways. And my beloved Heroes received a big fat pile of nothing this morning, despite being the new drama with the biggest buzz this season. Insanity, I say!
But I suppose I'm just getting greedy, aren't I? 'Cause at least there were enough newbies in this year's SAGs posse to keep me from dozing off and drooling on (presenter) Elijah Wood's shoulder. (Did I ever tell you he once hoisted my suitcase over his head to help me out at JFK airport? True story. Nice guy...and possibly superhuman.)
You can get the full list of nominees in our news story. And you can weigh in on all the kudos and snubs I forgot to mention by commenting away below. Was anyone else robbed? You tell me.