Nominations for the PrimeTime Emmy Awards are announced Thursday morning, and you can expect to hear a lot of familiar names called out. Award show seer Tom O'Neil prognosticates that, out of 24 nominees in the four major acting categories, only six nods will go to performers who weren't nominated last year: Simon Baker for The Mentalist, Kiefer Sutherland for 24, Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory, Tara Collette for The United States of Tara, Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation... and, speaking of new blood, Anna Paquin for True Blood. All but Sutherland are on new shows, and he missed out last year when the writers' strike did what no TV villain could: knock out Jack Bauer.
Does this mean no one on an existing show is improving at their craft? Or that Emmy voters are stuck in a rut? Do you like seeing at least some of the same actors and shows return year after year, as long as they stay at the top of their games, or should they follow the lead of Candice Bergen and Bill Cosby, and withdraw from competition after receiving ample acclaim, opening up the field to new talent? In short, who should be nominated?