James Gammon, probably best known as Coach Lou Brown in the ‘Major League’ films, has died. 

Gammon is a veteran of the stage and screen alike, having been in the business for over 40 years.  Apart from his role in Major League, he had a successful run on the CBS drama, Nash Bridges.  Some of his other works included the TV show The Waltons as well as films such as Cold Mountain and Appaloosa.  

Gammon, who died on Friday at the age of 70, had been battling cancer at the time of his death.  He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Friday Night Lights also made a great showing with nominations in both the Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Lead Actress categories.  Chicago is well represented with Jane Lynch securing two(!) nominations for Glee (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series) and Two and a Half Men (Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series).  Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List was nominated as well for Outstanding Reality Programming. Andre Braugher and Ann-Margret are additional Chicagoans who were nominated for an Emmy today.

Some of the more shocking names left off this year’s nomination list include Cougar Town’s Courteney Cox and Grey’s Anatomy’s Chandra Wilson.  HBO’s True Blood managed an Outstanding Drama Series nomination, but couldn’t wrestle any individual nominations.

2010 Nominees:

*Full list of nominees

I made a big change to the color and theme of my blog, but I want to assure everyone that nothing else has changed.  I had been wanting to change things up for a while and a suggestion from one of my fellow bloggers made me jump into action.

I can’t wait for the new TV season to start; only a couple of months to go!  I’m falling a bit behind in my movie reviews, so bear with me as I try to knock those out over the next few weeks.

I also wanted to toss a new picture up here too.  My cousin was in town and I got a chance to spend a little bit of time with her and the rest of my family. 

The show, which took place at the Las Vegas Hilton, seemed quite small on TV.  Every time they showed a shot of the audience, the crowd looked like it only went about 20 rows back.  The entrance that most of the presenters came through was awkwardly placed – it was on an angle that required the stars to step, uncomfortably, down three steps and then turn toward the stage.  Not great planning.

As for the “entertainment,” I get that the show is in Las Vegas, but what on earth does The Lion King and Blue Man Group have to do with daytime.  The soap stars looked as bored and confused as I was.  I had zero desire to see David Copperfield open the show either.

The tribute to Dick Clark would have been nice if I wasn’t so thrown off by his orange, oompa-loompa colored face.  Whoever did that to him and expected him to go on live television should be fired.  His breakdown after Ryan Seacrest ended his tribute to the television and music pioneer was so touching though.  He couldn’t seem to get a hold of his emotions and that’s the beauty of live programming.

I can’t help but feel that the whole production value of the program was on an amateur level.  I was thoroughly unimpressed with Regis Philbin as host as well.  He’s great on his talk show, but his jokes were bad and the constant clamoring about his not getting any kind of award was aggravating and unnecessary.

I personally think that soap operas, while unrealistic at times, are a needed form of daytime entertainment.  I think it’s sad that the majority of the acting awards that were won on Sunday night went to a show that filmed its very last episode four days prior (ATWT).  I give Y&R’s Billy Miller the prize for best speech of the night.

Daytime Emmy Winners:

Outstanding Drama Series
The Bold and The Beautiful (CBS)

Outstanding Lead Actor
Michael Park (Jack Snyder) – As the World Turns

Outstanding Lead Actress
Maura West (Carly Tenney) – As the World Turns

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Billy Miller (Billy Abbott) – The Young and the Restless

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Julie Pinson (Janet Snyder) – As the World Turns

Outstanding Younger Actor
Drew Tyler Bell (Thomas Forrester) – The Bold and the Beautiful

Outstanding Younger Actress
Julie Berman (Lulu Spencer) – General Hospital

Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team
The Bold and The Beautiful

Outstanding Talk Show: Entertainment
The Ellen Degeneres Show

Outstanding Talk Show Host
Dr. Mehmet Oz on The Dr. Oz Show

*Full list of winners