Since live-blogging would have required my watching the show in its painful entirety (and the onslaught of FOX plugs), I hope you’ll settle for my slightly delayed reactions to the big winners…

Supporting Actor in a Comedy – Jeremy Piven – Is it fair to award the same actor two years in a row for playing the same stagnant, stereotypical character that isn’t remotely different from who he is in real life? Apparently so. Piven, you may have Emmy, but you’ll never be half the bro Neil Patrick Harris is.

Supporting Actor in a Drama – Terry O’Quinn – As big of a Heroes fan as I might be… their Drama nod seems a little undeserved. Not so for Masi Oka though. He should have had this. Terry O’Quinn is all well and good in Lost, but if you’re going to award the supporting cast of the island, you could at least have given it to Ben Linus. Nice speech, though, Terry. Can’t say the same for the shirt…

Supporting Actress in a Comedy – Jamie Pressly – In all honesty, I’ve never watched more than five minutes of My Name is Earl, but I’m having a seriously hard time believing that a glorified extra from Not Another Teen Movie is more deserving of this award than Jenna Fischer or Vanessa Williams.

Supporting Actress in a Drama – Katherine Heigl – The reach of America’s love of Denny Duckett goes on long after he’s in the ground! “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama” is now officially the “Lengthiest and Most Annoying Mourning Period” award. Not that I don’t adore you, Izzie.

Lead Actor in a Comedy – Ricky Gervais – I love Gervais. I love him for his work on Extras, and I love him for not being there to speak.

Lead Actress in a Drama – Sally Field – Have people seen Brothers & Sisters? I watch it religiously, but it’s all kinds of sucky. Unless this Emmy is for the episode when Sally got stoned with Margot Kidder, I don’t buy it. Also… nice editing, Emmy guys! A full hour after Tell Me You Loved Me showed real-life vagina and prosthetic wieners, FOX still can’t let America hear a middle-aged woman say “god-damned.”

Lead Actress in a Comedy – America Ferrera – Wow, the first award of the night I actually called. And one of the few I don’t object to.

Lead Actor in a Drama – James Spader – Can I say “wow” again? Boston Legal is not something I’ve ever watched, or ever intend to, but it can’t be all that bad. Somewhere in Los Angeles, Gandolfini is watching Mannequin and getting trashed.

Outstanding Comedy – 30 Rock – I hate to throw it out there so soon, but 30 Rock is flirting with Arrested Development-type prophetic doom.

Outstanding Drama – The Sopranos – Despite the acting snubs, the Emmys’ love for The Sopranos could not have been more obvious. That Jersey Boys homage? They might as well have just paid someone to felate a bunch of HBO execs live on stage for three minutes. Whatever, it’s not like they don’t deserve it.

… Oh, and Tony Bennett won everything else.

It’s never remotely surprising when the folks in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences make poor decisions year after year after year. Yet once every July we wake up a little early, with a twinge of nervous anticipation in our gut, and watch celebrities who woke up even earlier deliver news we were somehow no longer expecting. This is the year, however, that I don’t let myself dwell on the obvious oversights (Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, Connie Britton…) and general asshattedness (The Starter Wife, Grey’s Anatomy, Two and a Half Men, Entourage…) of the Academy voters. Instead, I praise them on a few commendable moves.

Most exciting of all has to be Neil Patrick Harris’s nod for his supporting role on How I Met Your Mother. As vigilant readers may know, the only thing I like linking to more than stupid clips from Varsity Blues, are the moments of comedic brilliance that Harris has brought to TV every week for the past two years. For that recognition alone, I am a happy camper. Other bubbles of glee can be attributed to nominations for Minnie Driver, 30 Rock, Ricky Gervais and writing and directing nods for BSG.

A full list of nominees after the jump…

Drama Series
Boston Legal
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
House
The Sopranos

Comedy Series
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
James Spader, Boston Legal
Hugh Laurie, House
Denis Leary, Rescue Me
James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Kiefer Sutherland, 24

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Patricia Arquette, Medium
Minnie Driver, The Riches
Edie Falco, The Sopranos

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
William Shatner, Boston Legal
T.R. Knight, Grey’s Anatomy
Masi Oka, Heroes
Michael Emerson, Lost
Terry O’Quinn, Lost
Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Katherine Heigl, Grey’s Anatomy
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Aida Turturro, The Sopranos
Lorraine Bracco, The Sopranos

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Ricky Gervais, Extras
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl
Jenna Fischer, The Office
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
Conchata Ferrell, Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds

Miniseries
Broken Trail
Prime Suspect: The Final Act
The Starter Wife

Made for TV Movie
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Inside the Twin Towers
Longford
The Ron Clark Story
Why I Wore Lipstick To My Mastectomy

Variety, Music or Comedy Series
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Late Night with Conan O’Brien
Late Show with David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Robert Duvall, Broken Trail
Tom Selleck, Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Jim Broadbent, Longford
William H. Macy, Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King
Matthew Perry, The Ron Clark Story

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Queen Latifah, Life Support
Helen Mirren, Prime Suspect: The Final Act
Mary-Louise Parker, The Robber Bride
Debra Messing, The Starter Wife
Gena Rowlands, What if God Were the Sun

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Thomas Haden Church, Broken Trail
August Schellenberg, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Aidan Quinn, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Edward Asner, The Christmas Card
Joe Mantegna, The Starter Wife

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Greta Scacchi, Broken Trail
Anna Paquin, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Samantha Morton, Longford
Judy Davis, The Starter Wife
Toni Collette, Tsunami, The Aftermath

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Martin Landau, Entourage
Ian McKellan, Extras
Stanley Tucci, Monk
Giovanni Ribisi, My Name Is Earl
Beau Bridges, My Name Is Earl

Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Forest Whitaker, ER
David Morse, House
Tim Daly, The Sopranos
John Goodman, Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip
Eli Wallach, Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Dixie Carter, Desperate Housewives
Laurie Metcalfe, Desperate Housewives
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock
Judith Light, Ugly Betty
Salma Hayek, Ugly Betty

Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Kate Burton, Grey’s Anatomy
Elizabeth Reaser, Grey’s Anatomy
Marcia Gay Harden, Law & Order: SVU
Leslie Caron, Law & Order: SVU
Jean Smart, 24

Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow
Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Kathy Griffin: My Life On the D-List
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef