A look back; Oh, Emmy

It was a sad trip down nostalgia lane earlier this week when two celebrity obituaries crossed the wires.

Chad Everett and Sherman Hemsley both died Tuesday, and their obits came across pretty much at the same time. The two were stars on television pretty much at the same time, too, in the 1970s when Everett's "Medical Center" and Hemsley's "The Jeffersons" were hit series.

Hemsley, of course, always will be synonymous with George Jefferson, known for "movin' on up" after a stint as Archie Bunker's neighbor on "All in the Family" to a full-fledged star on his own show. "The Jeffersons" was part of the best night of TV in the '70s — Saturdays. It remains the longest-running show to feature a predominately African-American cast, according to Hemsley's obit from the Los Angeles Times.

Everett was Dr. Joe Gannon, a ruggedly handsome, down-to-business surgeon on "Medical Center," one of the first in a long line of medical dramas to find success on TV.

I watched both as a kid. Who didn't? Back then there were a handful of options and just about any hit was "appointment television," seen by just about everyone who owned a set. Today, there are so many shows on so many channels, you could watch TV for a week and never see a single show that the guy sitting in the cubicle next to you has seen.

Everett was 75, Hemsley 74.

The new and final season of "Damages" is up and running on DirectTV's Audience channel and, as expected, it's another dramatic gem.

It's also graphic — with nudity and strong expletives not deleted. I found that blue nature a bit jarring for some reason, probably because I've been premium channel-free since "The Sopranos" signed off for good on HBO. That's meant fairly tidy fare, though some cable shows do their best to push the blue envelope.

Nevertheless, "Damages" promises to go out big.

Glenn Close, not surprisingly, was nominated last week for an Emmy Award for her lead role as a tough-as-nails lawyer on "Damages."

It's a deserving nod. The show should have been nominated, as well. It's too bad this amazingly crafted show is available only to a limited audience — until the DVD comes out.

Speaking of blue language and Emmy Awards-not-in-the-cards, I had some admittedly nasty words after the nominations were announced last week.

Neither Timothy Olyphant nor his critically acclaimed FX show "Justified" garnered Emmy nods this year. The Modesto-bred actor was nominated last year for best dramatic actor.

The snub was obnoxious and unfounded, but not especially surprising. That's because the dramatic actor field was heavy this year, thanks in part to a return of AMC's "Breaking Bad."

"Bad" was not eligible because of timing last year, so neither was its much-awarded lead actor, Bryan Cranston, who has been repeatedly nominated for his role as a chemistry teacher turned meth king.

Add to that a handful of other repeat nominees such as Michael C. Hall for "Dexter," Jon Hamm for "Mad Men" and Steve Buscemi for "Boardwalk Empire" and there wasn't room for the hometown guy. (Also nominated: Damian Lewis, "Homeland," and Hugh Bonneville, "Downton Abby.")

Full discloser: I've never seen "Boardwalk Empire," "Dexter," "Homeland" or "Downton Abby," so I can't compare Olyphant's work to the actors nominated for those shows. I do know, being an avid viewer of both "Bad" and "Mad," that Cranston and Hamm deserve their nods.

Still, it was disappointing that Olyphant's name was missing, and that of the series itself. Personally, I'd pick "Justified" over "Breaking Bad" and have it neck and neck with "Mad Men" among my favorite shows.

Then again, I'm biased, given my hopeless hometown-cheerleader bent — which brings me to happier Emmy news: Hilmar native Dot Marie Jones was nominated again this year for her guest role on "Glee" and casting director Robert Ulrich saw his company nominated again for "American Horror Story." (Ulrich won last year for casting "Glee.")

That's great stuff. And, for Olyphant, there's always next year.

Reach Scene editor Pat Clark at pclark@modbee.com.