Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

The Emmy Awards are coming up this Sunday. Forget about those nominations, what do you think is or was (in the recent past) the best show on television?

The Emmy Nominations are out, and because the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is nothing if not consistently out of touch, The Wire, which has been hailed by critics and viewers as one of the best shows ever made, was only nominated for one writing award. The best drama series nominees are Boston Legal, Damages, Dexter, House, Lost, and Mad Men. Having seen several episodes of all of these shows (except Damages), I can honestly say that The Wire is better than all of them, although Lost and Mad Men definitely deserve the nominations.

In other nomination news, Audra McDonald and Phylicia Rashad were nominated for their performance in Raisin in the Sun, which was nominated for best TV movie or miniseries. Alfre Woodard also got a TV movie acting nod for her role in Pictures of Hollis Woods. Chandra Wilson of Grey's Anatomy and Vanessa Williams got nominations as well. Check out all the nominees here.

As I watched last night's BET Awards and the time clicked away and I realized that, contrary to the rumors, Beyonce would not be making a guest appearance during Usher's set to sing the "Love In This Club" remix, I began to wonder if my kind thoughts about the ceremony had more to do with it's frequent Beyonce performances than anything else. Usher's opener was shaky — did anyone else catch that flip he did? And most of the performances, although good (and bad; see Keyshia Cole), left me wanting (a Beyonce performance. I have a problem). But things started to pick up considerably when Alicia Keys performed and brought out SWV, TLC, and En Vogue. The whole performance, but especially AKeys, SWV and En Vogue, reminded me of the days when popular musicians could actually sing live and sound good doing it. In other news: Kanye West appeared very humble, Lil Wayne appeared very sober, and Diddy changed his familiar slogan from "Vote or Die" to a more direct "Obama or Die." It was a night of surprises. Also, it was oddly heartwarming to see Rihanna smiling encouragingly as her man feigned sexual relations on stage with Ciara.

The show came together when the Al Green tribute rolled around, with Maxwell (when's the comeback?) singing a fabulous cover of "Simply Beautiful" and Al Green almost literally bringing down the house when he sang "Let's Stay Together." It's rare to see an audience full of famous people of all different ages and different musical genres join together with such unabashed happiness and enthusiasm. Who do black people love more, Barack Obama or Al Green? It's a serious question.

After the jump, tons more pictures. And click here for the winners.

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The Rihanna and Chris Brown Are In Love Awards, aka the MTV Movie Awards, aired !live! on MTV last night, and as many times as the camera panned to a cuddly Chris Brown and Rihanna in the crowd, I wouldn't have known that anyone else was there unless I looked at the photos. Yes, they are together and clearly unafraid to show it publicly. Yes, Rihanna is wearing a dress that is best photographed standing up. More pics after the jump.

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With five nods, T-Pain leads in the list of 2008 BET Award nominees, which were announced on 106 & Park. When T-Pain leads in nominations, that clearly says something about the state of music and the state of BET.

"T-Pain is everywhere," BET Executive Vice President Stephen Hill told The Associated Press. "He's got five nominations, none of them for his own work. He's had a great year; he's introduced a new element." That new element being not actually needing to sing in order to become wildly successful.

Kanye West was nominated for three awards. If BET knows what's good for them, they'll give him at least one of them.

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The Drama Desk Awards are decided by a committee of theater critics, writers and editors, and every year the honor excellence in New York theatre. This year, the committee made it quite clear that Debbie Allen's groundbreaking, all-black production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was not so excellent, despite its box office success. Neither the play nor its cast were nominated in any categories. [BV]

Country Music Television Awards Rule #57: All famous black men must be dressed like idiots to gain admittance.

Celebrity children must love the Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards, mainly because their parents are actually hanging out with them for once. Will Smith came with his budding actor and actress, Holly Robinson Peete had her brood in tow, Tracey Edmonds brought a Babyface Mini Me, and Nelly arrived with all of St Louis. Pics after the jump.

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Ugly Betty and The Great Debaters were the big winners at the 39th annual NAACP Image Awards last night, while Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder received special honors. In case you're wondering, Jurnee Smollett snatched the coveted Best Actress prize out from under Angelina Jolie. Lots of pics and a list of winners after the jump.

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Eddie Murphy is on the list of nominees for the Kids Choice Awards (they love that Donkey), along with Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Ice Cube, The Rock, and the list goes on.

There's at least one kid who definitely wouldn't choose Eddie Murphy. I think we all know who I'm talking about. [EUR]

The Writers' Strike has pretty much zapped any awards season excitement, but the Oscar nominations were announced today. Nothing for Denzel Washington, which is surely an outrage to many of you, but Ruby Dee was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for American Gangster and, uh, Norbit was nominated for best makeup. An Oscar and a Razzie nomination in one week! Incredible.

Having seen all of the films nominated for best picture, my bet's on No Country For Old Men, although Atonement won the Golden Globe. Check out the nominations after the jump.

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The NAACP Image Award nominations are out, and although every black person who appeared on screen this year seems to have been nominated, The Great Debaters, Girlfriends, and Everybody Hates Chris. The TV and Movie nominations are after the jump (you can find the literature and music categories here), but here's a little tidbit to whet your palate. Angelina Jolie was nominated for her role in A Mighty Heart, which goes to show that the NAACP Image Awards are fair game for people of color and people who impersonate people of color in their films. Man, have we come a long way in the entertainment biz!

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The Critic's Choice Awards went down last night in Santa Monica, and one sincerely hopes that the stars made the most out of it, since the Golden Globes have been reduced to a press conference. Big winners included No Country For Old Men and the cast of Hairspray, and Don Cheadle was awarded for his humanitarian work. More pics and the awards results after the jump.

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