Your 2009 Amy Awards Categories

Whoo-hoo!

I can't thank you enough for participating in the call for categories for the 2009 Amy Awards. I had a blast reading your ideas. You guys are very clever, very funny and a little cranky about certain topics (it appears most of us would like dead characters to, you know, stay dead).

After poring through your e-mails and battling an ever-so-slight case of carpal tunnel syndrome (it was so worth it), I've come up with your 12 most wanted Amy Award categories.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences might want to take note. Imagine how much more interesting the Emmy Awards would be if say Marcia Cross and Chace Crawford (come on you know how wacky those Emmy pairs can be) came out and announced "And the nominees for This May be Your Show but Everyone Watches for Me or Best Supporting Character are . . ."

Here are the guiding principles for the 12 categories. Out of your most popular categories, I picked 12 unique categories to give the Amy Awards some variety and 12 categories that would produce five viable nominations. (Therefore, although it made me laugh, I had to eliminate categories like "Worst Storyline Shonda Rhimes ever came up with.") I also collapsed some that were very similar into one category (hence worst story line and worst plot twist are in the same category). And since this is, after all, a column for people who love TV, I tried to have a mix of both positive and negative categories.

Remember in the Amy Awards you pick the categories, you pick the nominations and you pick the winners. So now you need to vote for five nominees in each category. You can talk about your choice of nominees below or on twitter, but you must email me you nominations to have your vote counted. You have until this Sunday, June 7 at 5 p.m. ET to email me your nominations. You can nominate up to five nominees in each category and in as many categories as you would like.

Remember the nominations must be shows (either network or cable) from the past year (June 2008- May 2009).

And now, without further ado, here are your 2009 Amy Awards:

You have until the Sunday, June 7 at 5 p.m. ET to email me your nominations. So come on these are your awards, let's hear you roar.

Question of the Day

Once again, it's time to reflect on the TV season that just ended. Today's question is: Did "Ugly Betty" bounce back? I say yes. The finale was a really strong episode -- real emotion as Daniel lost his wife, real drama as once again Wilhelmina was fighting to be the one in charge, and, as always, real humor (Amanda, Amanda, Amanda). I feel like Betty and Henry finally got the closure we, as viewers, needed for them. It's also a plot that broke up Matt and Betty in a very realistic way. Plus I kind of think Matt will be back but as a bad guy next season. But the smartest thing the show has done is give the wonderful Michael Urie so much more to do as Marc. This season he's really blossomed into a character with ambition of his own and compassion ( I love his scenes with Justin) without losing his very Marcness. So I think "Betty" is back on track as it heads into next season. How about you?

If you have a TV question you would like the group to discuss, email me and let me know.

Highlights of the Week Ahead

All times listed are eastern standard time for June 1-7

Quite a few NBC shows wrap up their seasons this week. Allison dreams that her whole family has been taken from her on the season finale of "Medium" (Monday, NBC, 10 p.m.). In the fall, "Medium" will move to CBS and Friday night where it will air after "Ghost Whisperer."

So I'm thinking Conan is going to do just fine in this time slot. How about you? "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" premieres Monday at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.

I spent the weekend catching up on "Rescue Me." (Don't worry I did go outdoors too. I played golf on Sunday which basically involves me hitting the ball until I give up, pick up the ball and move on to the next hole.) I really love what I've seen so far. The series has made quite a few strategic decisions that have really paid off. They've taken the intense focus off Tommy. He's still the lead of the show but Lou, Franco and Sean have also had strong story arcs this season. The show has also returned to the firehouse humor that they do so well -- the series is at its best when the guys are just sitting around talking/insulting each other. They also have smartened up Sean and Mike. Sure they're still not the sharpest tools in the shed but they are not complete idiots. Mike, in particular, has really matured and you'll love the scene he has with Tommy this week. My favorite thing is what the show has done with Sheila this season. It has finally helped us understand what has been going on with Sheila all this time and why she was so fixated on Tommy. I've seen this week's episode and I fear a little bit that the show may be falling back into its bad habits but so far I think this is the best season "Rescue Me" has had since season one. How about you?

Carol Kane and Nick Stahl guest star on the season finale of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Tuesday, NBC ,10 p.m.) and I had kind of forgotten that Tom Everett Scott, who didn't fare so well in the season finale of "Southland," also plays the Governor on "Law & Order." You can see him and Sam Waterson face off in the season finale Wednesday at 10 p.m. on NBC.

The CW repeats the pilot of "Privileged" at 8 p.m. and then ABC airs back-to-back repeats of "Samantha Who?" beginning at 9 p.m. What's really interesting is that ABC originally had scheduled to air episodes of "In the Motherhood" Friday night as well but the show has been pulled from the schedule indefinitely it seems. Right now ABC is saying it will eventually air the new remaining episodes of "Samantha Who?" in this time slot. Let's all keep thinking good thoughts that this actually happens. We all know how fickle ABC can be when it comes to "Samantha Who?"

Remember you can now follow me on Twitter.

That's all for today. Don't forget to email me your nominations for the 2009 Amy Awards. I'm back on Wednesday with reviews of "Royal Pains" and "The Listener" and to talk about the season premiere of "Burn Notice." Also coming Friday a look at the return of "Army Wives." Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a topic for discussion? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com. Talk to you on Wednesday.