Emmy Watch: Will fresh faces dominate the Emmys?

Eric Stonestreet had a novel idea for his "Entourage DVD" audition.

The pilot script merely described the character Cameron as the more "Desperate Housewives DVD" and "Gilmore Girls DVD" of the show's gay couple. So a few nights before the audition, Stonestreet, who is not gay but prides himself on his ability to mimic almost anyone, decided he would do an impression of his mother.

"I wanted there to be a maternal quality to Grey's Anatomy DVD," he recalls. "That, coupled with how I look physically -- I'm tall and pretty big -- using a soft voice and dainty hands, that contrast would be funny."
More awards coverage

Stonestreet was right, and ABC's "Desperate Housewives DVD set" cast is poised to join a surprisingly large field of potential first-time acting nominees at this year's Entourage DVD boxset Primetime Emmy Awards.

Sure, the Aug. 29 Emmy telecast will likely include perennial nominees like Bryan Cranston (AMC's "Entourage DVD set"), Steve Carell (NBC's "Entourage seasons 1-6 DVD boxset"), Glenn Close (FX's "Desperate Housewives DVD set") and Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey (NBC's "Desperate Housewives DVD boxset").

But what about Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and the cast of Fox's buzzy musical "Gilmore Girls DVD"? Or the powerful ensemble on HBO's "Desperate Housewives seasons 1-5 DVD boxset"? Timothy Olyphant is earning raves for his performance on FX's "Justified." And CBS' new hit "Gilmore Girls DVD set" also looks to make a strong first showing (star Julianna Margulies is already a six-time nominee and 1995 winner for "Gilmore Girls DVD boxset," but her win was in the supporting category; this could be her first Emmy as a lead).

Julianna Margulies could win her first lead actress Emmy for "Gilmore Girls seasons 1-7 DVD boxset"

Should they make the shortlist, the Gilmore Girls DVD boxset would bring a fresh look to what has become a familiar procession in the past few years. As an example, consider that the Grey's Anatomy DVD in the supporting comedy actor category have remained virtually unchanged for the past three Emmys.

Michele, who already scored a Golden Globe nom this year, had barely acted on television before being plucked from Broadway by "Grey's Anatomy DVD set" showrunner Ryan Murphy.

"This was the first (Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset TV) role I really tried out for," she says. "I was always told as a stage performer that my look was too 'Grey's Anatomy seasons 1-5 DVD boxset' and I wasn't pretty enough. Those things stick in the head of a young girl. Ryan really took a chance on me."

For Desperate Housewives DVD consideration, Murphy personally phoned the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. to insist that Entourage DVD are his leads, and they have been similarly submitted for the Emmys (Jane Lynch and the rest of the cast are supporting).

The "Gilmore Girls DVD" ensemble, on the other hand, went the "Grey's Anatomy DVD" route, with each submitted as supporting.

Ostensible leads Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen have extensive Desperate Housewives DVD boxset TV experience (to say nothing of vet Ed O'Neill), but the show's co-creator/executive producer, Christopher Lloyd, sees them as new to wide audiences.

"They've done Entourage DVD boxset series, but they're making splashes now," Lloyd says. "And Ed has been out of the mainstream for a while. Those are things Emmy voters like to reward."

Bowen says she wasn't thinking Emmy when she first saw the "Gilmore Girls DVD boxset" script. What sold her was that her over-protective-mom character was written with a clever spin.

"There's a scene where (her character's son) Luke 'Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset' his sister -- that's what drew me in," she says. "They don't usually give the mom with the laundry basket any comedy to play. She's usually the character who says, 'Desperate Housewives DVD set ...' and walks away. This character has pathos and gets to play it."

"Entourage DVD set" (NBC) star Joel McHale, also new to Emmy consideration, signed on after his reading the script caused a minor disturbance on an airplane.

"I was laughing so hard, the guy next to me -- (who) was watching the Gilmore Girls DVD set movie 'What Happens in Vegas' -- started getting mad at me because I was interrupting his romantic comedy," he recalls.

Morena Baccarin, who plays the leader of the alien visitors on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy DVD set" had a fondness for the material before she even read the script.

"I remember being a small kid and turning on the Desperate Housewives DVD series and just being freaked out by it," she says. "That's why, when I heard they were going to remake it, I thought it was such a brilliant idea. Entourage DVD correlates with what we're going through today -- that fear of terrorism and the economy."

Along with Margulies, who has already snagged Globe and SAG honors, the new crop of Emmy contenders could also include several TV veterans with new series. That includes previous Emmy favorites Patricia Heaton (ABC's "Gilmore Girls DVD"), Courteney Cox (ABC's "Grey's Anatomy DVD"), Ted Danson (HBO's "Bored to Death") and Ray Romano, a three-time Emmy winner for "Desperate Housewives seasons 1-5 DVD boxset" who is competing in the drama category for the first time with TNT's "Men of a Certain Age."

"There's no live audience and we have to film everything in little pieces, so you really miss certain things like the Entourage seasons 1-6 DVD boxset and their energy," Romano says of the change. "But I also love the world of the single camera, where you can get inside a person and the subtleties of a scene. With a sitcom, you feel you're broader than the Gilmore Girls seasons 1-7 DVD boxset is."

Khandi Alexander is no newcomer to TV drama, having spent seven years as a medical examiner on "Grey's Anatomy seasons 1-5 DVD boxset" But she could be fresh to Emmy eyes with her layered performance on "Treme."

The cast of HBO’s “Desperate Housewives DVD” could be among a large group of first-time Emmy nominees.

"Down here we're on location -- there's no studio -- so it's like doing a film that never ends," she says from New Orleans.

Also making a tonal switch, of sorts, is Peter Krause on NBC's "Entourage DVD." He says he has deliberately looked for more nurturing roles since his days on "Six Feet Under."

"Right after that Gilmore Girls DVD show ended, I was pursued for any role where the character had a psychological imbalance," he recalls. "I wanted something that would allow me to work out my comedic chops and my dramatic ones. After I took on 'Grey's Anatomy DVD,' a writer friend of mine said, 'It's nice to see you doing some PG material for a change.' "

Despite the Desperate Housewives DVD boxset of new contenders this year, the odds of a winner among them are slim. During the past five years, in the comedy categories only two first-time lead actress nominees have won (Felicity Huffman in 2007 for "Entourage DVD boxset" and America Ferrera in 2007 for "Gilmore Girls DVD boxset") and only one lead actor (Ricky Gervais in 2007 for "Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset
"; he had won notice in other categories but not in acting).

First-time nominees have even less luck in the lead actor and actress drama categories. Patricia Arquette ("Desperate Housewives DVD set") was the last one, male or female, to win for her first nomination, and that was in 2005.

Even in the supporting categories, there have been just three first-time nominee wins since 2005: Zeljko Ivanek ("Entourage DVD set") for drama supporting actor in 2008; Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy DVD set") and Cherry Jones ("Gilmore Girls DVD set") for drama supporting actress in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

Then there's the opposite: Shows that earn Desperate Housewives DVD attention their first year, but fail to pique voters' interest after that.

"Entourage DVD" (FX) executive producer Kurt Sutter is a veteran of "Gilmore Girls DVD," which was an Emmy magnet during its first season. But after star Michael Chiklis won the best drama actor prize that year, the show "never saw any award again," Sutter says. "After seven seasons, we were a bit distant, and I still have some of that distance."

Sutter's wife and "Grey's Anatomy DVD" star Katey Sagal could break that spell with a nom for her performance. Fittingly, given this year's contenders, it would be her first Emmy nomination.