Every year, Hollywood's TV elite have a circle jerk and many of us sit down to watch the reach-around because we're perverts or sad, bored, lonely people. The glitterati congratulate themselves on what a great job they all did and how they've revolutionized American culture for generations to come even though no one (apart from me, I suppose) watched The Comeback. And every year, civilians and TV connoisseurs alike are baffled by how increasingly inaccessible the winners are. If nobody's watching Breaking Bad, does that mean it's any good? (Well, it is, but that's not the point.) And also, if no one continues watching it after it wins the gold, then really, what use are the Emmys? Well none, which is why if this year's a bust, it may be marginalized to cable next year. With this year's crop of nominees (and slightly bloated short-lists), we could pick a few bones. For example, Entourage again? Two and a Half Men up for any kind of acting award? Why, Universe! Why must you reward crap? But enough despair. A run-down of what the TV gods got right follows.

● It’s a good thing MTV renewed The City, as it gives Whitney’s frenemy Olivia Palermo more time to practice her acting skills. She’s reportedly using the reality show to jump-start a "serious" acting career. [THR,P6]
● Anne Hathaway describes her experience on Tim Burton’s forthcoming Alice in Wonderland adaptation like being “invited [to the] sandbox to play around.” [TheNational]
● Could those rumors be true that Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke are an item? They were seen in a lip-lock at a SAG after-party. Draw your own conclusions about the parallels between Rourke and previous Wood beau Marilyn Manson. [PopCrunch]

Michael C. Hall isn’t two steps through the door before I understand his entire career. On paper, his clean-cut, all-American good looks make him an unlikely choice to play the sexually depraved Emcee in the Broadway hit Cabaret, much less the dysfunctional mortician in HBO’s Six Feet Under, and they make him a downright preposterous choice for the sympathetic serial killer in the current Showtime hit, Dexter. Why, you have to wonder, does he keep getting cast so perversely when his face looks tailor-made to play a Mormon missionary?