Edgar Nominations: Rounding up the Rest

So it turns out there is a “WTF?!” moment to the Edgars after all, but it’s not in the major categories. Instead, it’s to do with L&O: Criminal Intent’s four — yes, four — nominations in the best TV Episode category. How did this happen? Lee Goldberg explains in an earlier comment:

I’m surprised the four of the five nominations for Best Teleplay went

to LAW AND ORDER CRIMINAL INTENT… when there was THE WIRE, THE

SHIELD, THE SOPRANOS, LAW AND ORDER SVU, CSI, WITHOUT A TRACE and so

much else to choose from. I know why it happened, too…the committee

didn’t reach out beyond what was sent to them. Rene Balcer, the ep of

L&O:CI, inundates the committee with cassettes of every single

episode. No other show, or producer, is as diligent about submitting

work as he is. He makes it easy for them. I’m not saying L&O:CI

isn’t deserving of nomination… it is… but for four out of the five

slots? I don’t think so.

Indeed that is the case, looking at the submissions list for this category. Fifty-five episodes were submitted, and L&O:CI comprised almost ¹⁄₃ of the total episodes (16) . But interestingly, L&O: SVU submitted 14 episodes, and they didn’t get a single nomination. Still, one does have to wonder at the sheer one-sidedness of the category shortlist…

On the non-fiction front, one would expect Leslie Klinger’s massive ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES to be the front-runner, but Norman Sherry’s continuation of his biography of Graham Greene might be the darkhorse. Over in Fact Crime, Julian Rubinstein’s book has garnered much buzz (and a recent movie deal) but Ann Rule’s the veteran writing about her pet case — the Green River Killer — so she has a pretty good chance.

As for the rest, and other thoughts? That’s what the backblogs are for…