This week’s pick is the HBO film By Dawn’s Early Light (1990), directed by Jack Sholder. The film stars Martin Landau, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, James Earl Jones, Darren McGavin, Rip Torn, Jeffery DeMunn, Peter MacNicol, and Nicolas Coster.

By Dawn’s Early Light was based on the novel Trinity’s Child that depicts a full nuclear exchange between the U.S. and USSR. The film is set in 1991 as the Soviet Union is undergoing radical political change (when the film was produced, the Soviet Union was in fact beginning to collapse).

A group of Soviet brass launches a nuclear strike with a stolen missile against the Soviet city of Donetsk. U.S. forces track the trajectory of the missile from allied Turkey. This act makes the Soviet Première and Soviet forces think it was a surprise attack from the U.S. and NATO forces.  The Soviets launch a retaliatory strike which threatens U.S. land based bombers and many key points of communication such as the NORAD facility, SAC headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, Washington D.C., and Andrews AFB in Maryland which is where the president would be evacuated from.

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It’s not particularly surprising that Mad Men and Mildred Pierece had the most nominations today when Melissa McCarthy and Joshua Jackson made the 2011 Primetime Emmy announcement. Jane Lynch will be hosting the 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 18.

For the complete list of nominees, head over to the Emmys website. We’ve just got the ones we really care about for you here. (aka The Big Ones).

Of course, the fact that Community isn’t nominated in the Outstanding Comedy category just makes these awards that much less special. Plus, I wouldn’t want to be nominated in a category against Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones. He’s pretty much got that one in the bag

Check out the nominations below.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Louis C.K., Louie
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Hugh Laurie, House
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Jon Hamm, Mad Men

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This week’s pick is The TNT original film Andersonville (1996) from acclaimed film maker John Frankenheimer (Seven Days in May, Against the Wall). The film stars Jarrod Emick (Pvt. Josiah Day), Frederic Forrest (Sgt. McSpadden), Ted Marcoux (Martin Blackburn) Gregory Sporleder (Dick Potter), Cliff De Young (Sgt. John Gleason), William Sanderson (Munn), Peter Murnik (Limber Jim), Frederick Coffin (Collins), Olek Krupa (Olek Wisnovsky), Jan Triska (Captain Henry Wirz), and William H. Macy (Col. Chandler).

Andersonville was the most infamous of Confederate prisons during the American War between the States. It was made to house only eight thousand or so Union troops, but in its short existence, it housed nearly thirty thousand Union POWs. From 1864-65 nearly seventeen thousand men lost their lives due to starvation, disease, and at the hands of marauding gangs of prisoners known as the “Raiders”who murdered and stole from their fellow inmates.

The film opens in Virginia in April of 1864 where Union troops are pushing back Confederate forces. Josiah Day (Emick) acts as a runner between his unit and the main force which has encountered heavy resistance.

While running back to tell his Sergeant that their commanding officer has ordered them to break through the rebel positions, Pvt. Day is shot and taken prisoner. When he arrives at a clearing, he realizes that Confederate forces have overrun his unit who have now joined him as prisoners.

The men are ordered to lay down and to stay put until they’re moved in the morning. If any of them attempt to rise or flee, they’ll be shot. Josiah’s cousin attempts to escape and he is shot down instantly. The rest of the men lay quietly until the following morning.

The next day the men are taken to a rail head where officers and enlisted men are separated. Pvt. Day and Sgt. McSpadden’s (Forrest) Captain tells them that they are in charge and to look after the rest of the men. Sgt. McSpadden assures the Captain he will, and that they will all one day meet again in Boston.

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For those of you who watched last night’s Emmy Awards…we’re sorry. There weren’t very many upsets and let’s face it, Fallon’s hosting skills left a bit to be desired. The silver lining of last night’s show? Three brand new scenes with the gang from our favorite NBC shows: Community.

The whole gang was together to help pimp the Infinity QX 56 for NBC, but we’re OK with it because it gave the fans a chance to see our favorite Greendale College students a little early before they return for a new season in September. Even Ken Jeong is back for these clips, which makes the whole series that much better.

And for those die-hards out there: yes, there’s even a Glee sucker punch in there as well. Check out the clip after the jump, in which we get some awesome food-TV gags such as How I Met Your Muffins, The New Adventures of Old Crispies, and even LOST carrots.

Catch all-new episodes of Community on Thursday, September 23rd, on NBC.

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Missed last night’s Emmy Awards? Didn’t feel like sitting through the entire spectacle just to see if Jon Hamm took home that shiny trophy? We’ve got your solution. Here is the complete list of Emmy Winners from last night’s show. Enjoy.

Drama Series: “Mad Men,” AMC.

Comedy Series: “Modern Family,” ABC.

Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad,” AMC.

Actress, Drama Series: Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer,” TNT.

Actor, Comedy Series: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS.

Actress, Comedy Series: Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie,” Showtime.

Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad,” AMC.

Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife,” CBS.

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family,” ABC.

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Jane Lynch, “Glee,” Fox.

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Highlights of tonight’s Emmy Awards from our pals at NBC. Enjoy.

Modern Family Gone Mad
Messing with Modern Family’s Emmy-winning formula is a dangerous–and comical–idea.

Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons wins the Emmy for Lead Actor, Comedy Series for his work on The Big Bang Theory.

Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch wins the Emmy for Supporting Actress, Comedy Series for her work on Glee.

It’s Emmy time and the nominations were announced this morning in LA at the Academy of Arts & Sciences for the 62nd annual awards show. It was a big day for HBO as it’s show The Pacific received the most nominations with 24.

Other shows nominated for several awards include Fox’s Glee with 19 nominations, AMC’s Mad Men with 17, NBC’s 30 Rock and HBO’s Temple Grandin and You Don’t Know Jack with 15 each, ABC’s Modern Family with 14 and NBC’s Saturday Night Live with 12.

Also nominated in a big way was ABC’s Dancing With The Stars with 9, Showtime’s Nurse Jackie with 8, CBS’ Two And A Half Men with 6, CBS’ Big Bang Theory with 5. HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, CBS’ How I Met Your Mother and NBC’s The Office all tied with 4.

As it often does, HBO led with 101 nominations total. ABC, with 63 nominations, received the most for any broadcast network followed by CBS with 57, NBC with 48, FOX with 47, and mighty PBS with 32.

All in all it seems like quite a diverse group of shows were nominated this year and we congratulate all of the nominees. Plus, it’s nice to see people finally get recognized for their work including Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights as well as Betty White with her 20th nomination for hosting Saturday Night Live.

Click through for more nominees and be sure to check out the official Emmy site for more. The 62nd annual Primetime Emmy Awards air on August 29, 2010 on NBC.

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