It’s that time of year again….awards season!  Celebrities are running in high gear…and so are their plastic surgeons.  The glitz, the glamour, the red carpet, the jewelry, the leathery skin…but enough about Joan Rivers.  The time has come for talented men and women to receive recognition for achievements made to the entertainment business.  And there’s no bigger prize in motion picture than that adorable little gold guy Oscar.  With news of the nominations, Hollywood is abuzz with Oscar fever.  It’s such a shame the award comes so early in the year…by the time celebs send out their Christmas cards, they may forget they even have that old Oscar.  Especially if you’re Meryl Streep.

Yup, Meryl’s up for another award.  She may be portraying Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, but the title is more apropos for Streep’s own career.  This marks her 17th career nomination for Oscar, the most of any actor.  She hasn’t won since 1983 for Sophie’s Choice, but this is quite an impressive feat nonetheless.  Given her win at the Golden Globes for Best Actress, Drama, it looks like Meryl may be making the trip to the podium for the third time (before Sophie’s Choice, there was her supporting actress win for Kramer vs. Kramer).

Sure, Meryl may be making history, but my favorite story to come out of these nominations has to be Melissa McCarthy.  Just a few short months ago, I had the pleasure of blogging Melissa’s Emmy win for Mike & Molly, and now the girl is an Oscar nominee!  It’s the Year of McCarthy, my friends, so jump on board this bandwagon!  McCarthy is up for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her breakout role in Bridesmaids.  Costar Kristen Wiig, herself a powerhouse comedic performer, is an Oscar nominee herself, snagging an Original Screenplay Oscar along with co-writer Annie Mumolo.  Oscar tends to shy away from comedies, so these nominations are a welcome change of pace.

My other favorite?  Jonah Hill for Best Supporting Actor in Moneyball.  Anyone who saw Hill in Superbad may not have thought that his career trajectory included “Oscar nominee”, but he proved those naysayers wrong.  My money has him losing to Christopher Plummer (whom you may know as Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music…sidebar: Plummer is about a million years old and has never won an Oscar.  This year, that will change.).  Either way, it’s a move in the right direction for this versatile young actor.

Winners will be announced on February 26.  Until then, I have lots of movies I need to see!

This past Sunday, some Hollywood celebrities got a reason to send out some Christmas cards.  What better way to say hello to your closest friends than with a picture of you clutching your newly-won Emmy!  While perennial favorites like Mad Men and The Daily Show with Jon Stewartcontinued their winning streaks, the night belonged to the newbies, as many of these talented actors walked away with their very first statues.

The cast of 'Modern Family' had plenty to celebrate at the Emmy Awards. Hopefully they'll share the joy with Christmas cards.

I could not be happier for Melissa McCarthy.  The Mike & Molly star, who announced the nominations earlier in July, actually won her first Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.  And this was her first nomination!  To most, she may be the break-out star of this summer’s hilarious moneymaker, Bridesmaids.  But to me, she will always be Sookie St. James, the neurotic, perfectionist chef on Gilmore Girls.  McCarthy beat out past Emmy winners Edie Falco and Tina Fey, as well as front-runner Laura Linney for The Big C, Martha Plimpton from Raising Hope, and the always-funny Amy Poehler for Parks & Recreation.

Two Modern Family stars walked away with Supporting Actor and Actress comedy gold.  Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen, who play married couple Phil & Claire Dunphy, won their first Emmys.  They both beat out stiff competition, especially Bowen, who trumped fellow castmate Sofia Vergara and last year’s winner (and host for the evening) Jane Lynch from Glee.  And she also beat out the last Golden Girl, Betty White.  Burrell beat out the other brilliant men of Modern Family: last year’s winner Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Ed O’Neill, as well as past winner Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) and Glee favorite Chris Colfer.

Kyle Chandler, star of Friday Night Lights, won his first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama.  The win is big, not only for Chandler, but for the show itself.  Lights had been critically-acclaimed (a rarity for an NBC show these days), but hadn’t caught on with viewers.  After being cancelled by NBC, the show was picked up by DirecTV, where it ended its run this past year.  Critics had always agreed that the show deserved more recognition from the Emmys; Chandler’s win may be some vindication, though not enough for some.

Other winners included Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife, Margo Martindale for Justified (her first), Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones (his first), Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory (his second), and Kate Winslet for Mildred Pearce (her first Emmy, which she can add to her Oscar, her SAG award, and her 2 Golden Globes…that’d be an awesome Christmas card!).  What did you think?  Were you happy with these year’s Emmys?  How did Jane Lynch do as host?  Sound off below!