Hugh Laurie of House, Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls and Zach Braff of Scrubs are the hottest actors working in series television.
That's the final word from participants in the first annual MediaVillage TV Fan Awards, which concluded its month-long voting period last week. Laurie, Graham and Braff didn't simply win respective top honors as Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. Rather, each of these three fan favorites enjoyed a substantial lead over the second place finisher in their individual categories, far outdistancing other nominees.
The winners in the program competitions were The Office for Outstanding Comedy Series, House for Outstanding Drama Series and American Idol for Outstanding Reality Competition Series.
Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell was the fans' top choice as Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
In supporting categories, the TV Fan Award winners were: T.R. Knight of Grey's Anatomy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Sandra Oh of Grey's Anatomy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Sean Hayes of Will & Grace for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and Kelly Bishop of Gilmore Girls for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Significantly, despite much critical acclaim for their performances, tremendous fan enthusiasm online and strong ratings for their series, Laurie, Graham and Braff were not nominated for Emmy Awards this year. And while Laurie and Braff have been nominated in previous seasons, Graham has never received a nomination over the six-year run of Gilmore Girls. Bishop also has never been nominated for her role on that show.
Emmy winner Kiefer Sutherland of 24 received the second highest number of votes in the category of Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. Sutherland was in a near-tie with Matthew Fox of Lost. Finishing a strong second for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series was Ellen Pompeo of Grey's Anatomy.
Stars from Grey's Anatomy dominated the supporting drama categories. Isaiah Washington was the fans' second choice as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Chandra Wilson and Katherine Heigl closely followed Sandra Oh as the fans' top choices for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
In the Outstanding Actress in a Comedy category, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives were tied for a very distant second place behind Lauren Graham, an indication that there is still much fan support for their show, despite the fact the neither the program nor its four lead actresses received Emmy nominations this year.
Media superstar of the moment Steve Carrel of The Office was the fans' second choice for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.
In the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy category, Sean Hayes received significantly more votes than second place finisher and recent Emmy winner Jeremy Piven of Entourage. In the Supporting Actress category, Kelly Bishop's lead was less commanding over the fans' second place choice, Megan Mullally of Will & Grace, like Piven an Emmy winner last month.
Television's most popular and powerful show, American Idol, has been nominated for an Emmy every year since the Outstanding Reality-Competition category was introduced in 2003. But it has suffered four consecutive losses to The Amazing Race.
The voters' second choices in the categories of Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Reality-Competition Series were Grey's Anatomy, My Name is Earl and Project Runway, respectively.
The MediaVillage TV Fan Awards were created to allow TV fans the opportunity to honor the television stars and programs of their choice. Winners from each of 11 categories will receive a crystal award dubbed the "Jacky."
Winners of the 1st Annual MediaVillage TV Fan Awards
Outstanding Drama Series: House
Outstanding Comedy Series: The Office
Outstanding Reality-Competition Series: American Idol
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series: Hugh Laurie, House
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series: Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: T.R. Knight, Grey's Anatomy
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: Zach Braff, Scrubs
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Sean Hayes, Will & Grace
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Kelly Bishop, Gilmore Girls