A little different this time

The Emmy Awards are back, mixing glitz, glamour and – this year – philosophical shrugs.

There are, it seems, too many good shows and too many bad nominations. Maybe the only solution is to relax and have fun.

“Most people know my sense of humor,” host Conan O’Brien says, exaggerating for effect. “It’s fairly silly. It’s for the most part, a waste of time. It will be in that vein.”

He’ll have a mono- logue, plus odd, taped bits. He also promises that the Emmy controversy will be noted: “Yes, we’ll be talking about it.”

The trouble started with a basic problem, says Dick Askin, chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: “The Emmy had a sameness, year after year. It was always the same shows, the same people.”

So the nominating rules were changed. And if Askin wanted change, he overachieved:

•Last year’s Emmy-winning series – “Lost” in dramas, “Desperate Housewives” in comedy – weren’t even nominated.

•Several top actors were left out, led by Hugh Laurie in “House” and James Gandolfini in “The Sopranos.”

•And some of the people who were nominated left critics startled. Stockard Channing (who had a small role in “Out of Practice”) and Kevin James (“King of Queens”) are up for best lead actress and actor in a comedy. Ellen Burstyn has a supporting nomination for “Mrs. Harris”; Hollywood Reporter says the entire performance consists of 14 seconds and 38 lines.

Laurie, a well-bred Englishman whose series was nominated for best drama, views his personal snub politely. “A show being nominated is a much bigger thing than an individual being nominated,” he says.

Others are less diplomatic. Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, has admitted that “Desperate Housewives” slipped a little in quality, but feels “Lost” was as good as ever.

“To have that kind of oversight, to me, is remarkable,” McPherson said. “It’s … one of the best shows on the air, maybe one of the best shows of all time.”

The changed process had committees doing the nominations on the basis of only one episode each. Some people sent stand-out episodes (James included a pole-dancing routine). Some didn’t.

“The (submissions), on the part of the producers, really were not as thoroughly thought out as they should have been,” Askin says.

The Emmys themselves will be decided based on six episodes, not just one, he says. And next year, the whole thing might change again.

“If this engenders a little more interest in the show itself … it’s going to wind up being positive,” says director Ken Ehrlich.

Meanwhile, he’s looking for fun: “What’s great about Conan is that he’ll bring a freshness to this. You’ll see a lot of him; you’ll see some pieces we’re doing.”

For his part, O’Brien says any nominating system would bring controversy, adding: “I honestly believe it’s one of the best years ever in television.”

That’s mainly in drama, stuffed with strong nominees: “Sopranos,” “West Wing,” “House,” “24,” “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Meanwhile, nominees are busy preparing for their possible moment.

“I will spend that day in a frenzy of anxiousness about whether my dress is all right or not,” says Helen Mirren, whose lead actress work in HBO’s “Elizabeth I” miniseries could bring her second Emmy. “Because you know that’s the only thing anybody’s going to be interested in.”

Sometimes it seems that way. Cable channels will be on the red carpet at 6 p.m.; NBC will be there at 7.

There will be lots of posing and gaping and fun. Later that night, the griping can resume.