When the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the top ten drama and comedy series semifinalists late last month, I had hoped that the list of actors who made the semifinals would be forthcoming. Alas, I was wrong, so I did some digging and struck gold -- the Gold Derby to be exact!

The Los Angeles Times Gold Derby Blog not only managed to get their hands on the list of Emmy semifinalists, they also got some major scoop from a few of the panelist judges about how some of the drama and comedy series are fairing in the race to the final five.

Thanks to the absence of 24 and The Sopranos from the ballot, the top ten semifinalists (and in some cases 11) in all eight categories are a varied assortment of perennial nominees and deserving newcomers. Did your favorites make the list?

• Emmy Award Semifinalists (all 10 major categories)

^{Photo: © Fox Broadcasting Co.}

Despite the threat of a strike that could delay the fall television season, it's business as usual in Hollywood. Many of our favorite shows have already begun filming new episodes and the stars are lining up to get in on all the wonderful things the small screen has to offer.

• Life on Mars: We loved him as mobster Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, but Michael Imperioli will be on the right side of the law this fall when he arrives at ABC's new series Life on Mars. He'll play the colleague of the main character, a detective who has been transported back to 1972.
  
  
• Desperate Housewives: Neal McDonough is moving to Wisteria Lane and will be a love interest for Edie Britt (yes, she'll be back!). Remember that guy Susan was kissing in the future? Gale Harold was the lucky mystery man and he'll be back on a recurring basis this season.
  
  
• ER: Four new interns will keep the ER hopping as the popular medical drama begins their final season -- Shiri Appleby as Daria Wade, Julian Morris as Andrew Wade, Emily Rose as Tracy Martin and Victor Rasuk as Ryan Sanchez. Each intern will come with their own set of issues, which should make it one last interesting year on ER.
  
  
• The Starter Wife: Last year's Emmy-winning mini-series returns as a bonafide television show in October. Debra Messing will be back as Molly Kagen, along with Judy Davis, Chris Diamantopoulos and Joe Mantegna (special guest appearance). New to the cast are: David Alan Bashe as Kenny Kagen; Danielle Nicolet as Liza Marsh; Brielle Barbusca as Jaden; Hart Bochner as Zach; James Black as Felix; Krista Allen as Eve; and Alia Shawkat as Robin.

^{Photo: Barry Wetcher/HBO}

The massive media machine that is 90210 has kicked it up a notch and this time it’s news I never thought in a million years I’d hear. Shannen Doherty may be returning to the zip code that made her infamous famous. Even crazier - Tori Spelling might be out!

Ironic is the first word that came to mind as I heard the scoop from E! Online’s Kristin. Her sources revealed that Shannen is in and Tori is out of the 90210 remake. Tori’s late father, the brilliant Aaron Spelling, created the original 90210 and then fired Doherty in 1994. Spelling then signed Shannen on for Charmed, only to fire her once again a few years later. Shannen has quite the reputation for stirring things up on set, so this time should be no different at all.

So, to sum things up -- Tori is being dropped from the remake of the show her own father created in favor of bringing on Shannen, the woman who apparently made life completely miserable on the set of both Spelling dramas, to the 90210 remake.

Yep, sounds about right to me!

^{Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images}

The June 30 deadline has come and gone, nothing has been settled between the SAG and AMPTP and actors are now working without a contract -- is another strike imminent? Could the fall television season be delayed?

The Good News: SAG President Alan Rosenberg has not called for a strike authorization and issued the following statement: "We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors."

The Bad News: Although the SAG has been offered a deal similar to the one that the WGA, DGA and AFTRA accepted, they feel that some of the key issues have not been addressed. This places the union in a difficult predicament because it makes it seem as though the deal was good enough for the others, but not for SAG members.

Actors asking for more money is always a major point of conjecture, so here's a little food for thought:

When we think about actors fighting to earn more money, most probably either laugh or express outrage at the very thought. Actors on major television series such as Desperate Housewives, CSI and Grey's Anatomy do indeed earn a tremendous amount of money each year. However, there are more than 120,000 SAG members and not all of them are earning that big paycheck. In fact, many SAG members earn less than the average middle-income household.

Hopefully SAG and AMPTP leaders will continue to keep the lines of communication open (as well as those studio doors!) and get a deal worked out before thousands of people are put out of work once again. There may be loads of money in Hollywood, but I don't know if they can sustain another $2-3 billion loss within the same year.

Do you think actors should demand a better deal than the other unions? Vote in our poll and post your comments below.



^{Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images}