The Dr. Doug Ross Award- Lead in Drama

Named For: Dr. Doug Ross (ER)
Awarded To: The best lead character in a drama series
2009 Winner: Tim Riggins (Friday Night Lights)
2010 Winner: Greg House (House, MD)

Place. Nominee (Series) Points (My Vote)

10. Adam Braverman (Parenthood) 4 points (5th)

9. Davis McAlary (Treme) 5 points (4th)

8. Patrick Leary (Lights Out) 7 points

7. Hank Moody (Californication) 8 points

6. Ari Gold (Entourage) 9 points

5. Don Draper (Mad Men) 10 points (2nd)

4. Greg House (House, MD) 12 points

3. Cappie Jones (Greek) 13 points (1st)

2. Joe Lucas (Jonas) 14 points (3rd)

and the Poolie goes to...

1. Eric Taylor (Friday Night Lights) 27 points

This is Eric Taylor's third straight Poolie nomination, and first ever win for the best lead character in a drama series.

We here at the Quiet Pool Perspective are proud to welcome Poolie voter Lar, who has some nice things to say about Coach Eric Taylor, Kyle Chandler, and the people of Friday Night Lights.

                                                                                                                                                                  

What do great American heroes like George Washington, Ben Franklin, and the Seal Six have in common? They all wish they could be more like Coach Taylor. In the same company as David Palmer, who we all wished was on the real presidential ticket back in 2004, Coach crossed the real life barrier and made us think about what it would be like to play for him. Once a character makes this leap into reality, he/she is destined to come home with hardware. This is a great way to send off one of the very best characters on one of the best television shows ever.

~ Written by Larry Avitabile

The Dr. Doug Ross Award- Lead Character Drama

Named For: Dr. Doug Ross played by George Clooney in ER (NBC)
Awarded To: Best lead character in a drama series from
June 1, 2009 - May 31, 2010
Last Year's Winner: Tim Riggins- Friday Night Lights

Place. Character (Show) Points (My Vote)

10. Adam Braverman (Parenthood) 4 points (5th)

9. Joe Tranelli (Men of a Certain Age) 5 points

8. Ben Epstein (How to Make it in America) 9 points

7. Don Draper (Mad Men) 10 points

6. Cappie (Greek) 10 points (3rd)

5. Hank Moody (Californication) 10 points (2nd)

4. Johnny Chase (Entourage) 13 points

3. Eric Taylor (Friday Night Lights) 17 points

Runner-Up
2. Tim Riggins (Friday Night Lights) 28 points (1st)

and the Poolie goes to...
1. Greg House (House, MD)
31 points (4th)

Here with his thoughts on Greg House is Poolie voter, Larry...

The differential on House: After completing his sixth year at Princeton Plainsboro last month, Greg House has cemented his place among all-time great television characters, because no character has done more with less. His employees are boring and unlikable, yet he manages to get the most out of them (best example: Chase and Wilson going speed dating with House). Only one other recurring character (Wilson) brings anything to the table, and even that is entirely dependant on his interactions with House. The procedural nature of the show doesn’t help either because it makes for a predictable plot (let’s get a quick CT and a lumbar puncture). The format worked for the first few seasons, but by season six (maybe even five) the repetitiveness has started to wear on people (how many times can the team test for sarcoidosis?). Normally this is a show I would have stopped following by now, but because of House’s character I still tune in. That’s what makes him great. It’s also nice to see a TV character hate everyone. It’s beautiful, actually.

House’s performance in season six parallel’s A-Rod’s 2003 MVP season with the Rangers (with House only lacking the Lance Bass-ian flamboyancy). A-Rod was clearly the best player in the league, yet his team managed to win less than half their games. House had a similar success rate, only managing a few memorable episodes this season. Maybe House’s team didn’t “win” enough, but at the end of the day this is an individual award, and he carried a show through its sixth season, where without him it wouldn’t have made two. If he somehow takes these other idiots supporting characters to the promised land (Dynasty Award), you might as well name the award after him.

by Larry Avitabile