A Few Choice Picks of the Emmys

Will a man’s work never end?

I’ve been getting frantic calls from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences begging for my Emmy choices. All right, all right. Just in the nick of time (the Fox-produced Emmycast airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on Channels 11 and 6), here are a few:

Lead Actor, Comedy Series: Four of the nominees are Ted Danson of NBC’s “Cheers,” Richard Mulligan of NBC’s “Empty Nest,” Michael J. Fox of NBC’s “Family Ties” and John Goodman of ABC’s “Roseanne.”

My Pick: Fred Savage of ABC’s “The Wonder Years.” The others are swell guys, but Savage is the sentimental choice because his voice could change at any time and cost him his job.

Lead Actress, Comedy Series: The also-rans are Candice Bergen of CBS’ “Murphy Brown” and Betty White, Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan of NBC’s “Golden Girls.”

My Pick: Blair Brown of Lifetime cable’s “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” Brown is simply on another level.

Lead Actor, Drama Series: The strong field includes Ron Perlman of CBS’ “Beauty and the Beast,” Carroll O’Connor of NBC’s “In the Heat of the Night,” Michael Tucker of NBC’s “L.A. Law” and Ken Wahl of CBS’ “Wiseguy.”

My Pick : Edward Woodward of “The Equalizer.” His series was canceled and he may not get another chance.

Lead Actress, Drama Series: Other nominees are Linda Hamilton of “Beauty and the Beast,” Dana Delany of ABC’s “China Beach,” Susan Dey of “L.A. Law” and Angela Lansbury of CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote.”

My Pick: Jill Eikenberry of “L.A. Law.” Week after week, she’s luminous.

Lead actor, Miniseries or Special: Tommy Lee Jones of CBS’ “Lonesome Dove,” Ben Kingsley of HBO’s “Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story,” James Woods of ABC’s “My Name Is Bill W.” and John Gielgud of ABC’s “War and Remembrance”--surely the sentimental favorite--are all worthy.

My Pick: Robert Duvall of “Lonesome Dove,” because he was a little more splendid than the others.

Lead Actress, Miniseries or Special: Four of the nominees are Diane Lane and Anjelica Huston of “Lonesome Dove” and Amy Madigan and Holly Hunter of NBC’s “Roe vs. Wade.”

My Pick: Jane Seymour of “War and Remembrance.” The others gave performances; Seymour gave the performance of her life.

Comedy Series: Assembled here are the usual suspects--”Cheers,” “Designing Women” and “The Golden Girls”--plus newcomer “Murphy Brown.”

My Pick: “The Wonder Years,” because nothing else comes close.

Drama Series: Another good field that includes “Beauty and the Beast,” “China Beach,” “L.A. Law” and “Wiseguy.”

My Pick: ABC’s “thirtysomething,” not consistently superior, but sometimes brilliant and consistently interesting.

Drama/Comedy Special: Nominees include ABC’s “David,” “Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story,” “My Name Is Bill W.” and “Roe vs. Wade.”

My Pick: CBS’ “Day One.” In a generally humdrum season for specials, this was a standout.

Miniseries: NBC’s “I Know My First Name Is Steven” and ABC’s “The Women of Brewster Place” are two of the nominees. Two others that had soaring moments are PBS’ “A Perfect Spy” and the probable winner, “Lonesome Dove.”

My Pick: “War and Remembrance,” for being awesome not only in scope but in execution, and for being that rarest of commodities, television that you never--ever--forget.