Uh oh, Nancy Walls is going to murder someone. (YouTube)Entertainment award shows: On the surface, they combine the pleasure of judging fancy outfits with the thrill of rooting for unpredictable outcomes as though at a sporting event. But just as with football games, we ordinary civilians can only watch helplessly, unable to affect the winners' and losers' fortunes in any way. When you think about award shows in those terms, it's kind of remarkable that we watch them at all.

Participating in award-show pools can help mitigate fans' pain: Instead of getting overly invested in the prospects of our most beloved stars, we transfer our hopes to the ones we think are more likely to win, regardless of our feelings for them. But with last night's Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, many viewers would have picked the same person as both odds-on AND sentimental favorite: Steve Carell. The actor has been nominated for his portrayal of Michael Scott on "The Office" every year since the series premiered in 2005; having departed the series this spring, last night presented Emmy voters with their final opportunity to give Carell an award for the role. And, as my esteemed colleague Dave Nemetz noted last night, they did not take it.