The nominations for the Saturn Awards came out and as Claude Rains in Casablanca said, "Round up the usual suspects." Lost lead the pack with 11 nominations, six for Heroes, and four each for Battlestar Galactica and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Newbie sci-fi/horror like Fringe and True Blood also received nominations, as well as the outre Dexter, Life on Mars, Jericho and The Ghost Whisperer.

All those make sense to me. However, why did the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror films choose to nominate Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad and Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer, as Best TV actor and actress, respectively?

Don't get me wrong. I think both performers are superb in their shows. Bryan more than deserved his Emmy last year and after watching the second season premiere this past week, he's on his way to another. Kyra Sedgwick has also been brilliant as Brenda Leigh Johnson, an L.A. deputy chief in charge of the priority homicide division.

Both Breaking Bad and The Closer are not fantasy or horror or science fiction. If you stretch to say that the criminal activities depicted are pretty horrible, Saturn should be adding the CSI's to the mix, or The Big Bang Theory for its science bent.

But as I pored over the list of nominees, it seems that the rules are being liberally altered. In the category of Best Syndicated/Cable TV series, Leverage joined the The Closer against Dexter, True Blood, Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. That, to me, is one weird grouping of shows for Saturn voters to choose from. If you include Leverage, why not Burn Notice or Psych? There are probably a bunch of other more sci-fi/fantasy/horror candidates, I'm sure. And tell me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the original intent of the Saturn Award to recognize the genres that are traditionally shunned by mainstream awards like the Emmys?

I don't know...could their thinking be the more the merrier? It should make for an interesting award show; and traditionally, they do get plenty of stars to appear.

The Saturns will be dispensed on June 25 at a site yet to be announced.