I made some note that I haven't been watching a whole helluva lot less television lately. Honestly, it's been overwhelming and I think that's been the case with the Primetime Emmys too. Kinda suddenly, they sprung on us some new rules changes this year regarding the amount of nominees in each category. Basically, instead of a set number and the 2% within the last nominee, etc. etc. every category now has the amount of nominees based on the amount of submission in se category. So, the more nominees submitted in a category, the more nominees there will be, based on this sliding scale:
● 1-19 submissions: A sliding scale between zero to 4 nominations
● 20-80 submissions: 5 nominations
● 81-160 submissions: 6 nominations
● 161-240 submissions: 7 nominations
● > 240 submissions: 8 nominations
Now personally, I've been annoyed as hell at how certain categories would get, like, how there'd be seven nominees for a series, but only five or six for writing and directing; which, just doesn't make a damn bit of sense because shows can submit like a dozen or so episodes each if they wanted to in those categories, so yes, this is a general move that I was in favor of. There were some other, mostly cosmetic, a few new down-ballot reclassifications that, we'll talk a bit about when we get to them.
In the meantime, even during this Pandemic, I haven't been watching as much new TV as others have. I'm starting to catch up, but I got a lot to catch up on still, and now's the time to get to it in my mind. Well, what I can get too. I'll talk about what I can on some shows, but I'm gonna go through the list, category by category, and not just the major ones. I did post my Gold Derby on FB, for those who want to laugh, the link is here:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3160984423994836&id=602692689824035&__tn__=K-R
I'll check the results later, but I was hoping for 60%, and honestly most of these were gut-instinct guesses to begin with. (Shrugs) Anyway, Leslie Jones's screeching is almost gone from my head. Time for that second cup of coffee and a look through the whole nomination ballots.
For those new to this, I go through, not just the main categories on the major show, but every major category that you can imagine, 'cause there's a lot of television, and I, and many others out there, we don't always watch just the five genres that's on the main show, so we go through them all, one-by-one. As comprehensive a source as we can. However, we're gonna start with the main categories, so bare with use.
COMEDY SERIES
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm-HBO
Dead to Me-Netflix
The Good Place-NBC
Insecure-HBO
The Kominsky Method-Netflix
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-Prime Video
Schitt's Creek-PopTV
What We Do in the Shadows-FX Networks
Comedy and Drama Series categories were automatically bumped up to eight nominees this year, and that left some room, especially since last year's winners were not eligible this year. In Comedy Series, that was "Fleabag", which just leaves the previous winner, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel". I think it is the favorite, it got the most nominations of any series, with the exception of "Watchmen" in Limited Series. However, there's a few potential spoilers here. Both "The Good Place" and "Schitt's Creek" had their finale seasons this year, and they both have devoted streaming fanbases. I haven't watched all of "The Good Place" yet, but I'm glad that show ended early; gimmick shows like that, have a bad tendency to go on a lot longer then they really should, these days, and if you're gonna do that, you gotta end it sooner than later. "Schitt's Creek", eh, it's the worst thing, but I don't get why it's suddenly caught on so much. Youtuber Todd in the Shadows said it best on Twitter once, saying that the show was, "What if 'Arrested Development' was not memorable in any way," and I kinda have to agree with him. There's a few newcomers in the category too, both "The Kominsky Method", "Dead to Me", and "Insecure", three shows I do like a lot, have fallen behind on admiteedly, but I'm glad to see get in. I'm a little surprised "The Kominsky Method" in particular got in; I liked it, but I knew a lot of people who were kinda iffy on the show, and I can kinda see why, honestly. Speaking of iffy though, the real out-of-nowhere shock was "What We Do in the Shadows". Ummm...-, okay, confession time on this one, I-eh, I haven't even seen the movie yet. In fact, it's-um, it's on my Netflix queue, and it's pretty low on it to be honest; this was a movie that I genuinely didn't think I'd have to get to right away. and it was made by half of "Flight of the Conchords", and that one New Zealand director that made those overrated indies, like "Eagle vs. Shark" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" and I figured he wasn't gonna become anytime soon, soon, so I put it at the bottoom of my queue.... Yeah, I've kinda been iffy on Taika Waititi; I didn't get him until "Jojo Rabbit". So, I got a lot to catch up on there.....
Oh, and "Curb..." decided to have another season again....
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson-"black-ish"-ABC
Don Cheadle-"Black Monday"-Showtime
Ted Danson-"The Good Place"-NBC
Michael Douglas-"The Kominsky Method"-Netflix
Eugene Levy-"Schitt's Creek"-PopTV
Ramy Youseff-"Ramy"-Hulu
The only real "surprise" here is Ramy Youseff for "Ramy", marking a rare nomination for Hulu that's not in Limited Series or for "The Handmaid's Tale". He could spoiler, he won the Golden Globe earlier and I actually thought that would get into Series. Does make this category more diverse, three people of color against three old white guys. Ted Danson btw, broke his own record win his 13th nomination in this category, which believe it or not, might actually still be lower then it should be. I'm genuinely shocked in hindsight that he never got in for "Becker". Also, never count out Don Cheadle, I guess. If he doens't hold the record for nominations by an actor for programs on Showtime, he has to at least be close to it by now between "Black Monday" and "House of Lies".
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate-"Dead to Me"-Netflix
Rachel Brosnahan-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
Linda Cardellini-"Dead to Me"-Netflix
Catherine O'Hara-"Schitt's Creek"-Prime Video
Issa Rae-"Insecure"
Tracee Ellis Ross-"black-ish"-ABC
The only new nominee is Linda Cardellini for "Dead to Me" which caught on late last year and greatly expanded this season, getting into Series. Also, I've been a fan of hers since "ER" so, nice to see her getting in. Everyone else has been here before including Cardellini's co-star Christina Applegate. Catherine O'Hara seems to be the sentimental favorite and while I'm not crazy about the show, I'd be happy to see her finally win something. She's been one of our best comedic actress for awhile and she is the best part of the show. Still think Rachel Brosnahan might be the favorite though, remember this category gave Julia Louis-Dreyfud a truckloads of Emmys in a row, so don't overlook the chance of a repeat winner.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mahershala Ali-"Ramy"-Hulu
Alan Arkin-"The Kominsky Method"-Netflix
Andre Braugher-"Brooklyn Nine-Nine"-NBC
Sterling K. Brown-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
William Jackson Harper-"The Good Place"-NBC
Daniel Levy-"Schitt's Creek"-PopTV
Tony Shalhoub-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
Kenan Thompson-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
The Supporting characters in both Comedy and Drama series qualified for eight nominees this year, and this through a few twists into all the categories. Daniel Levy, she he is Eugene's son, so father and son are both nominated for acting in the same category, actually got his first three nominations, all for "Schitt's Creek" as he got in for Writing and Directing as well. Andre Braugher snuck back into the category for the first time in four years, good to know there's still some people in the Academy watching "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". (Seriously, I never got why that show never got anything other then him, there's a lot of good actors on that show.) Arkin, Thompson and Shalhoub are back from last year, plus Sterling K. Brown got in for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" which, marks the first time, I believe somebody got nomination for being a regular in both a Comedy and Drama series in the same year. Mahershala Ali's is new to the category, and another nomination for "Ramy" which did as well as any comedy series ever has for Hulu so far, at least in the major categories. Kristen Bell was left out of a fairwell nomination for "The Good Place" but William Jackson Harper found his way in and that's honestly a cool nomination. Tough category, I think Tony Shalhoub is the early favorite, he won a SAG award earlier, but he's got a truckload of Emmys from "Monk" so they might go elsewhere....
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alex Borstein-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
D'Arcy Carden-"The Good Place"-NBC
Betty Gilpin-"GLOW"-Netflix
Marin Hinkle-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
Kate McKinnon-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
Anne Murphy-"Schitt's Creek"-PopTV
Yvonne Orji-"Insecure"-HBO
Cecily Strong-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
I'll never understand how "GLOW" doesn't get more regular love from the Academy either, but Betty Gilpin's still around. I'm a little surprised Jane Lynch got snubbed despite previously for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" in Guest Actress, although Hinkle and Borstein is enough for the show, and Bostein's won the category two years in a row. D'Arcy Carden and Anny Murphy get their first nomination for their respective show's last seasons. Nice to see Carden especially, who also has been good on "Barry" in recent years, which wasn't eligible this year. Yvonne Orji, is the completely-out-of-nowhere one for me, but I am glad somebody else go in for "Insecure". I really gotta watch more of that.... "SNL" is also well-represented here as well, with Cecily Strong joining Kate McKinnon to round up the eight. There's been eight in this category before and usually the favorite pulled it out in the past, so I'm leaning towards Borstein again myself.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
The Great-Matt Shakman-"The Great (Pilot)"-Hulu
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-Amy Sherman-Palladino-"It's Comedy or Cabbage"-Prime Video
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-Daniel Palladino-"Marvelous Radio"-Prime Video
Modern Family-Gail Mancuso-"Finale Part 2"-ABC
Ramy-Ramy Youseff-"Miakhalifa.mov"-Hulu
Schitt's Creek-Daniel Levy-"Happy Ending"-PopTV
Will & Grace-James Burrows-"We Love Lucy"-NBC
I knew a couple people were predicting "The Great" for some of the major comedy categories; I had a feeling "Ramy" was the Hulu show to really breakthrough, but "The Great" seems in line to be the next one, and it did get technical stuff, including a Directing and Writing nomination for its pilot. It's up against two finale episodes,- oh, yeah, "Modern Family" ended this year; I genuinely thought it was canceled two years ago until I saw the ballots, as well as two from "Mrs. Maisel", and two good ones at that, I might add, and James Burrows getting his 600bajillionth nomination. Actually, it's his 44th, total; he's in because of the multicam rule that was introduced a couple years ago requiring at least one multicam series to get into Directing, and that is a good rule; that's a different directing skillset then single-cam series. Also, "Ramy" got in here, the 2nd of his nominations for Youseff after the acting nomination for the series, which...- wait, what-the-hell, is the title of that episode? My-ack-ha-leaf-fa.mov-, looks like a "Mr. Robot" title, what-the,- Mia Kha-, oooh-kay, nevermind, I just got it.
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
The Good Place-Michael Schur-"Whenever You're Ready"-NBC
The Great-Tony McNamara-"The Great"-Hulu
Schitt's Creek-Daniel Levy-"Happy Ending"-PopTV
Schitt's Creek-David West Read-"The Presidential Suite-PopTV
What We Do In The Shadows-Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil-"Collaboration"-FX Networks
What We Do In The Shadows-Paul Simms-"Ghosts"-FX Networks
What We Do In The Shadows-Stefani Robinson-"On the Run"-FX Networks
I don't know exactly how "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" missed writing, but this is a bad sign for that show. Except for the weird three-year streak where "Modern Family" pulled off Comedy Series wins without a Writing nomination, you gotta go back to the year "Friends" won to see another show that won Comedy Series without a Writing nomination. "Schitt's Creek" got it's finale and another episode in there, plus "The Good Place" and holy cow, three nominations for "What We Do In The Shadows" out of frickin' nowhere. Wow! You gotta go back to "30 Rock" in '09 to see that. Man, this show came out of nowhere; are these vampires really this funny?! They better be fucking hilarious.
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Adam Driver-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
Luke Kirby-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
Eddie Murphy-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
Dev Patel-"Modern Love"-Prime Video
Brad Pitt-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
Fred Willard-"Modern Family"-ABC
A posthumous nomination for the late Fred Willard rounds up a category filled with it's usual crop of "SNL" hosts and special guests, Brad Pitt getting in for playing Dr. Fauci, and last year's winner, Luke Kirby who plays Lenny Bruce on "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" to a tea. And Dev Patel snuck in for, some show I've never heard of. What the hell's "Modern Love" (Google) Okay, Amazon show, lots of actors, only a couple episodes each? (Wikipedia) Oh, I get it, it's "Love, American Style". Huh, I'll have to check that one out. I think Eddie Murphy is probably a walk for this one, that was by far the biggest event that show had before the world stopped, so that's probably gonna be the expected winner.
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Angela Bassett-"A Black Lady Sketch Show"-HBO
Bette Midler-"The Politician"-Netflix
Maya Rudolph-"The Good Place"-NBC
Maya Rudolph-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
Wanda Sykes-"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"-Prime Video
Phoebe Waller-Bridge-"Saturday Night Live"-NBC
Maya Rudolph got in twice, which I believe makes her the first person nominated against herself in the category, and you know, I should've called that. I've been concerned and obsessed with her performance as Kamala Harris all year long. "SNL"'s not alone in the sketch though, as Angela Bassett's work on "A Black Lady Sketch Show" snuck in along with Phoebe Waller-Bridge. They're up against Bette Midler for "The Politician" which was the only major nomination that show got, but it got into some below-the-line categories. Wanda Sykes, could be a spoiler here, although I'm a little iffy on her, 'cause she was just barelyy in the series, but she was really good though as Moms Mabley; she could pull this off in a split vote.
DRAMA SERIES
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul-AMC
The Crown-Netflix
The Handmaid's Tale-Hulu
Killing Eve-BBC America
The Mandalorian-Disney+
Ozark-Netflix
Stranger Things-Netflix
Succession-HBO
Seriously, now I have to fucking watch "Star Wars" now! Are you fucking kidding me!? (Sigh) You all have no idea how frickin' sick I am of "Star Wars" at this point, and no, I haven't seen the latest movie yet. Or maybe I have; I don't know-, I used to not to care about more then three of them, 'cause is not a relevant franchise to anything and frankly those three were overrated. If it wasn't popular, we wouldn't be recalling it as remotely important, there's my so-called "Hot Take"! Fuck, now I gotta re-up Disney+, to watch more then just "Hamilton". I hate you. BTW, the best Drama series was "This is Us"; I don't know why it's gotten snubbed here, but that's bullshit. The rest are repeats, "Stranger Things" is apparently still a thing too for some reason, but the rest I either am behind on, or am mostly caught up I mostly like. I actually thought "The Crown" should've been snubbed too, - maybe this was just me, but I kinda hated this third season. There's some acting I liked, but I was finally bored to annoyance by this season.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman-"Ozark"-Netflix
Sterling K. Brown-"This is Us"-NBC
Steve Carell-"The Morning Show"-Apple TV
Brian Cox-"Succession"-HBO
Billy Porter-"Pose"-FX Networks
Jeremy Strong-"Succession"-HBO
I'll have to also get an Apple TV subscription too now...- GRRRR! Actually, I had "The Morning Show" getting into Series, and that was a weird snub. "Succession" getting in twice is a good sign for that show; it didn't nominated any acting performances last year, and now it's got nine, so that's probably a favorite for Series. Cox and Strong might split the vote. Last year's winner Billy Porter returns, his show's only above-the-line nomination, along with Bateman and Brown, and Steve Carell is back. Now, he never won for "The Office" so there's an argument that he's overdue as well.....
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Aniston-"The Morning Show"-Apple TV
Olivia Colman-"The Crown"-Netflix
Jodie Comer-"Killing Eve"-BBC America
Laura Linney-"Ozark"-Netflix
Sandra Oh-"Killing Eve"-BBC America
Zendaya-"Euphoria"-HBO
Okay, now I gotta look up what "Euphoria" is...! Jesus Christ, am I behind! (Search) "Euphoria" is, what the hell, a high school drama? Well, the last time's one of those got nominated? (Scratches head) Eh, last time somebody nominated in this category for playing a teenager, eh..., I guess Amber Tamblyn for "Joan of Arcadia"? Jesus, that show was awful; glad this show looks a lot more, good "The L Word" then that. I'm fairly certain it was Claire Danes for "My So-Called Life" before that, a little better company there. The rest are repeats, except for Olivia Colman, although she's playing the same character Claire For did, which would be interesting if she won, and Jennifer Aniston, getting into Drama Actress for the first time, and she becomes the first "Friends" to get into a Lead/Supporting Actress category since Lisa Kudrow got her nominations for "The Comeback". Comer upset her castmate Oh last year, and if Sandra Oh wins, she becomes the first actress of Asian decent to win in the category and she's overdue.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Nicholas Braun-"Succession"-HBO
Kieran Culkin-"Succession"-HBO
Billy Crudup-"The Morning Show"-Apple TV
Mark Duplass-"The Morning Show"-Apple TV
Giancarlo Esposito-"Better Call Saul"-AMC
Matthew McFayden-"Succession"-HBO
Bradley Whitford-"The Handmaid's Tale"-Hulu
Jeffrey Wright-"Westworld"-HBO
Giancarlo Esposition was the only acting nominee for "Better Call Saul" this year, which is just mindblowing. They've had an inexplicably bad streak at the Emmys; if they're now at the record for most losses for a series, they're close. (Unless you count the film winning for a short-form side project a couple years ago.)Meanwhile, "Succession" got three actors in, and strangely "The Morning Show" which missed for series, but did incredibly well with the acting branch, got in two for them. The eighth slot, probably was filled by Jeffrey Wright who's show "Westworld" also for the first time, under-performed after a couple years of over-performing, especially with nominees. This was supposed to be the HBO juggernaut that replaced the "Game of Thrones" juggernaut, and I had it predicted for Series, even though I personally can only take so much of it. Kind of a weird category, Bradley Whitford might be the favorite by default since he won in Guest Actor last year, but that's an early morning line that could change drastically. (For those wondering, yeah, Whitford won for Season 3 last year, even though "The Handmaid's Tale" is up for it's third season this year, this was a weird hanging nomination rule where part of the show made the cutoff date but not enough for the whole series to count-, they've tweaked this a bit now, but that's "The Handmaid's Tale" minor issue.)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Helena Bonham Carter-"The Crown"-Hulu
Laura Dern-"Big Little Lies"-HBO
Julia Garner-"Ozark"-Netflix
Thandie Newton-"Westworld"
Fiona Shaw-"Killing Eve"-BBC America
Sarah Snook-"Succession"-HBO
Meryl Streep-""Big Little Lies"-HBO
Samara Wiley-"The Handmaid's Tale"-Hulu
Another huge snub was last year's Limited Series winner "Big Little Lies", which like "The Morning Show" did sneak in a couple nominees in the acting branch, although it's the actors, so naturally they were gonna put in Meryl Streep and Laura Dern. Also Reese Witherspoon missed for three shows.... These Emmys are weird. Julia Garner won last year, Thandie Newton and Samara Wiley have won for these parts in the past, Fiona Shaw returned into the category, the big newcomes is Helena Bonham Carter, who was one of the bright spots for "The Crown" this year, and is known for having a long losing streak that I know is being pushed. Also, with the split votes in the other categories though, this might be the place where "Succession" could win it's acting award here more then other categories, although good luck to Ms. Snook in an otherwise top-heavy field.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
The Crown-Benjamin Caron-"Aberfan"-Netflix
The Crown-Jessica Hobbs-"Cri de Coeur"-Netflix
Homeland-Lesli Linka Glatter-"Prisoners of War"-Showtime
The Morning Show-Mimi Leder-"The Interview"-Apple TV
Ozark-Alik Sakharvo-"Fire Pink"-Netflix
Ozark-Ben Semenoff-"Su Casa Es Mi Casa-Netflix
Succession-Andrij Parekh-"Hunting"-HBO
Succession-Mark Mylod-"This Is Not For Tears"-HBO
Okay, "Homeland" finally ended this past season, so this'll be the last strangling nomination the show will get in a major category. Goodbye "Homeland", you got eight years and you were good for lik e 7 episodes! Anyway, "The Morning Show", snuck in, and double nominations across the rest of the eight-man field for "Ozark", "Succession", and perhaps a little surprisingly "The Crown", managing to hang around. This category isn't always a predictor for Best Series, but it has been lately. and just looking at the nominations and where they came from, I think it's between "Ozark" and "Succession" this year.
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul-Thomas Schnauz-"Bad Choice Road"-AMC
Better Call Saul-Gordon Smart-"Bagman"-AMC
The Crown-Peter Morgan-"Aberfan"-Netflix
Ozark-Chris Mundy-"All In"-Netflix
Ozark-John Shiban-"Boss Fight'-Netflix
Ozark-Miki Johnson-"Fire Pink"-Netflix
Succession-Jesse Armstrong-"This is Not for Tears"-HBO
This is where "Better Call Saul" shows strength, with a double-nomination in Writing, but "Ozark" has three, so that's basically moot. If "Succession" can pull off the win here, it could win Series, and don't rule that win out. "Succession" only submitted one episode, while "Ozark" got all three of their submissions in. "Better Call Saul" got 2/6 they put up. And Peter Morgan, well he writes that whole series, so he's only allowed to put up one. I'm starting to worry that this category is getting a little lazy honestly....
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman-"The Outsider"-HBO
Ron Cephas Jones-"This is Us"-NBC
James Cromwell-"Succession"-HBO
Giancarlo Esposito-"The Mandalorian"-Disney+
Andrew Scott-"Black Mirror"-Netflix
Martin Short-"The Morning Show"-Apple TV
Okay, apparently "Black Mirror" switched genres this year. Not sure how that happened, but this category ended up with a lot of interesting nominees. It'd be kinda funny if Giancarlo Esposito finally wins and Emmys after all those nominees for the iconic Gustavo Fring and he wins for the Disney show. I always kinda half-wondered if that would happen with him for "Once Upon a Time...", but that show never really caught on. (And probably for the best....) "The Outside" I saw a few people thinking it could sneak into some categories; it might be next year's show. Then again, Jason Bateman won the Directing Emmy last year, kinda out of nowhere, so he wins in weird places. Nice to see James Crowell still able to get in, as well as Martin Short, who I think could play spoiler here; he hasn't won in a while. Also, Ron Cephas Jones, joins his daughter Jasmine Cephas Jones as co-nominees this year. She got in for a Short-Form Series, which we'll get to later on, 'cause those categories got interesting this year.
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Alexis Bledel-"The Handmaid's Tale"-Hulu
Laverne Cox-"Orange is the New Black"-Netflix
Cherry Jones-"Succession"-HBO
Phylicia Rashad-"This is Us"-NBC
Cicely Tyson-"How to Get Away with Murder"-ABC
Harriet Walter-"Succssion-HBO
With only six nominees in these Guest categories this year; it seems like the Emmys decided to go paint this year with familiar named. Even Cherry Jones getting in, she won this category last year, but for "The Handmaid's Tale". This is Laverne Cox's last nomination for "OITNB" which finally ended this season. "Orange..., reminder, you're the annoying one who confused everybody with what a comedy or a drama actually was!" It's also "How to Get Away with Murder"'s finale season as well, although I'm sure Cicely Tyson will show up for 14 seconds in some "NCIS" spinoff next year and get in. "How to Get Away with Murder", proof that Shonda Rhimes must have pictures on somebody from ABC. (Seriously, this show was painful to watch, how exactly did that thing stay on this whole time? I don't like Viola Davis that much.) I'm not sure where they'll go with this, I suspect the newcomer, Walter is the slight early favorite, look up for Phylicia Rashad playing spoiler though, especially if it gets out that she's never won before.
VARIETY
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah-Comedy Central
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee-TBS
Jimmy Kimmel Live!-ABC
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver-HBO
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert-CBS
The new sliding scale rules narrowed the Variety categories severely, Vareity-Talk fell to just five and Variety-Sketch fell to the 2-4 sliding scale. This left out James Corden most notably, the rest ended up hanging in there including Jimmy Kimmel who's hosting the show this year, although I really am not sure Seth Meyers hasn't gotten into the category yet. Honestly, with the exception of John Oliver, he's the only one I watch every week and he's doing wonderfully since the show's have all become Youtube videos from five years ago.
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
A Black Lady Sketch Show-HBO
Drunk History-Comedy Central
Saturday Night Live-NBC
Only fourteen Sketch series were submitted in the Variety Sketch category and three apparently broke the threshold. Most of the past nominees ended recently, so only the perennial nominees "Drunk History" and "Saturday Night Live" got in, and "At Home with Amy Sedaris" got the past-nominee snub, with "A Black lady Sketch Show" sneaking in instead. Based on soem of the other nominees, I imagine "Crank Yankes" might've been fourth, maybe Tiffany Haddish's Netflix show, but who knows. I saw some people throw "Sherman's Showcase" into the voting, eh, I think we're just heading away from Sketch series for awhile. We'll see what happens next year, but if the category falls any lower, don't be surprised if they go back to combining Talk with Sketch later.
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE)
73rd Annual Tony Awards-CBS
77th Annual Golden Globe Awards-NBC
Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: "All In The Family" and "Good Times"-ABC
The Oscars-ABC
Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show Starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira-FOX
This category used to be called the "Special Class" Program; believe it or not, at one point, this was the category used to exclusively be about Classical Arts live performances on TV. Now, mostly it's just award shows. Nothing too unusual sneaks in, although I'm getting really annoyed at "The Oscars" just trying to pretend they're not as old as they are. (Eye roll) Cool to be the Super Bowl Halftime Show get in here though; glad I'm not the only one who liked it.
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (PRE-RECORDED)
Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones-Netflix
Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor-PBS
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas-Netflix
Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill-Netflix
John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch-Netflix
Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah-Netflix
And, this category, which also was mostly about Music programs, is now mostly just stand-ups. Even the one that's not technically a stand-up performance is a tribute to a stand-up, who's nominated for a stand-up performance. (Shrugs) He, I'll take it over the damn "Carpool Karaoke" that kept taking this category. How did we not get sick of that earlier? Hannah Gadsby, won the writing award last year for her "Nanette" special, and Dave Chappelle's up against himself, I'm sure they want to give him another, but they might split the vote. I gotta go find some old Mark Twain prizes, I keep missing those every year and I always regret it.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
A Black Lady Sketch Show-Dime Davis-"Born At Night, But Not Last Night"-HBO
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah-David Paul Meyer-"Dr. Fauci Answers Trevor's Questions About Coronavirus"-Comedy Central
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver-Paul Pennolino, Christopher Werner-"Episode 629"-HBO
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert-Jim Hoskinson-"Live Show; Chris Christie; Nathaniel Rateliff-CBS
Saturday Night Live-Don Roy King-"Host: Eddie Murphy"-NBC
Tiffany Haddish Presents: The Ready-Linda Mendoze-"Flame Monroe"-Netflix
Oh, god, how the hell are they doing these categories next year? The Directing Variety categories, wow, this coronavirus will make next year's Emmys really weird downballot. Anyway, interesting that three sketch shows got into Variety Directing, and "Tiffany Haddish Presents..." in particular which missed out on Variety Sketch is a nice little surprise. Any other year, I might think "A Black Lady Sketch Show" might play spoiler for that category, but the Eddie Murphy show this year, "SNL", gonna roll on that, and they should.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
73rd Annual Tony Awards-Glenn Weiss-CBS
82nd Grammy Awards-Louis J. Horvitz-CBS
Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones-Stan Lathan-Netflix
Live In Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"-Pamela Fryman, Andy Fisher-ABC
Super Bowl LIV Halftime Starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira-Hamish Hamilton-FOX
This'll be really interesting next year. I forget what year it is and whether this or the Variety gets onto the main show, but I guess it doesn't matter so much. I don't know who or how this year's Emmys is being directed this year, but I get the feeling that nobody will want these categories on the show next year. Either that, or we're gonna get a lot more Youtube nominees, assuming those are a thing anymore,
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah-Senior Writers: Lauren Sarver Means, Daniel Radosh, Writers: Trevor Noah, et. al.-Comedy Central
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee-Writer Supervisors: Nicole Silverberg, Joe Grossman; Head Writers: Kristen Bartlett, Mike Drucker, Melinda Taub; Writers: Samantha Bee, et. al.-TBS
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver-Writers: John Oliver, Tim Carvell, Daniel O'Brien, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Ben Silva and Seena Vali-HBO
Late Night with Seth Meyers-Writer Supervisor: Seth Reiss; Writers: Seth Meyes, et. al.-NBC
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert-Head Writers: Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir; Writers: Stephen Colbert, et. al.-CBS
(Sigh) Look, this category gonna be owned by John Oliver for awhile. I could see "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah", possibly being spoiler, and I'm glad that at least the writers are paying attention to Seth meyers, but it's a loaded category where there's a bunch of A+'s and one that breaks the scale.
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones-Dave Chappelle-Netflix
Hannah Gadsby: Douglas-Hannah Gadsby-Netflx
John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch-John Mulaney, Marika Sawyer-Netflix
Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything-Patton Oswalt-Netflix
Seth Meyers: Lobby Baby-Seth Meyers-Netflix
Five stand-up performances here. I really just wonder when we're just gonna get a separate Variety-Special-Stand-Up category someday. I've seen a few of these, I suspect Dave Chappelle is probably th favorite; he definitely had the most important and noteworthy special of the bunch, most of these are former winners anyway, including Chappelle....- well, hold on, I know Seth has an Emmy, but I forget what he won for...- He won for, Music and Lyrics for "Justin Timberlake Monologue" on "SNL",- that's a good song, but that's like the 5th JT "SNL" song anybody would remember, (Mulaney was a co-writer ont that song as well...) but I also don't think Chappelle's won in this category. Yeah, he didn't win for Writing, 'cause he had the two specials that year, and they canceled each other out in the Writing categories. So, I think it's between him and maybe Seth Meyers, but I can't imagine the scenario where he wins this.
REALITY
OUTSTANDING COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Masked Singer-FOX
Nailed It!-Netflix
RuPaul's Drag Race-VH1
Top Chef-Bravo
The Voice-NBC
"American Ninja Warrior" finally fell out of the category, although part of that is the new sliding nominations scale and thank goodness; I was getting tired of that show being in. Although I tried "Nailed It!" and I have no idea why that show keeps sneaking in; this is the second year in a row that squeezed through. Perhaps it'll fall out whenever "The Amazing Race" becomes eligible again. Oh yeah, that's what's weird here, "The Amazing Race" for the first time is not nominated in the Competition Program category, but it wasn't eligible, and that left a spot and "The Masked Singer" took the spoiler here. Hey, I was on the bandwagon on that one early, because I knew it was better then it should be. The rest is as expected, Rupaul as the expected favorite, although "Top Chef" could play spoiler here; they had a good all-star season.
OUTSTANDING STRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
Antiques Roadshow-PBS
Love is Blind-Netflix
Queer Eye-Netflix
Shark Tank-ABC
A Very Brady Renovation-HGTV
Oh, fuck me! I'm so sick of "Home Renovation" shows to begin with...- "Flipping Out" is the only really interesting one to me and that's mostly because Jeff Lewis is fucking insane, and even then, that shows been off-the-rails lately, but "A Very Brady Renovation"?! Would it really kill you guys to just put "Pawn Stars" in here and call it a day? Yes, I know it's about renovating the actual Brady Bunch house, that's somewhat interesting, but I feel like most of these shows are just trying to yuppie-jazz um "This Old House". Also, eh, Dating-Show-Not-As-Stupid-As-"The Bachelor"-but-Still-Stupid #362 got in as well. The rest are as expected; I hope "Antiques Roadshow" finally manages a win.
OUTSTANDING UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Lunch Break and Pasta Night-Food Network
Cheer-Netflix
Kevin Hart: Don't Fuck This Up-Netflix
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked-VH1
We're Here-HBO
Ooh, one of the Pandemic superstars, Amy Schumer, snuck into the Unstructured Reality category, thank god! What happened to this category. Kevin Hart-eh, I guess he's got his own, "My Life on the D-List" kind of reality program, I guess I'm glad somebody's doing something like that still, "Cheer" is about cheerleaders, eh, okay, and two shows about drag queens. I suppose "RuPaul..." is the slight favorite, 'cause apparently that and it's four or five side shows are basically keeping VH1 afloat. Am I the only one who genuinely misses when VH1 played music videos, way more then when MTV played music videos?
OUTSTANDING HOST FOR A REALITY OR COMPETITION PROGRAM
Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness-"Queer Eye"-Netflix
Nicole Byer-"Nailed It!"-Netflix
Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary-"Shark Tank"-ABC
Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio-"Top Chef"-Bravo
Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman-"Making It"-NBC
Rupaul-"RuPaul's Drag Race"-VH1
Well, this ended up strange. I expected the "Queer Eye" guys to all get in, but the "Shark Tank" crew getting in?! Don't they have enough of everything? I'm kinda in that sick of "Shark Tank" mode too btw, especially during these times, but I do like that Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler are back, even if I don't think anybody watches that show but them and Rupaul are the only repeats from last year. Also, how the hell did Tom & Padma suddenly sneak back in? I'm glad, but they haven't been nominated in the category since '09!? I'm telling, "Top Chef" overperformed down-ballot, they're a low-key spoiler possibility in that category. I bet there were a lot of people catching up on that show during the Pandemic; I know I ran through a few seasons of it, and this was it's best season in a while. Man, six spots and seventeen people nominated for hosting.... (Shrugs) Okay.
LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Little Fires Everywhere-Hulu
Mrs. America-FX Networks
Unbelievable-Netflix
Unorthodox-Netflix
Watchmen-HBO
"Watchmen" was the biggest nominee winner this year racking up 25 total nominations and seeming like the lock in the Limited Series category. "Unorthodox" is the big surprised of the category, getting in over Ryan Murphy's "Hollywood" which did well, everywhere else, but didn't get into series weirdly. FX's "Mrs. America" just barely hung onto it's spot in the category too....
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
American Son-Netflix
Bad Education-HBO
Dolly Parton's Heartstrings: These Old Bones-Netflix
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie-Netflix
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend-Netflix
"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"'s not only interesting for getting in as a movie, and essentially as a-eh, interactive movie as well,- it's really more of a live-action game then a movie; don't know how I feel about that, but I did predict it. Still, the TV movie category has just gotten weaker and weaker every year. Down-ballot especially, even Aaron Paul couldn't get anything for "El Camino". So, to series sequels, to actual TV movies, neither of which did great, and somehow Dolly Parton anthology series, took "Black Mirror"'s place for the anthology TV movie series, spot? (Scratching head, shrugs) I-eh...- I don't know.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Jeremy Irons-"Watchmen"-HBO
Hugh Jackman-"Bad Education"-HBO
Jeremy Pope-"Hollywood"-Netflix
Mark Ruffalo-"I Know This Much Is True"-HBO
Paul Mescal-"Normal People"-Hulu
I've seen almost none of these, so I'm just going blind a bit into this. Good on HBO for being just as powerful as Netflix or Hulu, or FX for that matter in these categories; they've been holding up. Mark Ruffalo could play spoiler here, he's a bit overdue. Pael Mescal getting a nomination was a bit of a shock, it's one of his very first acting performances, so good for him.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Cate Blanchett-"Mrs. America"-FX Networks
Shira Haas-"Unorthodoz"-Netflix
Regina King-"Watchmen"-HBO
Octavia Spencer-"Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker"-Netflix
Kerry Washington-"Little Fires Everywhere"-Hulu
Well, Regina King keeps her streak of, if-she's-eligible-she'll-be-nominated, and she'll surely win too, and in this case, we actually expected it. She was the breakout from "Watchmen" from day one, and she was already her. Cate Blanchett's trying to play spoiler. I think most had Reese Witherspoon getting in for "Little Fires Everywhere", but Kerry Washington manages to get in instead. She's overdue as well, but her competition's pretty formidable here. Also Octacia Spencer sneaking in also a threat here. There's almost one weird acting win in the Limited Series races for something that's a little out of the blue, like that one weird Stockard Channing win for "The Matthew Shepherd Story" way back when, and half of Regina King's Emmys too....
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Yahya Abdul-Mateen-"Watchmen"-HBO
Jovan Adepo-"Watchmen"-HBO
Tituss Burgess-"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend"-Netflix
Louis Gossett Jr.-"Watchmen"-HBO
Dylan McDermott-"Hollywood"-Netflix
Jim Parsons-"Hollywood'-Netflix
Nice to see Louis Gossett Jr. show up here in Limited Series. His only previous Emmy was when he beat out his three African-American co-stars for "Roots", the first time an acting category was all African-American performers. He actually damn-near matched that here, with three nominees for "Watchmen", two from "Hollywood," TV vets Dylan McDermott and Jim Parsons, the latter of whom has been the favorite in the category for awhile, and I'd love to see Tituss Burgess finally win something for "UBS", Tough category though, and I don't think the votes will split. Although is Tituss does win, I hope he sings "Boobs in California"! God, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" was great I don't know why that show wasn't way bigger then it was.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Uzo Aduba-"Mrs. America"-FX Networks
Toni Collette-"Unbelievable"-Netflix
Margo Martindale-"Mrs. America"-FX Networks
Jean Smart-"Watchmen"-HBO
Holland Taylor-"Hollywood"-Netflix
Tracey Ullman-"Mrs. America"-FX Networks
And this is where "Mrs. America" steps up. "Unbelievable" was a surprise Series nominee and the fact that Collette got in, makes me think that she could possibly win this, especially with the possibility of split votes between three past Emmy favorites from "Mrs. America". Of course, those could split and go to Jean Smart too, who's always capable of a surprise Emmy win as well. I cheekily predicted Holland Taylor, mainly 'cause I had Sarah Paulsen getting in for "Mrs. America" instead of Uzo or Tracey, and I thought it would be cool if those two would be against each other, since they're a couple, but Paulsen got snubbed strangely. I guess they're finally tired of her. I don't get it, I could use more of her.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Lenna Abrahamson-"Normal People"-"Episode 5"-Hulu
Steph Green-"Watchmen"-"Little Fear of Lightning"-HBO
Nicole Kassell-"Watchmen"-"It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice"-HBO
Marta Schrader-"Unorthodox"-Netflix
Lynn Shelton-"Little Fires Everywhere"-"Find a Way"-Hulu
Stephen Williams-"Watchmen"-"This Extraordinary Being"-HBO
A posthumous nomination for the late Lynn Shelton here,- honestly, I'm a little surprised we didn't have more of those this year. (I had Robert Forster predicted to get two, so, I missed that one.) She could win this, although three "Watchmen" nominees is gonna be tough to beat, but I think Maria Schrader for "Unorthodox" might be a spoiler here. The Academy tends to go with the director who can submit the whole series themselves a lot more often then the project miniseries that have multiple directors; just a hunch.
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Mrs. America-Tanya Barfield-"Shirley"-FX Networks
Normal People-Sally Rooney, Alice Birch-"Episode 3"-Hulu
Unbelievable-Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman-"Episode 1"-Netflix
Unorthodox-Anna Winger-"Part 1"-Netflix
Watchmen-Damon Lindelof, Cord Jefferson-"This Extraordinary Being"-HBO
The only difference here from the Series category is "Normal People" getting in instead of "Little Fires Everywhere", so one Hulu miniseries changed for another. They're all episodes too; I imagine "Watchmen"'s the early favorite by default. Not much to say here.
Well, those were the main show categories we're going into the miscellaneous section below, but since I'm thinking about it, how bad were my predictions on GoldDerby?
(Checks website)
Eh, 65% on these categories. You know what, I'll take it. I've been a lot worst. All, we'll start the miscellany stuff off with the Animation, since I know people care about that.
ANIMATION
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM
Big Mouth-"Disclosure The Movie: The Musical!"-Netflix
Bob's Burgers-"Pig Trouble In Little Tina"-FOX
BoJack Horseman-"The View From Halfway Down"-Netflix
Rick and Morty-"The Vat of Acid Episodes"-Adult Swim
The Simpsons-"Friinkcoin"-FOX
Nothing overly surprisingly, although "South Park" getting snubbed is usually a bad sign to me. "Archer" also being snubbed, and I guess "Harley Quinn" is a bit of a snub, but I don't know how many people have the DC streaming channel, but this is five I mostly expected. "BoJack Horseman" won last year, I suspect "bob's Burgers is the favorite though. Each of these have their fans though.
OUTSTANDING SHORT-FORM ANIMATED PROGRAM
Forky Asks a Question: What is Love?-DisneyXD
Robot Chicken-"Santa's Dead (Spoiler Alert) Holiday Murder Thing Special"-Adult Swim
Steven Universe Future-"Fragments"-Cartoon Network
The rules hurt this category. I actually was debating whether to the Short-Form into separate categories, but since there's only three here, I guess it's okay. There were only 13 submissions in the category so they went with what they know best, "Toy Story", "Robot Chicken" and "Steven Universe". Probably the best picks anyway.
OUTSTANDING CHARACTER VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE
Hank Azaria-"The Simpsons"-"Frinkcoin"-FOX
Nancy Cartwright-"The Simpsons"-"Better Off Ned"-FOX
Leslie Odom, Jr.-"Central Park"-"Episode One"-Apple TV
Maya Rudolph-"Big Mouth"-"How To Have An Orgasm"-Netflix
Wanda Sykes-"Crank Yankers"-"Bobby Brown, Wanda Sykes & Kathy Griffin"-Comedy Central
Taika Waititi-"The Mandalorian"-"Chapter 8: Redemption"-Disney+
Interesting to see that "Central Park" is actually being seen already and that Leslie Odom, Jr. managed to sneak in. A bit of a weird bunch though, Wanda Sykes and Taika Waititi got in, not for animated series, but for their voice work on "Crank Yankers" and "The Mandalorian" respectively. I'm still amazed that I have to get to "The Mandalorian" now, but not sure how I feel about "Crank Yankers" coming back; I honestly never cared for that show to begin with. I guess now that we're all stuck inside with nothing to do, prank phone calls can make a comeback, but honestly, I think they were always a really dumb comedic premise. I don't like that Roy D. Mercer guy either in case you're wondering. Anyway, Maya Rudolph, her third nomination this year, and a couple former Simpsons winner. I'm leaning towards Hank Azaria winning for not playing Apu.
DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY OR NONFICTION SERIES
American Masters-PBS
Hillary-Hulu
The Last Dance-ESPN
McMillion$-HBO
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness-Netflix
This category got way more interesting during the Pandemic didn't it?! Yep, this is where "Tiger King" and "The Last Dance" pop up. Other interesting ones too though, "Hillary" and "McMillion$", come in along with the longterm standard "American Masters". I suspect "Tiger King" is the obvious favorite, but I think "The Last Dance" or "Hillary" could play spoilers here.
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY OR NONFICTION SPECIAL
The Apollo-HBO
Beastie Boys Story-Apple TV+
Becoming-Netflix
The Great Hack-Netflix
Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time-EPIX
This is usually where that blurred line between film and TV program is most clear, but since President Dumbass decided to let the country stop, that line's just non-existent this year, so I'm not even gonna bother. Best guess based on some knowledge here, I have "The Apollo" being ahead.
OUTSTANDING HOSTED NONFICTION SERIES OR SPECIAL
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee-Netflix
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath-A&E
Ugly Delicious-Netflix
Vice-Showtime
The World According to Jeff Goldblum-Disney+
Okay, this is a new category and I gotta look this one up. "Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special".... Okay, this is the renaming of the "Information Series or Special." It also was the Nonfiction Series-, basically it's any informational series, where there's a host guiding the action. For instance, the show that jumps out at me that's snubbed badly here is "Adam Ruins Everything". Last year the category went to Anthony Bourdain for the last time obviously. I guess they ran out of categories to figure out where "Comedians..." goes too. So, we get something called "Ugly Delicious", along with "Vice"'s Showtime series, nominated against, Jeff Goldblum and Leah Remini? Television is weird sometimes. I'm leaning towards Leah Remini personally on this one, but "Vice" and "Comedians..." are past winners too....
EXCEPTIONAL MERIT IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING
The Cave-National Geographic
Chasing the Moon (American Experience)-PBS
Moonlight Sonata: Deafness In Three Movements-HBO
One Child Nation-PBS
I always get this confused myself, but basically, this is the juried award for cinematic excellent in documentary filmmaking. It's separate from the other categories, and mostly it's an attempt at innovation and exceptional filmmaking form. This is the category a lot potential Oscar nominees end up in. For insteance, I've seen "One Child Nation" and it definitely qualifies, Nanfu Wang is of the bravest and most documentary filmmakers out there right now. I've also seen "The Cave" and that's just devastating as well.
OUTSTANDING NARRATOR
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-"Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution"-HISTORY
David Attenborough-"Seven Worlds, One Planet"-"Antarctica"-BBC America
Angela Bassett-"The Imagineering Story"-"The Happiest Place on Earth"-Disney+
Chiwetel Ejiofor-"The Elephant Queen"-Apple TV+
Lupita Nyong'o-"Serengeti"-"Destiny"-Discovery Channel
I never know what this category will bring us, and we got some interesting ones here. The only one of these programs that got a 2nd nomination anywhere was "Serengeti", which showed up in Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program. (I'm not going over the Cinematography nominations, if you want to, go ahead, they are usually interesting.) It's about as ecclectic a collection of four black people and an old white British guy you can get. How are the Attenborough's still going at this? I guess it's not as weird to see Disney+ pop up in the Documentary categories as it should, Disney, did make a lot of nature documentaries, but it still feels odd.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION PROGRAM
American Factory-Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert-Netflix
Apollo 11-Todd Douglas Miller-CNN
Becoming-Nadia Hallgren-Netflix
The Cave-Feyas Fayyad-National Geographic
The Last Dance-Jason Hehir-ESPN
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness-Eric Goode, Rebecca Chaiklin-Netflix
A few Oscar nominees and the winner with "American Factory" here, and a couple big series with "The Last Dance' and "Tiger King". "Becoming" is the sleeper here to me, but we've got an interesting category here, but not too much unexpected.
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A NONFICTION PROGRAM
Beastie Boys Story-Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Spike Jonze-Apple TV+
The Cave-Alisar Hasan, Feras Fayyad-National Geographic
Circus of Books-Rachel Mason, Kathryn Robson-Netflix
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer-"Closing the Net"-Mark Lewis-Netflix
McMillion$-"Episode 1"-James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte-HBO
LIVE-ACTION SHORT-FORM
OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul Employee Training: Legal Ethics With Kim Wexler-AMC.com
The Good Place Presents: The Selection-NBC
Most Dangerous Game-Quibi
Reno 911!-Quibi
Star Trek: Short Treks-CBS All Access
Alright, now we gotta get to the big gamechanger of the Emmys year, Quibi! Yes, Quibi, that networks that only plays on your phones.... And your phones only, 'cause I don't have a phone at the moment. (And probably won't since the stimulus ran out... Thanks Republican assholes! [MIDDLE FINGER]) Look, I'm not gonna go over everything that's truly stupid about Quibi, others have already done so, how moronic this, Youtube-but-only-on-your-phone, that you pay for plan is...- Oh, you know where they put the "Free Previews" of their shows? On YOUTUBE! (Eye roll) but part of me still thinks that, because of who's involved with this that despite their best efforts to make this completely flop, I'm still saying 50/50 shot they ass-backwards their way into hanging around and becoming important and influential. Most of them are NBC execs that came up so, that's kinda what happens anyway. (Shrugs) Honestly, I'm amazed Jack Donaghy didn't come up with this himself, but I think he was working on Peacock. (I do have some thought on Peacock, but stay tuned on this blog for that later on.) Anyway, they overflowed the Live-Action Short categories and we knew something was gonna sneak through but the damnedest thing was that we didn't know what. Turned out to be "Most Dangerous Game" and of all things, the reboot of "Reno 911!" which earned their first ever Emmy nominations for this. Honestly, it kinda makes sense, it's probably the one cop show we can actually put up with right now. It's up against three big ones, "The Good Place", "Star Trek" and "Better Call Saul", which is gonna be a little interesting 'cause that was nominated and won previously, but their last nomination was disqualified, ironically for being too short for a Short-Form series. (Yes, that's a rule, you show must be longer then the "Dun-dun", scenes from "Law & Order", who knew?) Fun category though.
OUTSTANDING SHORT-FORM VARIETY SERIES
Beeing At Home with Samantha Bee-TBS
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: The Movie, Sorta, Uncut Interviews-Netflix
Carpool Kareoke: The Series-Apple Music
Jimmy Kimmel's Quarantine Minilogues-YouTube/JimmyKimmelLive
The Randy Rainbow Show-YoutTube
There's our old buddy, "Carpool Kareoke".... I didn't even realize that it was actually on Apple Music, not Apple TV+. Anyway, since that's nominated it could always play spoilers and win. Tough competition though, especially in the Pandemic, both Jimmy Kimmel and Samantha Bee's quarantine side shows get in, as well as "Between Two Ferns..."'s movie special. (Can a Short-Form be a movie, too?) As well as something called "The Randy Rainbow Show" that got in last year. I-eh, I've tried to watch his work in the past, umm, I don't really know what to make of it. I liked "Honest Trailers" better which used to get in here, but not this time. (And I'm only really iffy on them to be honest.[Shrugs])
OUTSTANDING SHORT-FORM NONFICTION OR REALITY SERIES
Between The Scenes-"The Daily Show"-Comedy Central
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents: Pandemic Video Diaries-TBS
National Geographic Presents Cosmos: Creating Possible Worlds-National Geographic
Pose: Identity, Family, Community-FX Networks
RuPaul's Drag Race Out of the Closet-VH1
Man there are a bunch of "Rupaul's Drag Race" side shows. Anyway, Samantha Bee shows up again, glad she's trying to get some stuff here; she needs to get more presence in the shorts. Nothing too surprising elsewise, I think "Pose" might be the spoiler here.
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
Laurence Fishburne-"#FreeRayshawn"-Quibi
Stephan James-"#FreeRayshawn"-Quibi
Christoph Waltz-"Most Dangerous Game"-Quibi
Mamoudou Athie-"Oh Jerome, No (Cake)"-FX Networks
Corey Hawkins-"Survive"-Quibi
Quibi! Quibi! Quibi! Quibi! Told you, gamechanger. 4 out of the 5 nominees, with only Mamoudou Athie for "Cake" on FX, which apparently qualifies.... I personally think it's between the big names, Christoph Waltz and Laurence Fishburne; I'm not sure what to make of any of this. Maybe once Quibi gets their head out of their ass and I see these....
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A SHORT-FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA
Anna Kendrick-"Dummy"-Quibi
Kaitlin Olson-"Flipped"-Quibi
Jasmine Cephas Jones-"#FreeRayshawn"-Quibi
Rain Valdez-"Razor Tongue"-YouTube Now
Kerri Kenney-Silver-"Reno 911!"-Quibi
I legitimately didn't know YouTube was still doing that Premium thing; I figured once "Cobra Kai" was announced to go on Netflix that it was done, but I guess it one last gasp, the job of not allowing a Quibi sweep here either! Well, I'm happy to see Kaitlin Olson at least, finally get nominated for something. Anna Kendrick's show "Dummy' seems like one of the big Quibi projects and even though it's basically her and a sex doll, I'm sure that'll gain an audience, but Kerri Kenney-Silver getting in might help her too. I bet they want to give "Reno 911!" something.
INTERACTIVE
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL INTERACTIVE PROGRAM
The Messy Truth VR Experience-Oculus
Rebuilding Notre Dame-Oculus
When We Stayed Home-Oculus
The Interactive branch had some weird new changes too year. They've split interactive programs into, three categories, plus a Jury Award I'm not gonna discuss. This one is for material that's created specifically as interactive material and originally for a digital medium. I don't know what any of these or what Oculus is, or for that matter what Brie Larson is a nominee for "The Messy Truth".
OUTSTANDING DERIVATIVE INTERACTIVE PROGRAM
Big Mouth Guide to Life-Netflix
Doctor Who: The Runaway-BBC America
Oh hey, "Doctor Who fans, here's your nomination. Yeah, Derivative Interactive Programs are material that's either based on an or accompanying a TV show, or other adapted material. This could be the cool stuff on a Movie's website too.
OUTSTANDING INTERACTIVE EXTENSION OF A LINEAR PROGRAM
Mr. Robot-"Season_4.0 ARG"-USA Network
Stranger Things-"Scoops Ahoy: Operation Scoop Snoop"-Netflix
Westworld-"Free Will Is Not Free Interactive Experience"-HBO
These are different from Derivative because this is when the Interactive material is an extension of the program as opposed to just being an additional feature to the program. No, I don't get why they bothered separating these either.
MISCELLANEOUS
OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance-Netflix
Star Wars Resistance-Disney Channel
We Are The Dreams: The Kids of The Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest-HBO
I guess there were fewer "Children's Show" in primetime then they though. The New sliding scale dropped that category to three, and it's Jim Henson, Star Wars and Mahershala Ali believe it or not, he's nominated as a Producer for that "We Are The Dreams"
OUTSTANDING COMMERCIAL
Back-to-School Essentials-Sandy Hook Promise
Before Alexa-Amazon
Bounce-Apple AirPods
Groundhog Day-Jeep (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [FCA])
The Look-P&G
I like the "Before Alexa" one, but I want to look at them again.
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS
"Letter To My Godfather"-The Black Godfather-Music & Lyrics: Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo-Netflix
"All For Us"-Euphoria-Music & Lyrics: Labrinth-HBO
"Eat Shit, Bob"-Last Week Tonight with John Oliver-Music: David Dabbon; Lyrics: Joanna Rothkopf, Jill Twiss, Senna Vali-HBO
"Build It Up"-Little Fires Everywhere-Music & Lyrics: Ingrid Michaelson-Hulu
"One Less Angel"-The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-Music & Lyrics: Thomas Mizer, Curtis Moore
"Memorized"-This Is Us"-Music & Lyrics: Siddhartha Khosta, Taylor Goldsmith-NBC
"The Way It Used To be"-Watchmen-Music & Lyrics: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross-HBO
This category's always fun, plus I like to put the music categories up for those who like to keep track of EGOTs. BTW, speaking of that, congratulation Alan Menken, who's daytime Emmy last week finally earned him the EGOT! Anyway, some big names here. Pharrel, Trent Reznor, Ingrid Michaelson, and some good songs here too. I'm partial to "Memorized" myself.
OUTSTANDING MUSIC DIRECTION
The Kennedy Center Honors-Rickey Minor-CBS
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammys Salute to Prince-Sheila E., Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis-CBS
The Oscars-Rickey Minor-ABC
Saturday Night Live-"SNL At Home #1"-NBC
Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show Starring Jennifer Lopez And Shakira-Adam Wayne Blackstone-FOX
I'm fairly certain if "Let's Go Crazy" wins this, that would make Sheila E. the first woman to ever win in this category. Not bad for the girl who started as the Music Director on Magic Johnson's talk show. (Yes, I know she had hit songs and worked a lot with Prince before then, don't at me!)
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME SONG
Carnival Row-Nathan Barr-Prime Video
Defending Jacob-Olafur Arnalds-Apple TV+
Hollywood-Nathan Barr-Netflix
Unorthodox-Antonio Gambale-Netflix
Why We Hate-Laura Karpman-Discovery Channel
Wu-Tang: An American Saga-The Rza-Hulu
I don't think a rapper has ever won for a theme song, that would be interesting. Boy, Nathan Barr gets a lot of work with theme songs.
OUTSTANDING MAIN TITLE DESIGN
Abstract: The Art of Design-Netflix
Carnival Row-Prime Video
Godfather of Harlem-EPIX
The Morning Show-Apple TV+
The Politician-Netflix
Watchmen-HBO
Westworld-HBO
I always like this category. Don't be surprised if it's the one you're not familiar with or gets canceled wins though, this category only kinda cares about popularity.
OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE)
The Crown-Martin Phipps-Netflix
Euphoria-Labrinth-HBO
The Mandalorian-Ludwig Goransson-Disney+
Ozark-Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans-Netflix
Succession-Nicholas Britell-HBO
No real thoughts on this one honestly, don't know who this Labrinth is, but the more I read and hear about this "Europhoria" and those involved with it, the more fascinating it seems.
OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE)
Hollywood-Nathan Barr-Netflix
Little Fires Everywhere-Mark Isham, Isabella Summer-Hulu
Mrs. America-Kris Bowers-FX Networks
Unorthodox-Antonio Gamble-Netflix
Watchmen-Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross-HBO
More of Nathan Barr. More of Reznor & Ross; remember when Trent Reznor was the freaky goth with all the creepy imaged music videos? I bet some of you younger readers don't realize that once upon a time, he had a band.
OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A DOCUMENTARY SERIES OR NONFICTION SPECIAL
Becoming-Kamasi Washington-Netflix
Home-Amanda Jones-Apple+
McMillion$-Pinar Toprak, Alex Kovacs-HBO
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness-Mark Mothersbaugh, John enroth, Albert Fox-Netflix
Why We Hate-Laura Karpman-Discovery Channel
Did anybody else know Mark Mothersbaugh scored "Tiger King"? He would've been the last name I would've thought of for that, the guy that created the "Rugrats" theme. He also had a band once, some of you guys should check it out.
Alright, I'm way past my deadline, and I've fallen asleep at my computer twice. I think we're done with this for now. If there's any other awards you're interested in, check them out at the link below. Sorry I can't do more, but my coffee ran out and I need to sleep. Build up that energy to watch all this TV tomorrow. It's not like we're doing anything else right now anyway....
https://www.emmys.com/sites/default/files/Downloads/72nd-nominations-list-v1.pdf?q=1
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