I watch too much television. However, even I don't watch enough television to be able to give any informed opinion on how the Emmy races will shake out. Who gets picked for what doesn't make sense to me and never will. However, I've seen half of the Outstanding Comedy Series nominees, three of the five Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and all but one of the Outstanding Drama Series nominees (sorry "Slow Horses"). And that means I do have some opinions on how well the Television Academy did putting the nominations together, at least.
Generally, there's always a lot of politicking and a small number of shows getting the lion's share of the nominations, because people can't watch everything. However, one thing that's improved has been the unfortunate inertia of some long-running shows getting kudos every year for mediocre seasons. This is a practice that seems to be slowly going away. The final season of "A Handmaid's Tale" got one nomination in a very minor category after racking up the trophies for years. Not much attention is going to former favorites like "Yellowjackets," or "Squid Game" either.
New in the Outstanding Comedy race are "Nobody Wants This," "Shrinking," and "The Studio," the last of which garnered a massive 23 nominations. I expected "The Studio" to do well, because Hollywood loves to navel gaze. The show is not for me, but I appreciate that it's giving the "Entourage" crowd something to root for. "Nobody Wants This" feels a little slight, but acceptable, and I continue to have no interest in watching "Shrinking." Returning nominees include "Abbott Elementary," "The Bear," "Hacks," "Only Murders in the Building," and the last season of "What We Do in the Shadows."
Over in drama, new contenders include "Paradise," "The Pitt," and "The Diplomat," which I would have pegged as a comedy. "The Diplomat," like "Shrinking," got acting nods for its first season and is getting a series nomination for its second season, which is a good sign that the Academy is making an effort to award consistency over just chasing the fastest out of the gate. "Paradise" seems like an odd pick until you remember that its creator, Dan Fogelman, also created Academy favorite "This is Us." Returning nominees include "Andor," "The Last of Us," "Severance," "Slow Horses," and "The White Lotus."
"The Penguin" showed up in Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, but will almost certainly be clobbered by "Adolescence." Cristin Milioti has a good shot at taking home a trophy for playing Sofia Falcone though. I'm surprised that the Menendez Brothers miniseries made it in after all the bad press, but the return of "Black Mirror" is very welcome. And going by the acting nominations, it looks like "Presumed Innocent" just missed the cut.
The acting awards are very Oscar-like in that several of the nominated lead actress performances were for shows that didn't get other big nominations. We've got Uzo Aduba in "The Residence," Sharon Horgan for "Bad Sisters," Kathy Bates for "Matlock," Meghann Fahy for "Sirens," and Cate Blanchett for "Disclaimer." On the actors' side, it's just Brian Tyree Henry for "Dope Thief" and Jake Gyllenhaal for "Presumed Innocent." "White Lotus" continues its takeover of the Supporting Actor and Actress categories. However, one new wrinkle is that the guest actor slots for comedy are dominated this year by "The Studio" and it's ridiculous. Ron Howard got a nomination for being mean, even. And I know Cynthia Erivo played quintuplets, but there were so many guest actresses who did better work on "Poker Face." Come on.
I like digging into the less prominent categories to see where the also-rans managed to get some recognition. "Somebody, Somewhere" got a surprise Supporting Actor nomination for Jeff Hiller and another for writing. "Four Seasons" got an acting nomination for Colman Domingo. "Say Nothing" got one major nod, for writing. "The Rehearsal" didn't make it into Outstanding Comedy, but did pick up both writing and directing nominations. I found "Day of the Jackal," "Étoile," and "Pachinko" in the cinematography categories. James Burrows got a directing nomination for "Mid-Century Modern," because it's James Burrows. On that note, there are eighteen slots for the major directing categories, and this year it's exactly nine women and nine men. That's worth celebrating.
Amusingly, I've seen all the Best Television Movie nominees (a category that everyone seems to pretend doesn't exist) for the first time, which includes "Mountainhead," "Nonnas," "The Gorge," "Rebel Ridge," and the latest "Bridget Jones" movie. I'm rooting for "Rebel Ridge." Apparently there's also some drama going on over in the documentary categories - rule changes mean that docs that didn't get Oscar nominations can "double dip" and be considered for Emmys. "Will & Harper," for instance, made the Oscar shortlist but didn't get a nomination, so it still got to be considered for the corresponding Emmy categories.
Finally, the most unexpected nomination definitely goes to the "Lazarus" anime making an appearance in the category honoring achievements in main title music. I feel it's well deserved.
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