With a pandemic going on, protests
nationwide, and a major economic downturn, there’s an argument to be made that
the last thing anyone should be focused on is the lead up to this year’s Emmys.
Indeed, considering that shooting for TV series has just begun this week and
that so much of television in the present is in limbo, one almost wonders when
the Emmys will happen and in what form. Indeed, the TV Critics Association,
which tends to meet in May has already postponed its annual awards for 2020 to
an undetermined time.
Yet television has always prove
good at being a useful distraction, and in a period where tens of millions of
people have been locked down at home with little to do but what watch TV, one
really does think that the medium deserves appreciation now more than ever.
So, in the weeks to come, I will
proceed with my annual predictions (and hopes) for this years Emmy nominations,
still scheduled to take place on July 28 of this year. And to that end, I have
decided to go ahead with my look at this year Peabody awards, which can often shine on a
light on series that will be recognized in the past year. The awards themselves
were announced on the Wednesday.
Among the dramatic series winner
were HBO’s Succession and Netflix’s Stranger Things. These are among the
best choices the Peabodys
have given. I’ve only seen a handful of Season 2, but what I’ve seen of Succession is truly marvelous, and given
its triumphs at the Golden Globes and the Broadcast Critics in January, a lot
of nominations seem in order. As for Stranger
Things, it has always been one of my favorite series and my biggest surprise
is that the Peabodys
chose to honor a pop culture phenomena, something they almost never do. David Makes Man seems more their level,
but it was recognized by the Broadcast Critics, so they’re maybe something to
it.
The comedy choices were equally
impressive. Few can argue that Fleabag was
one of the greatest accomplishments in television (and yes, I fully admit I was
late to the party) and I’m glad to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge continue her
victory tour. I was also late to the party on Hulu’s Ramy, but its an exceptional series, and I fully expect it to see
quite a few nominations in the weeks to come.
Strangely enough, the listing for Peabody’s paid more
attention to Limited Series than they did the year before, with honors that
came for the year just past and the year to come. Chernobyl and When
They See Us dominated the majority of award shows for the past year, so
it’s hardly a surprise to see them present here. And it may shape up to be a rematch between
Netflix and HBO – Unbelievable and Watchmen, two of the most powerful and
dazzling limited series of 2019 ended up winning. I was already expecting a major battle
between these series and all of the female leads connected with it; this is the
next salvo.
It’s always hard to tell if the Peabodys have any deep
effect on the actual awards the same way the Golden Globes or SAG awards often
do. Last year they picked Killing Eve and
Pose as their favorite dramas, and
while neither won, they did take the top acting prizes. It’s harder to see if
the comedy awards mean anything – Fleabag
has won pretty much every award between here and the Emmys – and The Good Place and Barry, last years winners, were more or less shutout. So probably
Ramy Youseff shouldn’t be preparing his acceptance speech. (Then again, given what
happened at the Golden Globes, he didn’t then, either.)
In the weeks to come, I will begin
my annual articles. It’s still possible these pre-Emmy nominations and awards
mean more to critics like myself then the Academy. (Witness Julia Roberts’ snub
last year.) But in a post Game of
Thrones/Veep world, and a lot of series from last year not eligible for
awards this year, there are a lot more possibilities, and I think many of the
races haven’t been this wide open in a decade. I look forward to telling you my
predictions.
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