I should really know better by now.
Year after year, I keep hoping the Emmys will finally see logic and nominate
the series I like. And with Game of
Thrones finally gone from dominating every major category in Drama, I
actually thought: it’ll happen this year. Your list will look close to theirs.
Oh, naïve critic.
It’s not just that so many of my
series were not nominated. It’s that’s so many obvious choice with the acting
nominees were ignore for inexplicable reasons. There was very little
correspondence between the acting nominees and the nominees for Best Drama. Two
series had no acting nominations (or for that matter, directing or writing)
while so many other series dominated the acting categories but had no
nominations for Best Drama. And perhaps
the biggest obstacle for Better Call
Saul, where Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks (who’ve been nominated four
straight years were somehow ignored in favor of nominees from The Morning Show, which despite
expectations was not nominated for
Best Drama. The institutional memory that dominates the Emmys seemed to go back
a couple of years in the acting categories, but not in Best Drama. How does The Handmaid’s Tale get nominated for
two years ago, but somehow Pose and This Is Us from last year don’t?
I’m actually so frustrated with how
the Drama category came out this year, that I’m going to break an old happy and
discuss the Comedy nominations instead. In a rarity for me, I’m actually far
more satisfied with the Comedy nominations than I am for the Dramas, and even
rarer, there was more synchronicity than usual. So, let’s see what made us
laugh.
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel was dominant yet again, leading the pack with 18 nominations. Schitt’s Creek went big in it’s final
year, getting (mostly) a deserved 15. The
Good Place had a good exit with seven nominations; the same number for Insecure. Hurrah! The Kominsky Method deserved the nominations it got, and I’ve
recently gotten onboard with Dead to Me so
I’m glad it was nominated.
As for Curb Your Enthusiasm, I’m not surprised it got the Best Comedy nod,
but given the lack of other nominations, they probably should’ve nominated Ramy instead. And I am shocked that FX’s
nominee for Best Comedy was the vampire satire What We Do In the Shadows rather than the sublime Better Things. I may be in the minority
on this (the series did get three writing nominations, which seems to mean
people loved it) but completely shutting out Pamela Adlon? Not nice.
OUTSTANDIGN LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Ted Danson, Eugene Levy, Anthony
Anderson, Ramy Youseff and Michael
Douglas were all on my list, and all more than deserved to get nominated. I’m
still a little surprise at the love the Emmys seem to show Don Cheadle. Black Monday isn’t a good show, despite
Cheadle’s best efforts. I’m not surprised Jim Carrey was ignored, but
considering the love for Larry David, I’m a little surprised he wasn’t
included. Oh well.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Rachel Brosnahan, Issa Rae, and
Catherine O’Hara more than deserve to be here. I’ve come to be more and more
impressed by the work of Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini on Dead To Me, so I’m glad that both
actresses were nominated. I’m always glad to see Tracee Ellis Ross hear as her
work on black-ish is sublime.
I guess I’m just disappointed they
couldn’t find room for Pamela Adlon. Kirsten Bell is probably used to being
ignored by the Emmys by now. Still, a good group.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
They finally nominated William
Jackson Harper. I guess the Emmys finally got off their asses and made a choice
for a great actor. I’m also glad to see Mahershala Ali and Alan Arkin here as
well, and its inevitable that Tony Shalhoub would be back.
I’m always glad to see Sterling
Brown nominated, even though I’m not sure his work on Maisel was big enough for Supporting. It’s great to see Andre
Braugher back in the mix. Keenan Thompson deserves to be here too. And I don’t
really have a problem with Dan Levy being here (it’s a family affair after
all). Maybe eight actually was enough.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
They found room for D’Arcy Carden
too! I guess Janet did know what the Emmy would think. And they recognized
Yvonne Orji!
I’m always glad to see Marin Hinkle
and Alex Borstein included in the Emmy mix. Kate McKinnon has won my respect
over the last few years on SNL and
I’m glad to see Cecily Strong around, even though she isn’t my favorite SNL
cast member. Betty Gilpin more than deserved to be here too. I don’t really
object to Emily Hampshire being here, but couldn’t they have found room for
Regina Hall? Still, good group.
As for Guest
Actor, as you’d expect SNL dominated. I have no problem with Eddie Murphy, but
Brad Pitt for playing Anthony Fauci? Little overdoing it. I was glad to see
Fred Willard given a posthumous nod for his work on Modern Family and another nod for Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce. I was
glad to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge nominated for SNL, but I’m a little afraid Maya Rudolph’s fine work as Kamala
Harris will cancel out the work she did as The Judge on The Good Place. (Then
again, maybe the Judge had it done. Good to see Wanda Sykes in the mix, but
couldn’t they have found room for Larry David somewhere?
Tomorrow, I will
gird my loins and deal with the Drama involved in Drama.
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