JURY PRIZE
Whenever he listed his top ten films for the year, Roger Ebert would leave a subheading for the ‘jury prize’ – films he thought were great but didn’t quite make the top. Similarly here is a shorter list of TV series and performers that might well have slipped under the radar in 2021 or that just didn’t quite make the list. I’ll actually throw in some commentary about series or formats I’m impressed by and others that need improvement.
ACTRESS whose WORK YOU MIGHT LIKELY MISSED
Daisy Haggard
Everybody was justifiably focused on the outstanding work of Jean Smart in both Hacks and Mare of Easttown, but just as impressive was the quiet work of a great British comic actress-showrunner. In April of this year Season 2 of Breeders a quietly brilliant comedy about a British family trying to raise their children aired on FX. I recommended both Haggard and Martin Freeman for Emmy nominations this year for their exceptional work. (As you can imagine Breeders itself should get a jury prize.) Haggard was quietly wonderful as a wife and mother constantly under pressure from her parents and her husband to live a life she didn’t want too – which had major consequences by the end of the season. This September, the other series she was the lead in – collaboration between the BBC and Showtime – Back to Life aired its second year. In the role of Miri, a woman paroled after serving eighteen years for murder and utterly rejected by the small coastal town she has to return to live, Haggard was exceptional as a woman to trying to make a career and a romantic life for herself while the people around her – including her best friend – tried to wreck it with no thought to her. It is possible there will be no third season for Back to Life – it ended on a near perfect note – but there are few actresses like Haggard who have this gift for balancing comedy and drama so perfectly. You can’t look away from her, and I look forward to seeing what she does next.
ACTOR WHOSE WORK YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Corey Stoll
Ever since he played the doomed Peter Russo in the first season of House of Cards Stoll has been one of those actors you can never look away from the minute he appears on screen. He has spent much of the last several years drifting between movies and TV (this year he made an unforgettable impression as a bigoted New York lieutenant in West Side Story) but as 2021 unfolded he has been returning to the medium that he broke big in.
In Billions he makes a memorable impression as Mike Prince, Bobby Axelrod’s biggest threat to date. Seen as a man who seems generous who can tell Bobby that he’s a monster as Season 5 unfolded this year, you watched as you saw him manipulate Chuck into a position to take Bobby down – all so he could take over Bobby’s company in the final episode. I don’t if Billions will work now that he’s the antagonist of the show, but part of me thinks if anybody can pull it off Stoll can.
He also had a memorable cameo in the first episode of the extraordinary Scenes from a Marriage this September. As one of the few actors other than Oscar Isaac or Jessica Chastain who occupied the screen at all, he was memorable as a colleague who had an open marriage, seemed happy about the world and quietly bullied everyone around him. I have few complaints about that limited series; I just wish we’d seen more of him.
Stoll is scheduled to appear in other series throughout 2022 in addition to Billions and as someone who has always admired his work I’m grateful to see him getting some of the meatiest roles he has in awhile.
SCANDAL? WHAT SCANDAL?
Jeopardy Is Back Big Time
Yes I know people were outraged by after everything involving the guest hosts of Jeopardy we somehow ended up with Mike Richards. Then in the course of a month, Mike Richards lost his jobs as host and producer. People may still have their problems with Mayim Bialik and they may have issues with Ken Jennings. But really, at some point all of this is just window dressing. What has always mattered about Jeopardy are the contestants and the champions. And in the last six months, those of us who are watching the series for that really should be happy.
In a period of less than six months two of the greatest Jeopardy champions in the history of the series have been gracing the podium with their presence. Matt Amadio took second place all time when it came to games won with 38 and is currently in third place all time with money won with more than $1.4 million dollars. Less than two months after he left the stage, another of the all time greats has appeared – Amy Schneider as of the end of 2021 has won 24 games and just under $900,000. She’s currently fourth all time in games won and money won. This level of greatness on Jeopardy is almost completely unprecedented in the show’s nearly four decades on the air.
And it needs to be made clear that the hosts currently splitting the duties are both doing a superb job. Mayim Bialik continues to demonstrate her bubbly charm and great wit when it comes to dealing with the contestants. And I am very impressed with Jennings’ ability to be so outwardly proud of the accomplishments of Amy Schneider particularly as she takes her own run at his title. In between we’ve had three other fairly good champions and the first ever Professor’s Tournament which had in my opinion some of the toughest material on the show in awhile.
So go ahead and mock Jeopardy for its hosting problems and say that Dr. Oz and Aaron Rodgers should still be doing it. Like I’ve said on numerous occasions if all you care about is who hosts and how they do, you’re watching for the wrong reasons. I’ve watching for the champions and all I can say is Alex would be so proud.
SERIES THAT ENDED PERFECTLY
The Bold Type
One of the most quietly brilliant series of the 2010s with three of the most realistic and likeable heroines of all times. If there’s every any series that deserves a continuation or a reboot down the road, it’s this one.
SERIES THAT REALLY NEEDS TO CALL IT QUITS
The Blacklist
It’s been running on fumes for at least the last three years and if there’s any continuity to it I don’t see it any more. And seriously, if you’re going to kill of the character that was basically the center and anchor of the show and still try to go on - Season 9 of The X-Files. James Spader can’t save this show
LIMITED SERIES I’M GLAD IS CONTINUING
The White Lotus
The rarely perfectly coifed comic mini-series was exquisitely cast and acted from beginning to end. We may have different staff and guests in Season 2, but as long as Mike White is at the helm, I’ll gladly come back for another stay.
SERIES THAT SHOULD HAVE STAYED LIMITED
Your Honor
To be clear this series didn’t work exceptionally well as a series, but IT ENDED. Where can the series potentially go after this? I love Bryan Cranston, I truly do but he barely carried this series for one season. This isn’t Big Little Lies. There’s nothing here.
NETWORK OR SERVICE THAT IS SHOWING THE MOST IMPROVEMENT
ABC
Over the past year I’ve been impressed with the level of material that has been coming out of ABC, starting with Big Sky and some of the better shows of 2021 The Wonder Years and the dazzling soap-satire Queens. (Please bring the Nasty Girls back for a second season.) And having gotten a glimpse at the pilot of Prescott Elementary it looks like they may have a market for comedies that aren’t reboots. Keep going and don’t cancel.
NETWORK OR SERVICE THAT SEEMS TO HAVE LOST THE THREAD
Fox
I wasn’t shocked when they cancelled Filthy Rich – I knew it was just a placeholder. Then they killed Prodigal Son even though it was by far the best Drama on their network and I held my tongue. But now it looks like a truly imaginative and original series like The Big Leap will die without a second thought and you’re just going to keep The Simpsons and Family Guy going. Its hardly worth tuning in to any series on this network – its either going to get cancelled or jump to a streaming service (witness Lucifer and The Orville) The Cleaning Lady might be an interesting show. I’m not going to bother getting attached before you announce the next reboot of 24.
Well, that’s it for 2021. It’s been a tough year and it may get worse before it gets better, but look on the bright side. In just a few months Atlanta, Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Stranger Things will all have new seasons. If things go well, we might get new seasons of The Crown and Better Call Saul later this year. Things are looking up already.
No comments:
Post a Comment