Well, it’s been a week since the Image Awards finally wrapped up and its time for me to elucidate on the winners. Given that for the lion’s share of awards shows, the nominations usually have made me happier than the Emmys, I expected to be disappointed. Honestly, I’m just about as satisfied with the winners as I am with the nominees.
I remain impressed with the high caliber of these winners, which more and more make the Emmys look disappointing by comparison. Let’s start, as I always seem to, with Drama. Would I have preferred Pose triumphing over Queen Sugar? Maybe. But really Queen Sugar has been around a lot longer and deserves more credit. Sterling K. Brown continues to show why he is one of the great actors of our time, and I’m over the moon to see Angela Bassett prevail for her superb work on 9-1-1. (I guess the Images were a family affair, as we’ll see below.) Method Man and Mary J. Blige are two extraordinary hyphenates and I’m glad to see Power Book II (and indeed this universe) get recognition. On a side note, I paid almost no attention to the directing and writing nominations so I’m delighted that the Images were willing to recognize The Good Fight – and increasingly angry that the Emmys just keeps on ignoring it. Bravo to Barry Jenkins for picking up a trophy for The Underground Railroad, another series that got shafted by the Emmys.
I am absolutely overjoyed by the comedy awards which were split basically between Insecure and Black-ish. Anthony Anderson took a much deserved prize as did the criminally underrated Deon Cole for the former, and this was the night for Issa as she triumphed for Best Actress and Best Writing in a Comedy as well as sharing in the prize for best series. Natasha Rothwell, who I truly have begun to love, prevailed for Supporting Actress. On a side note, I just looked at the writing nominations and more cheers for the Images for recognizes the equally ignored Pen15 and Sex Education with a nominations.
It’s slightly harder to judge on the outstanding TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special Awards as I only saw a handful of the nominated films. That said, there are some good choices. I’m thrilled that Regina Hall prevailed for Nine Perfect Strangers and always glad to see Courtney B. Vance win anywhere for anything, including his superb work in Genius: Aretha. Much as I’m a fan of Taraji P. Henson’s work over all, I find it slightly hard to believe her performance in Annie Live! was better than Cynthia Erivo’s for Genius: Aretha among other nominees. And it’s pretty clear that I have to see True Story at some point.
As for other awards, I was glad to see Miles Brown take a prize for black-ish even though I would have preferred seeing EJ Williams win for The Wonder Years. I can never complain when Maya Rudolph wins anything and no one can fault the peerless work of Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. Would I have been happy if Desus and Mero or Amber Ruffin had taken a prize? Of course. But their time will come.
On a side note I’m generally also pleased by several of the film awards that were given, even though it did seem to cover a wide spread. Judas and the Black Messiah in recent years, CODA looks like contender for Oscar given its triumph for Best Independent Film and its upset at the SAGs earlier this week. And as far I’m concerned there aren’t enough awards that Regina King can possibly win. With each new effort she undertakes, she continues to impress and The Harder They Fall is another one of those films that got overlooked by almost every other major awards group. I don’t think there’s anything King can’t do.
I don’t pretend the Image Awards are necessarily as good or better than so many other awards show when it comes to television: I’m well aware how limited the choices have been for so many minority actors, writers and directors even at the forefront of Peak TV. But they provide a fascinating alternative to the Emmys and so many other awards show which as we saw this year, even when it recognizes certain series will more often than not keep them from the podium. (I’m still pissed that Michael K. Williams didn’t win last year… or ever, to take just one of the most glaring examples.) They are as imperfect and fascinating as every other awards show and I look forward to following them for years to come.
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