Thursday, December 8, 2022

My Overwhelmingly Positive Reactions to This Year's Critics Choice TV Nominations Concluded: Best Limited Series/TV Movie et al

 

It will be interesting to consider the winners from this category since The White Lotus was nominated in dramas. With the sole exception of This is Going to Hurt, none of the nominees are eligible for Emmys in 2023-2024. This is interesting and honestly intriguing. And to be clear, with one real exception, I don’t have a problem with the majority of the nominees.

BEST LIMITED SERIES

The Dropout is the sole nominee from the 2022 Emmys to be here. For obvious reasons, I’m overjoyed to see Gaslit leading the way in nominations. It is understandable that Under the Banner of Heaven, Station Eleven, The Offer and The Girl from Plainville are all hear: each received nominations for Best Streaming Limited Series for the HCA this summer. I have made clear my objections about Pam and Tommy but it makes sense considering how it will it did with the Emmy nominations last year that it’s present. I guess few could argue with “This is Going to Hurt either.

Am I slightly surprised that neither The Patient nor Welcome to Chippendales is here? Yes. Am I overjoyed that Inventing Anna is not? Very much so.

I’m now going to go into Best TV Movie because there is some crossover. I think the likely winner will be The Survivor and I’m glad to see Ray Donovan, Fresh and Weird: The Al Yankovic story here. I can work up enthusiasm for Prey as well. I’ll be interested to see what wins.

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

I can’t fault the presence of Andrew Garfield or Sebastian Stan, considering they got Emmy nominations last year. Ben Foster and Samuel L. Jackson were arguably robbed of them last year, so I’m glad to see them considered. I’m never upset to see Ben Whishaw nominated for anything (the Critics Choice owe him for Fargo at least) and given his work as Weird Al, I’m glad to see Daniel Radcliffe here.

To be fair, I’m slightly annoyed that Sean Penn was the only lead from Gaslit who was not nominated. And a little sad that Steve Carell isn’t around for The Patient. But otherwise it’s a good group.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES  or TV MOVIE

And the TCA has officially done a better job than the Emmys in this category last year. Amanda Seyfried will likely triumph for The Dropout, but Julia Roberts and Michelle Pfeiffer are deservedly included for their superb work in Gaslit and The First Lady respectively.  Lily James was probably inevitable considering Pam and Tommy’s success. And credit where it’s due for the TCA ignoring the haters and nominated Amber Midthunder for Prey. I mean, a nomination for an action TV movie. Bravo

Sure I wish that Julia Garner wasn’t here and that Renee Zellweger was. But honestly, anything for The Thing About Pam was honestly a long shot. So good job.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES

This is a pretty good bunch actually. Domhnall Gleeson more than earned a nomination for his incredible work on The Patient. And extra credit to the TCA for being the only awards show to recognize Shea Whigham’s masterclass as Gordon Liddy on Gaslit.  Ray Liotta deserved one last shot at the awards for his work on Black Bird and Paul Walter Hauser more than earned for me the scariest, soft spoken monster in history. I’m always glad to see Matthew Goode in the ranks and more than glad to see Murray Bartlett as well. And full credit to the TCA for not nominating Seth Rogen, further demonstrating their independence.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

An interesting group. Overjoyed that Betty Gilpin is here for Gaslit. Melanie Lynskey and Juno Temple were nominated for their work in Candy and The Offer respectively by the HCA, so it makes sense they’re here.

As for the rest, I’ll have to look at Fleishman is in Trouble to see if Claire Danes is worthy of a nod (though let’s face it, she usually is). Niecy Nash-Betts almost never gets her due from any awards show, but I’m still not sure Dahmer represents her best work. Dominique Fishback was overlooked for her work on The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray.  Interesting group that will no doubt send many to various streaming services.

As for some of the others: Best Foreign Language series has a good group. Pachinko and Extraordinary Attorney Woo are the kind of series that should be getting nominations, and My Brilliant Friend is one that the critics and audiences love. 1899 and Tehran have a cult base as well. Animated series is a good group, featuring Bob’s Burger’s, Harley Quinn, and Primal, reminding us why the rest of the world needs to appreciate Genndy Tartakovsky more.  And as for talk show, John Oliver and Seth Meyers were the only inevitable ones: I’m thrilled to see Samantha Bee back for one last bite at the big prize and always glad to see Amber Ruffin.

I’ll be back in January to try and predict the winners. Though I have to say, given the quality of the nominees, there aren’t going to be many real losers. I’ll be back on Monday to deal with the Golden Globes. And yes, I’m going to acknowledge they exist. Will the world?

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