My (Slightyl) Delayed Reaction To The 2023 SAG Awards TV Nominations

 

I have only recently started to list my reactions to the SAG nominations in regards to television, partially because of their long time pattern of giving the same awards over and over (Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock six years running) and the far more irritating fact that the awards are limited only to leads and that supporting players fall into the same category as them.

But over the past few years, the SAGs have slowly but surely begun to incorporate variety into both the series they nominate and the eventual winners, which has made the awards show less of a slog that it has been for much of its run. There has generally been more variety with the drama than the comedy (there have been six different winners over the last six years) but both categories are getting more interesting and are occasionally offering more insight into what awards will be given. (Lee-Jung Jae’s triumph for Squid Game was a foretelling of his eventual path to the Emmy last year.) Limited Series/Movie remains an awkward field, especially because for reasons that boggle the mind, there isn’t a category for Best Ensemble for either one.

But considering that even the Golden Globes seems to be moving in the right direction in that regard given this year’s new categories, we can eventually hope that the SAG awards will eventually see reason in a similar vein. In the meantime, here are my delayed reactions to this year’s nominations which I am well aware of came out a couple of weeks ago.

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY

I can’t argue with a single nomination here. Abbott Elementary, Barry and Hacks were all high among my Top Ten of 2022. I’ve seen almost all of the first season of The Bear; it clearly belongs here. And even though I have yet to see Season 2 of Only Murders in the Building, it’s very hard to argue it wouldn’t qualify in the end.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A COMEDY

No one would dare quibble with Bill Hader, Steve Martin, Martin Short or Jeremy Allan White in this category. I’m not going to fault Anthony Carrigan being included for Barry because anyone who sees his work on the series knows he’s one of the series’ bright lights. Am I disappointed that, say, Donald Glover or Henry Winkler isn’t here instead? Slightly. But let’s not kid ourselves this is a great group.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

No one would dare argue with Quinta Brunson or Jean Smart in this category, considering they’re dividing up every award in the book. I’m thrilled to the see the SAGs recognize Christina Applegate for Dead to Me, and it now looks like Jenna Ortega is a near certainty for a Best Actress nomination for Wednesday (yes, I’ll get to it folks, trust me). Rachel Brosnahan is a slight step backwards compared to some of the other nominees from the Critics Choice and Golden Globes (I imagine many would rather have seen Selena Gomez or maybe Linda Cardellini here, but really this is a good balance of the old and the new.

 

Now let’s move to Drama, where I have less problems than last year.

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE FOR A DRAMA SERIES

This is what happens when you don’t have a category for Limited Series. The White Lotus ends up here. You’re stretching the terms of drama and comedy by justifying it, but it’s a tricky balance in either. Still, we can’t exactly deny it does not have a great ensemble.

As for the other four nominees, I’m certainly not going to argue with Better Call Saul, The Crown or Severance. Am I disappointed that Ozark is here rather than, say, Stranger Things or This is Us? Sure. But at least they didn’t nominate Euphoria or House of The Dragon so that is a step up.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A DRAMA

No complaints really. Bob Odenkirk, Jeff Bridges and Adam Scott more than deserve to be here. I’m overjoyed to see Jonathan Banks being mentioned at all, it’s a delightful surprise.  Am I slightly irked to see Jason Bateman here instead of Sterling Brown or even Kevin Costner? Yes, but irked doesn’t necessarily mean surprised. Ozark’s always done well in this category.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS

How big a problem you have with this category basically comes down to how much you have with how the SAG handles things in general. No one would deny that most of these nominees deserve to be here, but it has the problem of where you draw the line between Lead and Supporting.

The only ones who qualify as the former are Laura Linney for Ozark and Zendaya for Euphoria. (She’s not going to be eligible this year, keep breathing). Elizabeth Debicki and Julia Garner were nominated for Supporting Actress by the Golden Globes (the latter won) and Jennifer Coolidge has been dominating the Supporting category for the last year. Setting aside my problem with The White Lotus being part of the discussion at all, this is one of those categories that I consider problematic. (Garner won in this category once.) They need to deal with it, and right soon.

As for the quality of the nominees, I’d prefer the presence of Mandy Moore or Rhea Seehorn in some form. SAG, you’ve got to work this out.

 

As for Limited Series Movie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE

This is actually fairly good considering. No one can deny the presence of either Taron Egerton or Paul Walter Hauser for their work in Black Bird, and there’s actually not a bad argument for Hauser as a co-lead.  Steve Carell has been getting overlooked for his superb work in The Patient, and while I would have preferred to see Domhnall Gleeson here, he will get his due. Evan Peters did win the Golden Globes for Dahmer so it was inevitable he’d be here. While Sam Elliott may be a questionable choice for 1923 (certainly over Harrison Ford) I do admit I’m more impressed with the SAG’s tendency to look to the future more than either of the previous awards. No one from Under the Banner of Heaven and (hallelujah) no one from Pam and Tommy.  You still need another category, but you’re already one up on both groups.

 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE

Let’s not kid ourselves: this is where Jennifer Coolidge should be competing. Anyway, the rest of them.

Amanda Seyfried deserves to be here as does Jessica Chastain for George and Tammy. Niecy Nash-Betts was probably going to be in this category anyway. I’m still not thrilled with the obsession with Julia Garner for Inventing Anna (especially over Julia Roberts for Gaslit) and I’m honestly not sure what to make of Emily Blunt being chosen for The English. Precursor or outlier? Oh well, at least they didn’t nominate Lilly James.

 

I won’t go into detail on Stunt Ensemble because I haven’t seen most of the nominated series but given that this is the kind of category that sci-fi and fantasy tend to do well in under normal circumstances, I don’t have any real object to the presence of House of the Dragon being here. (It will probably end up winning in this category and I’m basically okay with that, too.)

I’ll deal with my predictions for the winners next month, which will likely include my preferences more than the winners.