Sunday, April 16, 2023

Emmy Nomination Watch Phase 2, Part 1: The Peabody Award Nominations

 

 

At the end of February the first phase of the prelude to the Emmy nominations and awards came to an end with the presentation of the SAG awards. Focused entirely on series released in 2022, we received a certain indication as to how the Emmy nominations might go.

There was a universal agreement when it came to comedy: Abbott Elementary won every Best Comedy prize in sight, from the Golden Globes to the Critics Choice to the SAG Awards. The clear frontrunner for Best Actor in a Comedy is Jeremy Allan White for The Bear while Quinta Brunson has an early lead for Best Actress in a Comedy with her greatest rival Jean Smart ineligible due to Hacks not airing its third season until the end of the eligibility. It is harder to define the supporting awards though Tyler James Williams and Sheryl Lee Ralph have an early advantage.

There is no consensus when it comes to the Drama awards. The Golden Globes chose House of the Dragon, The Critics Choice Awards Better Call Saul and the SAG awards chose The White Lotus which ended up winning Best Limited Series from the Golden Globes. Bob Odenkirk has taken one Best Actor prize; another has been won by Kevin Costner for Yellowstone but the recent controversy over his appearances in future seasons may diminish his chances. Jennifer Coolidge is the leader in Best Supporting Actress for The White Lotus but with Succession not a factor that remains to be seen.

Now we enter the second phase leading up to the Emmy nominations in July with the Peabody Awards which gave their nominations this past week. While the awards themselves are rarely a bellwether for the eventual winner of the Emmys, in recent years they have offered insight into some of the series that the Emmys might very well end up considering this year. Several of their choices are certain to be nominated while others, based on other awards, may have moved up in the estimations. Admittedly, some of the nominated series are shows that will be ineligible regardless but there are enough nominated series that might give us insight as to what might guide the Emmy judges. Bearing that mind, let’s take a lot at this years nominees.

 

Certain Emmy Nominees

No one would dispute that Abbott Elementary will dominate the nominations this fall; the only question is whether it will defeat Ted Lasso which will certainly be it’s biggest rival. Better Call Saul is also a lock for Best Drama nominations. Equally certain to be part of the discussion for Best Limited Series is The Patient, the exceptional psychological thriller with Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleason as its leads. With The White Lotus competing for Best Drama, it is likely to be a serious contender.

 

Likely Contenders

The fourth season of Atlanta was nominated and is a strong possibility to be considered at least for Donald Glover and some of the supporting cast. Where it can earn a Best Comedy nomination remains to be seen among a very strong category.

Andor did very well in the early phases of the awards, getting nominations for Best Drama from the Critics Choice and acting nods for Diego Luna. It remains to be seen if its natural strength and themes can prevail over the far bigger hit The Mandalorian which has been nominated for Best Drama its first two seasons.

Reservation Dogs has been a critical favorite for years and received multiple nominations from the Broadcast Critics this past December. The question remains whether it has enough momentum to prevail over the bigger commercial hit produced by Taika Waititi What We Do In the Shadows.  

 

Long Shots

Bad Sisters has received immense critical acclaim and has received nominations for Best Drama from the Critics Choice awards, but it is fighting it out in a crowded field whether it competes as a comedy or a drama.

The nomination for Somebody Somewhere is one that I am very happy about because it was one of my favorite quiet comedies of 2022. Though nominated for last year, its season premiere is next Saturday. Could this put it over the top?

 

No Real Chance

Netflix’s Mo is worshipped by Critics and has a good pedigree but has no chance among many of the Netflix series out there. Sort of is practically unheard of. Los Espookys is hysterical but its cancelation almost certain doomed its chances.

Pachinko and Severance are ineligible this year, and the other nominees Bob’s Burgers and Documentary Now! Will compete in other categories not related to the Emmys.

 

It is an interesting collection of nominees as the Peabodys often present. I will report on the winners after the May 9th ceremony to see if anything meaningful will be decided.

The MTV Movie and TV awards have given their nominations earlier this week. Since Euphoria isn’t eligible, I’m more interested then I was last year. I’ll report on that later this week.

 

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