Two weeks ago I learned
of the existence of yet another awards show related to TV that had been around
for awhile and that I had fundamentally ignored: the Dorian TV Awards which
since 2009 have been given by the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA)
Those of you who
read my column know that I was impressed with their nominations and going
further back, I saw that they had a solid record when it came to TV awards. I
actually said that last year, when they recognized Yellowjackets, Abbott
Elementary and Girls5Eva they had outdone the Emmys.
Last Monday they
unveiled the winners of their awards. I was, as you are very aware, very busy
with other things. Now that I have the free time, I will now reveal the winners
and my reactions to them and if the Emmys do such a good job, they should be so
lucky.
It probably will
not come as a shock that Succession and Abbott Elementary won Best Drama and Best Comedy,
respectively; at the moment they are deservedly the heavy favorites for the
Emmys. It’s the rest of the awards I wish to discuss and I find myself hoping
the Emmys are up to the task.
Somebody Somewhere
once
against demonstrated how great a series it is. It received the prize for Best
Unsung Show, over such standouts as Derry Girls and Reservation
Dogs.. More impressively, in my mind, Bridget Everett took the prize for
Best TV performance in a Comedy. Considering that three of the nominated
performers – Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Rachel Brosnahan for The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel and Natasha Lyonne for Poker Face – are certainties for
Best Actress in a Comedy nominations and Ali Wong is rising for Best Lead Actress
in a Limited Series, this is an impressive win for Everett. I can only hope it
leads to a nomination down the line. Ayo Edibiri’s triumph in The Bear is
only slightly less surprising, considering she was up against heavyweights
Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph for Abbott Elementary and Alex Borstein
for Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Edibiri’s nomination was always going to
happen; one wonders if this will improve her odds at the Emmys.
The choices for
Best Drama are slightly less surprising: Jennifer Coolidge, who has been
dominating the Supporting Actress awards for The White Lotus and who won
in this category last year, took another prize. Sarah Snook’s triumph in Best
TV performance for Succession is not much less of a shock, considering
how quickly she has been rising in the polls to win the Best Actress prize over
Melanie Lynskey in Yellowjackets. Is this a sign of things to come? We’ll
see.
I was impressed
with the recognition of other underrated series: Los Espookys took a
victory lap by winning Best Non-English language show; The Other Two a much
beloved series by many took the prize for Best LGBTQ+ show over Somebody
Somewhere and The Last of Us. Fire Island taking Best TV Movie or
Miniseries is not entirely a shock considering it is the favorite to win in
Best TV movie from the Emmys. Last of
Us didn’t entirely go empty handed; it took Most Visually striking show, a
sign that it will be contended with Andor in most of the technical
categories going forward. I was glad to see Ziwe take another victory lap for
Best Current Affairs show and while I’m slightly surprised to see that Schmigadoon!
took Campiest TV Show over Wednesday and Dead Ringers – it’s a
show satirizing Broadway musicals. Hard to get more camp than that. The rest of
the awards I know nothing about so I won’t comment, though I am glad to see
Wanda Sykes win any award.
But wait, there’s
more. Yesterday afternoon the TCA awards, another of the prominent TV award
groups announced their annual nominations. I have been following them for
several years and have always been impressed by their work. So let’s take a look at their nominations,
which aren’t entirely surprising but are no less impressive.
Individual Achievement
in Drama features all three Roy siblings from Succession, Pedro Pascal
and Bella Ramsey from The Last of Us and Rhea Seehorn (but not Bob Odenkirk)
from Better Call Saul. No surprises. Christine Baranski from The Good
Fight is a pleasant surprise as is Betty Gilpin from Mrs. Davis (I want
credit for advocating for both of them for Emmy nominations) Will Swarm or
Dominique Fishback get nominated? Kind of surprised not see Beef in either
category.
Individual
achievement in comedy features Quinta Brunson and Janelle James from Abbott Elementary,
Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allan White for The Bear, Natasha Lyonne for Poker
Face and Bill Hader for Barry. None of them are surprises. Harrison
Ford for Shrinking is a slight one and I didn’t expect to see James Marsden
here for Jury Duty. (Dead to Me, maybe.) Nothing for Ted
Lasso. No argument with that.)
In the new
category of Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming, we have some
interesting shows, though none are likely to be nominated. Still it is
interesting to see Ms. Marvel and American Born Chinese here
along with Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Star Trek:
Prodigy. I guess some critics are capable of recognizing franchises, along
with you know Love, Victor and Never Have I Ever.
Outstanding New
Program features several shows that are likely to be contending for Best Drama or
Comedy: Andor and The Last of Us for the former (but not House
of the Dragon) Poker Face and The Bear for the latter.
Critics also seem found of Mrs. Davis and Interview with the Vampire.
Outstanding
Achievement in Movies or Miniseries. Beef and Black Bird are likely to
be there. Critics keep pushing The Patient. I may have to finish Fleishman
is in Trouble now, and I have to keep going with Daisy Jones and The
Six. Mrs. Davis is here too guys.
Outstanding Achievement
in Drama. Andor, Last of Us, Better Call Saul, The White Lotus, Succession
and Yellowjackets are certain drama nominees. Why can’t the Emmys see
what was in The Good Fight? Will Interview with a Vampire show up
later on?
Outstanding Achievement
in Comedy. Abbott Elementary, Barry, Poker Face and The Bear are
sure things. And we can never rule out What We Do In The Shadows. Please
recognize Reservation Dogs or The Other Two. Looks like I’m going
to have to see Shrinking soon (it’s one of the nominees for Best New
Program)
Outstanding Achievement
in Variety, Talk or Sketch. Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Saturday Night
Live and John Oliver will all be there. With the changes, it’s likely Black
Lady Sketch Show will be too. Will the Emmys bite the bullet and nominate Ziwe
or Amber Ruffin) For the record I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson one
last year.
Program of the
Year: Abbott Elementary, Poker Face, The Bear and The Other Two for
Comedy. Andor, Better Call Saul, Succession, The Last of Us, and The
White Lotus for drama. Only The Other Two is not a certain Emmy
nominee.
Hard to argue
with any of this group. I might have wanted to see Barry among the
Program of the Year nominees or some recognition from Only Murders in the
Building (like Ted Lasso it was completely shut out) but this is, as
is usually the case, an excellent group from my fellow critics. Perhaps in another
year or so they will start differentiating lead from supporting.
I will come to
an end in Phase two next week when the HCA finally releases its nominations for
television. They outdid themselves last year; I expect the same this year. See
you Thursday when the nominations come on.
Support The WGA!
No comments:
Post a Comment