Few critics have
espoused more words of praise for the Hollywood Critics Association than I
have, and few organizations have been more worthy of it. By dividing the
majority of their awards between broadcast, cable and streaming services and by
adding more categories for each year, in just three years they have become the gold
standard by which all other awards shows should be recognized. These days more
awards shows are giving fewer nominations and awards. The HCA keeps giving more
of each.
And while they have
not yet received the pinnacle of awards shows when it comes to television – their
fellow critics organization the Critics Choice awards currently holds that
mantle - in my opinion, they have
reached a high standard both with the series they nominate and with their
eventual winners. Over their first two years I was satisfied with more than
ninety five percent of their nominees in every category and nearly ninety
percent of their winners. In a good year with the Emmys, I’m lucky if I’m happy
with seventy percent of the nominees, much less the eventual winners.
This afternoon the day
before the Emmys nominations were announced, the HCA gave their listings for
nominated series in drama, comedy, and limited series, separated by Broadcast
& Cable (there is subdivision in some of the categories there) and
streaming. In addition, they have for
the first time in their history announced a new set of awards, mirroring the Creative
Arts that the Emmys give in a separate ceremony every year. I will not be going into the same detail with
this group as I have with the HCA, mainly because I have not done so with the
Emmys. What I shall do is, with each show, give a listing for the collective
nomination every major nominee has received.
As you’d expect the
HCA is as imperfect as all other awards show: there are some glaring and surprising
omissions in every category and I will deal with the biggest ones when I’m
finished. But they have yet to fail to impress me and they deserve more
respect. Therefore, I am preempting my
usual reactions to the Emmy nominees by three days, in which I will deal with
all of the nominees in each group. (And I’ll be honest, I will doubtless need the
time to deal with the inevitable disappointment that comes every year and I’d
rather spend more time with an awards group that sparks joy.)
This year, I will be dealing
with three separate columns for each major category: Drama, Comedy and Limited
Series/Anthology, with the TV Movie nominees added. In each category, I will divide
my reactions to the Broadcast and cable nominees and then the streaming
ones. I will express my joy and disappointment
with each category – but if you’ve read my series on this awards show before,
you know I am rarely disappointed by their selections.
This year, I will
start with Drama
OUTSTANDING BROADCAST
DRAMA
Congratulations HCA,
you’ve fulfilled my great joys. The leading nominee in the Network drama category
is Will Trent already one of the
best shows of 2023. It received eight nominations, all of them deserved. I hope
that it ends up winning.
Also impressive, the
showing by Quantum Leap, which managed four nominations -pretty good for
a reboot. And I’m grateful that you acknowledged Alaska Daily despite
its cancellation. (Couldn’t you have nominated Hilary Swank? Oh well.)
New Amsterdam, the inaugural winner
in this category is back for its final season. The Cleaning Lady repeated as did 9-1-1,. Dick Wolf still
has friends here: the revival of Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU and Chicago
Fire were all nominated. I guess Grey’s
Anatomy will never go away, though I would have been fine with The Company
You Keep (As you’ll see, it got some parting gifts as well.)
BEST CABLE DRAMA
There are ten nominees
here too. As you’d expect there are some familiar faces: The White Lotus,
The Last of Us and Succession are among the major nominees. But there
is one major from HBO exclusion that makes me love the HCA more. Though House
of The Dragon was nominated for seven other awards, it was not nominated
for Best Drama.
None of these big
dramas were the most nominated series. What was? Yellowjackets. It
received a whopping thirteen nominations, more than any other drama series in
any category. HCA, you get the job done. I could complain that you only gave Better
Call Saul six nominations for its
final season, but since it was the big winner last year and might well be
again, I won’t argue.
There are some
surprises. Interview with A Vampire probably isn’t it received some love
from quite a few organizations. Neither is Yellowstone despite all the
controversy. But there are three other intriguing choices which show the range.
From, a much beloved horror series that the HCA recognized this year
(and with more nominations) P-Valley from Starz, a series that several
critics organizations have shown love to in the past, and perhaps the biggest
shock the second season of Your Honor, though it received no other
nominations. I will be honest; I would have preferred either Perry Mason or
The Old Man but this is not a bad group.
OUTSTANDING STREAMING DRAMA
The Crown and Andor are
the only almost certain nominees in this category to get recognized by the
Emmys for Best Drama. The Boys has
been nominated before but never received much love from the Emmys otherwise; The
Handmaid’s Tale seems to have to run out the clock; and the latest season
of The Mandalorian was considered pretty low. In other words, they very
well might get nominated by the Emmys. Bad Sisters is actually a far
more deserving show to get nominated than the previous three – its gotten more
love from other critics groups – but its chances are remote. Queen Charlotte
might very well be flying on Bridgerton’s coattails.
The other three
nominees are intriguing. The Diplomat has been one of the more favored
critics series the last few months. 1923 has a good chance for acting nominees and Picard
has been one of the most beloved series even among non-Star Trek fans.
BEST ACTOR IN A BROADCAST
/CABLE SERIES
The three certainties
for Emmy nominations listed here are Bob Odenkirk, Kieran Culkin and Pedro
Pascal. (Pascal was not nominated for The Mandalorian) interestingly,
Culkin is the only Succession cast member in this category: neither
Brian Cox nor Jeremy Strong were nominated. You continue to impress me HCA.
Many of your other
choices impress me more. Ramon Rodriguez is up for playing the title role in Will
Trent. Raymond Lee was nominated for
his work in Quantum Leap (which was impressive) and Milo Ventimiglia
took a Best Actor nod for The Company You Keep before he left. Kevin
Costner averted controversy and was nominated and Harold Perrineau was
nominated for From as he was last year.
The biggest omission
by far is Jeff Bridges who has been nominated for every other award until now.
I don’t want to say I’m worried but this troubles me.
BEST ACTOR IN A
STREAMING SERIES
The lion’s share of
the contenders are expected to come from cable.
Diego Luna is a dark horse for his work in the title role in Andor and
I’m honestly surprised Dominic West has done so poorly in awards show for his
work on The Crown. The other choices are interesting.
Anthony Starr and Jack
Quaid received nominations for The Boys. Penn Badgley, whose work on You has
been a critics favorite received a nomination. Harrison Ford received a nod for
1923 (not his only nod for a
streaming series this year) and Patrick Stewart got nominated for his valedictory
season on Picard. The nomination that gives me the most pleasure is
Logan Lerman for his undervalued work on Amazon’s Hunters. I honestly
thought if anyone from that series would be nominated it would be Al Pacino.
Glad to be proven wrong.
BEST ACTRESS IN A
BROADCAST/CABLE DRAMAS
The critics sure love
the ladies from Yellowjackets. Melanie Lynskey and Juliette Lewis I
expected and am glad to see. Sarah Snook, Emma D’Arcy and Bella Ramsey made
their appointments. The other three nominees I find more interesting.
Kelly Reilly got
nominated for her work on Yellowstone. Angela Bassett, who took a Best
Actress prize from the Image awards for her superb work on 9-1-1 is here too. But my personal favorite: Erika
Christensen for her superb work as Angie Pulaski on Will Trent. I’m so glad to see her here, I’m willing to
overlook the absence of Hilary Swank. You can’t have everything.
BEST ACTRESS IN A
STREAMING DRAMA
Let’s start with the
most glaring absence. Imelda Staunton for The Crown. Considering not
only that she’s a near certain nominee for the Best Actress Emmy and that almost
all her co-stars (as we shall see) were nominated, her omission is particularly
striking.
Elisabeth Moss is
going to get nominated again even though everybody’s tired of The Handmaid’s
Tale. Sharon Horgan and Keri Russell deserve to get nominated, but
the odds are fairly long. Erin Moriarty
and Karen Fukuhara show the girls can play with The Boys. I’m always glad to see Helen Mirren
nominated for anything (she has a decent chance for an Emmy nod for 1923)
and I’d rather see Lizzy Caplan nominated for Fatal Attraction than Fleishmann
is in Trouble - and as we shall see,
so did the HCA.
Why is India
Amertefelio here and Staunton isn’t? Why was a fictional queen nominated and a
real wasn’t? Sigh.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING
ACTOR IN A BROADCAST/CABLE DRAMA
They went to Ten and I’m
fine with a lot of them. Matthew MacFayden and Alexander Skarsgard are here for
Succession. Good. Alan Ruck and
Nicholas Braun aren’t. Hmm. Matt Smith
was recognized for House of The Dragon. Jonathan Banks was nominated for
Better Call Saul but Giancarlo Esposito wasn’t. Honestly I’m fine with
that: Banks had a larger role and Esposito won in this category last year.
Elijah Wood is in for Yellowjackets. Hurray and Huzzah!
The rest is…odd. How
is John Lithgow not here? How is Theo James here for The White Lotus but
F. Murray Abraham isn’t? And apparently the HCA really likes Yellowstone
as they seem to have nominated the entire supporting cast. Jeremy Sisto for FBI. Huh? Seriously?
You couldn’t nominate any of the guys from A Million Little Things? (Then
again, you did nominate the final episode for a Best Teleplay award, so I’ll
let that pass.) Besides, you didn’t go overboard on Succession so I’m
okay.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING
ACTOR IN A STREAMING DRAMA
The most likely
nominees in this category who might get recognized by the Emmys are Jonathan
Pryce for The Crown and Stellan Skarsgard for Andor. (Better him
than his son.)
There are two nominees
apiece for both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Boys. Rufus Sewell is more than overdue a
nomination for the Emmys, maybe he’ll get one for the second season of the
Diplomat. For All Mankind will never
be recognized no matter how brilliant it is and Lord of the Rings will
never get acknowledged for anything other than technical. I’m glad to see Brent
Spiner nominated, though.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING
ACTRESS IN A BROADCAST CABLE DRAMA
Like I said, HCA loves Yellowjackets.
Christina Ricci was a sure thing but
I didn’t expect to see Sophie Thatcher or Lauren Ambrose. I’m glad they’re
here. Rhea Seehorn is present. So is
Jennifer Coolidge (these awards shows do have ties) and Aubrey Plaza! And they
nominated Sonja Sohn for Will Trent. Kima got nominated for something. As to the
rest:
I’m glad someone was
nominated for Perry Mason. I would have been happier if it was Hope
Davis or Juliet Rylance rather than Jen Tulloch but I’ll take what I can get. Catalina Sandino Moreno and Janet Montgomery
are carryovers for From and New
Amsterdam and I have no objections. And there’s no presence from Succession
at all. Even better!
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING
ACTRESS IN A STREAMING SERIES
Interesting group. Two
for Bad Sisters, two for The Handmaid’s Tale (I can’t complain
about either Ann Dowd for Yvonne Strahovski being nominated for anything) and
Elizabeth Debicki for The Crown - and
Lesley Manville as well for her role as Princess Margaret.
I’m glad to see anyone
from The Night Agent nominated and Sarah Desjardins earned it. I’m fine
with Genevieve O’Reilly for Andor and Jeri Ryan for Picard. I
can live with one nominee from The Mandalorian.
As for writing and
directing:
One writing nomination
for Succession, two for Yellowjackets. The Emmys should do so
well. A Million Little Things, Quantum Leap and Will Trent taking
nods for writing alongside The White Lotus. Two directing nods for Yellowjackets
, one for Succession and one
for Will Trent, The Company You Keep and The Cleaning Lady. Nothing
for Better Call Saul in either, but nothing’s perfect.
Streaming has Picard,
1923, Andor, The Boys in each category. I expected to see The
Mandalorian in direction and The Crown in writing. I’m glad to see The
Handmaid’s Tale in neither.
BONUS
For the first time in
its history, the HCA is giving awards for Guest Actor and Actress. Since it is
in the creative awards, there is no separation by broadcast, cable or
streaming. I’ll highlight some of my favorites and good choices.
GUEST ACTOR
At least, somebody was
willing to mention The Good Fight somewhere, by far the most glaring omission
in streaming. The other nominations in this category are likely to show up in the Emmys:
Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman for The Last Of Us, Bryan Cranston for Better Call Saul, Andy
Serkis for Andor, and possibly Arian Moayed for Succession. Giancarlo Esposito might be invited for
his previously nominated work on The Mandalorian.
Guest Actress
Melanie Lynskey here
for The Last of Us. No one from Succession.
Did I mention I love the HCA?
Vanessa Kirby is here for The Crown (Timothy Dalton is too). Ella
Purnell, who had a great stint on Yellowjackets is here. Michelle Forbes
has a presence and Tamara Clutterbuck who had a memorable stint on Will
Trent is here. Lizzo fans’, praise The Mandalorian. But no Betsy Brandt. Oh well.
Tomorrow I deal with
Comedy where I will have just as much fun, if not more.
SUPPORT THE WGA AND
THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD!
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