We’re
coming very close to the end of Emmy eligibility season which is just a few
weeks away. Several small groups have met over the last few weeks to give
awards, the majority of them critics group. And with the lack of both the
People’s Choice Awards and the MTV Movie and TV awards on hiatus for the
foreseeable future, I’ve decided to take a look at a relatively new awards show
which while it does involve advertising more than quality programming might, as
those two awards did, still might give some insight into the shows we will
watch.
First
we’ll start with one that has given its nominations and awards in the past two
months but didn’t mention because, unlike in previous years, it was
spectacularly unhelpful when it came to 2025. The Peabody awards gave its award for television on May 1st.
I didn’t mention its nominations which came out in March, because the
overwhelming majority of their TV shows had to do with series that were
eligible for the 2024 Emmys. I feel a
sort of vindication that Baby Reindeer, Shogun and Ripley were
considered by both me and the Peabody awards as the best shows of the year.
Other series such as Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office, Fantasmas and We
Are Lady Parts were highly regarded but also took place last year. Only
FX’s Say Nothing remains a dark horse for nominations in a couple of
months’ time.
BAFTA
finished the presentation of its TV Awards this past weekend and there are some
interesting possibilities but by and large they do little to clarify anything.
For
one thing Best Limited Drama the big winner was Mr. Bates Vs. The Post
Office, rather than Baby Reindeer though Jessica Gunning did complete
her historic sweep the Supporting Actress awards. Slow Horses, likely to
be a major factor at the Emmys next year, was for all intents and purposes shut
out, losing both male acting awards to Mr. Loverman’s Lennie James and
Ariyon Bakare, respectively. Marisa Abela was the winner for Leading Actress
for her work in Industry, a show that curried favor with other awards
groups early in the years but is likely to be cast aside for other HBO dramas
such as The White Lotus and Last of Us. As I expected Shogun took
Best international drama. (Comedy I will leave alone because there is little in
the nominations that were likely to play a factor.)
As
for Craft Awards, BAFTA’s equivalent of the technical Emmys Baby Reindeer did
prevail in direction and writing.. Slow Horses prevailed in Editing and
Sound, Shogun won cinematography, Bad Sisters original score. On
a side note I was pleased to see that Sweetpea prevailed for its opening
titles, which were quietly magnificent.
The
Irish TV and Film Awards did present their awards and some are interesting. Bad
Sisters dominated the drama awards, winning Best Drama, Director and Script
for Sharon Horgan. Colin Farrell won another award for The Penguin. Say
Nothing took the majority of awards for drama, including Lola Petticrew for
Lead Actress and both supporting acting awards. Anthony Boyle took a prize for
Rising Star for his work in Say
Nothing and Masters of The Air. Bad Sisters did receive several
nominations for its first season and it may contend this year. It remains
unclear how far the Emmys will go for Say Nothing.
Now
I move on to a previous unknown awards show to myself: Golden Trailer Awards.
This is an awards show about marketing, as you’d expect and until recently it
only dealt with film . However, this very year it launched new categories for
TV and streaming series. Now I expect the majority of these nominations will
deal with fantasy and genre pieces. But considered how much genre is going to
focus for television this year, that it is no reason to exclude it.
In
spots for streaming, Fantasy Adventure, aimed heavily on Rings of Power and
Wheel of Time which will likely not contend. Dune: Prophecy might,
House of the Dragon already has.
Horror/Thriller
includes Teacup and Walking Dead: Dead City which won’t. However
we also see the most recent seasons of Severance and The Last of Us as
well as Presumed Innocent. All of which are big contenders. Severance
and Last of Us are major contenders.
In
Music we see new additions American Horror Stories (highly unlikely) and
The Day of the Jackal (near certain.). In original score we see a nod
for Agatha All Along and The Madness which are dark horses. In
Sound editing, we see the most recent season of Black Mirror (perennial
contender in Limited Series) and Your Friends & Neighbors (a strong
possibility in drama. In most original trailer we see Last of Us, Severance,
Black Mirror and the new series Government Cheese which is talked
about in the comedy category.
In
TV spots (a different category) in Action we see Last of Us, the most
recent season of Reacher and Arcane’s new season.
Animation/Family gives us a nod to Agatha All Along.
Comedy
is fascinating as it mentions Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the
Building, The Studio and The White Lotus. (See Emmys they know it’s
a comedy!) All four are heavy contenders. Deli Boys seems very unlikely.
Drama
TV: In addition to Last of Us, we see Shogun (that’s done) Black
Doves (not impossible) The Penguin (sure thing) and Disclaimer (almost
certain.) For horror/thriller, once again we see Severance but we also
see Squid Game, Dark Winds (I can only hope) and the new series Cross.
Most original TV spot has a shoutout to Fallout, Abbott Elementary
and Paradise.
In
digital we see references to Silo, The Mandalorian and Severance.
For
Innovative in TV, we see references to Abbott Elementary, Squid Game, Day of
the Jackal, multiple trailers for Agatha All Along, Only Murders in the
Building and Under the Bridge (a viral campaign) We also see
shoutouts for behind the scenes for Slow Horses, The Penguin, Say Nothing (interesting)
American Primeval (an early contender that has dropped off the map) and
the final season of Righteous Gemstones.
And
yes we have posters: they exist for Abbott Elementary, Goosebumps, and Squid
Game for billboards. Comedy posters for Baby Reinder, Only Murders, The
Studio and the final season of What We Do In The Shadows. For drama
we see 1923, the recently canceled KAOS and Last of Us. For
horror we see Dark Matter, Squid Game and From.
Will
I bother to cover the winners? Of course not. Does this mean anything when it
comes to later awards? Almost certainly nothing. Still at a certain level a lot
of these advertisements do seem to be hitting on the majority of major
contenders in a lot of the major categories.
Only
Murders, Abbott Elementary, The Studio and WWDITS are going to be contending for
Emmys down the road. The White Lotus, Last of Us, Severance, Paradise and
Day of the Jackal will be fighting
it out for drama Emmys (though it says something the advertisers know The
White Lotus is a comedy and the Emmys has yet to acknowledge that point.)
And The Penguin, Disclaimer and Presumed Innocent will be
fighting it out in the Limited Series category.
Now
as expected this is a show that is ridiculously slanted towards genre TV in
Drama but those rules don’t apply to comedy or for a quite a few shows in the Limited
Series. I suspect I’m stretching a point to partially justify this column but I
feel a need for completion when it comes to these awards.
In
short we end Phase 2 of 2025’s Emmy watch – essentially with no more clarity
than we really did at the end of Phase One. The majority of these awards are
still more or less focused on so much of what happened the previous year then the
leadup to this year.
However
its certain that when we reach Phase 3, which will happen in the next few weeks,
we will finally have to get a clearer picture. Much of that will begin to come
clear in June when such groups as the TCA and Dorian Awards begin to announce
their nominations. Since they will exclusively cover the season just past
it will become increasingly easier to read the tea leaves before the Emmy
nominations come out in a little more than two months’ time. At least, that’s
what I’m hoping for.
I’ll
be back then when my official coverage of the leadup to the Emmy nominations
begins in earnest.
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