If you are familiar with how I've tracked the
pre-Emmy awards for the last several years, you know that one of the awards
groups I've been following fairly recently has been around the longest: the
Television Critics Association or TCA. Though they have existed since 1990 I
only started following them in conjunction with the Emmys in 2018 which could
be considered my worst flaw but I've had similar ones with the Image Awards
which have been around just about as long.
Historically the TCA has done as good a job as
the Critics Choice Awards and the Astras when it comes to recognizing the best
series on television; they've just been doing it longer. And the main reason I
haven't updated you about them was simple: I wasn't sure they were happening
this year. The live event where they present their awards was postponed and has
finally been cancelled, to be replaced by a virtual ceremony. For much of the
spring and summer I was unsure if it would go the way of the MTV Movie and TV
Awards which seem to have disappeared into the ether after two straight years.
And then just this afternoon the nominations came
out. There will still be a virtual ceremony which I assume will be in August
when the awards have historically been giving, which will make the TCA the
final voices heard before the Emmys this September. How much influence they
will have on the actual Emmys is difficult to tell, particularly in the drama
category but looking at the nominations its clear that they have done more than
usual superb job when it comes to recognizing the best series of the 2024-2025
season.
For the record, all performances are divided into
drama and comedy, regardless of either gender or whether they are lead or
supporting. That will explain some of the inconsistencies you will see in
nearly every acting category. Here are the nominees.
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
Andor, The Pitt, Severance and The White Lotus are all going to be front
runners for Best Drama. Hacks and The Studio will be the major
contenders for Best Comedy. Adolescence, Limited Series. I'm not
convinced The Rehearsal will be nominated in any category this year.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Two previous winners in this category Abbott
Elementary and Hacks are present. Notably The Bear isn't. The
Studio, Shrinking, Nobody Wants This and What We Do in the Shadows
are all certain nominees in this category. In a perfect world so would English
Teacher and Somebody Somewhere. The Rehearsal is here as a comedy,
but let's not kid ourselves about its chances
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
The shoo-ins are The Pitt, Severance, The Last
of Us and The White Lotus. Andor and Matlock both
increasingly look like they will be nominated in this category. Interview
with a Vampire and Industry have always been heavy critical
favorites but neither has a realistic chance of a nomination in this category,
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES OR
SPECIALS
Adolescence, The Penguin, Dying for Sex and Disclaimer have all been heavy
favorites and I am glad to see Agatha All Along here in the category in
belongs. (See Disney Plus if you'd only nominated it there…) Rebel Ridge is
a front-runner for Best TV Movie. Say Nothing has been a dark horse in
the limited series category for a while. I am surprised to see Sirens here
over say Monsters or Presumed Innocent. I don't think it has much
of a chance.
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM
Matlock and
The Pitt are shoo-ins for Best Drama and Paradise is looming as a
dark horse. The Studio and Nobody Wants This are guaranteed slots
and again English Teacher should be. Common Side Effects might
contend in the Animated series category and North of North has no chance
of anything.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
The shoo-ins first. Noah Wyle for The Pitt, Kathy
Bates for Matlock and Adam Scott, Britt Lower and a rising Tramell
Tillman for Severance. Owen Cooper and Stephen Graham will be nominated
for Adolescence. Diego Luna may have been nominated over Eddie Redmayne
and Pedro Pascal but he has far less of a chance getting nominated for Andor
then them. Jacob Anderson has no real chance of getting nominated for Interview
with a Vampire. No nominees from The Penguin here which is odd.
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Jean Smart, who's won in this category twice
before for Hacks and Hannah Einbinder are shoo-ins. So are Seth Rogen
for The Studio, Harrison Ford for Shrinking and Janelle James for
Abbott Elementary. Liza Colon-Zayas is one again the only nomination The
Bear received. No, this isn't a typo Michelle Williams does deserve to be
nominated in this category for Dying For Sex. I really hope they
nominate Bridget Everett this time. I'm pretty sure – though not certain –
Nathan Fielder won't be.
As for the remaining categories:
Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming has
some interesting contenders: Heartstopper has been a major presence in
some awards shows, Forever did well in the Images and the
African-American TV awards and Ncuti Gatwa has gotten recognition for the most
recent version of Doctor Who. It's possible Your Friendly
Neighborhood Spider-Man will be nominated in animation. Pee-wee as
Himself might prevail in this category but it's up against formidable competition
include Frontline, The Americas and 60 Minutes. There are no new
faces in Outstanding Talk or Sketch, though I really hope John Mulaney gets
nominated for an Emmy this year. And the major contenders for Outstanding
Achievement in Reality are Amazing Race, The Traitors and RuPaul's
Drag Race – though I wouldn't mind seeing Couples Therapy which won
in 2021, win again.
I will confess to being surprised not to see any
recognition in acting for The White Lotus or The Penguin but
other than that I have no real complaints about any of the actors or actresses
who were nominated this year. As always the TCA is both close to the zeitgeist
and has a bit of a difference from it.
I don't know when the awards will be revealed
(the only notification online is later this summer) but when they do I'll
report on it. I'll try to this before I go into my three week schedule ranking
the possibility of the winners for this year's Emmys.
This is almost certainly going to be the last
major awards show that gives nominations in regard to 2025 this year but if
there are more, I'll let you know. In the meantime, next week I'll be back with
my reactions to the Emmy nominations and see just how far off – or close – I was
this year.
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