The Saturn Awards, which honor the best
achievements in science fiction in film and TV have existed since 1972 and have
been expanding ever since. That is particularly in television where they gave a
basic set of awards in the 1990s.
This made sense because sci-fi has basically
been on the fringe elements of TV even starting in the 1990s. It has been front
and center of Peak TV almost since Saturn started giving nominations in this
category. Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted in 1997 and slowly but surely
a group of great genre dramas have filled the contours. Some, like Lost and
Game of Thrones the Emmys worshipped, others like Battlestar Galactica
and Smallville they all but ignored.
Now if it were merely to look at this as an
alternative to the Emmys the Saturn's would be interesting enough. But as
anyone whose paid attention to the Emmy nominations in the past decade sci-fi
and alternative history has essentially become mainstream. Every year for the
last decade at least two of the nominees for Drama have been some form of sci-fi
or fantasy and they've been winning awards that go outside the technical. I'm
not just talking about Game of Thrones but Westworld and The
Handmaid's Tale, The Mandalorian and Stranger Things.
During the 2023 Emmys sci-fi and genre TV were
dominant in a way unthinkable years ago: no less than four of the
nominees for Best Drama had some kind of genre link to them. Alphabetically
they were the first seasons of Andor, The Last of Us, House of the Dragon and
Season 2 of Yellowjackets. Combined with Wednesday's nomination
for Best Comedy and Obi-Wan Kenobi being nominated for Best Limited
Series genre TV had never had such a showing before. This past year alone we
saw a similar presence with the second season of Andor, The Last of Us and
Severance being among the biggest nominees and winners at the Emmys.
So with genre TV being bigger in prestige
television then at any point in the history of the medium looking at the Saturn
nominations could very well give the astute critic hints at what the Emmys might
do in a few months' time. To be sure none of the series I've listed will be
eligible this year but the final season of Stranger Things and the new
season of Fallout will be and both have done superbly at the Emmy
nominations in year's past. Those who chose to overlook the nominations could very
well do so at their own peril. (They might also give look to the Oscars this
year, too, but one award show at a
time.)
So let's go through it.
BEST SCIENCE FICTION TELEVISION SERIES.
Andor and Severance have already contended for Emmys this
past year. It's unlikely any of the nominees in this particular category should
or will, despite some of them being superb shows such as Foundation and Silo.
Strange New Worlds and The Ark have little chance.
BEST FANTASY TELEVISION SERIES
The final season of Stranger Things might
very well contend for Emmys and considering how well it did for its first
season the second season of Wednesday will likely be a major contender.
Ghosts has done remarkably well in achieving nominations and awards
from other critics groups except the Emmys. Outlander has never been
able to crack the Emmy barrier despite doing well with almost every other major
awards show, from the Golden Globes to the Astras. Mayfair Witches and The
Librarians have no chance.
BEST HORROR TV SERIES
The Last of Us did contend and you'll get no argument from
me Yellowjackets should have. I
would be perfectly fine if Welcome to Derry got some nominations; I'm
less sure about The Institute. Talamasca and The Walking Dead have
no chance.
BEST NEW GENRE TV SERIES
Pluribus is almost certainly going to be a front runner for most major
awards this season and Alien: Earth was nominated for Best Drama by the Critics'
Choice Awards.
Skeleton Crew has no chance and the biggest from with House
of Ashur, Blood of My Blood and Robin Hood is less their genre then
their networks – the Emmys hasn't shown much love to Starz or MGM+ in
my lifetime which is their mistake.
BEST ACTION ADVENTURE SERIES
Season 1 of Paradise was nominated
for Emmys this past year and very well might contend for Emmys this year. Squid
Game's high point came in Season 1 and with one exception the Emms never
showed much love for Cobra Kai. Duster has already been cancelled and Twisted
Metal and Reacher aren't the kinds of shows the Emmys likes.
BEST THRILLER TV
The Lowdown absolutely should contend for nominations and
I've been saying the Emmys should nominate Dark Winds for at least two
years.
Honestly the Emmys could do worse with the majority of the
nominees in this category. Whether its Dexter: Resurrection, Mobland, The
Rainmaker and Your Friends and Neighbors.
BEST SUPERHERO TV SERIES
Don't kid yourself; The Sandman is irrevocably
tainted for obvious reasons.
Many of these shows have contended for
other awards in the past year. I've seen Peacemaker, Daredevil Born Again,
Gen V and Iron Heart all contend for awards from multiple critics
groups. Realistically the only show that has a chance is Invincible and
that's because it's animated.
BEST TV PRESENTATION OR LIMITED SERIES
This seems almost to deal with
'miscellaneous'. The Pitt is going to contend, obviously. Black Mirror
already did and The Beast in Me will. Murderbot did get a
nomination for Alexander Skarsgard, so it can't be taken for granted. Sorry AMC,
no chance for Nautilus or Daryl Dixon.
ANIMATED TV SERIES
I can't foresee what the Emmys will do here
so I'll leave it be. For what its worth Harley Quinn has been a big
winner over the years.
BEST ACTOR IN A TV SERIES
Adam Scott and Sterling K. Brown were
nominated last year and Brown might be again. Diego Luna probably should have
been nominated for an Emmy last year.
Michael C. Hall has been nominated for five
Emmys for Dexter so he could very well contend this year. He has yet to
win in this category. Sam Heughan has no realistic chance for Outlander and
no one is taking John Cena or Norman Reedus seriously. Sorry.
BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES.
Britt Lower won the Emmy this year. Rhea
Seehorn is currently the front runner for the Emmy this year for Pluribus. Jenna
Ortega is almost certainly going to be nominated again for Wednesday. Millie
Bobby Brown has gotten nominated for – and honestly should have won at least
once – for Stranger Things can't rule it out.
Catriona Balfe has gotten nominations from
everybody but the Emmys and sadly I don't see that changing. Melissa McBride has
gotten some nominations for Walking Dead from some critics groups
but I don't think the Emmys takes the show seriously. Sydney Chandler might be a dark horse for Alien:
Earth.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TV SERIES
James Marsden was nominated for an Emmy and
Stellan Skarsgard absolutely should have been for Andor. All the others theoretically
could be considered.
Babou Cessay has the most realistic chance
for Alien: Earth. The rest of the nominees all have increasingly
unlikely chances. I love William
Fichtner but the Emmys never recognize him for anything, ditto Jude Law. Jack
Alcott's work in Resurrection was a massive improvement from New Blood but
will it be enough? I don't know enough about Strange New Worlds to
theorize.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES
A mirror of last year's Emmys. Julianne
Nicholson was deservedly nominated for Paradise and Genevieve O'Reilly
should have been for Andor. (I'm less sure about Denise Gough.)
Karolina Wydra will almost certainly
be a contender for her work in Pluribus
and personally I'd love to see Uma Thurman nominated for Resurrection. Jennifer
Holland and Christina Chong have no real chance
BEST GUEST STAR
Speaking for myself I'd love to see either
Peter Dinklage or Dave Dastmalchian nominated for Resurrection. (Dastmalchian
played Gemini, so that took work.) James Remar was recognized for Welcome to
Derry which is the correct show and its going to be a Skarsgard family
reunion as Bill is nominated for Welcome to Derry. Samba Schutte might
get nominated for Pluribus and we all want Linda Hamilton to get
nominated for something.
BEST YOUNGER PERFORMER IN A TV SERIES
I have zero trouble with either of the
nominees for Welcome To Derry, love that Joe Freeman was nominated for The
Institute and am glad that Noah Schnapp and Sadie Sink were nominated for
the final season of Stranger Things. Am
I disappointed that nominees from Skeleton Crew and Gen V are
here instead of any of the wonderful girls from Yellowjackets? Honestly many of them may be too old to
contend by now.
When the awards are given I will check in
on the winners because in this case I'll be curious if the acting ones follow a
similar or superior path when it comes to last year. That aside I'm genuinely impressed with the
caliber of the majority of the nominees in every category, including
acting. Many of these series will
contend in the months to come and many of them should contend across the board.
Put another way I have fewer notes for this
group then I did the Golden Globes this past year. And even though it’s a different
kind of nominees, considering what I think of their history with TV that's
saying a lot for me.
I'll see you later this month with my
predictions for the SAG-AFTRA TV Awards.
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