 |
| Watchmen led the pack with 26 Emmy nominations (HBO) |
Written by Lindsey Cook
Check out the full list of nominees here, then keep reading for all my instant reactions and hot takes!
- First thing's first for my number one boy, Kendall Roy, but yes, I'm so excited for all the love Succession received! Not that it was an underdog or anything, but the second season is almost a year old, and sometimes voters prefer to favor more recent debuts.
- Best Drama Series is pretty predictable, save The Mandalorian sneaking in there. Cool, I guess!
- What We Do In The Shadows getting a Best Comedy Series nod was such a pleasant surprise!
- Also, thank you to the Television Academy for recognizing Insecure with multiple nominations, including Best Comedy Series. The series has been doing great work for years, but season 4 was absolutely incredible.
- And good for Schitt's Creek and The Good Place for getting send-off season recognition.
- That being said, I'm a little bummed that Homeland didn't get any last season nods. I've yet to watch the final season (the last two, actually) but from everything I heard the series stuck the landing, and Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin are solidly amazing even when the material isn't top notch.
- Real questions, has anyone watched (and liked) The Morning Show outside of Academy voters? I know that the Golden Globes showed love for the AppleTV+ series, but I figured that was mostly a ploy to get Jen Anniston and Reese Witherspoon on the red carpet.
- On that note, has anyone besides my mother watched The Kominsky Method, either? As you know, I consume a lot of television and the only time I ever hear of this show is when it is somehow nominated for tons of awards. Something seems fishy...
- You know what else is fishy? The only major nomination for Pose going to Billy Porter. Look, Porter is phenomenal in the show and he absolutely deserves the praise, but for a show that is all about celebrating the ballroom culture that was created by trans women of color, it is odd to not see a single one of them receive acting nominations. MJ Rodriguez should have absolutely earned a spot in Lead Actress.
- And come on, are you telling me that voters could watch Dominique Jackson read a group of uptight bigoted Hamptons ladies for filth and not award it!? Outrageous.
- Elsewhere, Watchmen, the most prescient show of the past year, topped all programs with 26 nominations. Regina King is an awards season mainstay at this point, so I'm not surprised, but still happy!
- It's a bummer that Tim Blake Nelson was snubbed for his Watchmen work, though. I know he isn't the loudest capital-A Actor, but he did some fine and moving work in that show.
- Another snub I'm personally upset about is the lack of love for The Great. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult were phenomenally batshit on the show. It didn't even receive a costume design nomination!? What's the opposite of "Huzzah"?
- Why does Saturday Night Live fall under the Comedy Series categories for acting nominations, but the show itself is classified as a Variety Series? Half of the Guest Actor/Actress In A Comedy Series spots are taken up by SNL hosts.
- LOL @ Quibi getting any nominations at all. Katzenberg and Whitman are going to ride that wave...although when you launch a whole streaming service dedicated to short form content, you're bound to receive at least one nomination for short form content. It's a numbers game.
- I just want to take a moment to applaud Paul Mescal, both for his Emmy nomination and for being Paul Mescal.
- I will say, the actor nominees are a decently diverse group. Hollywood still has a lot of work to do in terms of improving diversity (see my thoughts on Pose), but I'm glad to see that it seems the Emmy voters took recognizing diverse actors into consideration when casting their ballots.
- Speaking of the Emmys as a whole...how is this whole "awards show" going to work, anyway? We're a little under two months from the show, we know that Jimmy Kimmel is hosting, and that's about the extent of what's been made public about how the ceremony will go.
- An in-person ceremony is obviously out of the question, and I cannot imagine the logistical headache that is coordinating Zoom calls with celebrities all around the world. What, is Brian Cox going to sit by his laptop in a tux in hopes of getting added to a Google Hangouts with Jimmy Kimmel? Will Zendaya don a gown, or will she show up to the Emmys in sweatpants because "showing up" is sitting at home?
- In a larger sense, what is the point of hosting an awards show at all without the actual spectacle of it all? Sans red carpet, opening numbers, musical interludes, and shots of your favorite celebrities mixing and mingling, what is the value of a televised awards ceremony? I don't mean to be cynical, I just feel like the televised ceremony will be a bit of a letdown.
- In a crazy year like this one, some constants are nice to have, though. Even if the Emmys will look different this year, you bet your bottom dollar I'll be tuning in to see if my faves win!
_
What were your thoughts on the Emmy nominations? Who are you rooting for? Let us know, and we'll see you on September 20th to find out who wins!