Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Two Emmy-nominated documentaries about Watergate for Veep Day


Happy National Veep Day! Today is the anniversary of the day when Vice President Gerald Ford became President of the United States upon the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974, the culmination of the Watergate scandal. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, so it's no surprise that news organizations produced documentaries about it. It's also no surprise that two of these documentaries, Watergate: High Crimes In The White House and Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, earned nominations at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards and are the subject of today's post.

I begin with "Watergate: High Crimes in the White House" | Preview from CBS News.

The gripping documentary, "Watergate: High Crimes in the White House," premieres 50 years to the day of the infamous break-in at the Democratic headquarters located within the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. What seemed at first a mere burglary grew into an extraordinary story of crime and scandal that took down President Richard Nixon.
I found the comparisons to the January 6th insurrection right down to the missing White House phone records and Ginni Thomas's texts eerie.

I could not find an official trailer for Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, so I'm embedding CNN Sets June 5 Debut For Watergate Documentary Series ‘Blueprint For A Scandal’ in its place.

CNN will debut Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, with John Dean offering his first-hand account of the break in that brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency, on June 5. Dean, former White House counsel for Nixon, serves as an executive producer on the project, with the debut tied to the 50th anniversary of the break in.
As John Dean is quoted as saying, "The criminal conduct of Richard Nixon and his top aides...became the blueprint for what no President of the United States should do." Unfortunately, it became the blueprint for what the former guy actually did, resulting in two impeachments and several indictments, beyond what happened to Nixon, who resigned before he could be impeached and was pardoned before he could be indicted.

Follow over the jump for the categories in which Watergate: High Crimes In The White House and Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal earned nominations at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary
A Radical Life discovery+
In Her Hands Netflix
Independent Lens Apart PBS
POV Not Going Quietly PBS
Watergate: High Crimes In The White House CBS
Only one nominee in this category has nominations in other categories, In Her Hands, which also earned nominations for Outstanding Direction: Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary. I think that makes it the favorite to win this category, but I don't think it will win its other categories. My preliminary prediction is that will lose both categories to Retrograde, the most nominated documentary at these awards that is not also nominated for Best Documentary.

On that note, I'm embedding IN HER HANDS | Official Trailer | Netflix.

In Her Hands tells the story of Zarifa Ghafari, one of Afghanistan's first female mayors and the youngest person, at 26, to hold the position. The film documents her fight to survive and narrowly escape against the backdrop of her nation's accelerated unraveling.
Watergate means something to the United States, but this story means something to the world. That's one of the reasons I think this will win Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary.

Outstanding Historical Documentary
CNN Original Series Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal CNN
FRONTLINE, Retro Report American Reckoning PBS
Hostages HBO Max
Meltdown: Three Mile Island Netflix
Waterman – Duke: Ambassador of Aloha PBS
Again, only one nominee in this category has nominations in other categories, Hostages, which is also nominated for Outstanding Writing: Documentary and Outstanding Research: Documentary. I think that makes it the favorite to win this category, but it's not the favorite in the others. I predict Good Night Oppy will win Outstanding Writing: Documentary and The Janes has a good shot to win Outstanding Research: Documentary. Both are nominated for Best Documentary at these awards.

Watch Hostages | Official Trailer | HBO for a preview of my pick to win Outstanding Historical Documentary.

On November 4, 1979, Iranian student activists stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking over 60 Americans hostage. What was planned as a 48-hour sit-in to protest American imperialism, ballooned into an international crisis and 24/7 media event that would last 444 days. With never-before-seen archival footage and revelatory new interviews with the American hostages and Iranian hostage-takers alike, the series is a gripping chronicle of one of the most dramatic international deadlocks in American history, a deep dive into the geo-political history that led to the crisis, and an exploration of the political fallout that reverberates today.
Iran and the U.S. are rivals and antagonists to this day, whereas they were allies before the hostage crisis. That's the importance of this event.

Tomorrow is World Lion Day. Stay tuned to see if I write about the holiday or continue with the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

Previous posts about the 2023 News & Documentary Emmy Awards

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