Superheroes and 'Star Trek: Discovery' among Hugo nominees for dramatic presentation as puppies muzzled

My readers and I no longer have to wait for the 2018 Hugo nominees to be announced.  That happened on Saturday.  Continuing the trend from last year, there seems to be little or no sign of sad or rabid puppies screwing things up, unsuccessful as the attempts eventually turned out.  Then again, I can't find any evidence they even tried this year.  I did more on that score, although I can't claim to have really influenced anyone.

Without any further ado, here are the 2018 Hugo Award nominees for Dramatic Presentation from The Verge.

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – LONG FORM
Blade Runner 2049, written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Alcon Entertainment / Bud Yorkin Productions / Torridon Films / Columbia Pictures)
Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Blumhouse Productions / Monkeypaw Productions / QC Entertainment)
The Shape of Water, written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, directed by Guillermo del Toro (TSG Entertainment / Double Dare You / Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, written and directed by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
Thor: Ragnarok, written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost; directed by Taika Waititi (Marvel Studios)
Wonder Woman, screenplay by Allan Heinberg, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs, directed by Patty Jenkins (DC Films / Warner Brothers)

This is very close to the nominees I projected in 'Get Out,' 'Logan,' and 'The Shape of Water' among nominees for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, where I recycled my comments to the 2017 Nebula Finalists for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation at File 770.

JJ, who wrote the post, suggested that the readers check out the list to see if they would be good contenders for Hugo ballots, which prompted me to write the following comments in which I evaluated the nominees and made my own suggestions.

Those are absolutely the right top five movies for the Ray Bradbury Award, three of the four most nominated speculative fiction films at the Academy Awards, the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, and an AFI Film of the Year in "Wonder Woman."  For the sixth spot on the Dramatic Presentation, Long Form ballot, I'd like to see "Blade Runner 2049" but I wouldn't be upset if any of the rest of the Oscar nominated speculative fiction films -- "War for the Planet of the Apes," "Guardians of the Galaxy, V. 2," "Beauty and the Beast," or even "Kong: Skull Island" -- ended up in the sixth spot.  A long shot would be "It," which is the highest grossing horror film ever but earned no nominations at the Academy Awards.

In case my readers are wondering what I'm doing, I'm working the refs as much as I am making predictions.

Four of the Nebula nominees, "Get Out," "The Shape of Water," "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," and "Wonder Woman," repeated as Hugo nominees.  I also got my wish that "Blade Runner 2049" earn a spot.  I was sure a second superhero movie made the cut, but I thought it would be "Logan."  Surprise!  It's "Thor: Ragnarok."  If one wanted an upbeat superhero movie, that certainly was it; "Logan" was a tragedy, if well-written.  As for which one is likely to win, I expect it will be "Wonder Woman."  That got the most votes among people sharing their ballots at File 770.

Follow over the jump for nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form and Best Related Work.

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – SHORT FORM
Black Mirror: “USS Callister,” written by William Bridges and Charlie Brooker, directed by Toby Haynes (House of Tomorrow)
“The Deep” [song], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)
Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Cymru Wales)
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit,” written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
The Good Place: “The Trolley Problem,” written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan, directed by Dean Holland (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
Star Trek: Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, directed by David M. Barrett (CBS Television Studios)

I had a less focused set of predictions/suggestions for the short form nominees.

I also ventured my choices for television shows that could join "The Good Place" among the Hugo nominees.

"The Good Place" is a worthy nominee, if a bit surprising because it's a comedy.  I'd like to see it on the Hugo ballot for Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.  My picks for joining it would be "Game of Thrones" episodes "Spoils of War" or "Beyond the Wall," "The Handmaid's Tale" episodes "Offred" or "Night," "Stranger Things" episodes "The Mind Flayer" or "The Gate," "American Gods" episodes "The Bone Orchard" or "Come to Jesus," and "The Leftovers" episodes "The Book of Nora" or "The Most Powerful Man in the World (and His Identical Twin Brother)."  That last one is a long shot, as I expect "The Expanse" episode "Home" will be nominated instead.  I wouldn't be upset, as "The Expanse" won last year.  Also, two episodes of "Game of Thrones" might end up nominated again as well, displacing another worthy contender.

I then realized that my suggestions were incomplete.

I forgot three likely and worthy nominees for Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.  First, "Star Trek: Discovery" although I'm not sure which episode would best represent the series.  The highest rated on IMDB is "Into the Forest I Go," but that doesn't excite me as much as the ones with Harry Mudd.  Then there are the shows that imitate Star Trek, especially the "Black Mirror" episode "USS Callister."  Also, someone will have an episode of "The Orville" on their ballots.  I think that show's best episodes haven't aired yet.

I suspect that within all those suggestions are all of the nominees.  Nothing like firing a metaphorical shotgun at the target.  Besides, my suggestions might influence enough readers that it might make them come true.

The first shot disappointed me; none of my first choices made it other than two episodes of "The Good Place," which I found surprising, especially since no episodes of "Game of Thrones" made it; I thought it would be one of each.  That alone shows that the two sets of puppies gave up.  "Game of Thrones" was their favorite serious choice.  On the other hand, the second barrel hit.  Not only were "Black Mirror: USS Callister" and "Star Trek: Discovery" both nominated, the ST:D episode nominated was the second appearance of Harry Mudd, which was my favorite of the first half of the season.  The other geeks agreed with me about that one.  As for which one will win, I'd have to watch the episodes of "Doctor Who" and "Black Mirror" first.


The final piece of evidence that the puppies have been vanquished comes in the next category.  Just look at the first nominee.

BEST RELATED WORK
Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate, by Zoe Quinn (PublicAffairs)
Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction), by Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, by Nat Segaloff (NESFA Press)
Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler, edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal (Twelfth Planet Press)
No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Liz Bourke (Aqueduct Press)

Zoe Quinn examining Gamergate is exactly the kind of nominee that the puppies would do their best to bury.  That it showed up means they didn't try.  As for the rest, they're all examinations of science fiction, especially the genre's writers.  Of all of them, I think the favorite is the memoir of Ursula K. LeGuin.  Quinn should just be happy to be nominated.