Thursday, May 24, 2018

'The Orville' vs. 'The X-Files' and 'Doctor Who' at the Saturn Awards


Yesterday, I exclaimed "I finally get to write about the nominees for Best Science Fiction Television Show!"  Yay!

The most nominated science fiction show on regular television is "The Orville," which has earned nominations for Best Science Fiction Television Show, Best Actor on a Television Series for Seth MacFarlane, and Best Actress on a Television Series for Adrianne Palicki.  Its most-nominated competition consists of "The X-Files" and "Doctor Who" with two nominations each.  "The X-Files" earned its second nomination for Gillian Anderson, who is competing for Best Actress on a Television Series, while, as I noted in 'Twin Peaks' vs. 'Doctor Who' at the Saturn Awards, the BBC show also has a nomination for Best Presentation on Television for the "Twice Upon a Time" Christmas Special.

Here are all the nominees in the science fiction television category from File 770.
Best Science Fiction Television Series:

The 100 (The CW)
Colony (USA)
Doctor Who (BBC America)
The Expanse (SyFy)
The Orville (Fox Television)
Salvation (CBS)
The X-Files (Fox Television)
For my choice, I'm recycling it from How did my Saturn Awards television submissions fare? O.K., I guess.
As for my vote, it will probably go to "Colony" unless...enough "Doctor Who" fans convince me otherwise.  The latter is the one show in this category that earned a Hugo nomination.  Come on, convince me in the comments.
No "Doctor Who" fans did, so I'm voting for "Colony."  That doesn't mean it will will.  The trophy could go to just about any of the nominees, especially "The Orville" or "The X-Files," although I think "The Expanse" is better than either.

Follow over the jump for the other categories in which "The Orville," "The X-Files," and "Doctor Who" were nominated.

Here are the relevant categories along with my comments from 'The Walking Dead' vs. 'American Horror Story: Cult' plus Saturn Awards for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.  As I did for the movie nominees, I'll only add a comment if I didn't say anything about any of the science fiction nominees.  Otherwise, I'll just quote and move on.

Best Actor on a Television Series:

Jon Bernthal "Marvel’s The Punisher" (Netflix)
Bruce Campbell "Ash vs. Evil Dead" (Starz)
Sam Heughan "Outlander" (Starz)
Jason Isaacs "Star Trek: Discovery" (CBS All Access)
Andrew Lincoln "The Walking Dead" (AMC)
Seth MacFarlane "The Orville" (Fox Television)
Kyle MacLachlan "Twin Peaks: The Return" (Showtime)
Ricky Whittle "American Gods" (Starz)
Kyle MacLachlan would be the entertainment insiders' choice, but I'm voting for Andrew Lincoln again.  His closest competition would be either Bruce Campbell, who won two years ago, or Sam Heughan, who has the support of an organized "Outlander" fandom.
Kyle MacLachlan would also be an entertainment insiders choice.  However, I'm sure there aren't enough of them voting, so I'm not optimistic about his chances of winning.

Best Actress on a Television Series:

Gillian Anderson "The X-Files" (Fox Television)
Caitriona Balfe "Outlander" (Starz)
Melissa Benoist "Supergirl" (The CW)
Lena Headey "Game of Thrones" (HBO)
Sonequa Martin-Green "Star Trek: Discovery" (CBS All Access)
Adrianne Palicki "The Orville" (Fox Television)
Sarah Paulson "American Horror Story: Cult" (FX)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead "Fargo"(FX)
I was considering voting for Caitriona Balfe last year, but didn't.  This year, I plan on it.  Better her than last year's winner Melissa Benoist.  Of course, either Sarah Paulson or Mary Elizabeth Winstead could pull an upset.
On the other hand, I think Gillian Anderson could pull off an upset as well.  She has support from both professionals and fans.  Adrianne Palicki, on the other hand, should just be happy to be nominated.

Now for a category I examined in 'Twin Peaks' vs. 'Doctor Who' at the Saturn Awards.

Best Presentation on Television:

"Channel Zero" (SyFy)
"Descendants 2" (Disney Channel)
"Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time" (BBC America)
"Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Return" (Netflix)
"Okja" (Netflix)
"The Sinner" (USA)
"Twin Peaks: The Return" (Showtime)
I begin my comments by being a good environmentalist and recycling what I wrote about this category from How did my Saturn Awards television submissions fare? O.K., I guess.
[T]hree of my submissions here got nominated, two in this category, the Doctor Who Christmas Special: "Twice Upon a Time" and "Okja."  In addition, "Twin Peaks," which I nominated for Action/Thriller, ended up here where I thought it really belonged but didn't have confidence that the selection committee would place it properly.  In addition, I was expecting "Channel Zero" to be nominated and hoping it would be classified as a presentation as well.  Joining the four I submitted or predicted are "Descendants 2," "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return," and "The Sinner."  I'd have missed the first, but the latter two are the kinds of shows I might have submitted instead of "Genius" and "Year Million" had I been paying more attention.
Out of all of these, I think "Twin Peaks" is the favorite.  There are a lot of "Doctor Who" fans out there, but I don't know how many of them have paid for memberships.  On the other hand, I'm pretty sure a lot of already paid members are "Twin Peaks" fans.  The show that probably deserves more attention is "Okja," which won for Feature Film at the 2017 Environmental Media Association Awards for film and television.  On the other hand, "The Sinner" might get more attention at the Emmy Awards.  Here, I don't know if it has enough speculative fiction elements for this electorate.
...
As for me, I wrote in April "out of this group, I'd probably vote for the Doctor Who Christmas Special unless I get more excited about 'Okja.'"  That's still true, even if I think "Twin Peaks: The Return" has the inside track.
I conclude this portion of the entry with an updated version of the pitch I make for my readers to become members: "Click here to apply for an affiliate membership.  At $25, one can vote for the best films and television shows.  At $40, one can vote for all categories.  I've already paid my $40.  I hope my readers do, too."

Tomorrow will be the last entry about the Saturn Awards, as I will examine home entertainment.  After that, I get to vote.

Previous entries about the 2018 Saturn Awards:

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