Sunday, September 22, 2019

Outstanding Comedy Series nominees at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards include "Veep," a political comedy


"Stay tuned," I told my readers at the end of Outstanding Drama Series Emmy nominees examine politics and family dynamics as "I should have one more nomination post for comedies."  Since the awards will be given out tonight, I have only a few hours to write this post, so here goes.

First, watch 71st Nominees: Outstanding Comedy Series from the Television Academy.

The Nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series are Barry, Fleabag, The Good Place, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Russian Doll, Schitt's Creek, and Veep.
Before I add any original commentary on this category, I will be a good environmentalist and recycle what I wrote about it in Nine Emmy nominations for 'Veep' on National Veep Day.
"Veep" will have very stiff competition for its nominations, particularly from "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," which won eight Emmy Awards last year and is nominated for twenty this year, the most of any comedy both seasons.  It is contending with "Veep" for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series, Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series, where it has two nominees to one for "Veep," and Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series, and is the returning winner in four of them, Comedy Series, Lead Actress, Supporting Actress, and Casting.  There are other match-ups to watch in comedy particularly between "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and "Barry," but this is the one I plan on looking at closest when I examine all the comedy nominees and make predictions.  Stay tuned.
Comedy series have nearly as many top-nominated shows as limited series, as the following infographic demonstrates.


In addition to the 20 nominations for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," second only behind "Game of Thrones," "Barry" tied "Fosse/Verdon" for 17 and "Russian Doll" has 13 (how oddly appropriate).  "Veep" doesn't even rank fourth, as "Fleabag" has 11 nominations.  So that means that I don't think I will be looking as closely at "Veep" vs. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" as I had planned today.  The matchup really is between "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and "Barry" with "Fleabag" as the likely spoiler, as it won Outstanding Achievement in Comedy at the Television Critics Association Awards while "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" was not even nominated.

Too bad, as my other favorite comedies besides "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", "Veep" and "The Good Place," do not look like they have good chances of winning.  The final season of "Veep" will have to be content with its Golden Coffee Cup for Best Comedy Series about Politics and Government while "The Good Place" will need to be satisfied with its Hugo Award.  I'm not even sure the Golden Globes will deliver for either; they were the first to jump on the bandwagon for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and might prefer "Fleabag" or "Schitt's Creek" over either.

Speaking of "Schitt's Creek," it is the other comedy that covers politics and government besides "Veep," albeit on a much smaller scale, a small Canadian town, where the Mayor is a supporting character, not the federal government of the U.S. where a once and future President is the title character.  Political figures make cameos in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" but the show primarily makes social points while examining family dynamics.

Now for the acting nominees, beginning with 71st Nominees: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

The Nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series are Bill Hader, Don Cheadle, Anthony Anderson, Ted Danson, Michael Douglas, and Eugene Levy.
While I think this award is Bill Hader's to lose, my reaction to watching this clip is "damn, this is a strong field!"  Personally, I'm happy that Ted Danson is being recognized for his work in "The Good Place," but Don Cheadle is an Oscar-nominated and Golden-Globe-winning actor while Michael Douglas is a two-time Oscar winner.  Either one, particularly Douglas, could upset Hader.

Next, 71st Nominees: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

The Nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series are Christina Applegate, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Rachel Brosnahan, Natasha Lyonne, Catherine O'Hara, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Again, this is a strong field, although I would have preferred Kristen Bell from "The Good Place" instead of Christina Applegate.  As for the favorites, it's between the previous two winners, Rachel Brosnahan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the spoiler.  It helps Waller-Bridge that she won Individual Achievement in Comedy at the Television Critics Association Awards.

Continuing on with 71st Emmy Nominees: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

The Nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series are Anthony Carrigan, Stephen Root, Henry Winkler, Alan Arkin, Tony Shalhoub, and Tony Hale.
Like his co-star Hader, I think this award is Henry Winkler's to lose, but Tony Hale of Veep is strong competition as the previous winner for the same role.  It doesn't help that he has two other actors from "Barry" competing against him.  Of the two, I prefer Anthony Carrigan, who became familiar to me as Victor Zsasz from "Gotham."  He obviously has experience playing bloodthirsty crazy criminals.  The other two nominees with decent chances to upset Winkler are Alan Arkin and Tony Shalhoub.

The final video is 71st Emmy Nominees: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

The Nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series are Sarah Goldberg, Sian Clifford, Olivia Colman, Betty Gilpin, Alex Borstein, Marin Hinkle, Kate McKinnon, and Anna Chlumsky.
Once again, I'm going to be a good environmentalist and recycle my analysis from 'Saturday Night Live' leads sketch variety series nominees with 18 Emmy nominations.
Alex Borstein won this award last year for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," so I think she's the favorite.  However, I'm not as confident about that as I was last year because she's up against an Oscar winner in Olivia Colman who surprised me by winning for her role in "The Favourite."  In addition, the vote for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" might be split with Marin Hinkle, which could decrease Borstein's odds even more.
It says something that I didn't even mention Kate McKinnon's chances in an entry about SNL, even though she is the previous winner before Borstein.

Now for the people behind the camera nominated at the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Barry (Episode: "The Audition"), Directed by Alec Berg (HBO)
Barry (Episode: "ronny/lily"), Directed by Bill Hader (HBO)
The Big Bang Theory (Episode: "The Stockholm Syndrome"), Directed by Mark Cendrowski (CBS)
Fleabag (Episode: "Episode 1"), Directed by Harry Bradbeer (Prime Video)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: "All Alone"), Directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Prime Video)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: "We're Going to the Catskills!"), Directed by Daniel Palladino (Prime Video)
Amy Sherman-Palladino is the returning winner, so I think she's the favorite.  The only other returning nominee is Bill Hader, so he, along with Daniel Palladino and Alec Berg are my picks for the major contenders.  In any event, it looks like either "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" or "Barry."  Watch them split their votes so that "Fleabag" sneaks in.
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Barry (Episode: "ronny/lily"), Written by Alec Berg and Bill Hader (HBO)
Fleabag (Episode: "Episode 1"), Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Prime Video)
The Good Place (Episode: "Janet(s)"), Written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan (NBC)
PEN15 (Episode: "Anna Ishii-Peters"), Written by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Hulu)
Russian Doll (Episode: "Nothing in This World Is Easy"), Written by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler (Netflix)
Russian Doll (Episode: "A Warm Body"), Written by Allison Silverman (Netflix)
Veep (Episode: "Veep"), Written by David Mandel (HBO)
That Amy Sherman-Palladino, last year's winner for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," was not even nominated makes me worried about the likelihood of winning Outstanding Comedy Series.  On the other hand, I'm encouraged about "The Good Place," as "Janet(s)" won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.  I'm not sure that it has the best chance of winning, as "Barry" is the only other returning nominee while "Veep" is the only previous winner nominated.  I think it is between those two for the Emmy.

Follow over the jump for the awards already won by comedy series at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" won six trophies at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, more than any other comedy.  These were Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series, Jane Lynch as Sophie Lennon for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series, Outstanding Period Costumes, Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour), Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series, and Outstanding Music Supervision.  I was wildly wrong about the acting awards, as I thought Robert De Niro would win Guest Actor and was rooting for Maya Rudolph to win Guest Actor.  Still, I'm happy that "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" swept the guest acting awards for comedy.

"Russian Doll" came in second among half-hour comedies in awards at the Creative Arts Emmys, winning three trophies, Outstanding Contemporary Costumes, Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour), and Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour).

"State Of The Union" swept its categories, earning three Emmy Awards, Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, and Outstanding Actress In A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.  Congratulations!

"Barry" earned two awards for sound, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation.

"Fleabag" also won two Emmy Awards already,  Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" won Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming (Juried) and Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics.  Congratulations!  I'll have the video at the end of the entry.

"GLOW" repeated its win for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or Variety Program.  Good luck to Betty Gilpin, the one nomination for "GLOW" at tonight's ceremony.

"One Day At A Time" may have been cancelled by Netflix, but it can take solace not only by being picked up by Pop TV after being cancelled by Netflix, the same network that airs "Schitt's Creek," but also by winning Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.  Congratulations!

Now, as promised, Anti-Depressants Are So Not A Big Deal - feat. Michael Hyatt - "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."

Anti-Depressants Are So Not A Big Deal
Written by Rachel Bloom and Adam Schlesinger
Wow!  Was that ever a fun song about a serious subject!

With that, I'm done with the nominees for the Primetime Emmy Awards.  Stay tuned for an entry about the Autumnal Equinox and maybe one about the Oscar nominees at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.  Enjoy tonight's ceremony!

Previous entries in this series.

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1 comment:

  1. Pinku-SenseiOctober 23, 2019 at 12:01 AM

    I mentioned "Breaking Bad" five years ago, when it won its last Emmy Awards. I might mention it again if "El Camino" is nominated for an Emmy or two next year. As for the rest of your well-disguised spam, it stays, as it's on-topic.

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