Sunday, September 8, 2019

'United Shades of America,' 'Born This Way,' 'Life Below Zero,' 'Deadliest Catch' — unstructured reality shows highlight diversity and nature


I finished 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' earns six nominations at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards for its final season with "Now on to the reality nominees, which do a surprisingly good job of showcasing nature, diversity, and inclusion, as I wrote last year about 'Born This Way,' 'Deadliest Catch,' and 'United Shades of America,' all of which [plus "Life Below Zero"] have been nominated again this year."  Here are their nominations along with their competitors at this year's Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program

Born This Way (A&E)
Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel)
Life Below Zero (Nat Geo)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (VH1)
Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix)
United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
"United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell" is the two-time returning winner, so it is the nominal favorite to repeat.  In addition, it's my favorite of the field, as Bell examines politics and race relations in America with a light touch.  He's very good at communicating with people who disagree with him, building bridges across racial and political divides.  However, his show has very stiff competition, as "Deadliest Catch" has won twice and "Born This Way" won three years ago.  Also, both shows have three nominations to two for "United Shades of America."  While I'm rooting for Bell's show, I would be O.K. with either of its main competitors winning, as "Deadliest Catch" is as much about nature as it is about the fishermen (and women), while "Born This Way" makes an explicit social point about acceptance of differences and celebrating what makes us all both human and special.  The spoiler could be "Life Below Zero," which also has three nominations and is also about people facing a harsh environment.

Follow over the jump for the other nominations for unstructured reality shows.

Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program

Born This Way (A&E)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1)
Shark Tank (ABC)
The Voice (NBC)
"Queer Eye" won this award last year and "Born This Way" the year before, so I consider them to be co-favorites.  However, all these shows have strong sets of subjects and contestants, so the competition will be fierce, particularly with "RuPaul's Drag Race" in the mix.

Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program

Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel)
Life Below Zero (Nat Geo)
Queer Eye (Episode: "God Bless Gay") (Netflix)
RuPaul's Drag Race (Episode: "Trump: The Rusical") (VH1)
Survivor (CBS)
"Life Below Zero" won this award last year and three years ago, so I consider it to be the nominal favorite.  However, "Born This Way" won the year before that and "Deadliest Catch" won five consecutive years before either, so the competition will be stiff.

Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program

Born This Way – Editing Team (A&E)
Deadliest Catch – Rob Butler, Isaiah Camp, Nathen Araiza, Ben Bulatao and Greg Cornejo (Episode: "Battle of Kings") (Discovery Channel)
Life Below Zero – Tony Diaz, Matt Mercer, Jennifer Nelson, Eric Michael Schrader and Michael Swingler (Episode: "Cost of Winter") (Nat Geo)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked – Kendra Pasker, Shayna Casey and Stavros Stavropoulos (VH1)
United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell – Alessandro Soares (Episode: "Hmong Americans and the Secret War") (CNN)
This category was the second that "United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell" won last year, so I think it's the favorite to win in addition to the one I want to win, but "Life Below Zero" won the year before and "Deadliest Catch" has been nominated every year this award has existed, so the two man versus nature shows have a sporting chance of winning.

My coverage of reality shows continues tomorrow and the day after, when I look at diversity in structured reality and competition shows.  Stay tuned.

Previous entries in this series.

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