Saturday, October 12, 2019

Television Academy pays farewell tribute to 'Veep' while other comedies win Emmy Awards

Speaking of big winners, "Game of Thrones" took home the most Emmy Awards with a full dozen.  I'll see if I can manage to write up its wins as well as those of the other dramas tomorrow.  Stay tuned.
That was the plan I announced yesterday to conclude 'Chernobyl' dominates Limited Series with ten Emmy Awards.  However, I meant it when I wrote "I'll see if I can manage" to follow through; there was always a possibility I wasn't up for it for one reason or another.  So it shouldn't surprise my readers that I decided I would rather tackle "Veep" and the other Outstanding Comedy Series nominees today and save the Outstanding Drama Series nominees tomorrow for a big finish to the series.  At least I'm blogging about the Emmy Awards.

I begin by noting that the Emmy Awards paid tribute to "Veep" with a montage of the funniest scenes followed by a skit featuring the actors in character on last time.

The Emmys says farewell to the VEEP.
Yes, the bit doubled as the lead-in for an award.  That's what happens when an awards show has no host.

Before the show, Julia Louis-Dreyfus talked about the end Of Veep on the red carpet and admitted she was nervous.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus talks about ending Veep and what's to come.
She was right to be nervous; neither she nor the rest of the cast and its writers won a single award.  I wasn't surprised.  I wrote "The final season of "Veep" will have to be content with its Golden Coffee Cup for Best Comedy Series about Politics and Government."  That was premature.  "Veep" won for its sixth season; its final season will be eligible for the next awards, as I noted in August.
In this category, both the professionals and the Coffee Party's volunteers agreed; "Veep" was the best political comedy of 2017.  It will be around to defend its award in the next round, as the show's final season is eligible for 2018-2019, just as it is for this year's Emmy Awards.  Its toughest competition will probably be "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" — all of our volunteers have NBC, but not all watch HBO.
It might be the final award for the show proper should it win (the actors and others may have better chances at individual awards).  As I wrote in September, "I'm not even sure the Golden Globes will deliver for ['Veep' and 'The Good Place']; they were the first to jump on the bandwagon for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and might prefer 'Fleabag' or 'Schitt's Creek' over either."

One last time, farewell to "Veep."  Follow over the jump for the winners.


When I reviewed the comedy nominees, I handicapped Outstanding Comedy Series by observing "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."  I was right about "Fleabag" being the spoiler; it won.
It was the Primetime Emmy Awards, and it was a night of surprises—like Fleabag‘s win for Best Comedy Series, and the total shutout for perennial favorite Veep...the wins by Fleabag put Amazon Prime Video into the race in a big way—it wound up taking 15 wins total over the three evenings.
Watch Fleabag Wins Best Comedy Series.

Fleabag wins the award for Best Comedy Series.
As Phoebe Waller-Bridge said "this is just getting ridiculous."  That's because "Fleabag" won three other awards that night in addition to the two it won the weekend before, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.  Read below for what I wrote about all three categories.
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.
Again, I was right to consider Waller-Bridge as the spoiler, as she won.  The same thing happened in the next category.
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.
I guess I called that one.  I didn't fare so well handicapping the fourth category "Fleabag" won.
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.
I was wrong; "Fleabag" came as a complete surprise.  Just the same, congratulations to "Fleabag" for its six Emmy Awards.



I did much better with Bill Hader winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Barry.
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.
Congratulations to Hader for repeating.


I also called 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.
Congratulations to Borstein for repeating and for providing one of the great quotes of the evening.

"Step out of line" indeed.


While I didn't call Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, I wasn't surprised.
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.
Congratulations to Tony Shalhoub.  He, Borstein, Luke Kirby, and Jane Lynch won four of the six acting awards for comedy this year.

Finally, here are 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!
That's it for comedy at the Emmy Awards.  Drama tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Previous entries in this series.
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