Sunday, December 5, 2021

'Hamilton,' 'Inside,' and 'American Utopia' all winners at the 2021 Emmy Awards


I was premature when I wrote "Today, I finish my coverage of the Emmy Awards" to open Debbie Allen accepts the Governors Award from the Television Academy after winning two Emmy Awards. I had forgotten one winner, so here are the winning record variety special nominees from 'Hamilton' at the Emmy Awards.
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)

8:46 – Dave Chappelle (Netflix)
Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix)
David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO)
Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max)
Hamilton (Disney+)
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (HBO Max)
...Based on the number of nominations, especially since seven of them are for performers, the second largest peer group in the Television Academy after executives, I'd say "Hamilton" is the favorite. As I keep saying when I write entries about entertainment awards, electorates matter.
It was and it won. Watch most of the stars of "Hamilton" accept the award for Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): 73rd Emmys.

Hamilton wins the Emmy for Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) at the 73rd Emmys.
Where's Lin-Manuel Miranda? Renée Elise Goldsberry answered that question in ET Live's Emmys 2021: ‘Hamilton’ Cast -- Full Backstage Interview.

The cast of ‘Hamilton’ opens up after winning an Emmy award for ‘Outstanding Variety Special (Live)’ at the 2021 Emmy Awards, which aired Sunday on CBS and Paramount+.
That was a good answer and one that shows that things are returning to normal and the pandemic is no longer messing with our entertainment.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the awards won by recorded variety specials, including a couple of categories I blew completely.


Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Special

David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO)
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
Hamilton (Disney+)
The Oscars (ABC)
The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd (CBS)
I'm going to repeat what I wrote for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
Both "The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards" and "The Oscars" have four nominations while "The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd" has three. Based on the history of the award, I think a live event celebrating show business will win, favoring either "The Oscars" which has been nominated every year since the inception of this version of the award, or the Grammy Awards, which has been nominated for three of the four years of the current category. If all things were equal, I'd give the nod to the Oscars, since movies are closer to television than music, but other than the number of nominations, I'm not sure all things are equal. I found the ceremony a bit underwhelming compared to previous years except for the pre-recorded music segments; those were spectacular. If it wins, it will be because it was a minor miracle that it happened at all.
Because I wrote this first for live variety specials, which had the history behind them of winning, I didn't even consider "Hamilton." Oops. Just the same, I'm glad to be wrong. Congratulations to "Hamilton" on its two Emmy Awards.

"Bo Burnham: Inside" may not have won the program award, but it won three individual awards, one more than "Hamilton." Here are its winning categories, beginning with one I wrote about in Dave Chappelle's four Emmy nominations for 'SNL' and '8:46'.

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special

Bo Burnham: Inside, directed by Bo Burnham (Netflix)
David Byrne's American Utopia, directed by Spike Lee (HBO)
8:46 - Dave Chappelle, directed by Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar and Dave Chappelle (Netflix)
Friends: The Reunion, directed by Ben Winston (HBO Max)
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, directed by Thomas Schlamme (HBO Max)
After looking over that field, I'm less confident that Chappelle can win this award than I was before I started writing. First, Stan Lathan, who won this award last year, didn't direct this special and isn't returning as a nominee. Second, Chappelle and his co-directors are competing against Oscar and Emmy winner Spike Lee for "David Byrne's American Utopia" as well as the self-directed "Bo Burnham: Inside." Right now, I think Lee is the favorite, Chappelle and co-director are in second, and Bo Burnham is the spoiler. That should make HBO happy, especially since I think its sister service's nominees, "Friends: The Reunion" and "A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote" on HBO Max, should just be pleased to be nominated. Too bad, as "A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote" is the most political of the nominees and one of my motivations for this series is to cover how entertainment depicts politics and government.
The spoiler won. Congratulations to Bo Burnham on beating Spike Lee. That's not something that happens every day.

Next, a category I handicapped in 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' leads Outstanding Variety Talk Series nominees at the Emmy Awards for the fifth consecutive year.

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special

Bo Burnham: Inside, written by Bo Burnham (Netflix)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Into the MAGAverse, written by Devin Delliquanti and Zhubin Parang (Comedy Central)
8:46 - Dave Chappelle, written by Dave Chappelle (Netflix)
John Lewis: Celebrating a Hero, written by Mitchell Marchand (CBS)
Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (Showtime)
While I'm rooting for "Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020" and "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Into the MAGAverse," especially since this is the only nomination for the latter and it is well written, I know better than to think either will win. Dave Chappelle won this award last year and I fully expect him to repeat.
Hahahaha. I completely blew this one, too. Just the same, congratulations to Bo Burnham for beating Chappelle. That doesn't happen every day, either.

Outstanding Music Direction

Aron Forbes for Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry (Apple TV+)
Bo Burnham for Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix)
Rickey Minor for Celebrating America - An Inauguration Night Special (Multiple Platforms)
Karl Mansfield for David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO)
Harvey Mason Jr. for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (Episode: "Zoey's Extraordinary Goodbye") (NBC)
Now I've accounted for all four nominations for the documentary "Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry." The other music film is "David Byrne's American Utopia," which the Television Academy considers a variety special that I will cover when I write about the Emmy nominations for "Hamilton." I'll cover this category more then and again for comedies. As for "Celebrating America - An Inauguration Night Special," I wish it luck but have my doubts it will win.
This award had already been pressented by the time I wrote about comedy series nominees, so I never got around to handicapping it. That means I didn't rank the nominees. That's the bad news. The good news is that I didn't blow my non-existent call. Just the same, congratulations to Burnham on winning awards for writing, directing, and singing his way through his one-man show.

Now I'm returning to a category Dave Chappelle's four Emmy nominations for 'SNL' and '8:46' for the first of two awards won by "American Utopia."

Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Special

David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO)
Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max)
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
The Oscars (ABC)
The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd (CBS)
I'm going to reiterate what I wrote for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) and repeated for Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Special.
Both "The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards" and "The Oscars" have four nominations while "The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd" has three. Based on the history of the award, I think a live event celebrating show business will win, favoring either "The Oscars" which has been nominated every year since the inception of this version of the award, or the Grammy Awards, which has been nominated for three of the four years of the current category. If all things were equal, I'd give the nod to the Oscars, since movies are closer to television than music, but other than the number of nominations, I'm not sure all things are equal. I found the ceremony a bit underwhelming compared to previous years except for the pre-recorded music segments; those were spectacular. If it wins, it will be because it was a minor miracle that it happened at all.
That written, "David Byrne's American Utopia" and "Friends: The Reunion" could defeat the live shows, especially "American Utopia."
I'm glad made that final observation. I get to claim that I called it.

I return to what I wrote in 'Hamilton' at the Emmy Awards for the final award won by "American Utopia."

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special

Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You (Apple TV+)
David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO)
Hamilton (Disney+)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Episode: "Trump & Election Results / F*ck 2020") (HBO)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Episode: "Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection; Senator Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Performance by Jamila Woods") (CBS)
I missed this category in 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' leads Outstanding Variety Talk Series nominees at the Emmy Awards for the fifth consecutive year. Oops. I think it's between "Hamilton" and "David Byrne's American Utopia" because both are music shows and I think music has an advantage in sound categories.
And "American Utopia" won, so I get to claim half a win. Considering my track record for variety specials, I'll take it.

I conclude with Burnham's Emmy-nominated song Comedy.



"Comedy" really does serve as an anthem for the pandemic. Good luck to Burnham on his two Grammy nominations for Best Song Written for Visual Media, which went to "All Eyes on Me" instead of "Comedy" — remember, electorates matter — and Best Music Film for "Inside." I don't think he'll win either, as he's contending with Emmy winner "Agatha All Along," Oscar nominee "Stand Up," and Oscar winner "Fight for You" in the first category and "American Utopia" and especially "Summer of Soul," which won six Critics Choice Documentary Awards and is my choice to win Documentary Feature at next year's Oscars. That's extremely tough competition.

Now I'm done with the Primetime Emmy Awards. What a relief!

Previous posts in this series
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)