'Lucy and Desi' leads Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special nominees with six nominations

I told my readers "stay tuned for the next installment of the Emmy Awards series for the Sunday entertainment feature" at the end of Steve Bannon convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress. More specifically, I wrote that I would look at the reality shows "after I examine the rest of the documentary and nonfiction special and series nominees." Here are the nominees for documentaries and nonfiction specials.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special (Area) Controlling Britney Spears (New York Times Presents) (FX) George Carlin's American Dream (HBO/HBO Max) Lucy and Desi (Prime Video) The Tinder Swindler (Netflix) We Feed People (Disney+)

Before I go on, I'm quoting what Wikipedia published about area awards.

Area awards are non-competitive; any nominee with at least 90% approval receives an Emmy. If no nominee receives 90% approval, the nominee with the highest approval receives an Emmy; for area awards in picture editing and sound mixing, there is an additional requirement that the highest-rated nominee must have at least 50% approval.

Consequently, all, some, one, or possibly even none of the nominees could earn awards in this category. That means I'm not going to put a lot of effort into handicapping these categories. Still, I will note that "Lucy and Desi" has six nominations, "The Tinder Swindler" and "George Carlin's American Dream" both have five, "We Feed People" has two, and "Controlling Britney Spears" has just this one, so here's the Twitter image for the show.


As I wrote above, just because it has only one nomination doesn't mean "Controlling Britney Spears" won't earn an Emmy. It is one of three nominees about entertainers and my experience is that, all things being equal, the television professionals of the Television Academy will vote for a quality nominee about entertainment in general and television in particular. Between that and the number of nominations, I think "Lucy and Desi" will walk away with several statuettes in September.

Speaking of which, I'm looking at the nominees other nominations over the jump, but only after I mention the honorees in the next category.

Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking (Juried)
Changing the Game (Hulu)
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO/HBO Max)
When Claude Got Shot (PBS)

This field looks different from this category in the past because of another ruling by the Television Academy: "Any film placed on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences platform will be ineligible for the Emmys. (Previously, this rule only applied to non-documentary films.)" In years past, several Oscar nominees and even winners also received nominations at the Emmys and it was a good way for Oscar snubs to get a second bite at the apple. No more. Also, Wikipedia included the following sentence about juried awards: "Juried awards generally do not have nominations; instead, all entrants are screened before members of the appropriate peer group, and one, more than one, or no entry is awarded an Emmy based on the jury's vote." Based on this description, all three listed works may have already won. If so, congratulations!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for the documentary and nonfiction special nominees.

Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program
The Andy Warhol Diaries: "Shadows: Andy & Jed" – Andrew Rossi (Netflix)
The Beatles: Get Back: "Part 3: Days 17-22" – Peter Jackson (Disney+)
George Carlin's American Dream – Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio (HBO/HBO Max)
Lucy and Desi – Amy Poehler (Prime Video)
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: "Venice" – Ian Denyer (CNN)
We Need to Talk About Cosby: "Part 1" – W. Kamau Bell (Showtime)

The two documentary or nonfiction special nominees are "George Carlin's American Dream" and "Lucy and Desi," both of which have Emmy winning actors tuned directors, Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio for the former and Amy Poehler for the latter. Based on their track records, I think Apatow and Bonfiglio have the edge because they've won Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling" while Poehler's Emmy was for Guest Actress in a Comedy. Apatow and Bonfiglio have experience in this category, while Poehler doesn't. That doesn't mean either will win, as they are competing against Oscar-winner Peter Jackson and Emmy-winner W. Kamau Bell, both of whom are also examining entertainers. I'll write more about them when I look at documentary and nonfiction series.

Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program
The Beatles: Get Back: "Part 3: Days 17-22" – Jabez Olssen (Disney+)
George Carlin's American Dream – Joseph Beshenkovsky (HBO / HBO Max)
Lucy and Desi – Robert A. Martinez, Dan Reed, and Inaya Graciana Yusuf (Prime Video)
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: "Venice" – Hamit Shonpal (CNN)
The Tinder Swindler – Julian Hart (Netflix)
We Need to Talk About Cosby: "Part 1" – Meg Ramsay and Jennifer Brooks (Showtime)

As I've mentioned above, a lot of these nominees are about entertainment, including art and music. This is true of the nominees in this category. The exception is "The Tinder Swindler," which is a true crime story. It's the second closest to one of my usual themes for these entries, government and politics, the other being science and nature. Both are nearly absent this year. The closest to government and politics is "George Carlin's American Dream," which has a lot of political and social commentary from the late subject of the documentary. Because of that and because I've been a fan of Carlin's for 50 years, I'm rooting for it to win at least one Emmy, although I suspect its best shot is in Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera)
The Beatles: Get Back: "Part 3: Days 17-22" – Martin Kwok, Emile De La Rey, Matt Stutter, Michael Donaldson, Stephen Gallagher, Tane Upjohn-Beatson, Simon Riley (Disney+)
George Carlin's American Dream – Bobby Mackston, Matt Temple, Joseph Beshenkovsky (HBO / HBO Max)
Lucy and Desi – Anthony Vanchure, Daniel Pagan, Mike James Gallagher, Jason Tregoe Newman, Bryant Furhman (Prime Video) McCartney 3,2,1: "The People We Loved Were Loving Us!" – Jonathan Greber, Leff Lefferts, Bjorn Ole Schroeder, E. Larry Oatfield, Kim Foscato (Hulu)
The Tinder Swindler – Maria Kelly, Chad Orororo, Nirupama Rajendran (Netflix)

All three of the most nominated documentary or nonfiction specials have been nominated in this category, although I think that music nominees have the best chances, all things being equal, so I suspect "The Beatles: Get Back" is the favorite.

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) (Area)
The Beatles: Get Back: "Part 3: Days 17-22" – Michael Hedges, Brent Burge, Alexis Feodoroff, Giles Martin (Disney+)
George Carlin's American Dream – Earl Martin, Jason Gaya, Brad Bergbom, Kevin Rosen Quan (HBO / HBO Max)
Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls: "Becoming 100% That Bitch" – Erik Brena, Ross D'Alessandro, Julianne Kane, Deanna Decenario (Prime Video)
McCartney 3,2,1: "These Things Bring You Together" – Gary A. Rizzo, Laura Cunningham (Hulu)
RuPaul's Drag Race: "Big Opening #1" – Erik Valenzuela, David Nolte, Glenn Gaines (VH1)
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: "Venice" – Tom O'Pray, Renato Ferrari (CNN)

The reality shows have a strong showing in this category, so I'll reexamine it when I write about them.

Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program
The Andy Warhol Diaries: "Shadows: Andy & Jed" – Andrew Rossi (Netflix)
How To with John Wilson: "How To Appreciate Wine" – John Wilson, Michael Koman, Susan Orlean, Conner O'Malley (HBO)
Lucy and Desi – Mark Monroe (Prime Video)
The Problem with Jon Stewart – Chelsea Devantez, Jon Stewart, Kristen Acimovic (Apple TV+)
The Tinder Swindler – Felicity Morris (Netflix)

"The Tindler Swindler" is the only documentary or nonfiction special in this category to earn a nomination at the Television Critics Association Awards, although "George Carlin's American Dream," nominated in other categories, earned a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information as well. There, both are competing against "How To with John Wilson," also nominated in this category. Of course, the creators are voting on these awards, not the critics. As I nearly always write in these entries, electorates matter.

Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible – Nainita Desai (Netflix)
Lucy and Desi – David Schwartz (Prime Video)
Return to Space – Mychael Danna and Harry Gregson-Williams (Netflix)
They Call Me Magic: "Earvin" – Terence Blanchard (Apple TV+)
The Tinder Swindler – Jessica Jones (Netflix)

These are the only nominations for "14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible," "Return to Space," and "They Call Me Magic," demonstrating that the music peer group is paying attention to different shows than the rest of the Television Academy, which I noticed when "The Good Fight" earned nominations for its music. That doesn't mean it will win, but at least they're recognized.

Gold Derby interviewed Composer David Schwartz on creating 'achingly beautiful, sad' music for Emmy nominee 'Lucy and Desi'.

Composer David Schwartz on creating 'achingly beautiful and sad' music for Emmy-nominated doc 'Lucy and Desi.' Amy Poehler's film is about television pioneers Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Gold Derby's Tony Ruiz hosts this webchat.

Since Schwartz mentioned the rhumba he composed, here it is, Rhumba Love.

Rhumba Love · David Schwartz

Lucy and Desi (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

That is fun and evokes both Lucy and Desi.

I close by repeating what I wrote for Barack Obama nominated for Outstanding Narrator of 'Our Great National Parks' at the 2022 Emmy Awards.

Here is the entire field.

Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program
The Andy Warhol Diaries: "Collab: Andy & Basquiat" – Wolfgang Held (Netflix)
McCartney 3,2,1: "These Things Bring You Together" – Stuart Winecoff (Hulu)
100 Foot Wave: "Chapter IV: Dancing with God" – Mike Prickett, Laurent Pujol (HBO / HBO Max)
Our Great National Parks: "Chilean Patagonia" – Christiaan Muñoz-Salas, Ignacio Walker (Netflix)
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: "Venice" – Andrew Muggleton (CNN)
We Feed People – Kris Kaczor (Disney+)

All of these nominees have nominations in other categories. "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" has the most nominations with five, including Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program. "The Andy Warhol Diaries" has four, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, and Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program in addition to this category. "McCartney 3,2,1" earned three nominations, including Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program. Both "100 Foot Wave" and "We Feed People" have two, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series for the former and Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for the latter. I will be looking at all of these in upcoming posts, after which I might venture a guess as to the winner.

On that note, expect the nominees for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series next. Stay tuned.

Previous posts about the 2022 Emmy Awards

• 'Teenage Dream' and 'The Lost Class' — two PSAs about gun violence nominated for Outstanding Commercial at the 2022 Emmy Awards
• Barack Obama nominated for Outstanding Narrator of 'Our Great National Parks' at the 2022 Emmy Awards