James Corden a big winner among political nominees at tonight's Critics' Choice Real TV Awards

The big awards show tonight is the Tony Awards, the T in EGOT.  Even though there are political and fantastic nominees, "The Ferryman" about The Troubles in Northern Ireland and "Hillary and Clinton" — self-explanatory  — for the former and "Hadestown" for the latter, I'm just not feeling like writing about them.  Instead, for this week's Sunday entertainment feature, I feel like blogging about the Critics' Choice Real TV Awards, which are airing on VH1 tonight at 11:00 P.M. EDT.  This isn't the first time I've made a choice like this; I made a similar decision in 2015, writing about the
Critics' Choice TV Awards winners for speculative fiction.

Even though people think of reality TV as frivolous, a lot of the categories are for documentaries and talk shows; all that matters is that they are not scripted fiction.  Therefore, they can be quite serious, even as they are being entertaining.  On that note, I begin with a category that is about government, not politics.  The winner has already been chosen, even though the show has not yet aired, and is marked with double asterisks.  I hope I'm not spoiling too much.

Crime/Justice Show

Betrayed (ID)
**Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (Netflix)
In Pursuit with John Walsh (ID)
Making a Murderer: Part 2 (Netflix)
The Innocent Man (Netflix)

"Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes" has another nomination, but not in the next category, which is more political.

Ongoing Documentary Series

Chef’s Table (Netflix)
**POV (PBS)
The Circus: Inside the Wildest Political Show on Earth (Showtime)
United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN)
Vice (HBO)

Other than "Chef's Table," all of these series cover politics and government.  I'm not surprised "POV" won, as I've written about it in 'Abacus,' 'Edith and Eddie,' 'Heroin(e),' and 'Last Men in Aleppo' — Oscar nominees at the 2018 News and Documentary Emmy Awards and 'Dark Money,' 'Hitler's Hollywood' and 'RBG' lead Best Political Documentary nominees at the 2018 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.  The latter shows that the Broadcast Television Journalists Association knows the series.  Congratulations!

Now for the other nomination for "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes."

Limited Documentary Series

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (Netflix)
Our Planet (Netflix)
Punk (Epix)
Shut Up and Dribble (Showtime)
**Surviving R. Kelly (Lifetime)

I picked "Surviving R. Kelly" as the likely winner of Best Documentary at the MTV Movie and TV Awards, so I'm not surprised it won here, although I would have been rooting for "Our Planet."*  It's nice to know that the critics liked the show as much as I think the fans voting at MTV.com have.  That written, I'm saving my congratulations until next week, when I expect "Surviving R. Kelly" will pick up the golden popcorn container.

Now for a category that is only incidentally political.

Short Form Series

9 Months with Courteney Cox (Facebook Watch)
Biography Presents: History, Herstory (HISTORY)
**Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple TV)
Comeback Kids (The Dodo)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: Between the Scenes (Comedy Central)

James Corden can add this trophy to his three Emmy Awards he won last fall, one of which is for "Carpool Karaoke: The Series."  Personally, I'd have been rooting for Trevor Noah.

I am saving my congratulations for now, as Corden won two more awards, the first of which I will get to after the next category.

Talk Show

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Netflix)
**My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (Netflix)
Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)
The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Warner Bros. Television/Syndicated)
The View (ABC)

Congratulations to David Letterman.  He did better here than he did at last year's Emmy Awards, where I wrote he should just be happy to be nominated.  This time, I'm happy to say "Congratulations!"

Now for Corden's second award.

Late-Night Talk Show (TIE)

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
**Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
**The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

I would have been rooting for John Oliver, as his show has many Emmy Awards, so I'm glad he shared the award.  Congratulations!  However, I'm surprised it was Cordens's show that tied.  If I had been forecasting a tie, which I wouldn't have, I'd have picked one of the other three nominees, as Corden's show is the least to my taste.  However, the critics are looking at factors I'm not, such as general entertainment value and creativity, so I'm not terribly surprised.

I conclude with Corden's final award.

Show Host

RuPaul Charles – RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
Stephen Colbert – The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
**James Corden – The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
Busy Philipps – Busy Tonight (E!)
Jerry Seinfeld – Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Netflix)

I'd have been rooting for RuPaul Charles, who won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Best Host, but that was against hosts of other reality shows, not variety talk shows.  My second choice would have been Stephen Colbert.  Still, I think Corden is a worthy winner, so congratulations three times over!  To sum up his victories, I am sharing the relevant paragraph about his wins from IndieWire.

“The Late Late Show with James Corden” also earned multiple awards, for both Late-Night Talk Show (a tie with “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”) and Show Host for Corden, whose “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” won the Short Form Series category, sending the Brit home with three awards total.

The only show that won more awards was “Queer Eye,” which led all winners with four awards, Ensemble Cast in an Unscripted Series, Lifestyle Show: Fashion/Beauty, Male Star of The Year for Jonathan Van Ness, and Structured Series.  Congratulations!

Since I like completing a circle by going back to the first topic I mentioned, Corden is the host of tonight's Tony Awards, so he gets to be on two awards shows on the same night.  Ah, the wonders of tape delay!

*That's O.K.  "Our Planet" won Animal/Nature Show, which is what I would have wanted.

Toast mom and the most popular baby names of 2018 for Mother's Day plus an update to 'Game of Thrones' baby names

Happy Mother's Day!  To celebrate, I'm following up on Baby names from entertainment for Mother's Day 2018, itself an installment of a series that goes all the way back to Game of Thrones--names, geology, and security theater in 2014.

I begin, as I did last year, with the Social Security Administration reporting Social Security’s Top Ten Baby Names of 2018.

Just arrived! Find out the top 10 baby names of 2018 from Social Security, the source for baby names each year!

Once again, Emma, as in Stone and Watson, is the most popular girl's name and Liam, as in Hemsworth and Neeson, is the most popular boy's name.  As for Logan, Wolverine's first name, it has fallen all the way down to tenth.


Of course, no examination of baby names on this blog would be complete without a reference to either Game of Thrones or Star Wars.*  Since I wrote on the Revenge of the Sixth that "That's it for Star Wars until the Saturn Award nominations are announced, whenever that may be," it's Game of Thrones' turn.  For that, I turn to IndieWire.

2,545 girls have a name, and it’s Arya. That’s according to Social Security data on last year’s baby names, which continues the trend of new parents naming their children after “Game of Thrones” characters. And though everyone’s favorite knife-wielding daughter of Winterfell was once again the show’s most popular namesake, other inhabitants of Westeros had a good showing as well: 516 girls named Khaleesi were born last year (as were, somewhat distressingly, 19 Caleesis, 14 Khaleesias, and five Khaleesies) in addition to 434 Yaras, 319 Lyannas, 125 Shaes, and 102 Renlys.

But wait, there’s more! 2018 also introduced the world to 58 Tyrions, 33 Briennes, 30 Jorahs, 29 Sansas, 21 Catelyns, 17 Ellarias, 15 Oberyns, 14 Theons, and 11 Gregors whom one hopes weren’t actually named after the Mountain. (His track record with children isn’t exactly great.)

CBS News reported on the change in rank instead of the raw numbers in "Game of Thrones" baby names are more popular than ever.

The name Arya ranked 119th for female names, making a significant jump from 942nd place in 2010 - the year the show debuted. But another spelling of the name, Aria, was much more popular in 2018, ranking 19th.

Khaleesi, the title given to wives of nomadic warlords, rose nearly 100 spots in 2017, ranking 549th. Yara made one of the largest increases last year, jumping a few hundred spots to 672nd.

Khaleesi actually ranked 549th in 2018, not 2019.  As for Yara, I associate that name with Yara Martinez, who acts in both "Jane the Virgin" and "The Tick," more than "Game of Thrones."  Speaking of "Jane the Virgin," Xiomara, the name of Jane's mother, continued to increase in popularity, rising 130 places from 855 to 725.  It might do that one more year, as this is the final season of the show.

I'm finishing this entry with some drink recipes for mom.  Instead of one from Tipsy Bartender, I'm sharing Mother's Day Drink Recipes from Coborn's Family of Stores.

Jayne is back with some delicious, easy-to-make drink recipes - perfect for Mother's Day!

A toast to mom!  Speaking of which, it's time for me to call mine.  Happy Mother's Day!

*I'm saving Star Wars names for Father's Day.  Stay tuned.

Politics and diversity among Oscar nominated short subjects

I made an observation and a promise at the end of Diversity, representation, inclusion, and fantasy all winners at the 90th Academy Awards on Monday.  The observation was "Sex, ethnicity, race, gender, and disability -- that's a pretty thorough examination of diversity, representation, and inclusion.  It's also a big improvement from 'Oscars so white' just two years ago," while the promise was to examine "the political themes in some of the Live Action Short Films and Documentary Short nominees."  It's time for me to follow through with the promise by noting that the observation applies just as much to the nominees in both categories as it does to the winners, something that struck me as I watched the nominees being announced Sunday night.

I noted that "The Documentary Short winner, 'Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,' told the story of an female artist who struggled with mental illness" and "'The Silent Child,' the winner of the Live Action Short Film, was about the struggles of a deaf girl."   All the other nominees in both categories had social issue themes as they examined political or diversity issues with some examining the intersection between the two.

Indiewire has a better summary of the nominees for Documentary Short than I could write.

The Oscar-nominated documentary shorts program has always been a chance for the Academy to highlight urgent social issues, and this year is no different. Sticking close to home during a year of political unease, all five of the nominated films hail from the United States, and clearly the country has plenty to examine. Ranging in topic from police brutality to mental illness to the opioid crisis, each nominee uses human stories as an entry point. Clocking in between 30 and 40 minutes, this crop of films offers a deeper dive beneath the headlines — revealing the personal toll a crisis exacts from real people.

The reviewer picked out two films as "standouts," "Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405" and "Traffic Stop," giving both of them an A-.  Both of them stood out to me, too.

As soon as I saw the clip of "Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405" when its nomination was being announced, I knew it would win.  That's because it's a film about Hollywood, which is enough to get the Motion Picture Academy members to vote for it if all other factors are equal, an observation I made about "Birdman," "La La Land," and "O.J.: Made in America" last year.  That was before I found out that the film's subject, Mindy Alper, was known to show business people in Los Angeles.  According to Wikipedia, she was a friend of Catherine Coulson, the "Log Lady" on "Twin Peaks," and a consultant on "Benny & Joon" about how to play a mentally ill woman.  Of course the Oscar electorate would vote for a film about her.  Watch Frank Stiefel's Oscar 2018 Acceptance Speech for Documentary Short Subject and notice the shout-out to Mindy, who is in the audience.

Watch Frank Stiefel's Oscar 2018 acceptance speech for Documentary Short Subject for HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 at the 90th Academy Awards.

Enough people know her that one can hear the applause for her, as much as for Stiefel and his wife.

The other thing that struck me was how violent the clip from "Traffic Stop" appeared and how topical the subject was.  Variety had a concise summary explaining the violence.

“Traffic Stop” is lauded documentarian Kate Davis’ first short. (She previously won a Sundance Documentary Grand Jury prize for “Southern Comfort.”) An Austin, Texas, traffic stop leads to the brutalization of driver Breaion King, an African-American school teacher with no record. The short, which will air on HBO in early spring, tackles questions about racism, law enforcement and gender.

In the era of Black Lives Matter, which I've mentioned on this blog only once before, this is a very important film.  Given an electorate that looked like America and not like Hollywood, it might have won.

Moving down the list from Indiewire, which is arranged by the critic's grade, is "Heroin(e)," a film about the opioid crisis in West Virginia.  The critic at Indiewire found it to be the most imaginatively named of the nominees and appreciated its focus on women who are trying to help the addicts, a judge, a fire chief, and a volunteer at a religious charity.

The film that at first looked least like a social-issues documentary was "Knife Skills," which on the surface is about the restaurant business.  What makes it about social issues is that all of the cooking staff are recently released ex-convicts.  That's an angle that fits in with "The Work," one of the most feature-length documentaries of 2017 that I examined about prison life.

Finally, "Edith+Eddie" examines the life and love of the oldest interracial couple in America.  Despite the billing, it is more the broken elder care system and about how adult children use legal guardianships to control the assests of their elderly parents than about race.  It was also the lowest rated of the nominated short documentaries by the critic at Indiewire.

Follow over the jump for my observations on the live-action short subject nominees.