'The Pitt' edges 'Severance' for Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmy Awards

After being delayed by Jimmy Kimmel's suspension — good news, he returned last night as announced — I'm examining the drama series winners. Time to compare the predictions in 'Severance' already won six Emmy Awards and could win up to five more to reality.

The prognosticators at Gold Derby have split on the likely winner, but agree that it's a two-show race between Severance and The Pitt with 60.0% of the editors, 41.7% of the experts, and 64.0% of the users selecting Severance, while half the experts, 40.0% of the editors, and 32.4% of the users think The Pitt will win. The remaining expert (8.3%) and 1.6% of users picked The Last of Us to place third in the odds. The White Lotus has the support of 1.1% of users, followed by Andor with 0.5%, Slow Horses with 0.4%, and both Paradise and The Diplomat with none.

The science fiction fan in me wants Severance, but my wife and I watched the first three episodes and haven't returned, while we watched every episode of The Pitt. I'm sure we're not alone. Gold Derby summed up the choice in Emmys Face-Off: Do voters follow their heart to The Pitt or their head to Severance?

The Emmy voters followed their hearts. Watch The Pitt win Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

The Pitt accepts the Emmy for Drama Series at the 77th Emmy Awards.

Congratulations to the cast, crew, and producers of The Pitt on a well-deserved win!

Kathy Bates, the only nomination for Matlock, leads with 83.3% of experts, 80.0% of editors, and 71.6% of users expecting her to win. Britt Lower sits in second with 20.0% of editors, 8.3% of experts, and 23.9% of users picking here. Bella Ramsey also has 8.3% of experts voting for her, but only 3.3% of users. Keri Russell has the support of 1.1% of users, while Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters' sole nominee, only has 0.1%. Lower will only win in a Severance sweep, which the Gold Derby experts doubt will happen.

I was wrong about Lower only winning in a Severance sweep, although Gold Derby was right about that sweep not happening and this being a two-actress contest. Watch Lower win Lead Actress In A Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Britt Lower accepts the Emmy for Lead Actress In A Drama Series for Severance at the 77th Emmy Awards.

Yes, Queen! Not only were the nominees electrifying, so were you. That's how to introduce a category! Congratulations to Lower, who defied Gold Derby's expectations and mine by winning and writing "Let Me Out" on the back of her acceptance speech. Nice Easter egg!

Every editor, 92.3% of experts, and 82.0% of users want Noah Wylie, while 7.7% of experts and 15.2% of users selected Adam Scott. Pedro Pascal is a distant third with 2.3% of users, followed by Sterling K. Brown and Gary Oldman tied at 0.3%. I'm picking Wylie.

I got my wish. Watch Wyle win Lead Actor In A Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Noah Wyle accepts the Emmy for Lead Actor In A Drama Series for The Pitt at the 77th Emmy Awards.

I'm embarassed to write that I've been a fan of Wyle's since I watched him in both Falling Skies and The Librarians a decade ago and I'm still misspelling his name. Oops. Both of those roles inspired me to think of him as an educated man of action, a characterization that his role in E.R. cemented. He is still that in The Pitt and it paid off with his first acting Emmy. Congratulations!

Carrie Coon currently leads as the choice of 60.0% of editors, 58.3% of experts, and 70.4% of users, but Gold Derby thinks she has competition, as 33.3% of experts, 30.0% of editors, and 13.4% of users chose Katherine LaNasa and 10.0% of editors, 8.3% of experts, and 12.8% picked Parker Posey — a three-way race! A sweep by Severance seems unlikely, as only 1.9% of users made an argument for Patricia Arquette. The users give the rest of the nominees less than a 1.0% chance with Aimee Lou Wood at 0.8%, Natasha Rothwell at 0.4%, and Julianne Nicholson, who has already won an Emmy for Hacks, at 0.3%. I enjoyed Parker Posey the most, but Carrie Coon displayed more range.

I suspect vote-splitting between The White Lotus nominees allowed Gold Derby's second choice to win, which takes nothing away from her performance. Watch LaNasa win Supporting Actress In A Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Katherine LaNasa accepts the Emmy for Supporting Actress In A Drama Series for The Pitt at the 77th Emmy Awards.

Wednesday and Morticia! It was worth watching this clip for this pairing alone. As for LaNasa, she reminds me of my ex-wife the nurse in a good way. I don't know if I've ever written that before. In this case, it works for making her role more authentic.

Gold Derby's odds-makers see a two-way contest for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, with Tramell Tillman taking 70.0% of editors, 50.0% of experts, and 53.1% of users while Walton Goggins is walking away with 50.0% of experts, 30.0% of editors, and 43.6% of users. That's quite a split! The rest of the field consists of Sam Rockwell with 1.2%, John Turturro and James Marsden tied at 0.7%, Jason Isaacs with 0.6%, and Zach Cherry at 0.1%. My wife and I watched all of The White Lotus, and we found Goggins compelling.

It was close, but Gold Derby's first choice won. Watch Tramell Tillman win Supporting Actor In A Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Tramell Tillman accepts the Emmy for Supporting Actor In A Drama Series for Severance at the 77th Emmy Awards.

I think I'd rather watch J.B. Smoove host the Emmys than Neal Bargatze. I'm also glad Tillman won; he gave a great acceptance speech. Not only did he win an Emmy on his first nomination, a personal first, he achieved a historic first.

For his chilling performance as the hypnotic and unnervingly cheerful Seth Milchick in Apple TV+’s genre-defying drama “Severance,” Tramell Tillman won the Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series, becoming the first Black man ever to win in the category. It was the only acting field that had yet to honor a Black performer in the Emmys’ 77-year history.

Congratulations!

The experts at Gold Derby worried that two nominated episodes for both Severance and The Pitt would split the vote. It's certainly splitting theirs, as 75.0% of experts, 70.0% of editors, and 81.3% of users voted for the "Cold Harbor" episode of Severance while 10.0% of editors and 2.5% of users chose "Chikhai Bardo." Between the two entries, 80.0% of editors, 75.0% of experts, and 83.8% of users are supporing Severance. The Pitt suffers less from vote splitting, with 25.0% of experts, 20.0% of editors, and 12.3% of users picking "6:00 P.M." but only 0.8% of users selecting "7:00 A.M." The White Lotus is fourth among nominees but third among series with 1.4% of users, followed by Andor with 1.1% and Slow Horses with 0.4%.

It looks like vote splitting assisting insider opinion allowed Gold Derby's last choice to win. Watch Adam Randall of Slow Horses surprise in Directing For A Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Adam Randall accepts the Emmy for Directing For A Drama Series for Slow Horses at the 77th Emmy Awards.

I've been curious about Slow Horses ever since I watched the trailer for its first season, which used "Six Underground" for its background music. This win might be enough to get my wife and me to watch it. Fortuitously, season five premieres tonight.

Speaking of getting my wife and me to watch something...

Severance leads Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, which Gold Derby thinks is a three-way contest, supported by 90.0% of editors, 66.7% of experts, and 81.9% of users. The Pitt sits in second as the pick of 25.0% of experts and 10.9% of users, while this category may be Andor's best chance at an Emmy, as 10.0% of editors, 8.3% of experts, which might be the same person given the overlap between the two groups, and 2.9% of users anticipate its upsetting the two leaders. The rest of the field all have at least 1% support, with The White Lotus with 1.7%, a second episode of The Pitt at 1.6%, and Slow Horses at 1.0%. Vote splitting doesn't seem to be hurting The Pitt much.

Not only was this Andor's best opportunity to win, it won. Watch Writing For A Drama Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Dan Gilroy accepts the Emmy for Writing For A Drama Series for Andor at the 77th Emmy Awards.

I'm recycling what I wrote about Andor two years ago.

My wife and I couldn't get past the second episode of "Andor." It was too slow a burn for us and not escapist enough. On the other hand, the critics and entertainment professionals love it... Watching Hasan, Tracy Brown, and Wajahat Ali dissect "Andor" and relate it to real-life struggles against occupation and oppression make me interested in resuming the series. I've heard that the show gets more interesting after the second episode and looking at it as a serious political allegory would probably increase my appreciation for it.

My wife and I have been watching the reception for Andor, and are now wondering if we should start watching it again. On the one hand, this win could persuade us. On the other, Disney's treatment of Kimmel convinced us to consider canceling our Disney+ subscription. If we are still upset next month, we will stop paying, Kimmel's return last night not withstanding, which means we won't watch any Disney+ or Hulu content, including Andor. Just the same, congratulations to Gilroy on his win.

That's a wrap for today's post. I plan on taking a break from the Emmys tomorrow and Friday. I expect to return to entertainment Saturday and Sunday, but at least one of those days will be devoted to the Environmental Media Association Awards nominees. Stay tuned.

Previous posts about the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards

• No PSAs among nominees for Outstanding Commercial plus winners for Outstanding Promotional Announcement at the Emmy Awards
• 'I Am: Celine Dion,' 'Patrice: The Movie,' and 'The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,' Emmy nominees for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking
• 'Asia' and 'The Americas' lead nature documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Pee-wee as Himself' vs. 'Will & Harper' for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special on Tequila Day
• '100 Foot Wave' leads Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series in nominations, but could lose to 'SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night'
• 'The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
• Emmy nominee 'Desi Lydic Foxsplains the Epstein Files' plus the rest of the short form nominees at the Emmy Awards
• John Oliver examines 'Gang Databases' plus 'Last Week Tonight's six Emmy nominations
• Colbert, Lydic, and Meyers take closer looks at the EPA and Epstein and Kimmel goes down the rabbit hole on 'windmills'
• 'Jeopardy!' favored to win Game Show categories at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Welcome to Wrexham' vs. 'Love on the Spectrum' for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program at the Emmy Awards
• 'Shark Tank' vs. 'Queer Eye' for Outstanding Structured Reality Program at the Emmy Awards
• 'RuPaul's Drag Race' leads nominations for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, but 'The Traitors' will likely win again
• 'Arcane' leads Gold Derby odds to win Outstanding Animated Program at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Rebel Ridge' leads Gold Derby odds to win Outstanding Television Movie at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• Nate Bargatze vs. Conan O'Brien for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) at the Emmys
• 'Saturday Night Live' earned seven Emmy nominations for its 50th season
• 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' leads nominees for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the Emmys
• 'Arcane,' 'Love, Death + Robots,' and 'Octopus!' already Emmy Award winners
• Gold Derby's predictions for guest actors and actresses at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• Gold Derby's predictions for title design and music at the Emmy Awards
• Gold Derby's predictions for casting at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'The Penguin' has already won 8 Emmys, but could lose to 'Adolescence'
• 'The Studio' wins 9 Emmy Awards and could win up to 6 more
• 'Severance' already won six Emmy Awards and could win up to five more
• 'Jeopardy!' and Jimmy Kimmel win Game Show categories at the Emmy Awards
• 'Adolescence' sweeps its categories at the Emmy Awards with one win for 'The Penguin'
• 'Arcane' and 'Love, Death & Robots' both earn four Emmy Awards
• 'The Studio' wins four more Emmy Awards for a total of thirteen
• Colbert and Meyers take closer looks at ABC suspending Kimmel
• 'The Daily Show' reacts to ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel
• John Oliver examines Jimmy Kimmel & the FCC after winning two Emmy Awards

'The Daily Show' at the Republican National Convention over the years

The Republican National Convention begins today, so I'm sharing The Daily Show's retrospectives of their coverage of past events, beginning with Small Town Values & Absent Diversity at the RNC's of Yore.

It's a Daily Show tradition to attend the national conventions every year, and the RNC always promises a good time. Take a look at some of the Best F**kin' News Team's best f**kin' moments at the RNC, from learning about small-town values to searching out any Black or Latino people, to finding out the last year America was great.

Jordan Klepper, Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver look so young in these clips. Also, seeing Samantha Bee makes me realize how much I miss her show. Altogether, they remind me how The Daily Show was and still is a great cultivator of talent.

The fun continues in RNC Throwbacks: Bristol Palin's Right to Choose & John Oliver Audits Red States.

Take a look back at some of the Daily Show's most memorable moments with Samantha Bee, Ed Helms, and John Oliver on the ground at the RNC.

Ah, when Republicans were the more anti-Russian party! I miss those days. On the other hand, they've become even more anti-choice, despite what their platform does, or even more importantly, doesn't say. As for running government like a business, I've seen what that was like under Rick Snyder. No thank you. It's even worse if they want to run the U.S. government like convicted criminal Hoover Cleveland's businesses!

Here's to this year's convention creating as many funny moments as these. If so, it might just be the best thing to come out of it!

ETA: This year's RNC may create funny moments, but they won't be captured by a team in the field. Variety reports ‘Daily Show’ Cancels On-The-Ground RNC Plans After Trump Assassination Attempt.

Jon Stewart and the team from “The Daily Show” will be staying close to home during the Republican National Convention.

After planning to cover the event with a satirical lens in host city Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Comedy Central mainstay canceled its plans Sunday and noted the show would hold forth instead from its usual base in New York City. Monday’s broadcast of the show, typically hosted by Stewart, will not air, and the late-night series will pick up Tuesday through Thursday.

Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump appears to be the issue. A message posted via Instagram and X offered “apologies for the inconvenience,” citing “logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee” for a “need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin.” A spokeswoman for the show did not elaborate on the statement.

Thanks to King of Pies on X/Twitter for telling me this. Just the same, darn.

'Everything Everywhere All at Once' — part 2 of diversity in awards show winners for the week of MLK Day

For part 2 of diversity in awards show winners for MLK Day, I'm writing about the categories "Everything Everywhere All at Once" won at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards to continue my celebration of diversity in entertainment.


First, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" won Best Picture at the Critics' Choice Awards, beating both of the Golden Globes winners, "The Fabelmans" for Drama and "The Banshees of Inisherin" for Comedy. This sets up a three-way contest for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. While I'm not optimistic about its chances, I'm rooting for "Everything Everywhere All at Once." It seems to be the best received speculative fiction film among entertainment professionals, both critics and creatives with two Golden Globes and five Critics' Choice Awards. "Avatar: The Way of Water" is the main alternative with one Critics' Choice Award for Best Special Effects, two Golden Globes nominations and six Critics' Choice Awards nominations. It's very successful at the box office, in second in the U.S. behind only "Top Gun: Maverick" among films released in 2022 and number one so far during 2023. Blockbusters like that don't win Best Picture, even if they're audience favorites.

Before I move on, my prediction that "'Nope' won't do as well at next year's Academy Awards and WorldCon" as "Dune" still looks good. Despite its win at the Saturn Awards and nominations at the People's Choice Awards, it earned no nominations at either the Golden Globes or Critics' Choice Awards. Its IMDB page lists only three guild nominations for production design, costume design, and hair and makeup. I think it would be lucky to be nominated for one of those at the Oscars.


For the next award, watch as Michelle Yeoh wins Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes from NBC.

Michelle Yeoh accepts the award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Motion Picture for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

I'm glad Yeoh got the opportunity to finish her acceptance speech, although I'm sure her telling the piano player "Shut up, please. I can can beat you up, O.K., and that's serious" helped. She wasn't kidding. As I wrote last month, "I was even more impressed to watch her do her own stunts in a fight scene. I don't care if its for show; I would not ever want to get in a fight with her, even if I'm twice her size!"



Next, watch as Ke Huy Quan Wins Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes from NBC.

Ke Huy Quan accepts the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

That was just as heartfelt and inspiring speech about overcoming career obstacles as Yeoh's and I'm glad I watched it. He got to make another acceptance speech at the Critics' Choice Awards, as he won Best Supporting Actor there, too.


I'm very optimistic about his chances at the Oscars, as he has also won the equivalent Saturn Award, and has nominations at the BAFTA and SAG Awards. Those are important precursor awards before the Academy Awards.

Follow over the jump for the categories won by people behind the camera at the Critics' Choice Awards for "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

'Summer of Soul,' 'Dune,' 'Soul,' Billie Eilish, and Bo Burnham all winners at the Oscars and Grammys for a late National Film Score Day

A belated happy National Film Score Day! I'm using the occasion to recognize the music winners at the Academy Awards and the visual media winners at last night's Grammy Awards, beginning with "Summer of Soul," my pick for best documentary of 2021. Watch QUESTLOVE, DAVID DINERSTEIN, ROBERT FYVOLENT & JOSEPH PATEL Win Best Music Film for Summer of Soul from the Recording Academy/GRAMMYS.

Watch Questlove, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent & Joseph Patel's acceptance speech for Best Music Film for Summer of Soul.

Questlove made sure that his speech celebrated the musicians, as was appropriate for the Grammys.

For a more in-depth response, watch Variety's ‘Summer of Soul’ Best Documentary Feature Full Backstage Oscars Speech.

‘Summer of Soul’ documentarians on their love of music, how to know to hold on and not give up project, releasing on streaming after Sundance 2021, the importance of films that celebrate Black history, and what lineup they would want to see today.

Congratulations to Questlove, Dinerstein, Fyvolent, and especially Patel, who made the point that this film was a celebration of diversity in more ways than one!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the winners nominated at the Grammys and either the Oscars or the Emmys.

'King Richard,' 'West Side Story,' 'Pose,' and more diversity among Golden Globes winners for MLK Day

A happy and contemplative MLK Day, when I have examined diversity in visual media since 2015. I'm continuing that tradition today by looking at the diverse winners of the 2022 Golden Globes. People Magazine had the best coverage of the winning films, TV shows, and actors in Golden Globes 2022 Winners Have Been Announced!

This year's unprecedented Golden Globes are here.

On Sunday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed the winners of the 79th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, recognizing film and television from the past year.

There was no audience or nominees in attendance at the awards show following the rapid surge in COVID-19 cases as the highly-contagious omicron variant rockets through the U.S. Only "select members and grantees" were in the room as the awards were announced, according to the organization. There was no red carpet, and media was also not invited to attend.

It still skipped supporting acting winners as well as people behind the camera and the "lesser" film categories. I'll get to them after the jump as well.

'Summer of Soul,' my pick for best documentary of 2021

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm returning to the closing paragraph of 'Hamilton,' 'Inside,' and 'American Utopia' all winners at the 2021 Emmy Awards.

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 [in the second category]. That's extremely tough competition.

The other nominees for Best Music Film at the Grammys are "Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles" featuring Billie Eilish (I'm surprised "Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry" with four Emmy nominations wasn't nominated instead, but "Happier Than Ever" is eligible for next year's Emmy Awards and may be a better film) and "Music, Money, Madness...Jimi Hendrix In Maui." I still think "Summer of Soul" is the favorite.

Before I continue discussing the documentary, I'm sharing SUMMER OF SOUL | Official Trailer from Searchlight Pictures, which is now Disney's prestige film division since it acquired it from Fox.

In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary—part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was never seen and largely forgotten–until now. SUMMER OF SOUL shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present. The feature includes never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and more.

That really makes me want to watch the film. I'll show it to my wife, who loves Motown, to see if it makes her want to watch it with me. Yes, I'm praising a film based on its reputation, but I think it deserves its reputation. In addition to earning six Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Editing for Joshua L. Pearson, Best Archival Documentary, Best Music Documentary, and Best Director for Questlove, and the Grammy nomination for Best Music Film, "Summer of Soul" has earned a special award from the American Film Institute, two nominations at the Black Reel Awards, six nominations from the Cinema Eye Honors Awards, two nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, a nomination at the Gotham Independent Film Awards (it lost to "Flee," which tags it as strong competition), four nominations from the International Documentary Association, one nomination each from the PGA Awards and Satellite Awards, and won Best Documentary from the National Board of Review. Wow!

About the only thing that would stop "Summer of Soul" from winning Documentary Feature at the Oscars is if it's not nominated for the reasons I listed in 'Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution' at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards (corrected for grammar).

[T]he Documentary Branch of the Motion Picture Academy...deliberately do[es] not nominate documentaries that will earn votes from the entire academy as a whole that they don't agree [are] the very best. They also don't like documentaries made with archive footage. They also have political axes to grind.

The only prejudice that definitely applies is the second against archival documentaries, but I think it won't be enough to prevent its nomination, as it's very high quality, even if Questlove wasn't an established documentarian until now, and the film's politics work in its favor. Follow over the jump for two interviews of Questlove in which he discusses the film's political and social implications.

Quibi's last Emmy nominations are also Roku's first as the network was canceled but the shows were renewed

When I covered scripted short form nominees last year, I expressed a concern about Quibi.

Quibi's 10 nominations have brought the short-form streaming service much needed attention for something other than its weak subscription numbers. That's good, but while Emmy nominations are a sign of quality, they are no guarantee of long-term survival. Al Jazeera America earned lots of Emmy nominations for news but shut down just the same after less than three full years. I wish Quibi better luck with its business.

Despite winning two Emmy Awards for #FreeRayshawn, Quibi didn't even last a year, calling it quits in October and shutting down in December. That still qualified their shows for this year's Emmy Awards and three of them earned eight nominations in three categories. Oh, and the shows are now on Roku, which is claiming them as their own.


In this case, the network was canceled, but the shows were renewed.*

Now the nominees.

Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series

Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple TV)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS (YouTube)
The Randy Rainbow Show (YouTube)
Reno 911! (Quibi)
Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News (Paramount+)

This is a very different looking category from last year because the Television Academy merged Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series with Outstanding Short Form Variety Series to recreate Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. Consequently, more of last year's Short Form Variety Series appear here than the sole returning scripted comedy from last year, "Reno 911!" At least the addition of variety nominees didn't dilute the political and government content, with "Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS," "The Randy Rainbow Show,", and "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News" providing a lot of political content to go along with the funny cops of "Reno 911!" While I'm rooting for "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News," I expect "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" will win instead. I've learned not to underestimate James Corden. At least he's not nominated for acting, which is next.

Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series

Kevin Hart as Kevin Hart on Die Hart (Quibi)
John Lutz as Gilbert Pewntz on Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
Brendan Scannell as Pete Devon on Bonding (Netflix)
J. B. Smoove as Chief Billy Bills on Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)
John Travolta as Ron Wilcox on Die Hart (Quibi)

The only nominees depicting government employees in this field are J. B. Smoove as Chief Billy Bills and John Lutz as Gilbert Pewntz on "Mapleworth Murders" and I don't think either are the favorite.  Instead, I'm picking Kevin Hart from "Die Hart," a show about Hollywood, which will earn votes when all else is equal.  I could be wrong, as John Travolta's role was written for Bruce Willis, who turned it down.  That might be a big enough role that he could upset Hart or split the vote, letting Brendan Scannell sneak past for the award

Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series

Nathalie Emmanuel as Jordan King on Die Hart (Quibi)
Kerri Kenney-Silver as Deputy Trudy Wiegel on Reno 911! (Quibi)
Keke Palmer as Barbie / Gammy Tay / Lil Thad / Miranda / Rick on Keke Palmer's Turnt Up with the Taylors (Facebook Watch)
Paula Pell as Mrs. Abigail Mapleworth on Mapleworth Murders (Quibi)

While Kerri Kenney-Silver is both the only returning nominee and only nominee playing a government employee, I'm not sure she's the favorite. Nathalie Emmanuel seems to be participating in her awards campaign on Twitter and Paula Pell is the actual star of her own show, so I think both of them have better chances.

Stay tuned for more posts about Emmy nominees, most likely about variety talk shows.

*That's not quite a first, as UPN and WB merged to create The CW and the most successful shows from both ended up on The CW, but at least there was some corporate continuity between the old and new networks. That's not the case here. At least Roku is here to run the awards campaign.

Previous posts in this series

• Diversity one of the themes of the Outstanding Commercial nominees at the 2021 Emmy Awards
• 'The Social Dilemma' leads documentaries at the Emmy Awards with seven nominations
• 'Allen v. Farrow' leads documentary and nonfiction series at the Emmy Awards with seven nominations

'Soul' wins Original Score and Animated Feature

I wrote that "Soul" was my pick to win Original Score and thought it would win for Animated Feature after winning the equivalent categories at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. The film and the voters of the Motion Picture Academy did not disappoint me. Watch SOUL Accepts the Oscar for Original Score from ABC now, Oscars later.

Watch Jon Batiste accept the Oscar for Music (Original Score) for SOUL at Oscars 2021 with fellow musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Congratulations! Jon Batiste is as interesting and entertaining a speaker as he is a musician, which is why I'm glad he made the acceptance speech on stage.*

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross got their turns to thank people in SOUL's Thank You Cam Speech: Original Score.

Watch Oscars 2021 winner Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste's Thank You Cam Oscar acceptance speech for Music (Original Score) for SOUL.

The trio of composers met the press afterwards, which Variety captured in 'Soul' Composers Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste on the Film's Jazzy Oscar-Winning Score.

"Soul," Pixar's poignant film about life and inspiration, takes home the Oscar for Best Original Score. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste describe their inspiration for the film and speculate on what may be next for the three of them.

The entertainment press really engaged in a lot of inside baseball in their questions, although they were still informative. In particular, I hadn't realized that Reznor and Ross only have a Tony to win to earn and EGOT until I heard the question. If they and Batiste, like H.E.R., can compose a Broadway musical, that would be a great start. All they need is the right property.

The trio returned to ABC for Musicians of SOUL 'Oscars: After Dark' Winner Interview.

Watch Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste on 'Oscars: After Dark' talking about working with Pete Docter in constructing the score for the animated feature SOUL.

The explanation of the score as reflecting the film's exploring different planes of existence is a theme Pete Docter examines over the jump.

'Judas and the Black Messiah' wins two Oscars

I gushed over H.E.R. singing “Fight For You” from "Judas and the Black Messiah" in Oscar nominated scores and songs for National Film Score Day followed by my opinion of the movie's Oscar prospects.

Wow, I love this song! I don't think it will win, but I think it should! I have a feeling it will be the best live performance along with “Husavik” at the actual awards. Too bad the votes will be counted before the artists perform. At least Daniel Kaluuya is likely to win Best Supporting Actor, like he did at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, so "Judas and the Black Messiah" won't go away empty-handed.

Not only did I think the song should win, much to my pleasant surprise, it did win!


Watch H.E.R. - Fight For You (Oscars 2021 Pre-Show Telecast).



H.E.R. - "Fight For You” (from Judas And The Black Messiah)
Wow! I'm even more impressed seeing it "live." I feel it did have the most energetic performance of all of the nominated songs at the Oscar Pre-Show, not the awards ceremony itself, with “Husavik” a close second. Performing on location with local musicians and ending with a fireworks show helped “Husavik.” However, the ABC upload of “Husavik” has the most views of any of the performances with "Fight For You" in last on ABC's channel, which has the description "H.E.R. performs the Oscar nominated original song "Fight For You" from JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH at Oscars 2021." I credit that to most of the artist's fans watching the video on H.E.R.'s channel instead of ABC and ABC uploading its clip after the show ended.

Now watch H.E.R. Accepts the Oscar for Original Song from ABC for now, Oscars later.

Watch H.E.R.'s Oscar 2021 acceptance speech for Music (Original Song) for the song 'Fight For You' from JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH.

Congratulations!

H.E.R. continued acknowledging the people that made her Oscar possible in JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH's Thank You Cam Speech: Original Song from ABC.

Watch Oscars 2021 winners H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, and Tiara Thomas's Thank You Cam Oscar acceptance speech for Music (Original Song) for JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH.

I'm glad her collaborator Dernst Emile II was able to get in front of the microphone, too

Just like Pippa Ehrlich did in the Variety press conference I embedded in 'My Octopus Teacher' wins Documentary Feature at the Oscars, H.E.R. explained the greater significance of her award in H.E.R. Gets Halfway to an EGOT After Oscar Win for Original Song 'Fight for You'.

After winning the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Judas and the Black Messiah" anthem "Fight For You," H.E.R thanks collaborators Dernst Emile II & Tiara Thomas, expressing gratitude for being apart of a film that honors the Black Panther party.

The press here come off as fans as they do journalists, but they still asked good questions that got interesting, thoughful answers. One of them was that H.E.R. is also Asian-American, being half-Filipino, which I may not have learned for a long time. The other is that she is working on getting her EGOT. I want her to, but I'm hoping Lin-Manuel Miranda gets his first. He just needs an Oscar; I hope he earns one for "In the Heights."

H.E.R. and her collaborators gave one last interview by themselves for ABC, H.E.R., Tiara Thomas, and Dernst Emile II 'Oscars: After Dark' Winner Interview.

Watch H.E.R., Tiara Thomas, and Dernst Emile II on 'Oscars: After Dark' talking about their win for Best Original Song 'Fight For You' from JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH.

That was fun, but I'm not done. My readers and I will hear from Daniel Kaluuya about his performance and Oscar over the jump.

'My Octopus Teacher' wins Documentary Feature at the Oscars

I announced my plan for today in the footnote to Seth Meyers and Vox take closer looks at D.C. statehood for Flashback Friday.

I still plan on writing this post Monday in anticipation of "My Octopus Teacher" winning Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars the night before. Stay tuned and may I not be disappointed.

I was not disappointed. Watch MY OCTOPUS TEACHER Accepts the Oscar for Documentary Feature from ABC now, the Oscars later.*

Watch Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster accept the Oscar for Documentary (Feature) for MY OCTOPUS TEACHER at Oscars 2021.

Congratulations! Ever since my readers expressed their love for this movie last November, I knew that "My Octopus Teacher" had a good chance of winning if it was nominated, a story I'll tell in more detail over the jump. After it won at the Producers Guild Awards and BAFTA Awards, I realized that it was the favorite. I'm glad it lived up to my expectations, unlike some other nominees, a story I'll tell in future installments of this series.

Since this is the first of my posts about the Oscar winners, I'm commenting on the socially-distanced in-person setting. I think this was the best compromise between safety and entertainment the Motion Picture Academy could achieve. The result resembled a less tipsy Golden Globes. Since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association held those remotely, the Oscars tried to fill the gap. From a viewer's perspective, the setup succeeded. I'll wait to see if it really kept everyone healthy.

Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed had more to say in MY OCTOPUS TEACHER's Thank You Cam Speech: Documentary (Feature), again from ABC now, maybe the Oscars later.

Watch Oscars 2021 winner Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed's Thank You Cam Oscar acceptance speech for Documentary (Feature) for MY OCTOPUS TEACHER.

I can tell Ehrlich was still a bit nervous after her first acceptance speech. I hope she gets used to it, as I'm sure that "My Octopus Teacher" will be nominated at the Environmental Media Association Awards and one of the Emmy Awards, either Creative Arts or News and Documentary, and will likely win at least one trophy at each.

Ehrlich was much calmer when she faced the press in Variety's 'My Octopus Teacher' Documentary Directors on Filming Their Underwater Oscar Winner.

Following a man who forms a bond with an octopus inhabiting a kelp forest, 'My Octopus Teacher' won the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 93rd Academy Awards. Backstage, Directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed describe their hope that audiences embrace their message: that humanity find more "hopeful and respectful way of engaging with the planet".

Ehrlich gave exactly the kind of environmental message about the documentary at the end of the press conference that I was hoping for. Kudos not only to her, but also the reporter from Univision who asked for a response related to Earth Day. That was a smart question. Thank you.

Follow over the jump for the story of how 'My Octopus Teacher' wins Best Science/Nature Documentary and Best Cinematography at the 2020 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards earned its page views, along with other top entertainment posts about movies and television during the tenth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News; I covered music under holidays in Broken Peach celebrating Halloween updates holidays for the tenth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News for Flashback Friday.

John Oliver examines the Supreme Court after 'Last Week Tonight' wins four Emmy Awards

After musing which way to cover President Trump testing positive for COVID-19 in a footnote to Seth Meyers and Samantha Bee weigh in with their closer looks at the first presidential debate, I then wrote "Maybe I'll do something else, like covering John Oliver's latest episode as an angle for his four Emmy wins." I decided to do that instead, particularly since no one made suggestions in comments.

Without any further ado, here is Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on The Supreme Court, the show's reaction to the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the rush to fill her seat with Amy Coney Barrett.

In the wake of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, John Oliver discusses the future of the Supreme Court, why the government doesn’t always represent the political leanings of the electorate, and how those issues will impact the next generation of Americans.

In addition to all the bad things that can happen to health care, reproductive rights, civil rights, and voting rights as a result of this nomination, Oliver explained how the U.S. got here with an anti-democratic but pro-republican (double meaning intended) governing structure and what can be done to fix it. I'm in favor of all of them except maybe reforming the Senate. I don't think that's a bad idea in the abstract, but actually trying to do it will get the reformers stuck in the concrete (pun intended). It's difficult to the point of being almost impossible and will suck energy away from other reforms that are more attainable. On the other hand, eliminating the filibuster is worth doing, even if it's a double-edged sword. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a work-around that will make the Electoral College more democratic, both upper- and lower-case d, without a constitutional amendment. I'd like that, too, but I consider it extremely difficult, while not impossible. That's a long-term effort that I may not live to see accomplished. Expanding the Supreme Court has its risks, but I'm not against it. Finally, anyone who has read my blog for any time knows I'm in favor of admitting Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., as states.*

I'm sure I'll be writing more about Barrett's nomination between now and the end of the year. In the meantime, follow over the jump for my coverage of the four Emmy Awards won by "Last Week Tonight."

'Harriet' and 'Parasite' headline diversity among Oscar nominees for MLK Day 2020

Time to be a good environmentalist and recycle my salutation to my readers from celebrating diversity in awards shows nominees and winners for MLK Day.

A happy and contemplative Martin Luther King Day to my readers!  To celebrate, I'm continuing the tradition I began with 'Glory' from 'Selma' for MLK Day and continued with Hollywood's diversity issues for MLK Day and 'Hidden Figures' tops the box office for MLK Day plus diversity among Golden Globes winners, examining diversity and representation in entertainment....

After last year's 'Green Book,' 'If Beale Street Could Talk,' and more celebration of diversity in awards show winners for MLK Day 2019 to say nothing of the wins for diversity among documentaries, superhero movies, and mainstream dramas and comedies, this year's crop of Oscar nominees looks disappointing in comparison for diversity and representation.  Still, it isn't a complete bust for actors and directors of color, as Cynthia Erivo has two nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song), both for "Harriet," and Bong Joon Ho is nominated for Best Director for "Parasite," which has five more nominations, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Achievement in Production Design, and Best International Feature Film.  Other than Best International Feature Film, all of those awards go to individuals; Best International Feature Film goes to the country, in this case South Korea.  Unfortunately, I think Renne Zellwinger will win Best Actress, either Elton John and Bernie Taupin or Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez will win Best Original Song, and "Parasite" will win only Best International Feature Film.  Oh, well, at least the Lopezes winning for "Frozen II" would still be a victory for diversity in individual winners, even if they already have an Oscar for the original "Frozen."

That written, if the Acting Branch of the Motion Picture Academy has its way, "Parasite" would have a good shot at winning Best Picture, as it won the equivalent at last night's SAG Awards, Best Cast.  Watch Bong Joon Ho & the 'Parasite' Cast Make History at the SAG Awards from Variety.

Neon’s “Parasite” won best motion picture cast at the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, becoming the first foreign language film to pick up the top prize. Director Bong Joon Ho and the cast answer questions backstage after their historic win.

Note that the first question was about diversity and another was about opening the U.S. to Asian films and actors.  Also, this victory sets up a different contest than the one I was anticipating in '1917' among movie and TV winners about politics and government from Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards.  I was expecting a fight between "1917" and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”  Now "Parasite" is among the front-runners as well.  Maybe Hollywood won't vote for "a good film or show about itself."  That would be as welcome a surprise as "Moonlight" beating "La La Land."

Farther down the nomination list, the documentary and short subject nominees are a treasure trove of diversity.  Follow over the jump for their stories.

Celebrate 'Last Week Tonight' winning four Emmy Awards with 'Psychics'

I concluded 'RuPaul's Drag Race' wins Outstanding Competition Program while RuPaul tells viewers to register to vote by telling my readers to "Stay tuned, as I plan on covering the awards won by 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' and other talk variety shows and their hosts."  The show won four Emmy Awards, Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series and Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and Outstanding Talk Variety Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards.*

Since I already used "The Wax and the Furious" from "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" for Presidents Day, which won Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming, I'm going to celebrate by embedding the other Emmy-winning episode, Psychics, which earned the Emmy for Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series.

Psychics may seem harmless and fun on TV, but they can make a lot of money by exploiting vulnerable people.

This is not my usual political fare, but I am a scientist and educator, so I'm going to defend reason against superstition, just as John Oliver and his writers do here.

I thought "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" was the favorite to win Outstanding Variety Talk Series for the fourth consecutive time and it did.  Watch Emmys 2019 - Jon Oliver wins for the fourth time to see Oliver accept the Emmy.

The Emmys talk show category win for last week tonight with John Oliver...

The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2018 until May 31, 2019, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

First, zoologist me has to point out that Oliver is the voice of a hornbill, not a toucan; there are no toucans in Africa, the setting of "The Lion King."  Second, his reference to municipal tax districts reminds me that the Reedy Creek Improvement District was lucky not to be mentioned in the segment and that I should eventually get around to embedding the segment.  Finally, as I wrote for RuPaul's acceptance speech, "If and when the Television Academy posts an official clip of this award, I'll replace this one with it."

Speaking of official clips, watch Variety's John Oliver Celebrates 'Last Week Tonight's' Emmys Win Backstage.

John Oliver, host of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," celebrated his Emmy win and weighed in on whether the ceremony should've had a host or not while backstage.

Congratulations to Oliver and his crew for all four awards.  Here's to another outstanding season!

*This is the same number of Emmy Awards it won last year but a slightly different set of categories, as the series won Outstanding Interactive Program then instead of Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series.  NASA won Outstanding Interactive Program this year, much to my pleasant surprise.  I also thought SNL would win Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series, so, surprise to me again.  Speaking of SNL, that show will be the subject of my next entry about the Emmy winners.  Stay tuned.

Previous entries in this series.

• 'Point of View: Sandy Hook Promise' among Emmy nominees for Outstanding Commercial
• Nine Emmy nominations for 'Veep' on National Veep Day
• 'RBG' vs. 'Free Solo' and other Oscar nominees at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Hostile Planet' vs. 'Our Planet' - Nature and science nominees at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for National Wildlife Day
• 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' earns six nominations at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards for its final season
• 'United Shades of America,' 'Born This Way,' 'Life Below Zero,' 'Deadliest Catch' — unstructured reality shows highlight diversity and nature
• 'Queer Eye,' 'Shark Tank,' and 'Tidying Up with Marie Kondo' — diversity in structured reality programs
• 'RuPaul's Drag Race' leads competition shows at the Emmy Awards while being an example of inclusion and acceptance
• 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' leads talk variety shows in Emmy Awards nominations yet again
• 'Saturday Night Live' leads sketch variety series nominees with 18 Emmy nominations
• 'RBG' ties 'The Sentence' for Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Our Planet' and NASA win two Emmy Awards each — nature and science at the Emmy Awards
• 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' and 'United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell' both win two Emmy Awards each
• 'Queer Eye' wins four Emmy Awards
• The 2019 Outstanding Television Movie nominees examine politics, technology, and show business
• Outstanding Limited Series nominees show failures of government, large and small
• Outstanding Drama Series Emmy nominees examine politics and family dynamics
• Outstanding Comedy Series nominees at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards include "Veep," a political comedy
• Nike's 'Dream Crazy' wins Emmy for Outstanding Commercial and shows the power of diversity
• 'RuPaul's Drag Race' wins Outstanding Competition Program while RuPaul tells viewers to register to vote

'RuPaul's Drag Race' wins Outstanding Competition Program while RuPaul tells viewers to register to vote

Now that I've posted Nike's 'Dream Crazy' wins Emmy for Outstanding Commercial and shows the power of diversity, it's time to start reviewing the wins by the competition shows whose nominations I listed alongside "RuPaul's Drag Race," which led competition shows in Emmy nominations.  I begin with the headline award which was presented along with all the other major categories.

Outstanding Competition Program

The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Ninja Warrior (NBC)
Nailed It! (Netflix)
RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

I think "RuPaul's Drag Race" displays the most acceptance of diversity, althugh the other competition shows have diverse sets of contestants.  It's also the returning winner and has the most nominations of the shows in this category with nine, thirteen if one adds the four from its unstructured companion shows "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked," "RuPaul's Drag Race's: Out Of The Closet," and "RuPaul's Drag Race's: Portrait Of A Queen," so I consider it the odds-on favorite.  Its biggest competition is probably "The Voice" with seven nominations.

As I expected, "RuPaul's Drag Race" won.  Watch 71st Emmy Awards: RuPaul's Drag Race Wins For Outstanding Reality-Competition Program - | 2019 in which RuPaul told the audience to register to vote.

Rupaul Wins “Best Reality Competition” | EMMY 2019
RUPAUL’S Drag race

If and when the Television Academy posts an official clip of this award, I'll replace this one with it.

RuPaul repeated his request of the viewers to register to vote in Entertainment Tonight's RuPaul - RuPaul's Drag Race | Emmys 2019 Full Backstage Interview.


I'm glad to see RuPaul using his platform for a greater civic purpose in addition to his show being a showcase for diversity and acceptance.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the awards for "RuPaul's Drag Race" and the other competition shows at this year's Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

'Abacus,' 'Edith and Eddie,' 'Heroin(e),' and 'Last Men in Aleppo' — Oscar nominees at the 2018 News and Documentary Emmy Awards

Last March, I predicted that "both 'Jane' and 'Abacus' will be eligible for News and Documentary Emmy Awards this fall, where they will be favored in their categories."  I was right about "Jane," which earned seven nominations two awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.  Now it's time to observe that I was right about "Abacus" earning a nomination for Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.  Joining it are three other Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature or Best Documentary Short Subject, "Edith and Eddie," "Heroin(e)," and "Last Men in Aleppo," all of which I have written about before.  Along with "Icarus" and "Strong Island," that means that four of the five nominees for Best Documentary Feature and two of the five nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject have also been nominated for an Emmy.  Both the films and their fellow nominees should be impressed.

I begin my review of the nominees with what I wrote about "Abacus" late last year.

"Abacus: Small Enough to Jail," has won four awards from the shows and programs I am using, including Best Political Documentary from the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.  The Guardian review explains why it belongs here.

Veteran documentary-maker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) is back with an engrossing story: the extraordinary fiasco of the Abacus bank prosecution. It is a tale of hypocrisy, judicial bullying and racism. Abacus was a small neighbourhood bank serving New York’s Chinese community, which discovered a crooked employee falsifying mortgage documents, duly reported the matter to the authorities, but then found itself prosecuted by a district attorney who had sniffed a post-2008 PR opportunity to collar some real live bankers.

"Model minority" or not, Asian-Americans experience systemic racism, too.

Watch Abacus: Small Enough to Jail - Trailer for a preview.

From acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters, Life Itself), Academy Award® Nominee Abacus: Small Enough to Jail tells the incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves – and their bank's legacy in the Chinatown community – over the course of a five-year legal battle.

Competing against "Abacus" for Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary are "Farewell Ferris Wheel" and "Vegas Baby" from "America Reframed" on World, "The Bad Kids" from "Independent Lens" on PBS and "Saving Capitalism" on Netflix.  Of all of them, I think "Saving Capitalism" is the strongest competition for "Abacus," as it won Best Political Documentary at the Coffee Party Entertainment Awards for movies.  Looks like my fellow directors and volunteers at Coffee Party USA were on to something when they voted for Robert Reich's film, giving it its first nomination and award.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the double nominees.

Failures and abuses of government and adult leadership unite Outstanding Television Movie nominees at the 2018 Primetime Emmy Awards

While this year's nominees for Outstanding Television Movie appear to be a diverse group, being divided between modern-day dramatizations of real-life scandals or science fiction dystopias, all five nominees portray some aspect of government or at least adult leadership either failing or acting oppressively when succeeding (and sometimes both at once), uniting all of them thematically, however loosely.  The strongest abuses of government appear in "Fahrenheit 451" and "Flint," range through the failures to protect young athletes that brought down the real life Joe Paterno, who coached at Penn State, a public-private hybrid institution, and become private abuses of leadership in "The Tale" and "USS Callister," although the last simulates an environment that mimics that of the military, a governmental organization.


I begin with the most nominated yet possibly the most distant from actual government, "USS Callister," an episode of the Netflix anthology series "Black Mirror."  Its Wikipedia entry sketches out the scenario for abuse well enough.  The bolding is mine, and shows how "USS Callister" fits the theme of abusive authority shared by all the Television Movie nominees.

The episode follows Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), a reclusive but gifted programmer and co-founder of a popular massive multiplayer online game who is bitter over the lack of recognition of his position from his coworkers. He takes out his frustrations by simulating a Star Trek-like space adventure within the game, using his co-workers' DNA to create sentient digital clones of them. Acting as the captain of the USS Callister starship, Daly is able to order his co-workers around, submit them to his will, and mistreat them if they get out of line. When Daly brings newly hired Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) into his game, she encourages the other copies to revolt against Daly.

Yikes!  I would not want to play this game if it existed.  If the co-founder is willing to do this to his employees, imagine what he'd do to mere players!

I consider "USS Callister" to be the front runner based on its number of Emmy nominations, seven, and "Black Mirror" being what passes for a returning winner, as the episode "San Junipero" won this category last year.  In addition to Outstanding Television Movie, "USS Callister" earned nominations for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Jesse Plemons as Robert Daly, Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score), Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special, and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special.  Before I move on, I am reminding my readers that "San Junipero" only had two Emmy nominations, although it won both of them, the other being Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.  "USS Callister" might be that much better.


While still being a science fiction dystopia, "Fahrenheit 451" differs from "USS Callister" by being about a future dystopian government at its most oppressive instead of private people misusing their status as employers to be abusive.  Based on the classic Ray Bradbury novel where books are banned, ostensibly to free people of the offending ideas in them but in reality to free them from having to think for themselves, the main characters are firemen in a world where houses are fireproof, so they burn books instead.  I consider it to be the major competition for "USS Callister" because of the familiarity of its source material, the timeliness of the theme updated for a time of "fake news," and the number of other nominations the HBO movie earned, four including Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series or Movie.  It's also my early pick for Best Presentation on Television at next year's Saturn Awards.  I plan on submitting it for consideration next week.


Moving from the future to the very recent past, "Paterno" depicts the downfall of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.  As I mentioned above, it certainly portrays a failure of adult leadership, albeit in an institution that falls in a gray zone between government and non-profit.  Penn State is a public-private partnership that receives state support and has state representation on its board, but is technically private.  As a graduate of four public universities, I find that nebulous status confusing.  The film's issues of tolerance of abuse by turning a blind eye to it resonate today, what with scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church and even the world of drum corps.  Coincidentally enough, both of those stories took place in Pennsylvania, too, and I'm sure some of the figures involfed were just as revered as Paterno.*

In addition to Outstanding Television Movie, "Paterno" earned a nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.  I'm surprised it didn't also receive one for acting.  After all, Al Pacino played Paterno.  Let's see how it fares at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards.


"The Tale" also tells about sexual abuse that was enabled by corrupt adult leaders, although the movie appears to be even more fictionalized than "Paterno" and told by an adult survivor as autobiography, not around the famous person who may have let it happen around him.  It has a very strong performance by Laura Dern, who gave a compelling speech at this year's Golden Globes.  She has a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, the other nomination for "The Tale" besides Outstanding Television Movie.  I'll assess her chances when I look at the nominees for Outstanding Limited Series.


I have been promising to write more about "Flint" since it won environmental Feature Film of the year at 2018 EMA Awards, a vow I repeated most recently in Michigan state health director to stand trial for manslaughter in Flint Water Crisis deaths.  It is the reason I actually wrote this entry now; I am trying to get the nominees about politics out of the way before I start posting about speculative fiction nominees, although I didn't succeed, as I mentioned both "Black Mirror: USS Callister" and "Fahrenheit 451" before "Flint."  I'll make up for it by outsourcing my review to Variety, which was published on October 27, 2017.

It almost doesn’t matter if Lifetime’s “Flint,” a made-for-television movie about the water crisis in an impoverished community in Michigan, is any good or not. The fact that the film exists is the story of the film: Lifetime, a network known mostly for “Project Runway,” “UnREAL,” and its own brand of pulpy, low-budget filmmaking, taking on a water crisis so severe that the United Nations was asked to intervene.

It’s incongruous — and fascinating. After all, there is a degree to which the Flint story is one about women in peril, in a small town nearly forgotten by the rest of the world. But it’s also a complicated story about infrastructure and race, which lies outside the scope of most Lifetime films. And maybe most importantly, the Flint story is one without a neat ending: Just this week, Flint’s city council missed a deadline to find a long-term source of drinking water, and instead extended their short term solution for another two years. Meanwhile, Flint residents are using water filtration systems, but new research has indicated these filters may increase bacteria in the water, which has not eased residents’ fears. The crisis has yet to be consigned to the annals of history, but it has already been memorialized in a film produced by and starring Queen Latifah. We are living in a strange timeline.
...
This is how “Flint” is astonishing. It is a template for how grassroots activism starts in our most intimate spaces — the hearth and home — and grows out of a need to provide for family and friends, out of the most basic requirements for children’s growing bodies. It shows us a movement spearheaded by a group of working-class women with no resources except each other, reaching across racial lines to share information and understanding. “Flint” is the literal embodiment of the personal becoming political — a radical praxis, on Lifetime. These are strange times, indeed.

The review is not entirely positive about the film.  Given that kind of critical reception, the nomination for Outstanding Television Movie being the only one it received, and the quality of the competition, I think that "Flint" and Lifetime should be happy just for the nomination and be satisfied with the film's NAACP Image Award and EMA Award.


I have one final movie nomination for today.  One other episode of "Black Mirror" garnered a nomination.  Letitia Wright earned a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role in "Black Museum."  From "Black Panther" to "Black Museum" - Congratulations!

The next installment should be about Limited Series nominees, which should be no earlier than Tuesday, as tomorrow is Labor Day.  Until then, enjoy USS Callister: The Next Adventures, representing the music that earned a nomination for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score).



USS Callister: The Next Adventures · Daniel Pemberton
*I know the central figure in the drum corps scandal was.  However, I wasn't surprised that he became embroiled in a sex scandal.  I had known for decades that he was a skirt chaser who dated at least one marching member and employee of his organization.