PBS Eons on real paleo diets for National Fossil Day on World Food Day

Happy National Fossil Day and World Food Day! As I suggested twice, today's topic is PBS Eons videos about the prehistory of food, beginning with The Risky Paleo Diets of Our Ancestors.

We can track our history of eating just about anything back through the fossil record and see the impact it’s had on our evolution. Throughout time, part of the secret to our success as a species has been our early - and sometimes fatal - experimentation with food.

I couldn't resist revisiting paleo diets, a topic I haven't blogged about in a decade, today. Retrieving this video and the next when searching PBS Eons for "food" made it an easy choice.

Speaking of the next video, here is Why The Paleo Diet Couldn't Save The Neanderthals.

These relatives of ours lived in Eurasia for more than 300,000 years. They were expert toolmakers, using materials like stone, wood, and animal bone. They were also skilled hunters and foragers, and may even have created cave art. So what caused the decline and disappearance of their population? Well, in a way...it could’ve been us. But maybe not in the way you might’ve heard.

Hearing the fates of the Neanderthals from Spain, France, and Belgium reminds me of what I wrote about how Westworld treated evolution.

My wife and I are quite impressed at the depth of the ideas explored in the show. The creators have also done their research. Every time they mention something about evolution in Ford's dialog, they're right. This is especially true about the more disturbing concepts mentioned, like sexual selection contributing to the development of the human mind and what humans did to our nearest relatives. As someone who knows the field, that's both gratifying and unsettling.

"Do you know what happened to the Neanderthals, Bernard? We ate them."

Maybe, but it looks like the Neanderthals were eating each other as much or more than our ancestors were eating them.

Today is also Hagfish Day, so I conclude with Days and Dreams describing Hagfish Day (third Wednesday in October), Activities and How to Celebrate Hagfish Day.

As one of the sea's most hideous creatures, the hagfish represents all nature's bizarre little creatures. Seek out the icky and disgusting on Hagfish Day.

This video even mentions a 300 million year old hagfish fossil, so it connects to today's theme, although it didn't mention that people also eat hagfish. Maybe next year.

That's a wrap for today's multi-holiday post. Stay tuned for a driving update tomorrow, as Pearl's odometer will turn over 66,000 miles today.

'The History of Hobbits' for Hobbit Day on the Autumnal Equinox

Happy Hobbit Day, World Rhino Day, National Elephant Appreciation Day, Car Free Day, and Autumnal Equinox! That's quite the collection of holidays! Since today is Sunday, when I usually post an entertainment feature, I'm giving Hobbit Day, the holiday with the strongest connection to entertainment, in the forms of books, movies, television, and games, pride of place. To celebrate Hobbit Day, I'm sharing The History of Hobbits by Robert of In Deep Geek.


I enjoyed Robert's recounting of hobbit history, even though I didn't learn much new from it; I've been watching his videos since I found his recaps of Westworld nearly eight years ago, so I've heard much of it before, scattered among various videos. Just the same, I hope my readers learned something new from it. Also, as long as I've been watching Robert's content, I'm surprised I haven't shared it here before. That's nearly as astounding as not sharing NativLang's videos until La Llorona and Malinche, two connected tales for Day of the Dead. It was about time.

Speaking of about time and Middle Earth, Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power has returned and is streaming now on Prime Video. I'm sharing Season 2 Opening Sequence | The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power | Prime Video.

About The Rings of Power Season 2: Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Building on Season 1’s epic scope and ambition, Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.

Season 1 earned Emmy nominations for Main Title Design and Main Title Theme music. It lost the first to The Last of Us and the second to Wednesday. This is a different enough title sequence that it could be nominated again next year. It worked for Westworld, twice!

Depending on the eligibility period, I expect The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power to be nominated for Best Fantasy Television Series at the next Saturn Awards. Its first season lost to Wednesday and I think it will lose to House of the Dragon at the upcoming ceremony, whenever that will be.

I close with WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth asking and answering When does fall actually start? Here's what the Autumnal Equinox means.

Mariel Ruiz explains the Autumnal Equinox and when it officially begins.

Happy First Day of Astronomical Fall! Remember that axial tilt is the reason for the season!

Emmy wins and nominations for 'Fallout' on Video Games Day

Happy National Video Games Day!

On September 12, National Video Games Day celebrates all the ways we enjoy a good video game challenge.

I'm celebrating with the Emmy wins and nominations for most nominated TV show based on a video game at this year's Emmy Awards, Fallout, as I promised yesterday. I begin with the two Emmy Awards the series and its spinoff won on Sunday.


I covered this award in Gold Derby's predictions for TV movie and music at the Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Music Supervision

• Baby Reindeer: "Episode 4" – Catherine Grieves (Netflix)
• Fallout: "The End" – Trygge Toven (Prime Video)
• Fargo: "The Tragedy of the Commons" – Maggie Phillips (FX)
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith: "A Breakup" – Jen Malone (Prime Video)
• Only Murders in the Building: "Grab Your Hankies" – Bruce Gilbert and Lauren Marie Mikus (Hulu)
• True Detective: Night Country: "Part 4" – Susan Jacobs (HBO)

There is a lot less unanimity at Gold Derby for this award, as seven editors, six experts, and 20 users fell for Fallout . Three editors, one expert, and one user broke for Baby Reindeer, while two experts expect Only Murders in the Building to upset, one expert and one user found the music for Fargo fascinating, and one editor made Mr. & Mrs. Smith their choice.

The editors, experts, and top users at Gold Derby got this right, so congratulations to them and to the show! To celebrate, I'm sharing Gold Derby's interview of the winner, How music supervisor Trygge Toven captured 'Fallout's' different tones through vintage songs.

How music supervisor Trygge Toven captured 'Fallout's' different tones through vintage songs. The Emmy nominee deployed post-World War II tunes by Cole, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como and more to ironic effect. Gold Derby editor Joyce Eng hosts this webchat.

Joyce Eng and Trygge Toven reminded me that many of the people who made Westworld are creating Fallout. That's good and bad, because Westworld started out great but then fell apart during the fourth season, resulting in HBO canceling the show before its planned final season. That was a disappointment. I hope that same fate isn't awaiting Fallout. Just the same, I'm looking forward to finishing this season and watching next season.


Fallout: Vault 33 on Prime Video beat four series on Meta and/or Facebook, Emperor, The Pirate Queen with Lucy Liu, Red Rocks Live in VR, and Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway. Congratulations to the series and Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who beat Meta's Mark Zuckerberg by proxy.

In addition, Fallout earned twelve more nominations in eleven categories at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards that it lost to other drama series, Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More), Outstanding Main Title Design, Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic), Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup, Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series (two episodes), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour), Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour), Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie, and Outstanding Stunt Performance, all won by Shogun, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama Programming, won by Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, which Ahsoka pleasantly surprised me by winning. Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Ahsoka on their Emmys, which I will revisit when I cover Shogun's expected wins at the main show.

Follow over the jump as I shift focus from Fallout to Shogun.

My 2022 Saturn Awards votes

I closed I found an eighth Saturn Award nomination for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' in home entertainment by telling my readers "With that, it's time to cast my votes. I'll report back when I have. Stay tuned." Here they are for this week's Sunday entertainment update.

FILM AWARDS
Best Action / Adventure Film: Top Gun: Maverick
Best Actor in a Film: Timothee Chalamet (Dune)
Best Actress in a Film: Emma Stone (Cruella)
Best Animated Film: Encanto
Best Fantasy Film: Cruella
Best Film Costume Design: Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Best Film Direction: Steve Spielberg (West Side Story)
Best Film Editing: Top Gun: Maverick (Eddie Hamilton)
Best Film Make Up: The Batman (Mike Marino, Naomi Donne)
Best Film Music: Cruella (Nicholas Britell)
Best Film Production Design: Dune (Patrice Vermette)
Best Film Visual / Special Effects: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Janek Sirrs, Erik Winquist, Alexis Wajbrot, Olivier...)
Best Film Writing: Nope (Jordan Peele)
Best Horror Film: A Quiet Place Part II
Best Independent Film: Mass
Best International Film: RRR - Rise Roar Revolt
Best Science Fiction Film: Dune
Best Superhero Film: The Batman
Best Supporting Actor in a Film: Paul Dano (The Batman)
Best Supporting Actress in a Film: Jodie Comer (Free Guy)
Best Thriller Film: Nightmare Alley
Best Younger Actor in a Film: Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place Part II)

Follow over the jump for my votes in television and home entertainment.

Part 2 of superhero nominees at the 2022 Saturn Awards — network and cable television

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I am returning with the superhero nominees for television, as I promised twice. Here are the relevant categories from Deadline's Saturn Awards Nominations: ‘The Batman’, ‘Nightmare Alley’, ‘Spider-Man’, ‘Better Call Saul’ Top List.

Science Fiction Television Series: Network / Cable

• The Flash (The CW)
• The Man Who Fell to Earth (Showtime)
• Supergirl (The CW)
• Superman & Lois (The CW)
• Resident Alien (SyFy / Universal)
• Westworld (HBO)

I wrote "Next year's television nominees will be very interesting" in 'Birds of Prey' and 'The Flash' lead comic-book and superhero movies and television nominees — DCEU and Arrowverse at the Saturn Awards last year, but I didn't anticipate the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films would eliminate Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series altogether and then assign the shows based on comic-books and superheroes to other genres. I also didn't expect them to re-split the television categories so that streaming shows (formerly "new media") had their own separate awards again. Then again, I'm not surprised by that, either. As I wrote in 'Shang-Chi' vs. 'Spider-Man' among movie nominees at the 2022 Critics Choice Super Awards about keeping Best Film Presentation on Streaming Media (they didn't), "I never know with them, and I'm one of their voters!"

That written, I found the category choices the television committee made both revealing and a return to form of sorts. When I looked through the previous winners as research for continuing Blogging the Saturn Awards 1973 -- 'Slaughterhouse Five' and 'Blacula' the first winners, I saw that "Superman" won Best Science Fiction Film in 1979, while "Batman" earned a nomination for Best Fantasy Film in 1991 (the film came out in 1989, so there's a story there).* Superheroes, like horror, span the space between science fiction and fantasy, and some show more affinity for one over the other. Both Superman and Supergirl are aliens and The Flash got his powers through an experiment gone wrong, so they definitely belong more to science fiction than fantasy.

Enough about the category changes and choices. Who would I vote for and who might win? "Superman & Lois" has the most nominations of any show in this category, six, tying it for second with "The Walking Dead," "Stranger Things," and "Severance," all of which are competing in other program categories. In this category, "The Flash" and "The Man Who Fell to Earth" have two nominations and "Resident Alien," "Supergirl," and "Westworld" all have one each. Based on that criterion, I'd say "Superman & Lois" has the inside track to win. It certainly is the best superhero show on network TV; my wife and I enjoy it very much. That doesn't mean it has my vote. I'm inclined to vote for "Westworld" again, although I should watch some of the fourth season before deciding. It might not be as good as "The Man Who Fell to Earth." Either would be the professionals' choice.

Fantasy Television Series: Network / Cable

• DC’s Stargirl (The CW)
• Doctor Who (BBC America)
• Ghosts (CBS)
• La Brea (NBC)
• Riverdale (The CW)
• Shining Vale (Starz)

I concur with the rankings of the shows based on their total nominations, as "Ghosts" earned four nominations, "Shining Vale" has three nominations, "DC’s Stargirl" has two nominations, and "Doctor Who," "La Brea," and "Riverdale" have one nomination each. "Ghosts" and "Shining Vale" are my two favorites and I credit my wife for discovering both of them and getting me to watch them with her. Between the two of them, I like "Ghosts" more and plan on voting for it. Sorry, "DC’s Stargirl" and "Riverdale," the comic-book adaptations in the field. Also, sorry "Doctor Who" and "La Brea," which are really science fiction series that didn't make the cut for that genre's category. I also don't think they'll win, so here's the Twitter image promoting the nomination for "La Brea."


I'm glad to see the production companies and networks promoting their Saturn Awards nominees.

The Television Academy snubbed "Ghosts," but Gold Derby liked the show, interviewing several of the creators and actors. I'm sharing Joe Wiseman ('Ghosts' co-showrunner): The show's large, diverse cast is 'an embarrassment of riches' as the first video.

Joe Wiseman ('Ghosts' co-showrunner): The show's large, diverse cast is 'an embarrassment of riches.' Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) inherit an old mansion haunted by people who have died there over the course of history. Gold Derby senior editor Rob Licuria hosts this webchat as part of a Meet the Experts panel for showrunners.

I appreciated this as a good explanation of why the show is both fun and interesting.

Follow over the jump for the acting nominations for superhero and fantasy shows, now that "Ghosts" and "Shining Vale" have entered the chat.

'Westworld' returns for season 4

"Westworld" returns for its fourth season tonight, so it's the subject of the Sunday entertainment feature this week. I begin with Looper telling its viewers Watch This Before You See Westworld Season 4.

HBO's "Westworld" captivated viewers when it debuted back in 2016, offering a deft mix of science-fiction and Western genre tropes all bound together with some big, heady ideas about artificial intelligence, morality, violence, and destiny. With excellent performances from the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood and more, the show was a big hit for HBO, and two more seasons followed, each trippier and more world-expanding than the last. Wondering where the show is headed after that mind-bending Season 3 finale? Who is joining the cast? Watch this before you see "Westworld" Season 4.

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling two of my observations. I made the first in a comment to Thanks to Infidel 753, I describe how 'Westworld' is like 'Jurassic Park', which I recycled already in 'Westworld' leads drama series with 22 Emmy nominations, followed by 'Stranger Things' with 19 and 'The Handmaid's Tale' with 13.

My wife and I are quite impressed at the depth of the ideas explored in the show. The creators have also done their research. Every time they mention something about evolution in Ford's dialog, they're right. This is especially true about the more disturbing concepts mentioned, like sexual selection contributing to the development of the human mind and what humans did to our nearest relatives. As someone who knows the field, that's both gratifying and unsettling.

"Do you know what happened to the Neanderthals, Bernard? We ate them." If Anthony Hopkins' most infamous character had been alive at the time, he'd have consumed their livers with fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Now for the setting and plot of Season 3, which I described in Outstanding Drama Series nominees at the Emmys once again examine politics and government.

"Westworld" turned political this season, as the hosts left the [park] to spread their robot revolution worldwide. In the process, they discovered that an AI has been influencing, even coercing, politicians and directing human affairs for decades and have decided to free humanity from it.

I'm sure that will continue in Season 4.

"Westworld" has always had interesting music selections, even if they're arrangements of pop songs instead of original compositions. These show up in the trailers as well, winning Golden Trailer awards for best music in 2017 and 2018. I'm sharing both of this season's trailers to highlight the music, beginning with Westworld | Season 4 Official Teaser | HBO.

A perfect day is here. #Westworld Season 4 premieres Sunday, June 26 on @HBO and @HBOMax.

Now for Westworld Season 4 | Official Trailer | HBO.

Maybe it’s time you questioned the nature of your own reality.

That's not a bad suggestion.

Enough fantasy (actually science fiction). I'll return to reality tommorrow. Stay tuned.

Trailers for 'Prehistoric Planet' and 'Jurassic World: Dominion' for Throwback Thursday

Happy Throwback Thursday! The theme for this week's retrospectives is the back catalog. Today's theme is entertainment, because three of the four most read posts from the back catalog during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News were about movies, television, and music. The most read is also about Jurassic Park, so dinosaurs! On that subject, watch Prehistoric Planet — Official Trailer from Apple TV+, which is #26 on YouTube's trending videos as I type this.

The world’s most extraordinary creatures like you’ve never seen them before in a five-night documentary event. Prehistoric Planet streaming May 23 on Apple TV+...

That looks and sounds really cool, especially with three-time Emmy-winning narrator Sir David Attenborough as its voice.

There's more, as Apple TV+ released Prehistoric Planet — Official Sneak Peek two weeks ago.

Experience the wondrous story of life on Earth… 66 million years ago. Prehistoric Planet arrives May 23 on Apple TV+...Experience the world of dinosaurs like never before in this epic docuseries from Executive Producer Jon Favreau and the producers of Planet Earth. With David Attenborough and accompanied by a breathtaking score by Hans Zimmer, Prehistoric Planet is a five-night documentary event coming to Apple TV+ May 23rd.

The only quibble is that Tyrannosaurus rex is a North American dinosaur and North America did not border the Tethys Sea. Instead, T. rex lived along the western shores of the Cannonball Sea, which split North America in half. Its Asian relatives like Tarbosaurus may have ranged to the Tethys, but not T. rex proper. I'm a paleontologist, so I know these things. Otherwise, this looks great. I fully expect multiple Emmy nominations. It, along with "Ted Lasso," might just be enough to get me to subscribe to Apple TV+, especially if I can do so without buying an Apple product.

Enough promotion of science fact in documentary television. Time for some adverting for a science fiction movie, Jurassic World Dominion - Official Trailer [HD] from Universal Pictures.

This summer, experience the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era as two generations unite for the first time. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are joined by Oscar®-winner Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill in Jurassic World Dominion, a bold, timely and breathtaking new adventure that spans the globe.

From Jurassic World architect and director Colin Trevorrow, Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live—and hunt—alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.

Jurassic World Dominion, from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, propels the more than $5 billion franchise into daring, uncharted territory, featuring never-seen dinosaurs, breakneck action and astonishing new visual effects.

The film features new cast members DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It), Emmy nominee Mamoudou Athie (Archive 81), Dichen Lachman (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Scott Haze (Minari) and Campbell Scott (The Amazing Spider-Man 2). The film’s returning cast includes BD Wong as Dr. Henry Wu, Justice Smith as Franklin Webb, Daniella Pineda as Dr. Zia Rodriguez and Omar Sy as Barry Sembenè.
Jurassic World Dominion is directed by Colin Trevorrow, who steered 2015’s Jurassic World to a record-shattering $1.7 billion global box office. The screenplay is by Emily Carmichael (Battle at Big Rock) & Colin Trevorrow from a story by Derek Connolly (Jurassic World) & Trevorrow, based on characters created by Michael Crichton. Jurassic World Dominion is produced by acclaimed franchise producers Frank Marshall p.g.a. and Patrick Crowley p.g.a. and is executive produced by legendary, Oscar®-winning franchise creator Steven Spielberg, Alexandra Derbyshire and Colin Trevorrow.

I'm not expecting to learn anything from this movie, as it's first and foremost a piece of entertainment, but I expect to be watching it when it becomes available on Peacock, Amazon, or another streaming service.

That's it for today's entertainment special. Follow over the jump for the most read entries from the back catalog about entertainment during the blogging year that ended on March 20, 2022.

My 2021 Saturn Awards votes

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm following through on my promise that I would post all my votes at this year's Saturn Awards. Follow over the jump.

'Outlander,' 'The Walking Dead,' and other fantasy, horror, and science fiction nominees at the Saturn Awards

I wrote "I'll continue with the television nominees in future posts, but I may not complete the series before I vote. The deadline is the 14th and I have other topics I want to write about more first. After all, this blog is a hobby, not a job" to conclude 'Knives Out' and 'Mulan' lead thriller and action film nominees at the Saturn Awards. That was ten days ago and I had a lot to write about out subjects since then. Today, I feel like returning with the rest of the nominees for television series from Deadline. While the entertainment trade publication reported "On the TV side, AMC’s Better Call Saul, Starz’s Outlander and AMC’s The Walking Dead topped the list with five noms apiece," I already covered "Better Call Saul" in 'Birds of Prey' and 'The Flash' lead comic-book and superhero movies and television nominees — DCEU and Arrowverse at the Saturn Awards, so I'm covering both "The Walking Dead" and "Outlander" today along with the two nominated "Star Trek" series, which together tied "The Walking Dead" franchise with seven nominations.

Best Science Fiction Television Series

Doctor Who (BBC America)

Lost in Space (Netflix)

Pandora (The CW)

Raised by Wolves (HBO Max)

Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)

Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access)

Westworld (HBO)

This is a clash of two returning winners, "Star Trek: Discovery" for Best New Media (Streaming) Science Fiction Series and "Westworld" for Best Science Fiction Television Series. I think "Westworld" was the more artistic production, so I voted for it, but I wouldn't be surprised if either of the Star Trek series beat it should the Saturn Awards electorate manage to rally around one or the other and not split their vote.

Best Fantasy Television Series

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix)

For All Mankind (Apple TV)

Locke & Key (Netflix)

The Magicians (SyFy)

Outlander (Starz)

The Twilight Zone (CBS All Access)

The Witcher (Netflix)

The contest here is between "Outlander" and "The Witcher." I voted for "Outlander," but I could certainly understand the award going to "The Witcher" if the rabid "Outlander" fandom doesn't show up. Somehow, I don't think that will happen, as the image from Twitter indicates. The show is putting on an awards campaign, which other nominees don't seem to be.

By the way, I'm both annoyed and relieved that "The Good Place" didn't earn a nomination. I'm annoyed because the final season won a Hugo Award — good enough for a Hugo Award but not good enough for a Saturn nomination, really? I'm relieved because then I don't have to vacillate between "The Good Place" and "Outlander."

Best Horror Television Series

Creepshow (Shudder)

Evil (CBS)

Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)

Lovecraft Country (HBO)

Servant (Apple TV)

The Walking Dead (AMC)

What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

I fully expect "The Walking Dead" to win again, but I didn't vote for it. Instead, I voted for "Lovecraft Country." It earned nominations at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes and won the equivalent category at the Critics Choice Super Awards. Besides, I really enjoyed it.

Follow over the jump for the acting nominations on the big and small screens and the behind the camera nominations for movies.

'Birds of Prey' and 'The Flash' lead comic-book and superhero movies and television nominees — DCEU and Arrowverse at the Saturn Awards

In the previous installment of this series, I told my readers to "Stay tuned for...the next installment about the Saturn Awards, which will be about either comic book movies or action/adventure movies." I decided to cover comic book movies because I could also tackle superhero television series. It helps that the leading nominees in both fields use DC properties, which I've historically liked more than Marvel, although that's changing as my wife and I started watching "Wandavision" and "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" followed by watching or re-watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Next year's television nominees will be very interesting, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to this year's nominees from the Saturn Awards website.

Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release:
Birds of Prey (And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
Bloodshot
Joker
The New Mutants
The Old Guard

While I expect a lot of the other Saturn Awards voters will cast their ballots for "Birds of Prey (And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," I think "Joker" was the superior movie, having won two Oscars and been nominated for nine more, including Best Picture, so I'm voting for it. I hope the plurality of the electorate does, too.

Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series:
Batwoman
The Boys
The Flash
Stargirl
Supergirl
The Umbrella Academy
Watchmen

With the combining of the new media categories into the rest of the television categories, the fields may be fewer, but the competition is stiffer. This is particularly true of the superhero nominees, where the range of quality is much closer than for the movies. In a normal year, I'd be voting for "The Boys," but this isn't a normal year, so I'm voting for "Watchmen." I don't have much confidence that the rest of the Saturn electorate will vote for the professional/critical choise. They might vote for "The Flash" with four nominations, the most of any superhero series, or "Supergirl" with three nominations, tied with "Stargirl," again. They might even vote for "Stargirl," which would be my fourth choice behind "Watchmen," "The Boys," and "The Umbrella Academy." Yikes!

Best Action/Thriller Television Series:
Better Call Saul
Castle Rock
The Outpost
Pennyworth
Riverdale
Snowpiercer
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

I'm including this category in today's installment because both "Pennyworth" and "Riverdale" are both comic-book adaptations. Since "Pennyworth" is about Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred before he entered the Wayne Family's service, it's superhero-adjacent. Neither will win. "Better Call Saul" has won this award two years in a row and has five total nominations, so I'm voting for it and I expect the plurality of other voters will as well for a three-peat.

Follow over the jump for the acting nominations on the big and small screens and the behind the camera nominations for movies.

Coffee Party USA invites you to stream the political TV series on the 2019-2020 Golden Coffee Cups shortlists while staying safe at home

Hey, all of you binge-watching your guilty pleasure shows while staying safe at home, relaxing after working from home, returning for work after wearing a mask all day, or just stressed out from the real world! I have another suggestion to make your time in front of the big-screen TV in the living room, the slightly smaller screen in the bedroom, or even holding your tablet or smartphone work to help your appreciation of politics and government on television and then apply your understanding to help Coffee Party USA in one of our projects.

With the 2018-2019 television season out of the way, the members and volunteers of Coffee Party USA will move on to the 2019-2020 television season. Watch for the posting of the shortlists for the show categories along with an invitation to stream them while staying safe at home. If you want to become one of the voters for this or future Golden Coffee Cups, such as for the best political movies of 2020, become a member. Voting will happen on a members-only Facebook group.

Before I present the shortlists, I'm sharing a two-part activity Coffee Party USA and I are proposing our readers and supporters do.

The first part of the activity is to stream as many of the shows on the shortlists between now and March 13, 2021 to see which have the best portrayals of politics and government on television. The second is to become a member of Coffee Party USA by March 13, 2021, which you can do for as little as $30.00 per year. That's because the members will also vote on the nominees and winners this year. That means you!

That's your two-part activity. Now, have fun watching television while supporting the work of Coffee Party USA, whose core values include continuous learning on behalf of an informed citizenry, joining Coffee Party USA, and voting on the nominees!

Without any further ado, I present the shortlists for the Golden Coffee Cups for Television, beginning with the shortlist for Best Drama Series about Politics and Government.*

#FreeRayshawn
9-1-1
Better Call Saul
Big Little Lies
Billions
Black Mirror
Carnival Row
David Makes Man
Designated Survivor
Doctor Who
Euphoria
Evil
For All Mankind
Godfather of Harlem
His Dark Materials
Homeland
How to Get Away with Murder
Hunters
Killing Eve
Madam Secretary
Mindhunter
Mr. Robot
Outlander
Ozark
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
Pose
Snowpiercer
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Short Treks
Star Wars Resistance
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Stranger Things
Stumptown
Succession
S.W.A.T.
The Blacklist
The Boys
The Crown
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
The Good Fight
The Handmaid's Tale
The Mandalorian
The Man in the High Castle
The Morning Show
The Outsider
The Rookie
The Witcher
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan
Vikings
Westworld

Succession won last year and Mindhunter the year before. In addition, the first winner of Best Miniseries or Movie for Television about Politics and Government, Black Mirror, has been moved here based on the reclassification of the series by the Television Academy. The shortlist sets up a situation where they could go up against each other for the trophy. Of course, they have to be nominated first. Will you be one of the people to join so you nominate them and the rest of the field?

Follow over the jump to read the shortlists for television shows in the other four categories along with a two-part activity involving them.

Fantastic and futuristic politics and government nominees at the Critics Choice Super Awards for National Science Fiction Day

Happy National Science Fiction Day! For this year's celebration, I'm looking at the nominees for the inaugural Critics Choice Super Awards, "a special event honoring the most popular, fan-obsessed genres across both television and movies, including Superhero, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Horror, Action and Animation." In particular, I'm writing about the nominated movies and television series that have themes of fantastic and futuristic politics and government.

I begin with the summary of the top nominees from the press release.

Hulu and NEON’s “Palm Springs” leads this year’s film nominees, with a total of five including Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie for Andy Samberg, Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie and Best Villain in a Movie for J.K. Simmons, and Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie for Cristin Milioti. Several films followed close behind with four nominations including “Birds of Prey” (Warner Bros.), “Freaky” (Universal), “Onward” (Disney+), “Sonic the Hedgehog” (Paramount), “The Hunt” (Universal), “The Old Guard” (Netflix), and “The Willoughbys” (Netflix).

Other than "The Hunt," these movies are not explicitly about politics and government, at least as conventially understood. That means I'm only going to examine the categories where "The Hunt" and other action movies are competing. It didn't help that 2020 was an abysmal year for movies in theaters, so many of the nominees were released on streaming services instead, and that the nominations themselves came out in November, missing December releases.

On the other hand, television has a lot more nominees that examine politics and government, whether modern, fantastic, or futuristic (and sometimes two or all three at once, like the most nominated television series, "Lovecraft Country"), and those nominees are in all categories. This is the same phenomenon that induced me to write Politics and government on television at the 2020 WGA Awards for National Screenwriters Day last year.

“Lovecraft Country” (HBO) received the most television nominations, with a total of six possible wins, including Best Horror Series, Best Actor in a Horror Series for Jonathan Majors, Best Actor in a Horror Series for Michael K. Williams, Best Actress in a Horror Series for Wunmi Mosaku, Best Actress in a Horror Series for Jurnee Smollett, and Best Villain in a Series for Abbey Lee. Amazon’s “The Boys” received five nominations including Best Superhero Series, Best Actor in a Superhero Series and Best Villain in a Series for Antony Starr, Best Actor in a Superhero Series for Karl Urban, and Best Actress in a Superhero Series for Aya Cash.

Several performers received recognition for both their film and television work. Hilary Swank was nominated for Best Actress in an Action Movie and Best Villain in a Movie for “The Hunt” (Universal), as well as Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series for “Away” (Netflix), making her the most nominated individual. Maya Rudolph was nominated for Best Voice Actress in an Animated Movie for “The Willoughbys” (Netflix) as well as Best Voice Actress in an Animated Series for “Big Mouth” (Netflix). Jurnee Smollett was nominated for Actress in a Superhero Movie for “Birds of Prey” (Warner Bros.) and Best Actress in a Horror Series for “Lovecraft Country” (HBO).

That's a good summary of the top nominees in both movie and television categories. Now to examine the individual categories with nominees that examine politics and government, both for their treatment of the subject and for my thoughts about how they will fare. I begin with the action movie nominees.

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Bad Boys For Life (Sony)
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Extraction (Netflix)
Greyhound (Apple TV+)
The Hunt (Universal)
Mulan (Disney+)
The Outpost (Screen Media)
Tenet (Warner Bros.)

One of my continuing angles in writing these entries is examining the idea that electorates matter. The Critics Choice Association has educated tastes and will choose different nominees and select different winners than either the fans or the creators. I don't have an idea about how the movie creators will vote, as the Golden Globes, various guild awards for movies, BAFTA Awards, and Oscars have all been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but I do know how the fans voted for the People's Choice Awards: "Bad Boys For Life was named the movie of 2020 even though it lost a subordinate award, the action movie of 2020, to Mulan...One probably shouldn’t look to the E! People’s Choice Awards for logic or consistency." As for the other nominees, "Extraction" and "Tenet" both earned People's Choice Awards nominations for The Action Movie of 2020 while "Greyhound" earned a nomination for The Drama Movie of 2020, losing to "Hamilton." With the critics voting, I expect the winner will be "Tenet" with "De Five Bloods" as my favorite to upset it.

That's just as well, because I consider the premise of the most overtly political movie nominated, "The Hunt," to be an indulgence of a revenge fantasy and expect the film to be a well-executed — pun intended — exercise in bad taste. I'd rather see "Da Five Bloods," "Greyhound," "Mulan," or "The Outpost," all war movies, win instead. Remember, the military is a branch of government and war is a kind of international politics.

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Tom Hanks – Greyhound (Apple TV+)
Chris Hemsworth – Extraction (Netflix)
Caleb Landry Jones – The Outpost (Screen Media)
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Will Smith – Bad Boys For Life (Sony)
John David Washington – Tenet (Warner Bros)

Both Will Smith and Chris Hemsworth won People's Choice Awards for their roles, Smith as The Male Movie Star of 2020 and Hemsworth as The Action Movie Star of 2020. I don't think either will win here. The critics will prefer someone with more craft than star power such as Delroy Lindo, Caleb Landry Jones, or especially John David Washington, who is my choice to win. Of course, if they want both, they can vote for Tom Hanks. Remember, electorates matter.

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Betty Gilpin – The Hunt (Universal)
Yifei Liu – Mulan (Disney+)
Blake Lively – The Rhythm Section (Paramount)
Iliza Shlesinger – Spenser Confidential (Netflix)
Hilary Swank – The Hunt (Universal)

I can't use the People's Choice Awards as a foil here, as none of these women earned a nomination there. Instead, I'll pick the nominee with the best track record as an award-winning actress, Hilary Swank, who is also nominated in the next category.

BEST VILLAIN IN A MOVIE
Jim Carrey – Sonic The Hedgehog (Paramount)
Kathryn Newton – Freaky (Universal)
Martin Short and Jane Krakowski – The Willoughbys (Netflix)
J.K. Simmons – Palm Springs (Hulu and NEON)
Hilary Swank – The Hunt (Universal)

If the fans were voting, I'm sure Jim Carrey would win, but the critics are voting instead, so I think it will come down to Swank and J.K. Simmons for this award.

Follow over the jump for the television nominees.

The top TV shows of 2020 according to IGN, WatchMojo, and IMDB

I'm continuing my retrospectives of 2020 with a theme that is more original than recycled, the top TV shows of 2020.* It's the last Sunday of the year, so I decided to write a real Sunday entertainment feature to celebrate.

The first video I'm sharing is the one with the best preview image, IGN's Best TV Series of the Year 2020 - Nominees.

So many people were stuck at home this past year, but fortunately, we all had the refuge of lots of good television to fall back on when we couldn't go out. From the return of The Boys (and The Seven) to the arrival of Margaret Thatcher and Princess Di on The Crown, our favorite TV shows in 2020 ran the gamut from outer-space Westerns to tales of omnibenevolent football coaches... and beyond.

Which brings us to our best TV series of 2020 nominations.

To recap, the shows IGN nominated as Best TV Series of the Year 2020 were "The Boys," "The Crown," "Devs," "The Good Place," "I May Destroy You," "Lovecraft Country," "The Mandalorian," "The Queen's Gambit," "Schitt's Creek," and "Ted Lasso." Most of those show up in the next two videos, beginning with WatchMojo's Top 10 Best TV Shows of 2020.

The best TV shows of 2020 got us through a crazy year. Our countdown includes "Ted Lasso," "The Last Dance," "The Mandalorian," and more! What's YOUR favorite show of 2020? Let us know in the comments!

While IGN stuck to live-action scripted series, both dramas and comedies, WatchMojo included two animated shows, "Rick and Morty" and "BoJack Horseman," and two documentary series, "The Last Dance" and "Tiger King," in their year-end best of 2020. They cast a much wider net when it came to best television of the year about to end than either IGN or IMDB, which took a different approach to Best Shows We Watched in 2020, going month-by-month instead of creating a top 10 list.

Join us on a journey through the TV series that caught our attention in 2020 and deserve to be binged for years to come. These are the shows we watched each month this year.

As the video pointed out, "The Witcher" actually debuted in 2019, so it isn't really from this year, even if a lot of people were watching it in 2020. Also, there are some shows that aren't in anyone else's top ten list, although this list had twelve, not ten, so two of them wouldn't be anyway.

For IMDB's actual top 10 lists of 2020's most popular TV shows, follow over the jump.

Outstanding Drama Series nominees at the Emmys once again examine politics and government

I told my readers to "stay tuned for the Drama Series nominees tomorrow" at the end of 'Schitt's Creek' vs. 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' — Outstanding Comedy Series nominees that use politics and government for laughs, so, without any further ado, here are the nominations for drama series at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul (AMC)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu)
Killing Eve (BBC America)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Ozark (Netflix)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Succession (HBO)

Watch 72nd Emmy Nominations: Outstanding Drama Series.

The nominees for Outstanding Drama Series are Better Call Saul, The Crown, The Handmaid's Tale, Killing Eve, The Mandalorian, Ozark, Stranger Things, and Succession.

As I have in the past two installments, I begin my commentary by being a good environmentalist and recycling.

The protagonists of "Better Call Saul" are lawyers, not government employees, but they work in courtrooms and deal with law enforcement, so a government function plays an important part in the show...."Succession" concentrate[s] on family dynamics...but politics and government contibute important, if secondary, plot elements...Rupert Murdoch and his children helped inspire the family in "Succession" and the Murdochs are as much about politics as they are about media.
...
Both the Galactic Republic and the remnants of the Galactic Empire, which will eventually become the First Order, appear in "The Mandalorian" with the agents of the government of the Dark Side promising to play an important part in the second season.
...
The rest of the nominees all deal with politics and government in some way, some more directly than others. "The Crown" continues its dramatization of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II with a new cast...

The same is true of the remaining nominees in the Emmy field. "Killing Eve" sets its tale of twisted romance inside a spy thriller. So does "Stranger Things," as the horror turns out to be part of a Soviet plot. "The Handmaid's Tale" is one of a dystopian theocratic future. Finally, "Ozark" plays lots of local politics.

I didn't say which nominee would win at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Awards, but I think it will be "Succession." It won Outstanding Achievement in Drama at the TCA Awards and both Drama Series and Drama Episode at the Gold Derby Awards. HBO has found a new awards favorite now that "Game of Thrones" is over.

Follow over the jump for the nominations for acting, directing, and writing.

Star Trek vs. Star Wars — futuristic politics and government at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards

I asked my readers for advice at the end of 'El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' vs. 'Bad Education' and 'American Son' — Outstanding Television Movie nominees about crime and punishment at the Emmy Awards.

I plan on continuing the series tomorrow for the Sunday entertainment feature, although I'm torn between children's programming and animation on the one hand and music and dance nominees on the other. It's been a long time since I've asked for my readers to help me decide, but I'm feeling like asking now. Comments, anyone?

Last I checked, no one responded. It's just as well, because I decided overnight to combine the two ideas and convert the result into an examination of my two favorite science fiction franchises, Star Trek and Star Wars, both of which have two shows with nominations at the Emmy Awards and both of which explore politics and government in a futuristic setting.

I begin with sole nomination for "Star Wars Resistance," which I voted for at the Saturn Awards and which won Best Animated Series on Television.

Outstanding Children's Program
Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix)
Star Wars Resistance (Disney Channel)
We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest (HBO)

All three nominees examine politics as both of the speculative fiction series have resistance in their titles and "We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest" has a social theme with a political dimension. With "Sesame Street" not being renominated in this category, the field is wide open. It should be no surprise that I am rooting for "Star Wars Resistance." It helps that it's the only returning nominee in this category. "Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" had more and better buzz, so I expect it will win.

I already wrote about the Star Trek series nominated for a program award at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 'Short Treks,' '#FreeRayshawn,' and 'Reno 911!' — government in short form at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, so I'll be a good environmentalist and recycle.

Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series

Better Call Saul Employee Training: Legal Ethics with Kim Wexler (AMC.com)
The Good Place Presents: The Selection (NBC)
Most Dangerous Game (Quibi)
Reno 911! (Quibi)
Star Trek: Short Treks (CBS All Access)

Based on just the nominees for this category, I would have included "funny and futuristic government" in the title of this entry. The funny nominees about government are "Reno 911!," a Comedy Central series that has been revived on Quibi and "Better Call Saul Employee Training: Legal Ethics with Kim Wexler." The futuristic one is "Star Trek: Short Treks." As a Star Trek fan, I'm rooting for "Short Treks." However, I doubt either it or "Reno 911!" will win, even though "Reno 911!" has two nominations in this category and Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. Instead, I think the other nominee for this category with a second nomination, "Most Dangerous Game," has the inside track to win the Emmy.

Now for the acting nominations for "The Mandalorian" at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman as Terry Maitland on The Outsider (Episode: "Fish in a Barrel") (HBO)
James Cromwell as Ewan Roy on Succession (Episode: "Dundee") (HBO)
Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian (Episode: "Chapter 8: Redemption") (Disney+)
Ron Cephas Jones as William Hill on This Is Us (Episode: "After the Fire") (NBC)
Andrew Scott as Chris Gillhaney on Black Mirror (Episode: "Smithereens") (Netflix)
Martin Short as Dick Lundy on The Morning Show (Episode: "Chaos Is the New Cocaine") (Apple TV+)

I've been impressed with Giancarlo Esposito ever since I watched him play the antagonist in Revolution eight years ago. He was even more scary now and promises to be a great villain for season 2. That written, I was even more impressed by Jason Bateman as Terry Maitland in "The Outsider," so I think he will win instead.

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance

Hank Azaria as Professor Frink, Moe, Chief Wiggum, Carl, Cletus, Kirk and Sea Captain on The Simpsons (Episode: "Frinkcoin") (Fox) Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Nelson, Ralph and Todd on The Simpsons (Episode: "Better Off Ned") (Fox) Leslie Odom Jr. as Owen on Central Park (Episode: "Episode One") (Apple TV+) Maya Rudolph as Connie the Hormone Monstress on Big Mouth (Episode: "How to Have an Orgasm") (Netflix) Wanda Sykes as Gladys on Crank Yankers (Episode: "Bobby Brown, Wanda Sykes & Kathy Griffin") (Comedy Central) Taika Waititi as IG-11 on The Mandalorian (Episode: "Chapter 8: Redemption") (Disney+)

Taika Waititi's droid voice expressed a lot for a robot supposedly devoid of emotion. Even so, he's up against a lot of veteran voice actors and bigger name actors and comedians, so he's facing an uphill battle. Out of that field, I am rooting for Maya Rudolph in her third nomination, but I expect it will be Hank Azaria or Nancy Cartwright, who have been voicing their characters on "The Simpsons" for 30 years.

Follow over the jump for the technical awards nominations for both "The Mandalorian" and "Star Trek: Picard."

How my Saturn Award votes and predictions fared for National Science Fiction Day

Happy National Science Fiction Day!  I was planning on examining the speculative fiction nominees at the Critics' Choice Awards, but as I started to write it, I realized that I never did write a post mortem on my 2019 Saturn Awards votes and predictions.  While that may not get me as many readers, doing so will be a good examination of my judgment for the new year and hopefully improve my ability to prognosticate.  Besides, I'll feel better about myself, even if my predictions ended up being terrible.*

Follow over the jump for the Saturn Awards winners vs. my votes and predictions, plus a running total with a full point for a single prediction coming true and half a point for one of a split prediction winning or my vote forecasting the winner.  Votes versus winners is just one point each.

My 2019 Saturn Awards votes and predictions

When I reached the end of 'Better Call Saul' vs. 'Riverdale' for Best Action/Thriller TV Series again plus home entertainment nominees at the 2019 Saturn Awards, I wrote "That's it for the Saturn Awards for July.  The next one will probably be in August, when I post my actual votes."  It's August, so I'm following through and adding my predictions, just as I did in 2018.  I begin with my votes for the movie nominees.

Best Action/Adventure Film: My vote — Mission: Impossible - Fallout.  My prediction — Mission: Impossible - Fallout.
Best Actor in a Film: My vote — Robert Downey Jr. (Avengers: Endgame).  My prediction — Robert Downey Jr. (Avengers: Endgame).
Best Actress in a Film: My vote — Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns).  My prediction — Brie Larson (Captain Marvel).
Best Animated Film Release: My vote — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse.  My prediction — Incredibles 2.
Best Comic to Motion Picture Release: My vote — Aquaman.  My prediction — Captain Marvel.
Best Fantasy Film Release: My vote — Mary Poppins Returns.  My prediction — Aladdin.
Best Film Costume Design: My vote — Sandy Powell (Mary Poppins Returns).  My prediction — Aladdin.
Best Film Director: My vote — Jordan Peele (Us).  My prediction — Anthony Russo & Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame).
Best Film Editing: My vote — Christopher Tellefsen (A Quiet Place).  My prediction — Avengers: Endgame or John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.
Best Film Make Up: My vote — Suspiria (Mark Coulier, Fernanda Perez).  My prediction — The Dead Don't Die or Pet Sematary.
Best Film Music: My vote — Marc Shaiman (Mary Poppins Returns).  My prediction — Alan Silvestri.
Best Film Production Design: My vote — John Myhre (Mary Poppins Returns).  My prediction — Aladdin or Avengers: Endgame.
Best Film Special / Visual Effects: My vote — Ready Player One (TBD).  My prediction — Avengers: Endgame or Godzilla: King of Monsters.
Best Film Writing: My vote — Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski (A Quiet Place).  My prediction — Avengers: Endgame.
Best Horror Film Release: My vote — A Quiet Place.  My prediction — Us.
Best Independent Film Release: My vote — American Animals.  My prediction — Mandy.
Best International Film Release: My vote — Border.  My prediction — Shadow.
Best Performance By A Younger Actor in a Film: My vote — Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place).  My prediction — Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home).
Best Science Fiction Film Release: My vote — Solo: A Star Wars Story.  My prediction — Ready Player One.
Best Supporting Actor in a Film: My vote — Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns).  My prediction — Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War).
Best Supporting Actress in a Film: My vote — Amber Heard (Aquaman).  My prediction — Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame).
Best Thriller Film Release: My vote — Destroyer.  My prediction — Bad Times at The El Royale.

Follow over the jump for my votes and predictions in the television and streaming categories.

'Westworld' vs. 'The Orville' and 'Doctor Who' plus 'Star Trek: Discovery' vs. 'Lost In Space' at the 2019 Saturn Awards

I concluded 'The Walking Dead' vs 'Fear the Walking Dead' and 'The Haunting of Hill House' vs. 'You' at the 2019 Saturn Awards by telling my readers to "Stay tuned" because "The next installment of this series should be the science fiction nominees, both on TV and streaming."  I begin with a category I've been looking forward to for more than a year, as I knew it would match last year's Best Science Fiction Series, "The Orville," against the previous year's winner of the award, "Westworld."  File 770 lists both of them among this year's nominees.

Best Science Fiction TV Series

    The 100 (The CW)
    Counterpart (Starz)
    Doctor Who (BBC America)
    Krypton (SyFy)
    Manifest (NBC)
    The Orville (Fox)
    Roswell, New Mexico (The CW)
    Westworld  (HBO)

It should come as no surprise that I'm voting for "Westworld," which I consider to be the best science fiction program on TV.  It should also come as no surprise that I think "The Orville" is more likely to win.  As I wrote last year, "I think that show's best episodes haven't aired yet."  This year's episodes proved me right.  That written, the two are even in nominations with three each along with "Doctor Who."  "Krypton" has two nominations, while all the rest, "The 100," "Counterpart," "Manifest," and "Roswell, New Mexico," have one each.  I'm particularly happy to see "Manifest" here, even if I'm not voting for it.

"The Orville" is fake "Star Trek."  The real thing is nominated in the next category.


Best Streaming Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Action/Thriller Television Series

    Black Mirror (Netflix)
    The Expanse (Amazon)
    Lost in Space (Netflix)
    Good Omens (Amazon)
    Russian Doll (Netflix)
    Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)
    Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Amazon)

"Lost in Space" and "Star Trek: Discovery" both have five nominations.  "Good Omens," "Russian Doll," and "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" all have two, while "Black Mirror" and "The Expanse" each have one.  This is a very good field, but I'm sure the top two nominees are the favorites with "Star Trek: Discovery" having a slight edge, as it won Best New Media Series last year.  It's also the one I'm thinking of voting for.

Next, a category I normally would have examined with science fiction film nominees because of the Star Wars nominee, but the Saturn Awards weren't ready by Star Wars Day.  So, I'm covering it here for lack of a better available topic.


Best Animated Television Series

    Archer (FX)
    Duck Tales (Disney Channel)
    Family Guy  (Fox)
    The Simpsons (Fox)
    Star Wars Resistance  (Disney Channel)

Of course I'm voting for "Star Wars Resistance" and I think it will win.  As for the rest, it's a good field, but it's two nominees short.  Now I really regret not submitting my suggestions, which would have included "The Venture Brothers" and "Rick and Morty" if any of the episodes aired during the eligibility period.

Follow over the jump for the television acting nominees from 'Game of Thrones' vs. 'Outlander' at the 2019 Saturn Awards followed by the streaming acting nominees from 'The Walking Dead' vs 'Fear the Walking Dead' and 'The Haunting of Hill House' vs. 'You' at the 2019 Saturn Awards along with my comments on the actors nominated from science fiction shows and their competitors.

2017 Blue Stars 'Star Crossed' for a drum corps Shakespeare's birthday

Happy Shakespeare's Birthday, which National Day Calendar lists as National Talk Like Shakespeare Day.  For this year's celebration, I am following through with my first idea for last year's 'Westworld' characters quoting Shakespeare for National Talk Like Shakespeare Day: "I was originally going to celebrate it as 'Blue Stars 'Starcrossed' for a drum corps Shakespeare's birthday'...Next year."  Well, it's next year, so I'm going ahead with it.

"Star Crossed" is a retelling of the tragedy of "Romeo and Juliet" on a football field.  One can see and hear that in with the official video teaser from Drum Corps International.

La Crosse, WI | 10th Place | 87.938
...
“Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64” Written by Sergei Prokofiev Published by G. Schirmer Inc Used with permission. All rights reserved Tresóna License Number: 313102

“Young and Beautiful” Written by Rick Nowels, Elizabeth Grant Published by EMI April Music Inc obo EMI Music Pub Germany GMBH EMI April Music Inc obo R-Rated Music Used with permission. All rights reserved Tresóna License Number: 313102

“Nature Boy” Written by Eden Ahbez Published by Geraldine E. Janowiak obo Golden World Used with permission. All rights reserved Tresóna License Number: 313102

“Lady Marmalade” Written by Kenny Nolan, Robert Crewe Published by Jobete Music Co Inc Stone Diamond Music Corp Used with permission. All rights reserved Tresóna License Number: 313102

That's just a segment.  Vic Firth Marching has a complete run-through of the show.

Vic Firth takes you BEYOND the lot with the BLUE STARS as they perform their 2017 production "Star Crossed" during finals week in Indianapolis, IN! NINE HD cameras you WON'T see anywhere else!

It's moving even without the uniforms and costumes.

Of course, I'm conserving my resources.  Next year, I plan on featuring two corps that played Radiohead's "Exit Music (for a Film)," which debuted in the 1996 "Romeo + Juliet" (even though it was not listed in the soundtrack) and was re-used in "Westworld."  I like closing circles.

'Green Book,' 'If Beale Street Could Talk,' and more celebration of diversity in awards show winners for MLK Day 2019

I closed The highest grossing speculative fiction films of 2018 by telling my readers to "Stay tuned for this year's edition of celebrating diversity in awards shows nominees and winners for MLK Day."  To do so, I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling the relevant paragraphs from 'Vice' may be the best political film of 2018, earning nominations before it even hits theaters, beginning with one examining "Green Book," which turned out the be the big movie winner of the night.

Another of the three movies with five Golden Globe nominations also deals with a historical social and political theme, "Green Book," which is about dealing with racial segregation and discrimination in the South during the latter days of Jim Crow.  It is competing against "Vice" in all of its nominated categories, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Viggo Mortensen who is contending with Bale, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture in which Mahershala Ali is competing against Rockwell, and Best Director – Motion Picture and Best Screenplay – Motion Picture, where Peter Farrelly is up against McKay.

"Green Book" won three Golden Globes, Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.  Watch all three awards being presented, beginning with "Green Book" Wins Best Screenplay - 2019 Golden Globes (Highlight).

The writers of "Green Book" accept the award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

The screenplay has also been nominated at the BAFTA Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, and Satellite Awards and won several awards from local critics associations and film festival, including Detroit's.  I would be surprised if it weren't nominated for Original Screenplay when the Academy Awards nominees are announced tomorrow.

Next, "Green Book" Wins Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy - 2019 Golden Globes (Highlight).

Director Peter Farrelly of "Green Book" accepts the award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

"Green Book" has also been named an AFI Movie of the Year and Best Film by the National Board of Review and won the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures.  I expect it to be nominated for Best Picture tomorrow.

Finally, watch as Mahershala Ali Wins Best Supporting Actor - 2019 Golden Globes (Highlight).

Mahershala Ali accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Mahershala Ali has been nominated for this role at the BAFTA Awards, Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, Black Reel Awards, Online Film Critics Society Awards, and Satellite Awards.  In addition to the Golden Globe, he has won for this role at the AACTA International Awards, Black Film Critics Circle Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, and several awards from local critics associations and film festival, including Detroit's.  He should earn a nomination for Actor in a Supporting Role tomorrow.

I completely missed "If Beale Street Could Talk" last month.  To make up for it, I am sharing Regina King Wins Best Supporting Actress - 2019 Golden Globes (Highlight).

Regina King accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Regina King also won awards for Best Supporting Actress at the Critics' Choice Awards, National Board of Review, Online Film Critics Society Awards, and Satellite Awards, as well as numerous local critics associations.  She was not, however, nominated for a SAG Award, so it is possible, but not likely, that she may not earn a nomination tomorrow morning.  Too bad, as she could use the Oscar next to her Emmy Award.

Follow over the jump for other winners for diversity at the Golden Globes and Critics's Choice Awards.