'Oceans with David Attenborough' tied with 'Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!' for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

I'm returning to coverage of the Emmy Awards today after taking a break from entertainment in general and awards shows in particular yesterday. I can't be all DOOM or all fun all the time. Since today is World Conservation Day, I'm examining the categories with nature documentaries, beginning with Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

• John Candy: I Like Me (Prime Video)
• Marty, Life Is Short (Netflix)
• Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! (HBO)
• My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay (HBO)
• Ocean with David Attenborough (Nat Geo)

Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Ocean with David Attenborough co-lead with six nominations each, followed by John Candy: I Like Me with five nominations and Marty, Life Is Short tied with My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay at three. Normally, I'd consider Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Ocean with David Attenborough to be co-favorites, but the experts, editors, and users at Gold Derby disagree. They think John Candy: I Like Me and My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay to be the favorites, with 50.0% of experts, 28.6% of editors, and 61.0% of users picking the former, while 50.0% of experts, 57.1% of editors, and 26.3% of users choosing the latter. Normally, I'd favor the editors over the experts except one of the experts picking John Candy: I Like Me is Joyce Eng, whose opinion I trust. The remaining editor(s), 14.3%, are currently voting for Ocean with David Attenborough along with 3.5% of users. The rest of the users are split between Marty, Life Is Short with 6.2% and Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! with 3.0%. I've often written that, all things being equal,the Emmy electorate will vote for a good story about themselves. The corollary is that they will vote for a nominee about a dead celebrity over a living one. The prognosticators at Gold Derby seem to agree. Again, electorates matter.

That was the program category with one nature documentary nominee. Now for a performer category with three out of the five nominees in nature documentaries.

Outstanding Narrator

• Sir David Attenborough – A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (Netflix)
• Sir David Attenborough – Ocean with David Attenborough (Nat Geo)
• Jodie Foster – Breakdown: 1975 (Netflix)
• Werner Herzog – Ghost Elephants (Nat Geo)
• Octavia Spencer – Lost Women of Alaska: "The Missing" (Investigation Discovery)

The experts, editors, and users disagree about the odds in this category, too, with 87.5% of experts and 83.0% of users but only 28.6% of editors electing for Sir David in Ocean with David Attenborough, 42.9% of editors along with 12.5% of experts and 9.4% of users choosing Octavia Spencer, and the remaining 28.6% of editors along with 2.9% of users on board with Warner Herzog. The remaining users split between Jodie Foster at 2.6% and Sir David's other nomination at 2.1%. Let's see who switches first, the experts or the editors.

The remaining four categories in which Ocean with David Attenborough earned nominations are Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program (covered in 'The Tale of Silyan' vs 'The Librarians' for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the Emmy Awards), Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary/Nonfiction or Reality Program (Original Dramatic Score) (sort of covered in 'Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age' earned two Emmy nominations for its VFX and music), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (covered in 'Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special). I don't feel like looking at any of them today, so instead I'm embedding CONSERVATION DAY | July 28 by National Day Calendar.



Do you enjoy the outdoors? Let us know!
Ha! No wonder Teddy Roosevelt was rated the most environmental president!

That's a wrap for today. I plan on resuming Emmy coverage Thursday. In the meantime, I have a song by the Marsh Family planned for tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Previous posts about the 2026 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards

• 'The Tale of Silyan' vs 'The Librarians' for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the Emmy Awards
• Drink to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Show's Emmy nominations on National Piña Colada Day
• 'Desi Lydic Foxsplains Trump's Big Beautiful Ballroom' plus the short form nominees at the Emmy Awards
• 'Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
• 'Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age' earned two Emmy nominations for its VFX and music

Think about the fast food workers on National Fast Food Day

I twice promised times that I would examine the visual media GRAMMY nominees for today's Sunday entertainment feature, but it's taking too long. I'll finish and post it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm sharing National Day Calendar's National Fast-Food Day | November 16.

While fast food began as sandwiches and sides, the menus expanded over time. Today fast food includes fish, a variety of fried chicken, tacos, pizza, and a wide selection of sides.

Sodas quench the thirst and desserts sweeten the menu. From ice cream and shakes to pies and cakes, fast food delivers.

Happy National Fast Food Day, but remember the relevant questions I asked in 'Food, Inc. 2' worksheet for National Food Day.

20. How long has the federal minimum wage been at $7.25 per hour?

Since 2009.

21. How much does the CEO of Yum Brands earn in an hour? How much does the average Taco Bell worker make in a year? Answer both questions.

I forget the exact amount, but the CEO of Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut, makes slightly more in one hour than the average Taco Bell worker makes in a year, about $12,000.

22. Which two companies’ workers are the biggest users of food stamps and Medicaid?

One of them is McDonalds. The other is Walmart.

That's a wrap for today's food holiday, making four in a row. Stay tuned for Grammy nominees tomorrow.

The History Guy remembers 'America's Forgotten Moon-Base Plans' for National Moon Day 2025

Happy National Moon Day, the 56th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon! I'm turning to The History Guy's America's Forgotten Moon-Base Plans for this year's celebration. He begins the video by mentioning the first Moon landing and then goes back to ask and answer, "What if?"

Immediately after WWII, numerous agencies and groups within the United States recognized that space was the next frontier. Plans to conquer that frontier began to proliferate. Some ideas were promising, while others were, perhaps, little more than pipe dreams.

Listening to The History Guy talk about how inter-service rivalries influenced early plans for space and the Moon makes me wonder what the Air Force, Army, and Navy would think of Space Force. An idea out of science fiction, no doubt. Then again, so were their plans for space in general and the Moon in particular. Project Horizon strikes me as especially ambitious, much more so than anything proposed for Artemis, the current NASA program to build a Moon base. That, at least, would be for peaceful purposes, including supporting a crewed mission to Mars, not military ones.

The History Guy has more videos about lunar missions, which I'm saving for future posts. I'm an environmentalist; not only do I recycle, I conserve my resources.

That's a wrap for today's holiday. Stay tuned for the next installment of my examination of the Emmy nominees.

'The Subliminal Storytelling of Pirates of the Caribbean' for Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arr! It be Talk Like A Pirate Day! For this year's celebration, I'm sharing Offhand Disney's The Subliminal Storytelling of Pirates of the Caribbean. Take it away, Dallin!

OooOOooOooOOOoo Pirates is very hands off in it's storytelling method OooOOOooOOOooo spooky. And to be honest, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. What are the best ways this ride TELLS you a story without TELLING you a story?

I haven't done anything related to theme parks for this holiday since 2021, when I posted Treasure Island Las Vegas for Talk Like A Pirate Day. It was about time.

Since he appeared in the video, I'm closing with a meme for the holiday featuring Jack Sparrow.


That's a wrap for today's post celebrating pirates in entertainment. Stay tuned for an entry that will be good to share in October, like Emmy Award winners. More entertainment!

The Norfolk State University Spartan Legion at the Rose Parade for MLK Day

One of my regrets when I composed Marching bands from around the world in the 2023 Rose Parade for New Year's Day was that I didn't include the Norfolk State University Spartan Legion, who put on two great performances at Bandfest and the Rose Parade. I ran out of time just as I realized I should put the Buhos Marching Band first and move the Tournament of Roses Band to the end to return to the U.S.A. To make up for my omission, I'm featuring the Spartan Legion today for MLK Day. I begin with the clip I wanted to use on New Year's Day, Norfolk State University (NSU) Spartan Legion Marching Band - 2023 Pasadena Bandfest from Music213.

From Norfolk, Virginia The NSU Spartan Legion performing their musical selections at the 42nd Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Friday, December 30, 2022.

That was an excellent performance. So was Norfolk State University (NSU) Spartan Legion Marching Band - 2023 Pasadena Rose Parade.

The NSU Spartan Legion performing their musical selections at the 134th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Monday, January 2, 2023.

That wasn't even the best part of the Spartan Legion's performance. ZymbalistiK captured that in Norfolk State University | Spartan Legion Marching Band - Rose Parade (2023) from the KTLA BandCam feed.

The NSU Spartan Legion Marching Band from Norfolk, Virginia at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA.

Video footage - courtesy of KTLA 5 news. All rights of this footage belong to KTLA 5.

ZymbalistiK remarked how unusual this was in his comment.

NSU is the first band I’ve seen stop and do a full routine/performance at the Rose Parade. I think that was a great idea to fully showcase the band. I wonder if this was planned or spur of the moment thing? Good job regardless Legion!

I agree, it was unusual. In a comment, Ebony Johnson responded "They were chosen to do the grandstand performance while the live performer was televised around the corner." I watched the live performance for the television audience and think the Spartan Legion put on the better show.

That's it for part one of today's celebration. Stay tuned for this year's version of diversity among Golden Globes winners for MLK Day, the real entertainment feature.

Phantom Regiment's 'Juliet' for Shakespeare's Birthday

Happy Shakespeare's Birthday! For today's celebration of the Bard of Stratford, I'm turning it into one of my trademark drum corps holidays with Courtney Coulston's New Zealand Girl Reacts to PHANTOM REGIMENT 2011 - JULIET.



That's the second portrayal of "Romeo and Juliet" by a drum corps on a football field I've featured on this blog, but it won't be the last. I was planning 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," two years ago, but the pandemic intervened and Shakespeare's Birthday fell on Thursday and Friday, so I used those days for retrospectives instead. Don't worry. I'm still thinking about doing that in the future, but next year I might examine Shakespeare in Star Trek. "The Klingon Hamlet," anyone?

FiveThirtyEight on the state of legalization for 4/20

For today's update on marijuana legalization, I'm sharing FiveThirtyEight's Politics Podcast explaining Why Congress Is Dragging Its Feet On Pot Legalization.

As Congress considers legislation that would decriminalize marijuana and end the sentencing disparity for crack and cocaine offenses, Galen Druke speaks with FiveThirtyEight contributor Lester Black on this episode of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast about what Americans think should be done about drugs and how politicians are responding.

So the Democrats in Congress are on board, but, despite former House Speaker John Boehner being in favor of legalization along with a slim majority of Republican voters, most Republican lawmakers are not. FiveThirtyEight asks Why Do GOP Lawmakers Still Oppose Legalizing Weed?

So why exactly, then, aren’t more congressional Republicans representing their own voters’ views on this issue? One possibility is that many of these lawmakers simply don’t know how much Republicans’ opinions have changed. Political science research shows that politicians tend to overestimate their constituents’ support for conservative policies, with Republican lawmakers driving much of this phenomenon. Some congressional Republicans may therefore oppose federal legalization because they mistakenly believe they’re representing their own voters’ views.

Other members, however, are likely voting based on their own personal opposition to marijuana legalization. Compared with most Americans, congressional Republicans tend to be older and more religious, two demographic groups that are far more averse to legalization than younger and religiously unaffiliated Americans. Indeed, GOP politicians often oppose drug legalization on behalf of conservative principles like morality, order and family values.

This presents an opening for Democrats.

Regardless of the reasons, though, Democrats would be wise to make congressional Republicans’ opposition to marijuana legalization an issue in the upcoming midterm elections. As I noted two years ago, not only is legalization popular across the political spectrum, but political science research shows that it’s also one of the more important issues to Democrats, Republicans and independents. Every 4/20, in fact, it becomes more and more apparent that marijuana legalization is a winning political issue.

Here's to the Democrats taking advantage of this issue.

Noah, Colbert, and Meyers mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg and decry the rush to fill her seat

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday. She was at least as important as Chadwick Boseman and U.S. Representative John Lewis, so she deserves her own obituary entry. It would hurt too much to deliver it straight, so I'm letting the comedians deliver the news to soften the blow, beginning with Trevor Noah's eulogy, The Inspiring Life Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Here’s the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg: the second woman to sit on the Supreme Court, a fierce human rights advocate, and an American icon.

That was a stirring tribute from someone whose primary goal is getting his audience to laugh, which is why I placed it first — that, and it having the best preview image. Yes, I do use such shallow criteria for ordering my videos. By the way, reacting to losing to John Oliver at the Emmy Awards will show up again over the jump.

Speaking of going first, The Political War Over Justice Ginsburg’s Supreme Court Seat actually was the opening segment of last night's episode of the Daily Show, but I decided that the fight over Ginsburg's seat should take second place to the life of the woman herself.

Following Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, Republicans pivot on their earlier stances by saying a vote for her replacement should proceed soon, and Democrats push back and threaten to retaliate if the confirmation happens before the election.

Describing what Republican Senators are doing hypocrisy actually gives them some moral credit, as "hypocrisy is the tribute vice gives to virtue." At least hypocrites know what virtue is. I don't think that applies to Trump. I suspect he thinks a lot of vices are virtues, so he's not even a hypocrite. As for intellectual consistency, he doesn't care. Steve Bannon had to take Trump's statements on foreign policy and convert them into an ideological position. Trump couldn't do it himself.

Follow over the jump for the tributes from Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers.