Emmy Nominations This Week. What Are You Betting On?
Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 9:00PM Every Emmy award discussion really ought to start with that familiar television montage trope "Previously On..." If you think about it the Emmy Awards really are like a longform television series with continuing plotlines... "Will Mad Men lose every acting nomination AGAIN? Will [insert underwatched critical favorite] finally win a Best Series nomination?", new character introductions, resurgent supporting characters, goodbyes to series regulars, and the like.
Homeland defends its title. But a lot of people didn't like Season 2.
So what did happen at least year's Emmys? A refresher: "Mad Men" was defending its Best Drama title in its fifth season and did not break the record (no show has ever won five consecutive drama series titles) losing to terrorist drama "Homeland" but the story was bleak for the SCDP everywhere since "Mad Men" struck out everywhere even MISSING a Best Costume Design nomination (it's never won) despite being the best costumed show in the history of ever; Jon Cryer "Two and a Half Men" won sympathy votes for putting up with Charlie Sheen all these years as Best Actor in a Comedy Series; Julia Louis-Dreyfus "Veep" won her third Emmy but what's more impressive is that she's won the prize for three different series now; Oscar Winners and frequent nominees were all the rage too with Julianne Moore, Kevin Costner, Jessica Lange, and Maggie Smith all picking up prizes; and the Emmys kept right on basically ignoring the beloved "Parks and Recreation" in major categories it's already deserved to win a few times. Seriously how has that show never managed a nomination for ANY of its supporting actors and actresses?
So where are we this year? I don't have my own predictions to share -- I don't claim to be an Emmy Awards expert but here are a few select ballots and a few things I'm curious about after the jump
BEST DRAMA SERIES
With all of last year's nominees ("Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones," "Homeland" and four-time winner "Mad Men") still around the big question is whether any of the strong first season contender can muscle their way in. The current seasons of at least half of the standard nominees were considered "weak", right or wrong. The best regular ol' network bet should Emmy prove fickle would probably be the Connie Britton series Nashville which has solid ratings and the kind of reviews that justify For Your Consideration ads. But with the premium cable dominance these days, traditional network shows have had trouble making the list. We also might see whether the television industry is okay with the rise of Netflix Original Programming since House of Cards is eligible. At the very least expect Kevin Spacey (awards magnet) and Connie Britton to make noise in the lead acting categories. But who do they shove aside to place? What do you think will happen?
BEST COMEDY SERIES
"The Big Bang Theory," "Girls," and "Veep" , all nominated last year, seem likely to return and three-time champ "Modern Family" isn't going anywhere either. Which leaves only one spot up for grabs, the one usually held by "Curb Your Enthusiasm". "Arrested Development" would seem like a lock except that the fourth season was hardly a slam dunk in terms of ecstatic reception.
Parks and Recreation has never been honored for its supporting cast. This is only half of the brilliance!
So do they return to a show they've only nominated once in the top category like "Parks and Recreation", "Nurse Jackie" or "How I Met Your Mother" or go with something they've never honored for the top prize like "Louie" or "New Girl" or do they say goodbye to "The Office". Who gets the open slot?
DEPARTING SERIES
Sometimes Emmy gets all weepy about goodbyes (notice the shocking "Friday Night Lights" uptick in its last season) but other times they're just like 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out' even if they used to love the show. This year's goodbyes are "The Office", "Weeds", "Enlightened", "Breaking Bad", "Smash" (which we followed closely despite declining quality) and "Southland". I dare not hope for some love for the excellent "Southland" on its way to tv heaven. Which departing series wins a goodbye hug?
WRITE IN VOTE
I know that ABC Family did not renew OR cancel "Bunheads" (so confusing) and, stranger still, did not submit "Bunheads" for Emmy consideration despite it being their only show with a prayer in hell of winning any Emmy attention. The show was starting to go in such interesting directions, too, evolving into its best self. So if I had a magic wand and could make one thing happen at the Emmy nominations on Thursday it would be an impossible Best Comedy & Best Actress nomination for this singular show and my beloved Sutton Foster as a way of keeping the show alive and making ABC Family take a second season more seriously. Since "Smash"'s long death-rattle finally fell silent "Bunheads" and "Nashville" are the only shows that remain for musical aficionados.
I'll leave you with MY ACTRESSBALLOTS for what it's worth.
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
If I could handpick the nominees it'd be: Connie Britton "Nashville", Claire Danes "Homeland", Michelle Dockery "Downton Abbey", Regina King "Southland", Elizabeth Moss "Mad Men", and Emmy Rossum "Shameless"...
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
If I could handpick the nominees it'd be: Laura Dern "Enlightened", Edie Falco "Nurse Jackie", Tina Fey "30 Rock", Sutton Foster "Bunheads", Julia Louis-Dreyfus "Veep", Amy Poehler "Parks & Recreation"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
my dream ballot would include: Joanna Froggett and Sophie McShera from "Downton Abbey" and both Christina Hendricks "Mad Men" and January Jones "Mad Men", the latter finally having a strong season again. And maybe Deborah Ann Woll from "True Blood". I'm open to discussion on the fifth and sixth slot.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
all i want is: the impossible dream of Jane Krakowski finally winning for "30 Rock" since she's deserved it several times and only been nominated sporadically. I'd also vote for Merrit Wever on "Nurse Jackie" a true original and indispensable actually to the comedic portions of that show.
Who gets your write-in vote if you could make one thing happen?
Reader Comments (77)
@Ryan T. - thanks! I had no idea. That's surprisingly transparent of the Emmys to do that.
yeah, thanks for that info. Fascinating that both Rob Lowe and Adam Scott consider themselves "Lead" for Parks & Recreation but all the men of Modern Family are supporting.
It seems "Bunheads" is actually up for Emmy consideration. At least Sutton Foster is on their list of contenders.
Lead Actor in a Drama:
Buscemi or Michael C. Hall will move aside for Spacey, even though new seasons have been produced for their shows.
Lead Actress in a Drama:
Close's show is gone, so no one technically "moves aside" for Connie Britton.
Lead Actor in a Comedy:
Cryer's probably gone (most of what (I guess) they appreciated him for was at least seeming to have SOMETHING of a rapport with Sheen, which is why he was supporting until last year) and Curb didn't have a season this year. So, we have one or two open slots. If one: Charlie Day, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. (Most likeable secret weapon and has been the only one of the cast to branch into decently respectable film fare, most recently Pacific Rim.) If two: That and one of these four: (most likely) Rob McElhenny from the same show (the one who gained FIFTY pounds for his role last season to make a point about the behavior of the characters being, to put it lightly, extremely dangerous), (possible, but maybe a stretch due to a lack of role risk holdover) Danny McBride for his deluded baseball semi-pro from Eastbound & Down, (he was a prior nominee, but I think season 3 was before his character actually got steady with Penny and he and Cuoco have "friend" level chemistry written all over them so I don't quite see this happening again) Johnny Galecki for The Big Bang Theory or, lastly, (and this is a VERY outside possibility because I think How I Met Your Mother is a hit more because of NPH anyway) Josh Radnor, How I Met Your Mother.
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:
I'd think Zooey Deschanel is (almost definitely) out for the pop cuteness of New Girl and Melissa McCarthy is a stretch to get in again for Mike and Molly. If six: Laura Dern, Enlightened. If seven again: Kaitlin Olsen takes another slot for Always Sunny.
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:
Bill Hader is definitely gone (this is only the first nod to SNL, and I'd think it's unlikely to repeat) and Max Greenfield probably is as well. If one: Danny DeVito, again for Always Sunny. (Most of them need token single season nods at this point and he's been consistently cooking up the most dangerous of the lot of characters. (Glenn Howerton's Dennis is (a bit) more of a sociopath, but he's also FAR more cowardly, too much so to be nearly as dangerous.) If two: Maybe Simon Helberg, finally. (He's certainly one of only two other members of The Big Bang Theory's cast who I think is anywhere even close to being the equal of Parsons in terms of actual laugh factor. And the other one got nominated last year.)
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:
Wiig is gone, having left SNL. The replacement is either Krakowski or someone from Girls.
Obviously the fifth and sixth slot should be for Archie Panjabi and the great Christine Baranski. The Good Wife is a really good show with guest appearances of people like Chenoweth, Channing or Plimpton ... pure Broadway! Give it a try.
I've recently started watching Bunheads and I absolutely adore it! Thanks for your insistence. Sutton Foster is marvelous and Kelly Bishop a class act.
I also love Enlightened. Laura, Diane, Mike White and Sarah Burns and, of course, everyone in Mad Men including guest stars James Wolk and Linda Cardellini.
I really hope Monica Potter gets in for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her excellent/breakout work in "Parenthood"!
Oh no, I forgot Girls!!! Lena, Zosia and Adam Driver in particular.
Just found out that James Wolk didn't submit himself for his work on MAD MEN this year. How odd!
Can anybody tell me why the SNL actors submitting in the comedy categories are a thing? I remember watching those History of SNL docs and IIRC Chevy Chase won an Emmy in the Variety/Music category (basically his competition were late night and variety show hosts). They're still in that category yet as of late performers are moved to Comedy category along with great guests from Tina Fey to Justin Timberlake to Betty White to Jon Hamm also in Best Guest category. I find this a little odd. Clearly Lorne has pushed numerous players as the stars of SNL over the years but should they really be in the already crowded categories of Supporting Actor/Actress in a Comedy series? I find that extremely unfair- especially since poor Bill Hader was the shark chum to [inset Modern Family actor/Jon Cryer].
I'd love if Bunheads got recognized but the Emmys never paid attention to The Gilmore Girls EVER and was constantly singled out among biggest snubs year in and year out. The fact ABC Family is still silent on its status has be wondering if they do care about what it could get at the Emmys.
All I know is "Smash" better be nominated for something, at the very least Bernadette Peter's guest appearance and "Hang The Moon".
On one claim of Nurse Jackie being a "half hour drama". If that's true, and it's almost entirely drama, that's extraordinarily rare for live-action. Seriously, outside of animation, do "half hour dramas" really happen? I mean, yes, "dramatic animation" is, outside of a third of the most talked about anime (NGE, Death Note and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, among NUMEROUS others) and three major examples in American TV animation (Batman: TAS, Spectacular Spider-Man and Gargoyles), mostly a synonym for high grade comfort food with problems (Avengers: EMH, Men in Black Animated show and the 90s Spider-Man Show, among others) or total shlock. (Street Sharks among others.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA fifth or sixth slot: Debra Messing. I absolutely adored her in "Smash". Some of her strongest work in a while.
volvagia -- are you sure you're correct on glenn close. i've read in numerous places that she's eligible one last time this year.
peggysue -- i actually think the "guest star" categories are year in and year out the WORST selections that seem entirely free-floating and have nothing to do with who was actually really good in their performances. Very weird selections every time. but YES on Cardellini. god she was great in that role. and so different than her past work.
Sorry, didn't check the month on the series finale (September 2012, which they'd count.) But since that's the case, it's Bates who's excised.
"The Good Wife" deserves a spot in all the categories. The acting and the writing are superb.
That is why I cannot understand why Nat (yes, you Nathaniel) refuses to watch this show, just because he didn't like the pilot and he doesn't like procedural drama. Well, sometimes, you have to give a show a chance to see if it is really worth watching.
I know! I Guest categories are just like SAG's Best Ensemble. Created to drive us mad.
Glenn Close is elegible and all I'm going to say is that her final scene is worthy of a nod. I know, I know... we have seen her do that cold glance before, but God she rocks it!
Here are my predictions from my columns from the past two weeks (I can't wait until Thursday!):
Comedy: http://bit.ly/16uMxjN
Drama: http://bit.ly/19X6P9y
Emmy contenders get to submit only one FYC episode, right? Maybe that's what's hurting Parks and Recs. So much of the humor is sly and winking and I feel like you'd have to be a consistent viewer to appreciate it. Maybe contenders should get to submit, like, 10/15-minute Emmy reels instead of single episodes.
Nat, it's obvious to me you have not seen Orphan Black, and you better get on that to watch the best performance given by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series this season. Her name is Tatiana Maslany. You really ought to watch that show (it's on BBC America, so I don't blame you for never hearing about it, but once you see it you'll be amazed at the performance). Also, what did you think of the Parenthood ladies this season? Everyone is talking about Monica Potter, who was great this season, but also Erika Christensen had a great year, and Mae Whitman (who is always awesome on that show).
caroline- It's interesting. I do wonder sometimes how much the FYC really matters but then I look at last year's results. Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, and Christina Hendricks ALL submitted 'The Other Women' for their episode. As brilliant as the episode was, I cannot help but think all of them should have spread out their highlights in such an incredible season of episodes with Hendricks still having 'The Other Women' as her FYC.
Also, many people expected Giancarlo Esposito to beat Aaron Paul for his Season 4 work last year but Aaron Paul submitted a FYC episode that was a real showy emotional arc for his character while Esposito submitted an episode with his character speaking Spanish for most of it. I remember viewers calling that aspect of the episode distracting and there were so many Gus moments from that year that slayed his performance in that episode.
People are saying Damien Lewis may repeat simply for the strength of his FYC episode (his confession episode) but frankly, I found his choices in Season 2 to be really broad and ridiculously cartoonish at points (the eye-popping, the crazy breathing patterns, and yelling every line-read, etc.). Beating Jon Hamm twice in Jon Hamm's strongest seasons as Don Draper would really bum me out.
Nathaniel, have you seen any Orphan Black?
Tatiana Maslany is my one wish. The best performance on TV at the moment. Highly doubt she will get in but I find it hard to believe that anyone who actually sees her wouldn't vote for her.\
Frankly she's numbed my feelings for the rest of the emmys.
Chip -- bold predictions in supporting actor drama. i guess that category is anyone's guess given the impossibillity of the same slate transferring.
Broooke -- i have not seen Orphan Black. I have trouble figuring out BBCAmerica and when it's shows are on. they also seem to do weird off and on things with their on demand service but if i can catch it, i'll try to.
You should, Its a good show but ewven if you don't like it, Maslany is worth it.
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