by Juan Carlos Ojano
TV movies (now that mostly means streaming titles) have returned to favor amongst Emmy voters after a nadir of interest last season. All of the nominees for Outstanding Television Movie have received nominations outside that category - a stark difference from last season. This year, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (8 noms) and Prey (6) lead the pack, with Hocus Pocus 2 (3) and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas and Fire Island (2 each) trailing behind. Even Boston Strangler got a single nom despite being absent in the Television Movie category. Frankly, this should have been the case for the past few years - especially beginning with the pandemic year/s - since this category has registered a steady uptick of eligible films.
Stats, graphs, and a personal ballot after the jump...
The first graph shows the steady rise in eligible productions for Outstanding Television Movie, from 2018-19’s 21 titles to this year’s 61. This was a result of a steady climb in eligible titles, mostly because streamers started submitting more films in this category. This coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that found streamers to be the key players in film production and distribution.
However, the second graph shows that this growth in numbers did not change the number of TV movies that were actually getting nominated. For the past four years, the only TV movies that were getting Emmy nominations were the ones nominated for their own category. In fact, 12 out of the past 20 nominees in this category have been lone nominees.
The third graph shows that instead of having more nominations that corresponded with the increase of eligible productions, the presence of TV movies in Emmy nominations actually shrunk. There's a steady decline in nomination count until now. From 2018-19’s 13 to 2021-22’s measly six noms (eight out of the 13 noms in 2018-19 were specifically for Deadwood: The Movie).
The fourth graph shows how TV movies decreased in the number of categories they competed in. With lesser presence in other categories - from 2018-19’s nine to 2021-22’s two - and moving the presentation of the Television Movie category from the main show to the Creative Emmys, television movies appeared to be on their way out of the Emmy spotlight.
But lo and behold, this year saw an explosion in numbers. From last year’s total of six nominations from two categories, TV movies turned in a whopping total of 22 NOMINATIONS ACROSS 13 CATEGORIES. This begs an interesting hypothetical question: what if TV Movies had their own awards?
Also, since the Emmys have been postponed until January, this personal ballot serves as our little awards project for the time being. For this ballot:
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I have watched 38 of the 61 films eligible (62%) for Outstanding Television Movie.
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There are 24 categories available for this personal ballot, both Emmy-correlative and otherwise.
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30 of the 38 films watched earned nominations in this personal ballot.
Without further ado, here are my picks for the best in TV movies this past Emmy cycle:
MAIN TITLE DESIGN
Disenchanted (Disney+)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix) [WINNER]
Prey (Hulu)
Rosaline (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Hellraiser (Hulu)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+) [WINNER]
Pinocchio (Disney+)
The Portable Door (MGM+)
Prey (Hulu)
MAKEUP
Hellraiser (Hulu) [WINNER]
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
The Portable Door (MGM+)
Prey (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
HAIRSTYLING
Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney+)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
My Best Friend’s Exorcism (Prime Video)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock) [WINNER]
ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS
“Badder” - Disenchanted (Disney+)
“Glorious” - Honor Society (Paramount+)
“I Will Always Dance” - Pinocchio (Disney+)
“Now You Know” - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
“Open Up” - Rye Lane (Hulu) [WINNER]
MUSIC SUPERVISION
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (Paramount+)
Father of the Bride (HBO Max)
Fire Island (Hulu)
Rosaline (Hulu) [WINNER]
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
MUSIC COMPOSITION (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE)
Boston Strangler - Paul Leonard-Morgan (Hulu)
Hellraiser - Ben Lovett (Hulu)
Peter Pan & Wendy - Daniel Hart (Disney+)
The Portable Door - Benjamin Speed (MGM+) [WINNER]
Prey - Sarah Schachner (Hulu)
SOUND EDITING
Hellraiser (Hulu)
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)
Prey (Hulu) [WINNER]
Sick (Peacock)
SOUND MIXING
Boston Strangler (Hulu)
Clock (Hulu)
Prey (Hulu)
Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
COSTUME DESIGN
Anything’s Possible - Analucia McGorty (Prime Video)
Do Revenge - Alana Morshead (Netflix) [WINNER]
Rosaline - Mitchell Travers (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Cynthia Lawrence-John (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Wendy Benbrook (Peacock)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Boston Strangler (Hulu)
Clock (Hulu) [WINNER]
Goodnight Mommy (Prime Video)
Hellraiser (Hulu)
Rye Lane (Hulu)
FILM EDITING
Meet Cute - Christopher Donlon (Peacock)
Prey - Angela M. Catanzaro and Claudia Castello (Hulu)
Reality - Jennifer Vecchiarello and Ron Dulin (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Rye Lane - Victoria Boydell (Hulu)
Run Sweetheart Run - Dominic LaPerriere (Prime Video)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Boston Strangler - Ben Kutchins (Hulu)
Fire Island - Felipe Vara de Rey (Hulu)
Prey - Jeff Cutter (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Olan Collardy (Hulu)
Run Sweetheart Run - Bartosz Nalazek (Prime Video) [WINNER]
STUNT COORDINATION
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Disney+)
Prey (Hulu)
The Princess (Hulu) [WINNER]
Sick (Peacock)
CASTING
Boston Strangler - Avy Kaufman (Hulu)
Fire Island - Jessica Munks (Hulu) [WINNER]
Prey - Rene Haynes (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Kharmel Cochrane (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Wendy O'Brien (Peacock)
WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe - Mike Judge, Lew Morton, Guy Maxtone-Graham, and Ian Maxtone-Graham (Paramount+)
The People We Hate at the Wedding - Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin and Wendy Molyneux (Prime Video)
Prey - Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg (Hulu)
Reality - Tina Satter and James Paul Dallas (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Rosaline - Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (Hulu)
WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Do Revenge - Celeste Ballard and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Netflix)
Fire Island - Joel Kim Booster (Hulu) [WINNER]
Not Okay - Quinn Shephard (Hulu)
Rye Lane - Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Al Yankovic and Eric Appel (Peacock)
ACTING ENSEMBLE
Fire Island (Hulu) [WINNER]
Honor Society (Paramount+)
The People We Hate at the Wedding (Prime Video)
Rosaline (Hulu)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Hamilton - Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Toby Huss - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
Dylan O’Brien - Not Okay (Hulu)
Conrad Ricamora - Fire Island (Hulu)
Morgan Spector - Boston Strangler (Hulu)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jane Adams - Sick (Peacock)
Carrie Coon - Boston Strangler (Hulu) [WINNER]
Renée Elise Goldsberry - Anything's Possible (Prime Video)
Melora Hardin - Clock (Hulu)
Evan Rachel Wood - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock)
LEAD ACTOR
Jon Cho - Don’t Make Me Go (Prime Video)
David Jonsson - Rye Lane (Hulu)
Jake Lacy - Significant Other (Paramount+)
Daniel Radcliffe - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Peacock) [WINNER]
Bowen Yang - Fire Island (Hulu)
LEAD ACTRESS
Kaley Cuoco - Meet Cute (Peacock)
Zoey Deutch - Not Okay (Hulu)
Kaitlyn Dever - Rosaline (Hulu)
Vivian Oparah - Rye Lane (Hulu)
Sydney Sweeney - Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
DIRECTING
Andrew Ahn - Fire Island (Hulu)
Dan Trachtenberg - Prey (Hulu)
Tina Satter - Reality (HBO Max) [WINNER]
Raine Allen-Miller - Rye Lane (Hulu)
John Hyams - Sick (Peacock)
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
Fire Island (Hulu)
John Hodges. Brooke Posch, and Tony Hernandez, producers
Reality (HBO Max)
Noah Stahl, Brad Becker-Parton, Riva Marker, and Greg Nobile, producers
Rosaline (Hulu)
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine, producers
Rye Lane (Hulu) [WINNER]
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo and Damian Jones, producers
Sick (Peacock)
Kevin Williamson, Bill Block, and Ben Fast, producers
*****
NOMINATION TALLY (PER FILM) IN THIS HYPOTHETICAL/PERSONAL BALLOT
13 - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
12 - Prey
11 - Rye Lane
9 - Fire Island
7 - Boston Strangler, Reality, Rosaline
5 - Hellraiser, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, Peter Pan & Wendy, Sick
3 - Clock, Not Okay, The Portable Door
2 - Anything’s Possible, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, Disenchanted, Do Revenge, Honor Society, Meet Cute, The People We Hate at the Wedding, Pinocchio, Run Sweetheart Run
1 - Don’t Make Me Go, Father of the Bride, Goodnight Mommy, Hocus Pocus 2, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, The Princess, Significant Other
NOMINATION TALLY (PER STUDIO)
58 - Hulu
20 - Peacock
10 - Disney+
9 - Prime Video
8 - HBO Max
7 - Netflix
5 - Paramount+
3 - MGM+
*****
WIN TALLY (PER FILM)
6 - Reality
3 - Fire Island
2 - Rye Lane, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
1 - Boston Strangler, Clock, Do Revenge, Hellraiser, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, Peter Pan & Wendy, The Portable Door, Prey, The Princess, Rosaline, Run Sweetheart Run
WIN TALLY (PER STUDIO)
11 - Hulu
6 - HBO Max
2 - Netflix, Peacock
1 - Disney+, MGM+, Prime Video
*****
What were your favorite TV/streaming movies from this Emmy cycle? I would also love to read your picks, dear readers.