Emmys Watch: The Embarrassment of Riches in Outstanding Limited Series

Our team is breaking down the top contenders in all the major Emmy races and highlighting some of our favorites over the next few weeks. Today, we’re looking at Outstanding Limited Series.

Will recent hit "Mare of Easttown" be able to dethrone Emmy favorite "The Queen's Gambit?"

By Christopher James

The Outstanding Limited Series category is perhaps the most competitive category of the year. Shows like The Queen’s Gambit, Mare of Easttown and WandaVision commanded the most (virtual) water cooler chatter of the past year. Even with all this abundance of quality, only five shows can make the cut, compared to eight nominees in the series categories. Prestige TV, streaming sensations and genre favorites all combine in the limited series category. This isn’t the first time that Limited Series has been more competitive than the ongoing series categories. The past decade has seen a modern renaissance of the form, with American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, Big Little Lies and When They See Us as recent examples of incredible and incredibly popular TV. Big stars have also been swayed to this form, primarily because of the rich stories told combined with the less stringent time commitment. This year is no different.

Read on to see what shows are in contention this year... 

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Gay Best Friend: Michael in "Camp" (2003)

a series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope

I wish I looked as good as Michael (Robin de Jesús) at my prom.Back in 2003 there weren’t many places where a gay kid wouldn’t be the “other” person. That’s why the “gay best friend” trope became so prevalent. Film would always show us the “token” gay person in a non-threatening supporting role, reinforcing that they were “different” than the norm. Camp flips this on its head. The comedy takes place at Camp Ovation, a musical theater camp outside of New York. It’s one of the few places where the gays outnumber the straight men.

This dichotomy between being “othered” and being welcomed is established in the first scene, with the song “How Shall I See You Through My Tears” from The Gospel of Colonus. This performance is intercut with the entrance of Michael (Robin de Jesús), as he arrives at prom in drag...

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Emmy Watch: Outstanding TV Movie

by Juan Carlos Ojano

In a year when most categories saw the number of their submissions drop, the Outstanding TV Movie category stands out as one of the few that actually had an increase in submissions (41 submissions from last year’s 28). On the flipside, this year saw even less high-profile contenders, adding to the growing indifference towards this category. Perhaps last year’s winner Bad Education set a high bar in how a “TV movie” can be received critically, faring well even in traditional film awards. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to blur what is considered a film and television, with streaming services now arbitrarily pushing some for Oscars and some for Emmys.

This year, let’s take a look at the field of contenders that we have (per platform)...

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Links: Sharon Stone, Britney Spears, Tower of Terror, The Little Mermaid

Let's start with the obvious...

Sharon Stone photographed by Michael Muller
• Zoomer Sharon Stone talks up her memoir and (eventually) sets the internet on fire by bringing up the idolization of Meryl Streep. Weird how it took this a whole month to go viral since actors usually only risk general platitudes about other people/careers in their interviews. Everything she says is true and if you actually read the interview, it's not a diss on Meryl; it's a diss on the system where there can only be one.

Paparazzi set photos from The Little Mermaid, Britney Spears,  Near Dark, Jean Smart's big year, Pride month and more after the jump in the link roundup...

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Train of Thought. If Harrison Ford can star in an action flick at 79...

by Nathaniel R

You've probably heard the report that 78 year old Harrison Ford has suffered a shoulder injury prepping for a scene in the as yet untitled Indiana Jones 5. We've already heard his age mentioned in a joking manner around the web but we're not going to join in the ageism of that. We would just like to point out that if Harrison Ford is going to do this at 79 (his birthday is in a couple of weeks) why can't actresses get action roles at that age? Well, okay, they let Helen Mirren do it a couple of times but we can never have enough actressy action and James Cameron takes decades off between movies. 

Herewith a list of women who are similar age to Harrison Ford who we'd love to see in an action flick. Sorry not sorry...

• Joanna Cassidy (75) still popping up on TV and always fun to watch. Plus she has classic Harrions Ford sci-fi on her resume already
• Goldie Hawn (75) nobody wants The Christmas Chronicles to be her last film!
• Jacqueline Bissett (76) still gorgeous. Why not a comeback?
• Wai Ching Ho (77) already proved she could do action scenes with aplomb in Daredevil
• Blythe Danner (78) you know she's versatile with genre
• Leslie Uggams (78) because that bit in the Deadpool franchise is not enough
• Holland Taylor (78) still so fabulous and funny. Plus authoritative!
• Faye Dunaway (80) she has rage she needs to work out
• Tina Turner (81) somebody coax her out of retirement with a role as good as "Auntie Entity" again
• Jane Fonda (83) still has the body and fierceness for it!

Just thinking out loud.