Emmy Watch: What new shows will join the Best Drama Series lineup?

Emmy nominations are closer than you think! Our team is breaking down the top contenders in all the major races and highlighting some of our favorites over the next few weeks. We’ll begin with Best Drama Series.

By Abe Friedtanzer

At this point last year, production shutdowns weren’t really going to affect the Emmy Awards since so many of the series had already aired their seasons in the back half of 2019 or early 2020. This time around, things are very different, as many shows that would have theoretically been top contenders haven’t yet returned. Here’s the most jarring statistic: last year there were eleven shows that had been nominated the previous time they were eligible (seven made the cut again). This year, there are only three. Let’s break down the few returning shows that might be back and the wide array of possibilities that could fill the remaining slots… 

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Happy 75th birthday to Cher!

We're running a bit behind (if I could turn back ti---umm) but we'll celebrate soon.

You Can Count On Me: Fraternal Cinema

In preparation for Thursday's Smackdown Team Experience is traveling back to 2000.

by Cláudio Alves

Mainstream cinema, such as it is, has an understandable fondness for the portrayal of interpersonal relationships. That's what happens when narrative cinema dominates and character-based drama is the rule. Nevertheless, it's interesting to note how some bonds are more privileged than others in storytelling. Romantic love is common. Friendship has its own subgenres. Parents and children are at the center of many tales. Enemies, rivals, hateful adversaries have their place too. But sibling relationships, though very common in life, are very rarely at the forefront of any given motion picture. Consequentially, when such a film appears, there's an added value to its existence. At least, that's how I feel.

Kenneth Lonergan's debut feature, You Can Count On Me, is probably one of the best examples of this rare fraternal cinema…

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Are we really getting TEN movie musicals in 2021?

by Nathaniel R

In the Heights

In the recent Yes No Maybe So post I mentioned that we were getting three musicals in the space of seven months. But that was a gross understatement as I hadn't yet finished my Oscar chart research for 2021. There are actually TEN musicals... no make that eleven (!) that are supposed to arrive before Christmas. Release dates are subject to change, of course. The current schedule represents Hollywood doubling-down, no quintupling down, on audiences salivating en masse for musicals in the way they currently only do for animated fare and superhero films. (That'd be a wonderful world of course, if audiences were so inclined.)

Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, is spectacularly talented but looking at this schedule we're a little worried for him. We don't want Miranda to become the next Ryan Murphy -- i.e. stretched thin, predictable, veering into being a Brand first and artist second, and offering diminishing returns. Given that Miranda is involved in more than a third of these musicals, that's a major oversaturation risk. Tell us which of these ten you're most excited about in the comments...

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A Love Letter to Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous"

In preparation for the next Smackdown Team Experience is traveling back to 2000.

This photo is an instant serotonin hit.

By: Christopher James

Almost Famous is a love story. That’s not as a reference to teenage journalist wunderkind William (Patrick Fugit) and his love for legendary “band-aide” Penny Lane (Kate Hudson). It’s also not a reference to William’s adoration for the band Stillwater, which sets off the chain of events. Writer-director Cameron Crowe made Almost Famous as a love letter to professional passion. William loves music and just wants outlets to profess his feelings on the subject. Can a journalist be a fan? This is a question asked multiple times throughout the movie. In the end, the answer is yes and no. You have to love something enough to devote your life to it, but not so much that you get swallowed up by it...

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