Introducing the Smackdown Panelists for '02

Are you enjoying our super-sized Supporting Actress Smackdown season? We've already discussed 1947 and 1981. Because you were all clamoring for 2002 to be covered this season we're pulling out the razzle dazzle with a panel as merry as those murderesses of Chicago. Yes, in the upcoming Smackdown we'll be talking about that musical as well as Kathy Bates in the hot tub in About Schmidt , Meryl Streep stoned in Adaptation, and the saphhic literary-triptych The Hours. So start rewatching those flicks. Now, let's meet the panel.

PLEASE WELCOME IN ALPHA ORDER ... 

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Review: "The Great" on Hulu

by Cláudio Alves

Most dramatizations of history have a difficult, often unbalanced, relationship with facts. Reality is notoriously devoid of narrative structure, which makes taking departures and creative license into an essential crime. The troubles arise when the parameters of adaptation aren't clear, when fiction dresses itself as truth, and confusion blooms from pretension. Hulu's biographical series about the early years of Catherine the Great in Russia is unencumbered by such issues, sidestepping them with irreverence. At the start of each episode, a title card points out that this miniseries is only occasionally based on things that really happened.

The rest of it is hilarious fantasy, a play on history that turns the rise of Russia's empress and reformer into the stuff of romantic comedy. It's a black-hearted farce that's unafraid and unashamed of being silly…

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May Retrospective: "A New Leaf" (1971)

by Cláudio Alves

A master comedian of immense historical importance, a Tony Award-winning stage actress, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, and one of the greatest American directors of the 1970s. Those are portentous descriptors, each of them difficult to earn individually during a lifetime. For someone to deserve them all is astounding, but astounding is an ever-appropriate word to categorize Elaine May.

She remains a genius through-and-through and, despite her career as a movie director having been abruptly halted in the late 80s, many are devoted to the celebration of her directorial legacy to this day. If you need any proof that Hollywood has little respect for the talent of female directors, look no further than the example of Elaine May whose filmography we are here honoring. After all, what better time to sing the praises of May than during the merry month of May?

First up, we have 1971's A New Leaf…

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Emmy Watch: Supporting Actress in a Comedy

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

We’re looking at another Emmy Awards category today – Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. This category has been overstuffed recently, offering a whopping eight nominees for two years in a row but half of last year’s slate isn’t eligible this time around, with six-time nominee Anna Chlumsky (Veep) and new additions Sian Clifford and Olivia Colman (Fleabag) out as a result of their shows ending and Sarah Goldberg (Barry) off the ballot until whenever her show returns...

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Emmy Watch: Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Can someone from Space Force, like John Malkovich, storm in with a relatively sparse field of players?

Comedy isn’t as crowded as drama this awards season, in part because more than half of last year’s nominees in the race aren’t eligible this time around, and there’s no wave of returning nominees set to automatically refill those slots. Henry Winkler, Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root will all need to wait for whenever Barry premieres its third season. Two-time winner Tony Hale (Veep) won’t be back because his show ended. That leaves just two potential consecutive returning nominees, and it would be a big surprise if either of them missed: defending champion Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method). They could easily be joined by a handful of eligible past nominees if voters are feeling nostalgic

The past four years...

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