Emmy Analysis: A close race in Outstanding Writing for Limited Series or TV Movie

The Film Experience Team takes a look at the episode submissions for all the major Emmy categories.

by Cláudio Alves 

Unlike the Drama and Comedy writing categories at the Emmys, the Limited Series or TV Movie one can find entire seasons competing against solo episodes or single films. In the recent past, individual chapters of Sherlock and Black Mirror, classified as TV movies, won out against juggernaut series such as Fargo and Big Little Lies. This year, there are no such "movies" nominees. Indeed, despite six slots, only four series are recognized across the board. Wandavision is the nomination leader as well as the only show competing with single episodes instead of seasons. Indeed, with three nods, it thus becomes only the second limited series to score triple writing nods in the same year. The first one was American Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson. That Ryan Murphy show won in 2016, despite the threat of vote splitting, and maybe the Disney+ program can do the same. Let's take a look at the nominees…

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Emmy Analysis: Can "Ted Lasso" beat itself to Outstanding Comedy Writing?

The Film Experience Team takes a look at the episode submissions for all the major Emmy categories.

By Nathaniel R

Oustanding Writing in a Comedy Series has paired with the Comedy Series winner for the past three consecutive years even though a different show won each time (Mrs Maisel, Fleabag, Schitt's Creek). This was true even when the winning show had multiple writing nominations so it should have (theoretically) been splitting its vote. This suggests that the adorable and brilliant frontrunner Ted Lasso is going to win with ease... but which episode? WAIT, not so fast. Not long at all before that, Master of None and Louie both took this prize twice beating out their year's Comedy series winner (Veep and Modern Family). In the not-so distant case of Master of None vs Veep, Veep had multiple nominated episodes both times, theoretically splitting its own vote. This suggests Ted Lasso could also lose. But to what?

So let’s take a look at the nominees... 

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Oscar Predictions: Will Best Actress be dominated by biopics yet again?

by Nathaniel R

Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin in "Respect"

We'd love not to be a broken record but until the Academy isn't, we must sing the same choppy tune: The Academy has a biopic problem. They just can't give them up and nearly always view mimicry (of various degrees) as more of an achievement than character creation from scratch. We'll never understand it exactly but it keeps reasserting its truth. So that's always where you have to begin with predictions. This year's Best Actress category has the potential to be entirely performances based on real people.

Not that it will be. There are (that we know of thus far) seven real life characters as female leading roles this season...

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Oscar Charts: Will we have a "double" again in Best Supporting Actress?

by Nathaniel R

Ann Dowd and Martha Plimpton star in "Mass"

We may have gotten a little carried away with wishful thinking in (some) of our Supporting Actress chart building this time around. You see, so many actresses we love that have never or only once been in the Oscar race have what sound like amazing parts this year. But it's early enough in the year that optimistic guesses are as good as pessimistic guesses. At least that's true in the supporting categories where less is usually known this early about the roles themselves.

But what we found most interesting while thinking through the first predictions of the year was how many films have the potential for a double nomination in Best Supporting Actress...

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Oscar Charts: Will "Best Actor" be Peter Dinklage vs Will Smith?

by Nathaniel R

Peter Dinklage in the 2019 stage production of Cyrano. Photo from Jeenah Moon for the New York Times

Jose Ferrer won the Oscar playing Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) and forty years later French movie star Gérard Depardieu was nominated for the same role. Thirty-one years later will Peter Dinklage prove lucky number three while having a go at the classic big-nosed role? About that big-nose, though. In the pre-COVID stage run, the production got people talking partially because it made significat alterations to the material, the most visible of which was the lack of that infamous nose. The thinking was that we all have things that make us insecure so the world-famous nose might be a stand-in for anything.

The other major alteration was that it was a musical with songs by The National. What will Joe Wright make of all this for the big screen?

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