Emmy FYC: Best Actress in a Drama Series

Team Experience is sharing FYCs as the Television Academy votes on Emmy nominations (voting closes on June 24th). Here's J.B...

Last year's winner Claire Foy can't repeat (as Emmy likes to do) because she didn't have a TV show this year.I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Emmy category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.  As someone who worships at the altar of dramatic actresses, it’s my favorite category, and therefore necessarily the one that causes me the greatest anguish. Sometimes, this category shocks and delights (as it did in 2014, when Lizzy Caplan was nominated for her wonderful work on Masters of Sex, or 2016, when Tatianna Maslany took home the trophy for her dynamic performance in Orphan Black). But more often, as of late, anyway, I’ve been left wounded by egregious snubs and unwelcome surprises on nomination morning and Emmy night.

For example, I like Claire Danes, but did she really need a SECOND Emmy for her performance on Homeland, at the expense of Elisabeth Moss, who somehow never won for her iconic role on Mad Men? If Moss had won for Mad Men perhaps voters could have skipped her in turn for Claire Foy in The Crown, thus clearing the way for Keri Russell in 2018, whose turn as Elizabeth Jennings in The Americans is maybe the greatest dramatic performance of the decade. Keri’s loss, in particular, I still haven’t fully recovered from.

So, to any Emmy voters out there who have realized the error of their ways and are looking to make amend: You CAN’T! You’ve made bad choices, the consequences of which we all will have to live with! Know that. BUT, if you are looking to get on the right side of history this year, start by considering the following four names on your ballot for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series...

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A First Look at HBO's "Deuce"

Chris here. David Simon is something of an HBO perennial, delivering the likes of The Wire, Treme, and the Oscar Isaac-led mini Show Me A Hero to much acclaim. He's back (along with his frequent collaborator George Pelecanos) this fall for another round of prestige grit with crime series The Deuce, an NYC-set look at the rise of the porn industry and its violent underbelly.

Now before you go calling this HBO's next Vinyl, consider that it also gives us twin James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal in several wigs. There is a lot to take in for a seemingly familiar series: a logo that looks like it belongs in an Atlantic City lounge, campy period detail, dialogue that feels intentionally cheesy. I'm not sure if the tone is supposed to be slightly off-kilter, but there are enough bizarre elements to make The Deuce more intriguing than another severe Goodfellas retread. While the first look below features a lot of the expected plots points for such material, it also hints that we could be getting some peak form Gyllenhaal among its glossy production value. The Deuce debuts September 10.