TV Review – ‘Breeders’ Returns for a Great Final Season

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s rare to find a truly endearing comedy that deals well with the nuances of parenting and deftly handles dramatic moments in a compelling way. I’d argue there are two vastly underappreciated such shows, Trying from Apple TV+ and Breeders from FX. The former was renewed for a fourth season almost a year ago, and the fourth and final season of the latter is officially here. If you haven’t seen either, now is the time to check them out, and I would highly recommend starting with the lovely Breeders, which you can find on Hulu.

Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard star as parents who are struggling to stay afloat. Their disciplinary strategies aren’t always the same...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Analysis: Drama Guest Categories

By Abe Friedtanzer

Hiam Abbass

Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series and Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series are two of the races where only two HBO series are represented, and they also happen to contain nominees from the exact same two shows: The Last of Us and Succession. Before we get to the people recognized and the work they did (spoiler alerts for both series), let’s take a look at the history of these categories and whether this has happened in the past...

Click to read more ...

The Strange History of Iconic TV Characters That Never Won Emmys.

by Eric Blume

It seems inconceivable that Brian Cox will not win an Emmy for his towering, iconic performance as Logan Roy, the heart and soul (relatively speaking) of one of television’s all-time greatest shows, Succession.  And yet, it appears he will not!  Cox only has a handful of episodes, far less a cumulative punch than his fellow nominees for Best Actor in Drama Series.  He simply didn’t have enough screen time in this final season to pull through with a victory. If Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook win the lead Emmys (which I strongly believe they will), that means that all of Cox’s key co-stars will walk away from the series with the industry’s highest honor, while its central figure will go unrewarded.  It’s a great example of the randomness and silliness of awards shows.  It's not that his co-stars didn't absolutely deserve it, but it's crazy that the mighty Cox will go Emmyless.

Still, he’s in good company. After the jump let's look at a few other actors who created truly quintessential characters on major shows, but despite many nominations, never won the elusive Emmy for their creation...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Predictions: Comedy Categories

By Abe Friedtanzer

Anthony Carrigan and Michael Irby in Barry

Whereas the drama series race can only bring back three of last year’s nominees, six of the comedy honorees are eligible again this year (Hacks and Curb Your Enthusiasm are the two that aren’t). It’s also the final season of heavyweights like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry, and Ted Lasso  along with two other past nominees, Atlanta and Dead to Me. There’s a slate of new shows in contention, like The Bear, Wednesday, Shrinking, and Poker Face, and it’s important not to forget the show that’s on the rise and likely to be the one to beat this year: Abbott Elementary.

The true challenge of predicting these races is the number of nominees in each based on the number of submissions on the ballot, especially in comparison to the drama categories. Both supporting races only have seven nominees, not eight. Lead actor and actress have five, not six. And the directing and writing categories each have six, but one of the directing nominees has to be a multi-camera show (which has resulted in surprising nominees like B Positive and especially The Ms. Pat Show, which is eligible again this year). There are going to be many deserving shows and performers snubbed as a result, and it’s almost impossible to choose what will get left off and what will make the cut. But let’s try…

Click to read more ...

Happy Birthday, Shelley Duvall!

by Cláudio Alves

Shelley Duvall is one of a kind. Upon seeing her work in Altman's 3 Women, Andrew Sarris compared her to "a young Katharine Hepburn," while Pauline Kael said she was the "closest thing we've ever come to a female Buster Keaton." And yet, the critic would also inevitably arrive at the same conclusion that she was unique. "There are no forebears or influences that would help to explain Shelley Duvall's acting; she doesn't seem to owe anything to anyone." And so, it's a tragedy that, nowadays, she's mostly remembered as the woman broken by Stanley Kubrick during The Shining's grueling shoot, a pop psychology misreading that's spread through social media despite Duvall's own words on the matter.

Infuriating, it's condescending to a great multi-hyphenated artist whose independence and ambition defined a decades-spanning career in entertainment. Let's keep the wonders of Duvall's work alive and bright, let's remember and honor. I invite you to celebrate the iconoclast on this special occasion, the actress' 74th birthday in a year marked by her return to cinema in The Forest Hills…

Click to read more ...