RUSSIAN DOLL nominated as Best Comedy? I liked RUSSIAN DOLL, but shouldn’t a comedy be funny… for at least one second?
Christina Applegate as Lead Actress in a Comedy Series? Again, funny for one fucking second? Just one? How is Christina Applegate, who played this sour one-note widow on DEAD TO ME in the same category as Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Catherine O’Hara?
BETTER CALL SAUL, which does have very funny moments in it, is nominated for Best Drama Series while RUSSIAN DOLL is nominated for Best Comedy.
And of course THE BIG BANG THEORY and MOM and MODERN FAMILY and SUPER STORE and YOUNG SHELDON and KIMMY SCHMIDT and BROOKLYN 99 and half a dozen other series that ARE comedies and do try to make people laugh are shut out. But shows like RUSSIAN DOLL and DEAD TO ME are getting Emmy love.
Meanwhile, there were more laugh-out-loud moments on THE GOOD FIGHT than any drama or comedy this season. They got zilch.
Look, there are now so many shows on so many platforms and so much overlap in style that the Emmys in its current form is a joke. Practically every category is now comparing apples to oranges.
And TV ratings will continue to plummet because most people will not have watched these show, or even know what they’re about or how to find them. Not to mention the shows behind pay walls that they can’t watch.
The Academy still doesn’t know if it’s going to hire a host. Like that will make the difference.
Well, I’m done.
And I’m guessing America is too so why review something no one has seen? What ballgame is on that night?
43 comments :
I’m with you. I’m not in the television industry in any way so I don’t care who wins. My résumé won’t change.
Instead of reviewing the Emmys, what awards would you hand out for the Levines?
I'd love to see that, if only to discover some gems that I may have overlooked last season.
Completely agree with you on THE GOOD FIGHT. The show makes me laugh out loud frequently. It also scares me. And has the best ensemble cast on television.
Me too.
There used to be an occasional show nominated that I hadn't heard of. Now there are NETWORKS that are news to me.
As I've written before, the networks should simply unite and refuse to carry the Emmys until separate categories are created for over-the-air content (covering ABC, CBS, the CW, Fox and NBC) -- sort of the old Cable ACE awards in reverse. If David Bianculli and other TV snobs don't like that, tough bananas.
Can't add anything to that.
M.B.
I see Killing Eve was also nominated in the Outstanding Drama Series category as well. Yet I could have easily seen it in the Outstanding (albeit Very Dark) Comedy Series category.
I finally checked the nominations list online, and I saw actor nominations in both comedy and drama for the SAME SHOW (FLEABAG)! Something like that just confuses definitions even more.
But the biggest offense, though, is no Emmy nomination for D'Arcy Carden for her amazing performance in THE GOOD PLACE ("Janet(s)"), where she played Janet versions of the other characters and was brilliant doing it. I wasn't the only one thinking "Emmy performance" watching it. Yes, I know the award is for an entire season, but that should've put it over the top.
The episode did get its writers a nod, and well deserved, but that and having her announce her lack of a nomination (as it were) seem like consolation prizes.
The Emmys have been the only awards show I watch anymore, but I may follow Ken's lead here. Having said all that, I will root for Kate McKinnon to win that category.
Personally, I just think they should give all the awards to Fleabag this year, with one extra for Jodie Comer.
Categories also keep expanding in number of people recognized (seven, eight names in some instances) and I see this regularly influencing the Academy Awards categories (which already allows up to ten Best Picture finalists) in years to come. After a while what was special about being "best" or particularly outstanding (when confined to a field of five, sometimes three) won't feel so "special" anymore. Also, I'm surprised when anything produced by the "major networks" is recognized...in any category.
I'm with VP81955. There should be separate catagories. Good performances like Zoe Perry (Young Sheldon) get ignored.
Come up with your own awards, I like it.
Pam, St. Louis
This seems like a good time to say thanks (again) for reviewing Russian Doll. And I agree that it's NOT a "comedy" - though some of the repeated "ways to die" had a grim humor of a sort.
I'm a big fan of MOM but I stick to the late-morning reruns because I can't find it in primetime. I was told Thursday but when I checked there was only some CSI dead body show.
Which only proves the point that comedy is subjective. I wasn't at all surprised to see "Russian Doll" in the comedy category, but was flabbergasted when you said "The Graduate" was a comedy.
I agree with kitano0 about "Fleabag" and Mibbitmaker about D'Arcy Carden.
Since I haven't turned on my television in years, I was surprised to see how many shows that were nominated that I've actually watched. Thank you, streaming services.
Couldn't agree more with WBJF about the nominee inflation making the Oscars less special. They claim it's because they want to recognize more of the great films out there, but it's really to make room for something that somebody actually paid to watch in hopes they'll tune in to the TV show. I love contemplating the Academy's embarrassment when they claim they just had to open up 10 slots to recognize all the great deserving films, and they still can't come up with more than three that were worth seeing. Even better is when there's a maximum of 10 allowed and only, say, eight nominees. Then, even Hollywood is admitting that there were no more than eight movies all year that were worthy of even a watered-down nomination.
I stopped watching the Emmy Awards long ago, when they started giving the awards to certain pet shows and performers over and over and over (Candace Bergen, The Daily Show, Modern Family, etc.), repeatedly snubbing fresher and better choices and making every year seem like a rerun. When Hugh Laurie finished the entire run of "House MD" without ever winning Best Actor in either Comedy or Drama (he deserved it in both), I said "so long" for good. The recent trend of giving the "Best Comedy" award to completely unfunny but politically woke obscurities like "Transparent" only confirmed that I was correct to go bathe my parrots that night.
Can't argue with you. It's gotten ridiculous. "Russian Doll" isn't a comedy, it's a test of patience.
I will disagree with one point; they need a solid, funny host or I may not bother watching either. As you mentioned, the prizes are so poorly nominated that I have very little to look forward to or root for so the ONLY salvageable part of the show is if an entertaining host can amuse me for 3 hours.
Absurdity is the ripe fruit of comedy gold! So is mixed metaphors. Please change your mind and don't review it, skewer it. I bet you could find tons of crazy to make fun of! Please watch it and make fun of it. I wont be watching but I will read your Skewer Review of it.
I quit watching award shows because they have be one irrelevant. I don't watch the nominated shows nor see the movies, contporary music sucks,anda afford to see a Broadway play?
My mother used to call them the enema awards. She was ahead of her time.
They should have a Dramedy category, this way it really is apples and oranges, as you say.
This season of FLEABAG was fantastic, really glad Phoebe Waller-Bridge is recognized for her work there, both in front of and behind the camera. Shame Andrew Scott isn't nominated, he's a big part of what made this season so great. The omission is especially glaring considering most of the other actors got nominated, including Fiona Shaw for guest actress - she was in *one* scene!
Finally, was surprised that pretty much the entire cast of GAME OF THRONES was nominated. I stopped watching in Season 2, but doubt their acting has improved by that much.
I've long thought it wasn't fair for a network show to have to compete with a pay tv show.
An HBO show but do ten episodes a season and can have years between seasons. Plus the HBO show doesn't have to content with sponsors or broadcast censorship.
Dan in Missouri
I love a good Emmy review, but having The Levine Awards would make up for no Emmy review!
The Levine Awards -- there's a podcast I would happily listen to!
Chris Kerr. take a bow!
I'm in my mid 50's. I'm probably not the target audience for a show like Fleabag and more the demographic for traditional sitcom fare like BBT, Young Sheldon, etc, and yet a show like Fleabag (or Catastrophe, or Scrotal Recall, or Crashing) appeals to my funny bone far more than the "setup-setup-punchline" beat of the traditional sitcom fare that you favor, Ken. Frankly, I've gotten sick of watching sitcom plots that, if you remove the modern slang and references to vaginas, could have easily been acted out by Lucy and Ethel or Ralph and Alice. The only network comedy I ever watch (and more importantly, look forward to watching) is "The Good Place", which tends to go above any beyond the standard sitcom pitch of "fat slob hubby and hot younger wife run a vegan donut shop and hilarity ensues". Traditional sitcom comedy fare like "Kevin Can Wait" would cause me to go for the remote so fast that I risk a friction burn on my hand, but I'll rewatch "Brockmire" repeatedly and enjoy it every time.
Comedy tastes can change. That being said, the Emmy Awards are total BS, and I agree with Pat Reeder; they're not a recognition of quality, they're perfect attendance awards for the teacher's pets.
I'm just glad that Leaving Neverland has got five nominations, not least because it's amusing reading tweets by upset Michael Jackson fanatics who still insist their hero was innocent. I hope it wins in all its categories.
I can hardly blame you for not skewering the Emmy's the year. For my own part, the ONLY TIME I EVER tuned in was to see the Mad Men actresses and Weiner and writing team (but mainly that lovely bunch in designer gowns).
However, if you have a change of heart/mind/stomach, I'll be happy to read your blog post on it - or podcast - or both.
And one more thing: If the networks ever sponsor their own TV awards, make sure the comedy category has separate divisions for multi-cam and single-cam series. Shows filmed before an audience such as "Mom" (give it a try, Aaron Sheckley; it's terrific) are completely different entities from their single-cam brethren.
Blast from the past! I had completely forgotten about the old Cable ACE Awards.....
Actually, I did watch "Mom", VP, when it initially came on, because I like Allison Janney, but I lost interest rather quickly. Strip away the veneer of addiction that was added to make the comedy seem edgy, and it's still just another sitcom with improbable characters following in the lockstep of every other Chuck Lorre comedy, where the humor is based on non-stop insults and putdowns being delivered by characters who we're supposed to believe care about each other because the writers tell us they do. I have caught individual episodes featuring William Fitchner, who I think is terrific, but he doesn't make the show watchable for me.
If I want to see addicts and addiction portrayed in a darkly funny way that embraces the realities of actual addiction and doesn't resort to sitcom tropes, I can always re-watch "Trainspotting".
Unfortunately, the ball game is behind a paywall too!
I have no idea what I’m talking about, but it feels like the television industry is going through a rebirth or a gastric implosion.
I have no idea what I’m talking about, but it feels like nothing we now accept as entertainment awards will remain the same much longer.
When we have President who openly rips at the fabric and joy of American beliefs, how can Emmy’s remain undisturbed?
But, I have no idea what I’m talking about.
Hm. We didn’t even care about this back in the 1960s and ‘70s, either..Yawn snooze ....
Speaking of awards, here's a question. I'm a big fanboy of the Kennedy Center Honors, which annually recognize five people/groups for lifetime achievement in and contribution to American performing arts. Besides musicians, actors, dancers and directors, a few television-primary have been honored, including Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Norman Lear and (until it was stripped upon his conviction) Bill Cosby. What television people would you nominate for this honor? Notes: 1) The person must be living, so they can be present at the ceremony; and 2) non-Americans are eligible (Britons Paul McCartney and Andrew Lloyd Webber are honorees, for example).
Right now, there's no Sunday Night Baseball game set for September 22. ESPN has a few good games to choose from - Red Sox/Rays, Cardinals/Cubs, and Rangers/Athletics seem most likely. So yeah, you'll have something fun to watch that isn't the CableEmmys.
Isn't the problem really that the Academy changed the rules so everything half-hour = comedy and everything hour = drama, at least nominationwise? But when they did that they didn't change the category names to "best short form show" or whatever they want to call it? I thought they changed that rule to avoid hour-long dramedies taking up space in the comedy category, but it seems now there are more short shows hugging the line, so it's actually worse.
This week 50 years ago must have been a remarkable few days for those who lived through it. I wasn't born yet, so I can only imagine the shock of the Chappaquiddick tragedy and then the moon landing two days later, followed just weeks later with the Manson Family murders. A summer that was by turns triumphant and horrific.
Ken, I've not read The Me Generation yet. Do you cover these events in your book?
I'd also welcome any recollections by readers who lived through that era.
I find it hilarious, but I thought the daily press conferences was a show, Inspired by the book and tv show by Justin Halpern, "Sh$t the President Says".....
Peter,
I do cover those events in my book.
Thanks, Ken! I'm fascinated by the 60s, especially with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood coming up, so I'll get your book. I enjoyed Must Kill TV, so I know it'll be funny.
Looks like the folks doing the nominations are trying to look hip. Reminds me of the year the Grammy for best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Recording went to Jethro Tull over more deserving bands like Metallica and Jane's Addiction.
The half hour comedies have, for the most part, become too dark and cynical. I suppose what we watch is a reflection of our current culture but underneath the tweets and soundbytes there are some positive things occurring too. However, when these are reflected in sitcoms, these shows are usually destroyed by TV critics. Where is "One Day At A Time"? Oh yeah, I forgot its not hip to like it even though it has had good critical reception since the beginning. "Succession" is just a soap opera like Dallas with some political gobbledygook thrown in for added pleasure. I must admit that I enjoyed "The Kominsky Method" even though Chuck Lorre shows are 'way too mainstream.' And I one of the shows I enjoyed the most this year, "Lodge 49", has already become the redheaded stepchild of AMC for some reason but, hey, there's always reruns of (place the name of your favorite classic show here) on, right?
Sure as heck looks to me like the good comedies like Russian Doll and Dead To Me got nominated, so what's the issue?
The Emmys have always been my Oscars, and I'll admit that I haven't bothered for years, but they'll actually get me to tune in this year because of SCHITT'S CREEK getting some well-deserved recognition.
It seemed like there was a long run where the nominations were based almost solely on how big of a party planning and billboard budget each network had. That a cheaply produced, Canadian show with a big heart managed to break through gives me a glimmer of hope for the Emmys. They've still got a long way to go, and some serious work to do on how they define categories, but I'll take what I can get for now.
What's interesting to me, and maybe a topic for further discussion on the blog, is that POP TV/CBC's SCHITT'S CREEK hardly had any viewers its first two years until Netflix picked it up in 2017, then it started to catch on. In turn, POP TV came into the resources to pickup ONE DAY AT A TIME from Netflix when they dropped it, and is going to try to nurse it back to health. Is that a first for that type of symbiosis?
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