2019 Emmy Awards

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Sabin
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Sabin »

dws1982 wrote
I'm a big fan. I love the show's willingness to go out on a limb, creatively, and I love that, despite the philosophically dense concept, they're just as willing to use crazy sight gags for laughs as jokes about ethics and philosophy. My friends and I also love the way it satirizes certain Christian concepts of ethics and the afterlife, although not in a mean-spirited way.
I think Michael Shur is my favorite creative force in comedy today. Doing comedy in 2019 is a damn near impossible task. Niceness is such a double-edged sword because when done right it's evergreen, but when done wrong it's just limp and flat and even worse: clever. Funny and clever are such different things. Michael Shur finds the funny in nice so well. Andy Samberg's Jake Peralta could so easily be portrayed as a frat boy horndog, but they made the brilliant choice early on to play him as a true man-child in a perennial state of preadolescent sexual confusion he's barely aware of.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by dws1982 »

I'm a big fan. I love the show's willingness to go out on a limb, creatively, and I love that, despite the philosophically dense concept, they're just as willing to use crazy sight gags for laughs as jokes about ethics and philosophy. My friends and I also love the way it satirizes certain Christian concepts of ethics and the afterlife, although not in a mean-spirited way.
Sabin
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Sabin »

dws1982 wrote
Still haven't seen enough from the 18-19 season to have a real opinion about a lot of the awards, but I just watched the "Janet(s)" episode of The Good Place, and it's a shame that D'Arcy Carden wasn't nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Not sure if episode submissions play a huge part in the voting process, but back in the old days that episode would've made her a slam-dunk winner.
Thoughts on the show overall? I'm very much a fan. Initially I found it more clever than funny but I really think it's rather wonderful.
Last edited by Sabin on Sun Sep 29, 2019 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by OscarGuy »

D'Arcy Carden has been deserving of a Supporting Actress nomination since episode 1. She is undeniably the best part of that show.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by dws1982 »

Still haven't seen enough from the 18-19 season to have a real opinion about a lot of the awards, but I just watched the "Janet(s)" episode of The Good Place, and it's a shame that D'Arcy Carden wasn't nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Not sure if episode submissions play a huge part in the voting process, but back in the old days that episode would've made her a slam-dunk winner.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

My deep-dive paid off: instead of my usual "I wonder if these winners are any good" reaction to the Emmys, I had rooting interests most of the way, and, happily, many of my favorites came though: Borstein, Shalhoub, Fleabag all around, Chernobyl, Ben Whishaw, and, above all, Michelle Williams. (I REALLY didn't expect the latter to win -- when Arquette won her earlier supporting award, I thought to myself, maybe they're giving her that so Williams can beat her later...but I thought I was kidding myself.) I can't recall any recent Oscar night when so many choices made me so happy -- give or take a late bleat for Game of Thrones.

I'd thought Fleabag might be the sort of show that got a writing trophy, but the extent of its sweep was startling. Right to the end, I thought Mrs. Maisel might win the top prize -- or, given what happened with Game of Throes, even Veep. Mark Harris has objected to the best series award, not because he doubts its quality, but because he doesn't think it's truly a series -- by him, it's at best a miniseries, if not a TV movie. It is a fact that what voters were technically judging runs only about 2 1/2 hours (though I suspect many, like me, had never heard of the show prior to these nominations, and watched both seasons, bringing it up to 5 hours' material). This is a long way from the 26-episode season sitcoms that were the bedrock of this category (39 back in the day, when summer was the only rerun period). Modern Family may be the last such show to win this category, as first Veep's 11-week season displaced it, followed by Mrs. Maisel's 8 hours on binge release, and now Fleabag's 2 1/2 hours over six bingeable episodes.

It was, in fact, a night fully for the streaming services and premium cable stations -- Amazon took six of the seven comedy slots, HBO the other; Netflix, FX and others also won prizes. I believe the two barely-competitive awards to Saturday Night Live were the only traditional network victories. Related fact: ratings were an all-time low. As the Emmys honor niche shows -- however brilliant they may be -- their audience will dwindle. (Mark Harris, by the way, points out that the one show that is constantly being told it needs to appeal more to popular audiences -- the Oscars -- had roughly triple the Emmys' rating earlier this year.)

Harris also had the most helpful hint for the Emmy producers: about 40 minutes in, they should have gone to that guy making the snarky comments as winners ascended to the stage and said, Our bad, we thought this would be funny, but it's not, so stop right now.

So, yeah, mostly a lousily produced show. But there were any number of memorable speeches -- from Alex Borstein, Phoebe, Billy Porter, Jharrel Jerome and Michelle Williams -- to make it a fun show to sit through.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by danfrank »

I'm just impressed that the Emmy folks had the good taste to honor Fleabag, one of the best pieces of art in any form that I've consumed in recent years.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

Awful production from labored opening through numerous awkward presentations and the apparent mouthing of the song during In Memoriam segment in which the music and vocals stopped when the image in the prerecorded on-screen presentation froze. And who was that kibitzer making inappropriate remarks about the winners? One of the jokesters wouldn't have been amiss to have taken him and put him head down in a dumpster in an alley outside the theatre.

As for the awards, good that they didn't all go to previous winners but there are still too many being given out. The worst award was for Best TV Movie or whatever they're calling it now. The quality of single movies made for TV pales in comparison to what they're dong with mini-series these days. They should combine the award, as they do with the acting, writing and directing awards with the one for Best Mini-series which of course in most years it won't win, but then, how many of them even deserve a nomination these days?
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

Reza wrote:Happy for Jodie Comer, Ben Whishaw, Peter Dinklage and Michelle Phillips.
Michelle Phillips didn't win anything last night. I think you mean Michelle Williams.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Reza »

I agree the episode with the battle sequence in GOT should have won for its director.

Don't understand the adulation for Jharrel Jerome's performance. Of the other nominees Sam Rockwell or Hugh Grant were both much better. And am glad Julia Louis-Drefus did not win yet again. She already has far too many. Best to spread the wealth.

Happy for Jodie Comer, Ben Whishaw, Peter Dinklage and Michelle Williams.

I was so sure Maisie Williams would win. I also thought Gwendoline Christie was really very good during the last season especially in the submitted episode of GOT.

I don't have the patience to sit through many of the comedy and drama series but will watch both Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And Chernobyl and Escape At Dannemore, both of which I should have watched by now.
Last edited by Reza on Mon Sep 23, 2019 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by anonymous1980 »

Some thoughts:

- I'm kind of surprised they didn't give Veep a single goodbye Emmy. I thought it would at least win for Julia. I wasn't completely surprised by the Fleabag wins though.

- Jason Bateman winning for Directing continues the tradition of a random-ass winners in this category. I thought it was between Miguel Sapochnik (who directed the big Game of Thrones battle episode) and Adam McKay (movie director/Oscar winner directing a pilot).

- Yay for Jharrel Jerome and Michelle Williams!

- I'm actually happy Game of Thrones won.

- I need to watch Fleabag and Killing Eve.

- The host-less format didn't work as well in the Emmy show as it did in the Oscar show, IMO.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

Because, for the first time, I’ve had broad access to streaming services, I decided to cram for the Emmys this year – watching as much of this year’s crop as possible. Some of this required starting in the past (I needed to watch two seasons to get up to date with Barry, Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and watching other shows end to end (Bodyguard and Russian Doll). Even with this herculean effort, I doubt I’m much past 30-40% of the nominees…the Emmys just have too damn many categories and contenders. I wouldn’t presume to confidently predict outcomes, anyway: the Emmys have always struck me as way more capricious/unpredictable than the Oscars. But I do have some thoughts.

Overall take: having done this deep-dive -- including some episodes of Schitt’s Creek and Veep, half of Killing Eve Season 1, Brexit, A Very English Scandal and When They See Us (on top of the already-seen Chernobyl, Fosse/Verdon and Sharp Objects) -- I find it impossible to argue with the wide consensus that a huge percentage of the best screenwriting is now being done for television. The invention and wit of shows like Barry or Fleabag are almost never found on movie screens these days. The sense of character and place offered consistently by the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is also a stone-rarity. Even something that should be a movie-going staple – an intelligent thriller like Bodyguard or Killing Eve – simply doesn’t show up with any regularity in a movie-house, while being almost routine on one or another of the streaming services.

I know there are those who say, what difference does it make? – good writing is good writing, wherever it occurs. I don’t see it that way, for two reasons. First, I think the home-viewing experience is unavoidably a softer one – I do my best to immerse with TV, but find I’m often distracted at some point or another by something popping up on phone or computer (sometimes to the point where I have to go back and rewatch something). The level of involvement just can’t be the same as in a darkened theatre.

My second issue is more conceptual: I really prefer closed narratives. It’s not as if many of these shows don’t provide a semblance of that – I got through Bodyguard, Russian Doll, season 1 of Barry, and felt, great, you’ve told your story; let me move on to something else. But, apparently, I won’t be allowed that: Russian Doll threatens not just a second but a third season; Bodyguard is listed as series, not miniseries, so I presume it plans to cover the further adventures of a character who seemed perfectly explicated in the one season. Barry has already disappointed me: I just loved the arc of the first season – but found the second season largely re-plowed familiar territory without significant added value. (And I LOATHED the taekwondo episode.) Fleabag gets something of a pass from me on this score, because: 1) even though it was pretty perfectly resolved at the finish of season 1, season 2 DID add expanded value within the same context; 2) the two seasons only required five hours all together; and 3) Waller-Bridge seems to have wrapped it up after the two -- to which I say, many thanks!

Bottom line: I don’t like the “keep going till audiences don’t like us anymore” m.o. of most TV, and I’m actually a bit resentful that they’re taking away all this talent that might otherwise provide self-contained, catharsis-included experiences at the movies.

Anyway…what do I think about the categories?

Drama series…Though I’m in theory more devoted to drama than TV comedy, I find I’ve seen far fewer of the drama nominees here: just Better Call Saul, Bodyguard and part of the previous season’s Killing Eve. Everybody seems to think Game of Thrones is going to win yet again, even though it was a short season that seemed to massively disappoint its fans. Of what I’ve seen, I’d go Bodyguard, but that’s presumably hopeless.

Comedy series…The reason I’ve seen so much more comedy, despite not being a fan of the genre, is, I think, that these shows aren’t comedies in the classic sense of sitcoms that have won over the years. Mrs. Maisel is as richly textured as an Alexander Payne film (several of which have gone as drama at the Globes). Barry is like Breaking Bad with 20% more laughs. Russian Doll, with its Groundhog Day-spin, doesn’t seem like a comedy at all. And Fleabag, while laugh-out-loud funny at times, is way more painful than anything that ever happened on Seinfeld. Could Veep really win here again, just to salute its departure? (I’m only 4 seasons in, so I can’t judge this season’s quality independently.) Or is Mrs. Maisel set for a repeat? I could happily live with most of these nominees winning.

Actor – drama…This is the group of which I’ve seen the least; my rooting for Bob Odenkirk is based on “at least I’ve watched that” (and he’s been unrewarded for a long time). Billy Porter seems an out-there pick to me, but I don’t know who else would win.

Actress – drama…This is the one award Sandra Oh DIDN’T win last year (it was Claire Foy’s turn), so maybe she’ll win this time – though, based on what I’ve seen of season one, Jodie Comer is equally memorable and might split Eve fans. The rest of the nominees seem mostly fading favorites (Wright, Davis, Clarke) – so maybe Linney or Moore win?

Actor – comedy…Hader and a little bit of Season 1 Levy are all I’ve seen, so I have no idea what to pick. But Hader is pretty terrific on Barry (even if the show’s a bit less good the second time around), and he seems a likely repeat winner.

Actress – comedy…I’ve seen some of all but Applegate, and, what a group! Are they really going to give it YET AGAIN to Julia-Louis Dreyfus, just because it’s the last time? I’d love for it to be Phoebe Waller-Bridge; her timing –- especially her always-surprising turns to the camera –- is extraordinary. But I also love Brosnahan, and, yeah, Louis-Dreyfus, though I really think enough is enough.

Limited series…I think Chernobyl is by far the best thing on the roster, but When They See Us has been better promoted and I fear it’ll win for semi-political reasons. I found the show a mixed bag – maybe because I’d seen the excellent documentary, it seemed way too long to me, and, in the final episode, it drilled way too deep into the prison-misery.

Actor – limited series…However, I think, because of that episode, Jharrel Jerome is likely to win this category – Jared Harris didn’t have a flamboyant enough role, Sam Rockwell was outshone by his co-star; Hugh Grant is the only other one I can see really competing for the prize, and his show was much less widely nominated.

Actress – limited series…I’m handicapped by not having seen Patricia Arquette, who won at SAG and the Globes. I see from a still that she’s seriously de-glammed/fat-suited, which maybe explains why she’s been winning so much. My favorite of those I’ve seen is definitely Michelle Williams, and she’ll have my full rooting quotient.

I’m too tired to go through the MANY other categories at length, but I will say that supporting actress/comedy is full to the brim with people who deserve to win: Anna Chlumsky, for doing her role flawlessly over many seasons; Sarah Goldberg, for one seriously brilliant monologue; Sian Clifford, for playing an often unsympathetic role with such nuance; and Alex Borstein, who has the best dry delivery this side of Thelma Ritter. The others are also good, though, if anonymous’s prediction of Olivia Colman comes true, it’ll be truly a “you’ve had a great year, here’s a tag-on prize” – she really didn’t have enough to do on Fleabag to merit the trophy.

Looking forward to, for once, watching the show with at least a modicum of knowledge.
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by danfrank »

anonymous1980 wrote:Final predictions!

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Billy Porter, Pose (FX)/i])
I love Billy Porter for his fashion derring-do, and I have a soft spot for Pose for its unabashed queerness, but Porter’s acting in Pose is often embarrassingly bad. Of course that doesn’t mean he won’t win. Let’s hope, though, that the Emmy goes to a better actor
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by anonymous1980 »

Final predictions!

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Game of Thrones (HBO)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Chernobyl (HBO)

OUTSTANDING MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE
Deadwood the Movie (HBO)

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION SERIES
RuPaul's Drag Race (Bravo)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Billy Porter, Pose (FX)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Mandy Moore, This Is Us (NBC)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Bill Hader, Barry (HBO)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES or MOVIE
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us (Netflix)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES or MOVIE
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon (FX)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Julia Garner, Ozark (Netflix)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Olivia Colman, Fleabag (Amazon)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES or MOVIE
Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal (Amazon)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES or MOVIE
Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects (HBO)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Miguel Sapochnik, Game of Thrones ("The Long Night") (HBO)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Jesse Armstrong, Succession ("No One Is Ever Missing") (HBO)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Bill Hader, Barry ("ronny/lily") (HBO)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag ("Episode 1") (Amazon)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR LIMITED SERIES or MOVIE
Ava DuVernay, When They See Us (Netflix)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES or MOVIE
Craig Mazin, Chernobyl (HBO)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino and Dan Mazer, Who is America ("Episode 102") (Showtime)

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
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Re: 2019 Emmy Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

anonymous1980 wrote:James Corden inexplicably once again wins the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) Emmy over both Nanette (which at least won Writing) and Beyonce's superb concert film, Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce (which won nothing).
I can't comment on the other nominees, none of which I've seen. But Corden's McCartney show was pure opiate for baby boomers. Everyone I know found it pure bliss.
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