2021 Emmy Awards

[Greg]

I have not seen any of the current winners that are on streaming. Is anyone else like me and does not subscribe to any streaming services as I do not want to subscribe to a service for what will probably be just one series and one or two movies? If what I read about series/movies interest me, I wait until they come out on video, or, in the case of movies, watch on Amazon with an Amazon gift card.

[mlrg]

Viewers of the ceremony up 16% compared to last year and higher than 2019.

[Sabin]

I'm just glad that we're seeing different winners for Best Comedy Series. Over the last four years, we've seen four different series win. Before that, we had Veep for three years, Modern Family for five, and 30 Rock for three.

To be fair, I'm more excited about the last three of them because The Marvelous Ms. Maisel is an hour-long dramedy and it always seems a bit unfair when something an hour-long is in competition with something thirty minutes. Although it seems like they have a tendency to end up losing: Desperate Housewives vs. Everybody Loves Raymond, Orange is the New Black vs. Modern Family, Transparent vs. Veep...

But the last three sitcoms to win (Fleabag, Schitt's Creek, Ted Lasso) feel like exciting reminders of how to be funny in an increasingly crazy world. These are good shows, they're funny in different ways, and they don't feel like they're retreating from the real world.

[Big Magilla]

The show itself was all over the place with no control over boringly rude speeches that ran over their limit. I could have listened to Kate Winslet, Jean Smart, and Debbie Allen go on all night, but some of them (Scott Frank, Stephen Colbert in particular) just droned on and on, repeating themselves over and over again.

I had no issue with any of the wins, but I don't know how many surprises there were because I had no idea who or what would win most of the awards.

I was nicely surprised by Julianne Nicholson's win because I knew Jean Smart, who I favored, would win for Hacks. Evan Peters was a nice surprise, but then I had no idea who would win his category.

I realized as soon as Tobias Menzies won for The Crown that Olivia Colman's chances at winning Best Actress over Emma Corrin had just taken a giant leap.

Ewan McGregor was a surprise in a weak category of which I thought his was the weakest performance.

The In Memoriam segment was, as usual, botched. With the musicians filling the screen for most of the presentation, it was difficult at times to see the names of the people whose faces I didn't recognize.

On to the Tonys next week!

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
Much as I like John Oliver's show, the Emmy are so lazy in that category -- a decade of The Daily Show, followed by half a decade of Last Week Tonight. You never really have the sense voters are judging individual seasons or achievements; they're just checking off boxes. In that vein, I'm happy for Colbert winning that other category; he's been doing good, inventive work for some time and never getting acknowledgement.

It's funny that you say this but a lack of acknowledgment isn't something I really associate with Stephen Colbert, although I definitely agree with you about how lazy this category has been. The one show that's broken the Daily Show/Last Week Tonight streak has been The Colbert Report, which means that essentially this category has been owned by one franchise more or less since 2003. I'm a bit mixed on Stephen Colbert's new show. At its best, there's a Dick Cavett quality but I just don't like his interviews enough.

I was rooting for Conan O'Brien. He's been on the air since 1993 and hasn't won for a show he's hosted once. Like a lot of older millennials, his comedy has been very dear to me over the years. I don't imagine this is an opinion shared by many on this board. Over the years, I've watched him evolve from a nervous kid doing staggeringly silly comedy on late night to a surprisingly confident celebrity interviewer. In his last show, he smoked pot with Seth Rogen and gave a very sweet farewell. It would've been a very lovely gesture to give it to him on the way out, but truly, I just don't think they like him much.

[Mister Tee]

FUN FACT: The fourth season The Handmaid's Tale is now the biggest loser at the Emmys having 21 nominations and not a single win. The record was previously held by the fifth season of Mad Men which got 17 nominations without a win.

Also fun fact: I did shit in my predictions this year. LOL.

Which proves how upset-filled a year it was, because usually you're very near on the money.

[Mister Tee]

Felt like there was a greater amount of unpredictability than usual. The Crown dominated -- a sweep of the drama series categories -- but had one from-nowhere choice (Menzies) and a defy-the-trend win for Colman over castmate Corrin. Honestly, I didn't think this year's edition of The Crown was as interesting as previous ones -- perhaps because I'd seen all of the action in real time -- but obviously I'm in the minority. Did Josh O'Connor think being in Hollywood would be a better look for him than staying in London? Because it looked like they had a far more lively party across the Atlantic, despite the absurd time of night.

In the end, Ted Lasso won as expected, but the probably-split-vote-enabled early wins for Hacks brought an unexpected level of suspense to the category. Great tribute to Jean Smart, who is a few months older than I, and is blessed to be getting a career role at this point in life.

The Queen's Gambit also crossed the finish line the winner, but a bit like the way The Godfather did in 1972 -- surviving, not thriving, as it had for so long seemed it would. Right to the end, Mare of Easttown was a big threat. There seemed more genuine enthusiasm for Kate Winslet's win this time around than with the rather perfunctory prize she won for Mildred Pierce. Lead actress in this group could have gone to Winslet, Taylor-Joy or Cole, with no complaint -- contrast to the male side, where, with the two Hamilton leads oddball candidates, Ewan McGregor kind of won because someone had to.

Much as I like John Oliver's show, the Emmy are so lazy in that category -- a decade of The Daily Show, followed by half a decade of Last Week Tonight. You never really have the sense voters are judging individual seasons or achievements; they're just checking off boxes. In that vein, I'm happy for Colbert winning that other category; he's been doing good, inventive work for some time and never getting acknowledgement.

[anonymous1980]

FUN FACT: The fourth season The Handmaid's Tale is now the biggest loser at the Emmys having 21 nominations and not a single win. The record was previously held by the fifth season of Mad Men which got 17 nominations without a win.

Also fun fact: I did shit in my predictions this year. LOL.

[Sabin]

anonymous1980 wrote
I think Sex and the City back in 2001 was the biggest upset (I think Malcolm in the Middle was widely predicted at the time). I don't think Desperate Housewives was that much of a shock. It lost to the last season of Everybody Loves Raymond.

I'm pretty sure it was something of a surprise considering that Raymond had just won two years prior.

Maybe Arrested Development over the final season of Sex and the City? In retrospect, the early 2000s were a very strange period for the Emmys because a new world of comedy was being born but they weren't yet ready to let the old world go.

[anonymous1980]

If Ted Lasso loses, it will be the biggest upset in this category since... Desperate Housewives, right?

I think Sex and the City back in 2001 was the biggest upset (I think Malcolm in the Middle was widely predicted at the time). I don't think Desperate Housewives was that much of a shock. It lost to the last season of Everybody Loves Raymond.

[Sabin]

Well, that's clearly what happened. They submitted too many episodes. Had they just submitted one episode for both Writing and Directing, Ted Lasso probably would've won one or both categories. Probably both. Which would mean that Ted Lasso would've had the second biggest sweep of the comedy categories in history. Runner up to last year's winner, Schitt's Creek.

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
The multiple nominations didn't hurt Ted Lasso in the acting categories, but it feels like they did in writing/directing, with a clearly strong second place Hacks benefiting from singular candidates. Ted Lasso is probably still the Comedy Series favorite, but it's not the runaway I thought. (For that, you have to look to The Crown -- Tobias Menzies?)

You're probably right. Ted Lasso is probably going to win. Before Schitt's Creek, what was the last series to win three acting awards for comedy? Jason Sudeikis was the man to beat the minute his show premiered. Hannah Waddington a bit less so, considering she was up against Juno Temple and the girl from Hacks. But I would argue Brett Goldstein is a sign of the show's real strength. I wouldn't figure that performance for a slamdunk any year. It might have a bit to do with a lack of real competition (did people really think Kenan Thompson was going to win?) but to me that win signals the show's strength.

But I doubt anyone in that audience feels confident about their chances right now. Because there certainly is a real backlash against Ted Lasso going on right now. If there were only five nominees per category, its second season has much less certain a chance of getting nominated next Emmys. Meanwhile there's nothing but goodwill towards Hacks.

If Ted Lasso loses, it will be the biggest upset in this category since... Desperate Housewives, right?

[Mister Tee]

The multiple nominations didn't hurt Ted Lasso in the acting categories, but it feels like they did in writing/directing, with a clearly strong second place Hacks benefiting from singular candidates. Ted Lasso is probably still the Comedy Series favorite, but it's not the runaway I thought. (For that, you have to look to The Crown -- Tobias Menzies?)

I thought Mare of Easttown was going to finish out of the money everywhere, so I'm very happy for the two deserving winners in support. I still think The Queen's Gambit would be favored for Limited Series and Lead Actress, but it'd be wild if the show ran out of steam this late in its run.

[Big Magilla]

Colman was quite impressive in Season 3, but did nothing special in Season 4. Corrin was a revelation and with Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles almost certain to win Best Actor, a win for Corrin seems inevitable.

However, I do think that the same idea of "people projecting their own feelings and sympathies about Diana onto the performance", probably applies to the hoopla about Kristen Stewart in Spencer at the upcoming Oscars.

What would really be shocking is if Helena Bonham Carter's Princess Margaret wins over Gillian Anderson's Margaret Thatcher for Best Supporting Actress.

[dws1982]

I just hope Olivia Colman wins for The Crown. And not Emma Corrin.

I agree; it would be quite a big oversight if Colman didn't win, especially since this is her last shot. (Although maybe she can win for a guest spot like Foy.) Corrin is perfectly good as Diana, but a lot of the acclaim for that performance, in my opinion, comes from people projecting their own feelings and sympathies about Diana onto the performance.