What, If Anything, Do the Television Critics Association Awards Mean for the Emmys?

Image via Youtube and BBC. Screenshot by Jenn Murphy

While the Academy Awards have a barrage of award shows leading up to the big day that provide some insight into who and what might win an Oscar, the Emmys have very little. Sure, you could look at the Golden Globes, but they tend to go for the flashy, new things that the often-staid Emmys tends to ignore. The only possibly significant indicator of who could take home an Emmy come September is the Television Critics Association Awards, and they were given out this past weekend.

 

The TCA Awards are fascinating for a variety of reasons. First, they’re not really televised, a tragedy given that this year’s hosts were the strongest brand in late night, Desus and Mero. Second, they actually give out very few awards. Instead of having categories designating guest, supporting and lead actors in comedy and drama like the Emmys, the TCA Awards give out only one award for outstanding individual performance in each. It really narrows down the pack, showcasing the true best of the best.

 

Even more interesting is the fact that in both the outstanding comedy and drama individual performance categories this year, only one male performer was nominated (the both-deserving Bill Hader in “Barry” and Billy Porter in “Pose,” respectively). It certainly says a lot about the breadth of complexity and quality in women’s roles on television and the apparent dearth of it on the men’s side. No need to feel sorry for them though, they still have all the movies.

 

As for the winners, the TCA Awards doesn’t always line up with the Emmys. In a similar vein to the Globes, the TCA Awards tend to celebrate the quirkier and more innovative works that the mainstream-focused Emmys doesn’t. The line may be starting to blur though, with critical darlings like “Fleabag,” “The Good Place” and “Schitt’s Creek” scoring outstanding comedy series nominations at both this year’s Emmys and TCA Awards.

 

With that in mind, this year’s TCA Award winners could actually provide some true insight into the Emmys, or at least into who might actually give expected winners “Veep” and “Game of Thrones” a run for their money.

 

Continuing its reign of beloved dominance, “Fleabag” took home many of the night’s biggest awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, Individual Achievement in Comedy for Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Program of the Year. That’s a lot of love for a show that has only two 6-episode seasons. “Veep” still has a lot of goodwill given that a win would be for the final season, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus coming back from a cancer battle is a very appealing narrative for another win, but really might not be as set in stone as it once seemed.

 

On the drama side, “Better Call Saul” took home Outstanding Achievement in Drama and Michelle Williams won Individual Achievement in Drama for her work in “Fosse/Verdon.” “Better Call Saul” has long been an under-the-radar critical darling, and “Game of Thrones,” despite its glut of Emmy nominations, really left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth. Does that mean “Saul” has a chance at finally winning a drama Emmy, knocking “Thrones” out in its final year?

 

At this point, anything feels possible, a rare sensation when it comes to the often very predictable Emmys. There’s always the possibility that all the variety in the nominees is for naught and the show will return to form when it comes to the winners, but I have to hold out hope that this widespread love for other shows means there’s a shot.

 

What do you think? Do you feel that these wins at the TCA Awards mean anything for the Emmys? Do you also wish sometimes that they would just stop making new movies and TV for a year so you could catch up? There’s so much I want to see and I simply don’t have the time! Let me know what you think in the comments. And, of course…

 

Stay classy.

Jenn

Let’s Talk About the Critics’ Choice Awards

Screenshot by Jenn Murphy

The first big night of the televised award season was last night, with the Critics’ Choice Awards airing on A&E. Between commercials for “Intervention” and “COPS Live” (which seems like a terrrrrrrible idea, if you ask me), awards were given out for both the best in film and television. It was a three-hour affair, and could have been made longer if they didn’t give out all of the technical awards in spurts during the commercial breaks. It’s not always clear how the Critics’ Choice will tie into the Oscars or the Emmys, although many of their wins seemed to be in line with what has been expected so far. I’m not going to break down each win, because that would insane, but I will get into the big takeaways from both the film and television wins. If you want more detail, check it all out for yourself. I can’t do everything for you.

 

Film: “La La Land” wins (almost) all the things

In a move that wasn’t particularly surprising, “La La Land” took home eight awards last night, including most of the technical categories, Best Director for Damien Chazelle and Best Film. It also took home Best Song, which gives me a bad feeling that this coming year will not be Lin-Manuel Miranda’s moment to EGOT with “Moana.” The only big categories not scooped up by “La La Land” were the acting categories. The big ones there went to Casey Affleck (“Manchester By The Sea“, which also tied for Best Original Screenplay with “La La Land”) for Best Actor, Natalie Portman (“Jackie,” which also won for Hair & Makeup and Costume Design) for Best Actress, Viola Davis (“Fences“) Best Supporting Actress, Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight“) for Best Supporting Actor and the cast of “Moonlight” for Best Acting Ensemble. I was hoping “Moonlight” would pick up more awards because I think it’s the best movie I’ve seen this year, but I also haven’t seen “La La Land” (it doesn’t come out in my neck of the woods until this Friday). I think the Oscars should introduce an Acting Ensemble award, not just so that “Moonlight” can win it, but also to celebrate great ensembles going forward. There have been countless years where an entire cast was so brilliant that they each deserved a win, so why not make an award that covers them all? Eh well. Maybe some day.

 

Television: “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” continues its victory tour

The television side of things was a little bit more of a mixed bag. The big awards for comedy and drama went to “Silicon Valley” and “Game of Thrones” (although “Atlanta” star Keith Stanfield might disagree when it comes to “Silicon Valley”). “Atlanta” did win Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Donald Glover, while Best Actress in a Comedy Series went to Kate McKinnon from “SNL.” Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series went to Louie Anderson (“Baskets“) and Jane Krakowski (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt“) respectively. On the Drama side, the Big Actor and Actress awards went to Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul“) and Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld“). “Westworld” won in Supporting Actress too for Thandie Newton and John Lithgow won Supporting Actor for playing Winston Churchill on “The Crown.” As for the TV movie or Mini Series categories, it was the usual “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” suspects (Sarah Paulson for Best Actress, Courtney B. Vance for Best Actor and Sterling K. Brown for Best Supporting Actor) with a little Regina King for Best Supporting Actress in “American Crime” mixed in. Whereas the film categories were a little more predictable, there was some surprise in television, although I don’t know if all of it was good.

 

So there’s my condensed version of the Critic’s Choice Awards. I could get into the Golden Globe Nominations that came out today, but I won’t. Let’s save that for another week.

 

Did you watch the Critic’s Choice Awards? What did you think of the wins? Think that awards season is just a shameless ploy to distract us from the real issues? Dude, chill. I do not need your hateration in this dancery. Share your positive thoughts in the comments. And, before I go to finally watch “Hairspray Live!” I’ll leave you with this…

 

Stay classy.

Jenn

The 5 Best Wins of the 2016 Emmy Awards: Dreams Really Do Come True!

My Emmy night Ballot, full of check marks noting what I wanted to win, what I thought would actually win and what actually did win. Sometimes they were three different things entirely! Photo by Jenn Murphy

While the 2016 Emmy Awards certainly had its fair share of predictable moments, like “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” winning in the Outstanding Drama and Comedy Series categories, there were also a wonderful number of surprises, like Louie Anderson winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on FX’s “Baskets,” an award that was expected to go to “Veep’s” Tony Hale. The night seemed like somewhat of a turning point; now that longtime winners like “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men” and “Modern Family” have either gone off the air or gone down in quality, the door has seemingly been opened for a group of new, interesting and diverse shows to take their place. Jimmy Kimmel, the night’s host, did, at least in my opinion (I’m not usually a big fan of his), a surprisingly good job. For once, I left my viewing of the Emmy’s telecast genuinely happy and hopeful for the state of TV. Here are what I consider to be the best (and most deserved) wins of the night. Turns out my dream predictions from last week weren’t too far off.

 

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1) Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for “Master of None” episode 2, “Parents“

While I didn’t get into the writing categories in my predictions last week (my hands felt like they were going to fall off after all that typing so I had to call it quits), I had high hopes that Ansari and Yang would be honored for this excellent episode of their brilliant show. The episode delves into what Dev (Ansari’s character) and Brian (Dev’s friend, played by Kelvin Yu) dealt with when coming to America as immigrants. In a time when immigration is a consistently hot topic, this episode felt incredibly relevant and was done in a fresh way that felt both humorous and heartfelt. In their acceptance speech, Ansari and Yang (well, really Yang; they got played off before Ansari even got to speak) made a call for the diversity talk that seems to prevalent in TV these days to extend to the Asian community, a request that needed to be heard by the network head honchos that filled the auditorium that night. It was one of the first awards given that evening and it really set the tone for the night.

 

2) Kate McKinnon, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for “Saturday Night Live“

The award that seemed to so frequently go to Allison Janney for her role on CBS’s “Mom” was instead to given to the incredibly deserving Kate McKinnon, who is currently one of the biggest stars on “SNL.” She was only the fourth “SNL” cast member to win an Emmy (the previous three were Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Dana Carvey) and was only the second woman to win. It was very smart of the Emmy voters to give her the prize this year; her star is seriously on the rise, so who knows how much longer she’ll be on the venerated long-running sketch series?

 

3) Sarah Paulson, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie for “The People vs. O.J. Simpson“

After seven Emmy nominations, last night was finally the night for Paulson, who won for her excellent portrayal of Marcia Clark. This one wasn’t necessarily a surprise, she was considered the front-runner pretty early-on, but it was a delight nevertheless. Paulson brought Clark as her date and spoke highly of her in her acceptance speech. Last night was a big night for “The People vs. O.J. Simpson;” in addition to Paulson’s win the show received four other Emmys, including equally deserved wins for Paulson’s wonderful co-stars Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown, who both used a Jay Z lyric as an epic acceptance speech shout-out to their wives.

 

4) Rami Malek, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “Mr. Robot“

In another move that wasn’t exactly a surprise but was still super-awesome, the always great Rami Malek took home one of the biggest awards of the night. Despite many critics and writers saying that he was the one to beat, I still got a little nervous at the swell of applause that came when Malek’s fellow nominee Kevin Spacey‘s name was called in the list of nominees. Luckily though the award went to Malek, who has continued to kill it in the role of troubled hacker Elliot Alderson in the show’s current second season. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more Emmys in Malek’s future.

 

5) Tatiana Maslany, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for “Orphan Black“

One of the biggest surprises of the night was also one of the best moments; Maslany, who has flawlessly played at least 11 different roles on the BBC America Series about cloning, FINALLY won an Emmy. I’ve been rooting for her to get recognized since “Orphan Black’s” first season and this win, completely unexpected by many, was absolutely perfect. It proved that the Emmys can actually have truly unpredictable moments, moments that really showcase the wild and wonderful world of TV. My only question is: does Maslany get an Emmy for each different character she plays?

 

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Well, there you have it, my best moments of the 2016 Emmy Awards. It was full of unpredictable delights. And hey, apparently “Game of Thrones” won’t be eligible next year due to it’s later production start date for the next season. With that in mind, who knows that wonderful surprises will occur next year? I, for one, can’t wait to find out.

 

What did you think of the 2016 Emmy Awards? Have some favorite wins of your own? Want to make some way too early predictions on what will happen in a “Game of Thrones”-less 2017 Emmys? Share it all in the comments. And before you go back to prepping for the onslaught of fall TV premieres this week, remember…

 

Stay classy.

Jenn

“Pop Culture Holes”: We All Have Them, Here Are Some of Mine

Screenshot by Jenn Murphy

Can I be honest with you guys? I’ve never seen an entire episode of “Breaking Bad.” I’ve seen clips and moments but if someone were to ask me if I’ve actually sat down and watched it, I would have to honestly answer “no.”

 

There, I said it.

 

This confession may seem shocking, given my penchant for keeping up with all things big and buzzy, but it’s just one of those shows I never got around to watching despite the fact that I’m sure I would enjoy it. It’s a “pop culture hole” if you will. We all have them; it’s near impossible to watch everything out there. (Andy Samberg tried when he hosted the Emmys and it did not end well.) And “Breaking Bad” isn’t my only one.

 

I’ve never seen a single “Godfather” movie. I’ve seen parts of the “Star Wars” films, but never one in its entirety. I got about three episodes into “Mad Men” before something came up and I had to stop. I never went back. And I’ve never, ever seen “Game of Thrones.”

 

It’s not necessarily a conscious decision. (Although it was with “Game of Thrones.” I couldn’t be less interested in that.) It’s just that we live in a world that’s constantly churning out new things. It makes it difficult to find the time to go back and appreciate the old. Plus, the internet and its many recaps and think pieces make it easy for someone to feel like they know what has happened in a movie or on a show without even watching a single minute. Want to know the entire plot of a movie? Simply go to its Wikipedia page. It might not be entirely comprehensive, but it’ll make you aware enough to keep up with the proverbial water-cooler talk. Sometimes it seems like that’s all people want, to be able to keep up with the conversation, but I don’t think that’s enough.

 

Simply being a part of the conversation isn’t enough. I want to be in the room where it happens. (The room where it happens, the room where it happens…) I want to be able to find the things in these pop culture juggernauts that capture my attention and make me excited. That can’t be done with a recap article or a Wikipedia post. That can only be done by actually watching something. So one day I hope to see “The Godfather” and “Star Wars” movies. I hope to watch all of “Mad Men” and definitely all of “Breaking Bad.” I hope to fill all of those “pop culture holes”so that I can see what made those shows and movies become such indelible parts of the pop culture landscape. I look forward to it.

 

But not “Game of Thrones.” Never “Game of Thrones.”

 

What about you guys? Have any big “pop culture holes” of your own? Want to take me to task for my complete and total disinterest in “Game of Thrones”? You wouldn’t be the first person to try. Leave your confessions and diatribes in the comments. And, as always…

 

Stay classy.

Jenn