EMMY IDEAS
Glenn Whipp offers four tips.
If you’re a Television Academy member (and with 22,000-plus members, who isn’t these days?), for the last few weeks you could have had your hair done like the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, watched David Letterman interview Jerry Seinfeld at Netflix’s massive Emmy campaign space or wallowed in free drinks at a saloon made to resemble “Westworld’s” Mariposa bar and brothel. (Black hat optional.) Actually, you could be sloshing around in free booze and meals well into June, because in this time of Peak-Plus TV, networks have to break out the hors d’oeuvres and make sure there’s plenty of ice to get voters’ attention. So many shows, so little time. If you wonder why the same series earn Emmy nominations year after year, it’s not (necessarily) due to merit. They’ve simply managed to form a beachhead by lodging themselves in enough voters’ DVR queues.
Last year, thanks to some retirements and an exasperating sophomore season letdown (“Mr. Robot”), five first-year shows (“The Crown,” “Stranger Things,” “This Is Us,” “Westworld” and the eventual winner, “The Handmaid’s Tale”) broke through in the drama series category. And they all followed up with sturdy enough second seasons, meaning that novelty of Emmy newcomers was probably an anomaly. Short of the Upside Down turning sideways or the Pearsons ridding their lives of drama, we could be seeing this quintet of nominees for some time. But there are a few ways the Emmys could change things up and offer a little intrigue this year: