READY FOR PRIME TIME
Emmy nods announced, but mostly tread old territory
THIS year’s Primetime Emmys needed a hard slap in the face — but that didn’t happen with Tuesday’s nominations.
The line between broadcast, cable and streaming was erased some time ago, so that’s a non-issue. But for all the talk in 2020 about diversity and change in the TV industry, there was little in the way of shockers in this year’s “I’ll have the usual” crop of nominees, announced Tuesday by a raucous Leslie Jones and presenters Josh Gad, Laverne Cox and Tatiana Maslany.
HBO’s highly acclaimed adaptation of the 1980s graphic novel “Watchmen” led the pack, with a remarkable 26 nominations.
The terrific “Schitt’s Creek,” as expected, earned three well-deserved nods (for stars Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and the show itself). But “Killing Eve” costars Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer (Best Actress, Drama)? Enough already. That series ran out of steam long ago. Ditto for the cartoonish “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (which received nods for star Rachel Brosnahan and the series) and the knee-jerk nod for “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
It was gratifying to see FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows” snare a nomination for Best Comedy; it’s cleverly written with a cohesive — and very funny — ensemble cast featuring Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, Harvey Guillén and Mark Proksch. Kudos to the Television Academy members for that one. And Mark Ruffalo is terrific in HBO’s “I Know This Much Is True,” so I was glad to see his work recognized (Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie).
But those were few and far between. Did we really need Best Drama nominations for long-inthe-tooth “Better Call Saul” (which waited two years to drop new episodes), “The Crown,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Stranger Things”? And what about “The Morning Show,” which didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it premiered last fall on Apple TV+? That series earned a nomination for stars Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carrell. Laziness on the part of the TV Academy voters? Perhaps. Or maybe they’re distracted by everything else going on in the world right now. Or maybe it was just lip service. Who knows?
However, it was nice to see Disney+’s big launch series, “The Mandalorian,” snare a Best Drama nomination, even if we’re still not sure if that’s really Pedro Pascal in the titular role. (His face was seen once.) Unlike “The Morning Show,” “The Mandalorian” was a talker upon its premiere (Baby Yoda sound familiar?) and gave the newly launched streaming service a huge boost as a franchise series able to attract subscribers. And the academy voters were spot on in giving Zendaya her first Emmy nomination for the HBO teen drama “Euphoria.” Good on ya.
There’s really not much to say about the Best Variety Series or Best Competition Series — the fields for both are slim, so those nominees aren’t surprising. Although it was nice to see “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” snare a nod.
When all is said and done, the nominees do not bode particularly well for the Sept. 20 telecast on ABC, which will be hosted (in some form or another) by Jimmy Kimmel.
Last year’s Emmy broadcast dipped to a historically low 6.9 million viewers, carrying on a years-long trend as viewers continue to tune out broadcast TV.
If Tuesday’s nominations are any indication, I don’t think this year’s crop of hopefuls will staunch the ratings hemorrhage.