The Annual Primetime Emmys - General Discussion

[mojoween]

I just saw an ad for "The Walking Dead" coming to syndication and while I find it too gross to watch, the rest of my family loves it. Does it get any recognition from The Emmy's for the makeup/writing/costume categories? Or is it too lowbrow for the academy? I don't recall even hearing it nominated, at least not the categories showed last night.

[Snowprince]

Walking Dead gets lumped in with other Sci-Fi shows. With the possible exception of makeup, I doubt the academy would even take it seriously, let alone nominate it.

[mojoween]

Figures. Buncha snobs. Funny though that GoT is not thought of as a sci-fi show. Must be the boobs.

Speaking of shows never nominated, did you used to post in our former home with all of the awesome info about Southland?

[Minneapple]

Well what i learned from the Emmys is thst i really do need to watch Sherlock

The funny thing about Sherlock is that this third season was the worst one. It was mailed in from all sides. Season one was really good but didn't get any Emmy love.

[loriro]

Imagine if The Sopranos, Veep, Breaking Bad -- all the great shows, actors and writers from cable -- never won an Emmy because they were relegated to the Cable Ace Awards

 

And imagine if one of the best shows ever to grace television never got any Emmy recognition because it was on cable.  Oh wait...that's right. The Wire never won anything.  (sorry, still bitter. And no good decisions the Emmys make can ever make me forgive them for it.). 

[BoogieBurns]

This morning, it occurred to me that there should be a recognition of characters who have been killed off.  Not in any way to disrespect "In Memoriam," but to note that characters we are attached to, are no longer with us.  "Look Who's Gone!"  Of course, it would be dominated by Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, with a sprinkling of Good Wife, but would provide some onstage presence for Downton Abbey.

 

The E! red carpet show did just that. They had a "Characters we lost this year" little slideshow thing. The problem was they were considered "spoilers" and people hate to be spoiled. The lost characters segment went like this:

The Mother (HIMYM), guy from The Good Wife, Walter White, and then just tons of Game of Thrones characters.

I'm sure there were more but I didn't watch any of the shows I left out.  I spoiler-tagged it myself for safety. 

[Mindymoo]

And imagine if one of the best shows ever to grace television never got any Emmy recognition because it was on cable.  Oh wait...that's right. The Wire never won anything.  (sorry, still bitter. And no good decisions the Emmys make can ever make me forgive them for it.). 

A million times yes. It is a crime that Michael K. Williams, Idris Elba, Dominic West, or my personal favorite, Andre Royo, never were even nominated, let alone won. Season four should have swept the awards, and it wasn't nominated for a single goddamn thing! At least superior programs like "Dexter" got nominated season after season, right? (I'm actually flabbergasted that no one was nominated for that dreck for the final season.)

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Ryan Murphy looked salty as hell, after TNH came up empty last night.

Weird Al's skit was awful, Lena Headey was not trying to hear Andy Samberg.

Looked like Cersei was about to cut a bitch.

[Princess Sparkle]

And imagine if one of the best shows ever to grace television never got any Emmy recognition because it was on cable. Oh wait...that's right. The Wire never won anything. (sorry, still bitter. And no good decisions the Emmys make can ever make me forgive them for it.).

I don't think that happened because The Wire was on cable, because The Sopranos and Sex and the City both premiered on HBO before The Wire debuted, and were picking up awards by then. I think what happened because HBO put the majority of its drama award hopes on The Sopranos and since that was the more buzzed about show, it overshadowed The Wire for its entire run.

Doesn't make it any better, but I don't think being on cable was why it was snubbed.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[Snowprince]

Figures. Buncha snobs. Funny though that GoT is not thought of as a sci-fi show. Must be the boobs.

Speaking of shows never nominated, did you used to post in our former home with all of the awesome info about Southland?

Yes, it is I

[stafford]

Ugh, I just watched several recaps of the Emmy's including E! News and Fashion Police. I have to record Fashion Police so I can FF anytime Joan Rivers speaks. The whole show is a set up for Joan's zingers and they are not the least bit funny. Look I have the greatest respect for Joan and the very rough road she had to plow as a female comedian but she has become the worst and her Joan Rangers (Gulliana, Kelly and George) are even worse (although George does give some constructive style advice).

They ripped on Claire Danes (I thought she looked great and they pointed out that she was wearing Kim Kardashian's Givenchy wedding dress but in red) and several newbies from Orange is the New Black. All of whom I thought did an exceptional job of dressing up. They have their sacred "cows"...Lena Dunham and Kim Kardashian that they don't rip apart (Hmmmm I wonder if it's because Kim is on an E! show?).

I'm just so sick of the fascination with all things "fashion". It's so superficial. So my cure is to stop watching.

[loriro]

don't think that happened because The Wire was on cable, because The Sopranos and Sex and the City both premiered on HBO before The Wire debuted, and were picking up awards by then. I think what happened because HBO put the majority of its drama award hopes on The Sopranos and since that was the more buzzed about show, it overshadowed The Wire for its entire run.

Doesn't make it any better, but I don't think being on cable was why it was snubbed.

 

Yeah...you are probably right.  To me, that just makes it worse, though.  Season 4 was probably the best single season of television I've ever seen (with the disclaimer that I haven't yet binge-watched Breaking Bad). 

[Milburn Stone]

Sarah Bareilles! I love her. But she's killing Smile. Nat King Cole is the only one who can sing that song. She's a little flat.

 

I didn't notice any pitch problems, but I did notice that she seemed unaware of what the actual melody of the song is. Doing your own variation is fine, but when you do the exact same variation every time the stanza comes by and never sing it the way the composer wrote it, it begins to be clear you don't actually know the song. Or don't have the chops to sing it the way the composer wrote it.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[Inquisitionist]

They ripped on Claire Danes (I thought she looked great and they pointed out that she was wearing Kim Kardashian's Givenchy wedding dress but in red)

 

Danes looked terrific from the back, but from the front, the cut did nothing for her.  It just didn't seem to hang right on her, IMO.

[Minneapple]

I wasn't in love with Danes' dress either. It wasn't horrible, just kind of limp-looking, and yeah, it really did nothing for her.

My favorite celeb fashion blog is GoFugYourself. The women who write it are old-school TWoP (Jessica and Heather). I love them.

[Rick Kitchen]

Ryan Murphy produced both American Horror Story and The Normal Heart, so he was competing against himself, so it wouldn't make sense for him to be mad about THN not winning, and it did win the Outstanding Movie and Outstanding Makeup.

[BatmanBeatles]

This may sound crazy, but I think Julia Roberts' dress looks like a fatal disease. It made me itch to look at it.

[bosawks]

This may sound crazy, but I think Julia Roberts' dress looks like a fatal disease.

 

You take the word dress out of this sentence and I wholeheartedly concur.......

[DollEyes]

My verdict: Seth Myers was good, but the show itself, for the most part, not so much. I say great TV is great TV, whether it's on network, cable or streaming video. Network TV can't say/do most of the things that that cable does, but that should make the networks more creative, not less. Instead of the networks' whining about how "unfair" it is that cable and/or streaming video can do more than they can, they should do it better. They should find new and more creative ways to work around the restrictions instead of letting them stop them. If a show is broadcast on TV and it's good enough to get Emmy nominations for whatever reason, it deserves them no matter where the show comes from, as far as I'm concerned.

 

  About the winners in the main categories, my vote: yawn. Sure, Breaking Bad was great and Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn and Aaron Paul were great in it, but IMO it didn't say anything that The Wire didn't say before and for the most part, better. My theory about why The Wire was ignored by Emmy voters is because many of them love shows about criminals as long as they live-and, I dare say, look-like most of them do and The Wire was too real and too raw for their frail sensibilities. As for Modern Family  winning Best Comedy again, snore. I've watched some episodes and it's made me smile and even chuckle a couple of times, but it has never made me laugh. Speaking of MF, I found that Sofia Vergara pedestal bit not only sexist, it played to the wrong demographic. No way in Hell is the Emmy main audience 18-49-year-old straight men; if anything,  it's mostly straight woman and gay men, I believe, so I think that sketch would have worked so much better had it been either SV's boyfriend Joe Mangianello or Emmy nominee/JM's Magic Mike co-star/college classmate Matt Bomer. Speaking of Bomer, I'm among those who feel that he was definitely robbed of a Supporting Actor Emmy. Martin Freeman is great in Sherlock and he was great in Fargo, but Bomer was a revelation in The Normal Heart. It wasn't a "perfect" movie, but Bomer, among others, was perfect in it.  Bomer's co-stars/fellow nominees Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello and Alfred Molina had great moments, but Bomer was not only great from start to finish, his character was the heart of that movie. That the Academy named TNH Best TV Movie showed that they had at least some sense, on that score.

 

  The Robin Williams tribute was beautiful. Billy Crystal was the perfect person to do it. Crystal said the right things at the right time. Re Sarah Barellies' version of "Smile" during this year's "In Memoriam," while it wasn't technically "perfect," it moved me anyway.

[aradia22]

 

No way in Hell is the Emmy main audience 18-49-year-old straight men; if anything,  it's mostly straight woman and gay men, I believe,

I concur. Which is probably why my reaction was "Oh, good, now I can see the seams on her dress."

[Kel Varnsen]

But broadcast is beholden to many more regulations and rules than cable is, so in some respects, I understand the mentality that it isn't exactly a fair fight, too.

 

I don't believe that at all. I mean if there were any shows on network TV that were equal to the quality of say The West Wing, or the early seasons of LOST or ER I think for sure those shows would be up for emmys. Hell Homeland probably could have run on network tv with only minor changes. I really don't think there is that much stopping networks from making better shows other than their own fear of risk. If they didn't have to compete with cable for awards, there would be less motivation to take any risk.

 

Also i finally finished the show tonight, and why the hell did they now show the writing for a comedy variety show award? That always the best part of the emmys where they would list the writers for Colbert, or Letterman or the Daily Show and it would be a series of mug shots or farm animals or mimes or something.

[WendyCR72]

don't believe that at all. I mean if there were any shows on network TV that were equal to the quality of say The West Wing, or the early seasons of LOST or ER I think for sure those shows would be up for emmys. Hell Homeland probably could have run on network tv with only minor changes.

 

I believe it. Sure, broadcast can match quality, but under the current rules, it can't match the popular "gritty" style many shows have today. It can't have the nudity, gratuitous or not, it can't be "freer" with the language as cable and streaming can. And most shows listed aired over a decade ago. Many seem to like the no-holds barred style of TV now. Broadcast, with those things, whether they are "minor" or not, just cannot compete and never will if they must remain married to broadcast regulations.

[Kel Varnsen]

I believe it. Sure, broadcast can match quality, but under the current rules, it can't match the popular "gritty" style many shows have today. It can't have the nudity, gratuitous or not, it can't be "freer" with the language as cable and streaming can. And most shows listed aired over a decade ago. 

Except the biggest winners in the drama category over the past several years have been Breaking Bad, Homeland and Mad Men. Both Breaking Bad and Mad Men have essentially no nudity and very little in the way of swearing. Homeland has some but even then it is the kind of thing that could easily be worked around in the hands of good writers. Plus the fact that it is those shows winning and not say True Blood tells me it is about the quality of the writing that matters, not just the shock value that cable allows.

 

I don't think that happened because The Wire was on cable, because The Sopranos and Sex and the City both premiered on HBO before The Wire debuted, and were picking up awards by then. I think what happened because HBO put the majority of its drama award hopes on The Sopranos and since that was the more buzzed about show, it overshadowed The Wire for its entire run.

 

Not only that but I really think that the television academy is kind of an insiders club. The members vote for their friends and other people/shows they know or are familiar with. The Wire was a fairly low rated show that as noted got very low amount of media attention. Plus it was shot in Baltimore with a lot of local and/or east cost actors. So even if someone pulled of an amazing performance, and you are a voter, odds are it isn't the guy you are friendly with at the golf club, or the guy you see all the time at your agents office.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Kel Varnsen

[Constantinople]

I am sort of on the fence about Juliana's 22 episode comment. Yes that is harder but I also remember when network TV's show would air 35 episodes in a season. I imagine that was even harder quality to maintain.

I'm on the fence too

Do most shows with 10-12 episodes per season spend as time putting together the entire season as a show with 22 episodes per season, half as much or somewhere in between? If it's somewhere around half then the 22 episode remark doesn't really tell me anything.

Moreover, it's not as if Juliana submitted all 22 episodes for consideration for best actress in a drama. She submitted 1, which means she has about 2x as many episodes from which to choose as someone from a show with 10-12 episodes. To put it another way, a 10-12 episode show has much less room for error.

Also, not all episodes are created equal. I suspect it's a much more complex and difficult task putting together an episode of Game of Thrones than The Good Wife. I haven't watched the Good Wife since its first season, but I haven't heard anything that led me to believe that they routinely film 2 episodes at once, in locations as disparate as Iceland, Northern Ireland & Croatia, with the occassional Battle of Blackwater thrown, to say nothing of the costuming, props & CGI.

Finally, I always find it a little distasteful when highly paid professionals make complaints or excuses.

[pivot]

Except the biggest winners in the drama category over the past several years have been Breaking Bad, Homeland and Mad Men. Both Breaking Bad and Mad Men have essentially no nudity and very little in the way of swearing. Homeland has some but even then it is the kind of thing that could easily be worked around in the hands of good writers. Plus the fact that it is those shows winning and not say True Blood tells me it is about the quality of the writing that matters, not just the shock value that cable allows.

 

Not only that but I really think that the television academy is kind of an insiders club. The members vote for their friends and other people/shows they know or are familiar with. The Wire was a fairly low rated show that as noted got very low amount of media attention. Plus it was shot in Baltimore with a lot of local and/or east cost actors. So even if someone pulled of an amazing performance, and you are a voter, odds are it isn't the guy you are friendly with at the golf club, or the guy you see all the time at your agents office.

 

I think it has more to do with an almost all black cast. Same reason Homicide was mostly ignored for its entire run while the much crappier NYPD Blue got tons of attention.

[Inquisitionist]

Do most shows with 10-12 episodes per season spend as time putting together the entire season as a show with 22 episodes per season, half as much or somewhere in between?

 

Probably about half the time, but that in itself is important, IMO.  Certain actors are more likely to sign on for a 13-episode production schedule that allows them more time and flexibility for other projects.  I think the main issue with 22 episodes is that someone has to WRITE them, and sustaining good writing over 22 episodes compared to 10 or 13 has to be a more daunting task.

[Kel Varnsen]

I think it has more to do with an almost all black cast. Same reason Homicide was mostly ignored for its entire run while the much crappier NYPD Blue got tons of attention.

Maybe, although I remember David Simon himself stating the reason that the show didn't get more attention from the media and from the awards shows was the fact that the TV industry was pretty much based in LA, with some of it in NY, and they were pretty much doing their own thing all alone in Baltimore.

[WendyCR72]

As with the rest of the other prominent awards shows, this thread is for the yearly telecasts, so as not to have countless individual threads yearly and save some space, as it were.  :-)

 

Creating this now as I know prenoms are just a month away!

[Princess Sparkle]

It was one of the changes this year - sketch performers can choose to submit in the Lead or Supporting category.  So there might be some strategy at play - Amy Schumer and Nick Kroll are clearly the leads of their own shows and so lead makes the most sense, and it could be that Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein (who also submitted as supporting) think they have a better shot in supporting, so they decided to do that together.  It looks like all the SNL cast members decided to compete under supporting as well.

 

But in the case of Portlandia, I'm guessing Fred Armisen & Carrie Brownstein decided that they should submit under the same type (lead vs supporting) and the lead actress comedy race is so tight every year, that I'm sure Carrie Brownstein leaned towards choosing supporting and Fred Armisen just said "OK".  Either that, or his people didn't notice the rule change and just submitted him under supporting since that's what he's always gone in as (be it Portlandia or SNL).  

Edited June 19, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[Princess Sparkle]

I'm curious as to the reasoning behind Orange is the New Black being denied a petition to compete as a comedy, when Glee, Shameless and Jane the Virgin were.  Why even make the rule change if you're not going to enforce it for all shows?

 

I also would like to know the story behind Max Greenfield and Jake Johnson getting left off the Emmy ballots - if that was a mistake by their people, or if it was a decision on the actors parts.

 

I am also wondering if this could be a year where we see at three different black women nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama - I think Viola Davis is a lock for the nomination (if not the frontrunner for the win), I think the odds are pretty high that Taraji P Henson will get one for Empire.  I don't know if Kerry Washington will continue to get one (Scandal had a pretty weak season overall, but she had some good Emmy-bait episodes), but it might help her that The Good Wife had a pretty weak season.  I don't watch the other shows for the women who were nominated last year (except for House of Cards, but I would be shocked if Robin Wright didn't get a nomination) so I can't really say if I think they'll repeat.  

[CMH1981]

 

I also would like to know the story behind Max Greenfield and Jake Johnson getting left off the Emmy ballots - if that was a mistake by their people, or if it was a decision on the actors parts.

 

I read somewhere that the actors chose not to submit their names on the ballots this year.  To be fair w/ the male cast of Modern Family still submitting and always getting nominated/taking up most of the slots, I too would think what's the point.

[Chas411]

When do the nominations get announced? Shame True Detective is only after starting. I feel Colin Farrell and the some others in the cast would be shoe ins for nominations.

[Princess Sparkle]

I'm kind of thrilled that Bob Odenkirk got a nom for Better Call Saul though.  ETA - Guess IMDB hadn't updated all their nominees, because Jon Hamm showed up just now.  Deleted out a sentence that doesn't make sense anymore : )

 

Now I'll just sit back and see the rest of the nominations.  Maybe this means we'll actually get some new blood at the Emmys this year.

 

ETA - I am shocked that Gina Rodriguez missed out on a nom (after winning the Golden Globe) and I'm disappointed that with 6 nominations in the Lead Actor in a comedy category, that one of them wasn't for Andy Samberg.  He has been doing some really great work on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and I could've swapped him out for Will Forte or Don Cheedle.

 

I am beyond thrilled that Amy Schumer got a nom in the lead actress category, that Michael Kelly finally got recognized for the fantastic work he's been doing on House of Cards, and that Keegan Michael Key got a nom for Key and Peele.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[topanga]

Tatiana got nominated!!!!! In the words of LeBron James, it's about damn time.

 

And I've never seen "Better Call Saul," but it's getting lots of love.

[Chrissytd]

Yay for Tatiana.

[wonderwoman]

My immediate response: nothing for "The Americans" or "Jane the Virgin"?

[cooksdelight]

Major nominations:

http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/emmy-awards-nominations-full-list-nominees-top-categories-n393251

[sally-can-wait]

Outlander also appears to have gotten shut out. I thought Caitriona Balfe might have a shot but Best Actress is pretty stacked.

[Hanahope]

I see that GoT has taken a page from the MF playbook having all the actors submit as "supporting" and no leads.

[cpcathy]

Seems pretty fair so far.

 

Is Don Cheadle really that funny on his show? I don't know anyone who watches it!

 

I think Will Forte deserved his nomination, he did a lot of acting alone on Last Man on Earth.

[slowpoked]

I carried a teeny tiny faint hope that Kathleen Rose Perkins would make it into the Supporting Actress category for her superb work this season in Episodes. Alas, it was not meant to be. Good for Matt LeBlanc though, getting it going for the little show that could.

[topanga]

My immediate response: nothing for "The Americans" or "Jane the Virgin"?

"Nothing for 'The Americans?' was my second thought after being happy for Tatiana.

 

My third thought: Congrats to Anthony Anderson, but no recognition for Tracey Ellis Ross for black-ish? She's as talented on the show as he is.

 

My fourth thought was "Again?" in honor of the shows that continue to be nominated year after year, even though their quality has fallen over the years: Downton Abbey, Homeland, and Modern Family, to name a few.

[CMH1981]

Well Martindale got nominated for the Americans as per usual.  She is a great actress in that role, but to nominate her performance over the other main actors and actresses on that show is blasphemy.  Ignoring Russell and Taylor for this past season was just wrong.  I almost forgot Lois Smith in that scene with Russell, how could they ignore both of them?

 

I know this might come off as rude, but i'm so glad that everyone from the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt got nominated except for Kimmy/Ellie Kemper.  Her shilling to get nominated by being on the Today show all summer long was just awful to me.  To be honest if they had nominated Kemper over Kudrow I would have been pissed, luckily it didn't work out that way.

 

I also don't feel that Fey is deserving for her guest acting nomination for the show, other than she got it by name recognition...Jon Hamm though....yes.  I have a feeling this is what he will get his Emmy for, not Mad Men.

 

I was shocked that Jim Parsons didn't get his regular nomination for TBBT, but I feel he is just coasting at this point with role, whereas I think Mayim Bialik is still bringing it in her role.  

 

The supporting actor in comedy series was a big change, b/c usually the Modern Family guys dominate this field, but it looks like that's been fixed.  Adam Drive for Girls.....what?!  Andre Braugher for Brooklyn Nine-nine.....hell yeah!

 

Oh yeah, I forgot....Grace of Monaco?!  Really?!  I can't believe that train wreck was nominated over the far superior Marilyn Monroe biopic from Lifetime.  At least they didn't throw a nomination towards Kidman over some other truly deserving actress in that field....not that anyone has a chance in hell in that field against Frances McDormand this year.

 

I'm so glad that Drunk History is finally getting some recognition b/c that show is some funny shit.  If you haven't watched that show in Comedy Central, I suggest you check it out.  

 

Laurie Metcalf not being nominated for Getting On is just bad, but at least one of the three main leads got a nomination, even though they all deserved it.

Edited July 16, 2015 by CMH1981

[Inquisitionist]

Oh yeah, I forgot....Grace of Monaco?!  Really?!  I can't believe that train wreck was nominated over the far superior Marilyn Monroe biopic from Lifetime.

 

I have to wonder if any of the voters actually watched it.  Eek. 

 

Also very glad for Andre Braugher, thought disappointed that B99 didn't rate a nomination as Best Comedy -- it's my favorite show in that category, and one of the few things I watch on non-cable TV.  I love Tina Fey, but agree with your assessment of her performance in Kimmy Schmidt.

[Pollock]

Pissed for Justified and the cast, disappointed for The Americans but happy for Tatiana, Andre Braugher and Better Call Saul. 

[blackwing]

I knew there was zero chance, but I was hoping for some recognition for the amazing Constance Wu from "Fresh Off the Boat".  She completely makes that show.

 

I seem to be in the minority of people who absolutely detested "Wolf Hall" so I'm particularly glad that the actress who played Anne Boleyn as a shrill vindictive witch was overlooked.

[Oreo2234]

I wish Daredevil had gotten a nomination for stunt coordination. 

[Princess Sparkle]

Pissed for Justified and the cast, disappointed for The Americans but happy for Tatiana, Andre Braugher and Better Call Saul. 

I almost forgot about Justified!  Walton Goggins really did some outstanding work throughout the series, and especially in this last season.

 

I do also find it interesting that while Silicon Valley is nominated for Best Comedy, they didn't actually recognize any of the actors.  I think all the actors on the show are amazingly funny, with the strong standouts being TJ Miller and Zach Woods.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[sally-can-wait]

You are so right about Laurie Metcalf not getting nominated for "Getting On". All three of the lead ladies are spectacular on that show. I'm really happy that at least Niecy got recognized. 

 

Edit: I guess I'm still learning how to quote because this was in response to CMH1981's post.

Edited July 16, 2015 by double-elvis

[slowpoked]

I knew there was zero chance, but I was hoping for some recognition for the amazing Constance Wu from "Fresh Off the Boat".  She completely makes that show.

 

Ah, Constance Wu, deserving as well. I think if the show itself wasn't embroiled with all the controversies between Eddie Huang and the showrunners, she might have had more of a shot.