2020 Emmy Nominations: My Initial Reactions – More Categories
COMEDY SERIES
Guest Actress: Angela Bassett (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Bette Midler (The Politician), Maya Rudolph (The Good Place), Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live), Wanda Sykes (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Saturday Night Live).
Awesome to Bassett here as well as Rudolph as a double-nominee. Sykes is incredible, too. I didn’t really like Midler or PWB, but they’re big names. Very upset there’s no Valerie Mahafee (Dead To Me) or Vanessa Bayer. The favorite: Rudolph. Take your pick.
Guest Actor: Adam Driver (Saturday Night Live), Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live), Dev Patel (Modern Love), Brad Pitt (Saturday Night Live), Fred Willard (Modern Family).
SNL gets three noms here. Of course. Of them, my pick would be Driver. Dev Patel comes out of nowhere to snag a bid. And I thought RuPaul, Larry David or someone else from Curb would get recognized. The favorite: The late Willard.
Episodic Writing: The Good Place, Whenever You’re Ready, Michael Schur; The Great, The Great, Tony McNamara; Schitt’s Creek, Happy Ending, Daniel Levy; Schitt’s Creek, The Presidential Suite, David West Read; What We Do In The Shadows, Collaboration, Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil; What We Do In The Shadows, Ghosts, Paul Simms; What We Do In The Shadows, On The Run, Stefani Robinson.
Something I have to do ASAP: watch Shadows. I have heard great things, but it slipped through the cracks. I am pulling for both Schitt’s Creek episodes and Schur’s series finale script.
Episodic Directing: The Great, The Great (Pilot), Matt Shakman; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, It’s Comedy Or Cabbage, Amy Sherman-Palladino; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Marvelous Radio, Daniel Palladino; Modern Family, Finale Part, Gail Mancuso; Ramy, Miakhalifa.mov, Ramy Youssef; Schitt’s Creek, Happy Ending, Andrew Cividino and Daniel Levy; Will & Grace, We Love Lucy, James Burrow.
The Palladinos and Mancuso are legends at this point. But my heart is with Levy/Cividino and Youssef. The favorite: Levy.
DRAMA SERIES
Guest Actress: Alexis Bledel (The Handmaid’s Tale), Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black), Cherry Jones (Succession), Phylicia Rashad (This Is Us), Cicely Tyson (How To Get Away With Murder), Harriet Walter (Succession).
Bledel has won here before, so you have to consider her as a possibility. Cox and Rashad, too. I loved what Jones delivered in Defending Jacob. The favorite: Tyson.
Guest Actor: Jason Bateman (The Outsider), Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us), James Cromwell (Succession), Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian), Andrew Scott (Black Mirror), Martin Short (The Morning Show).
A great group. I think Jones (a past winner) and Scott are going to make late runs. Short is a legit contender. The favorite: Bateman.
Episodic Writing: Better Call Saul, Bad Choice Road, Thomas Schnauz; Better Call Saul, Bagman, Gordon Smit; The Crown, Aberfan, Peter Morgan; Ozark, All In, Chris Mundy; Ozark, Boss Fight, John Shiban, Written by; Ozark, Fire Pink, Miki Johnson; Succession, This Is Not For Tears, Jesse Armstrong.
Again, in the back: No representation for Pose? Terrible. Three episodes of Ozark is just stupid. I’m pulling for Armstrong. The favorite: Armstrong.
Episodic Directing: The Crown, Aberfan, Benjamin Caro; The Crown, Cri de Coeur, Jessica Hobbs; Homeland, Prisoners Of War, Lesli Linka Glatter; The Morning Show, The Interview, Mimi Leder; Ozark, Fire Pink, Alik Sakharov; Ozark, Su Casa Es Mi Casa, Ben Semanoff; Succession, Hunting, Andrij Parekh; Succession, This Is Not For Tears, Mark Mylod.
The absence of any Pose episodes is glaring. But the episodes from The Crown, The Morning Show and Succession are so good. The favorite: Andrij Parekh.
LIMITED SERIES
Episodic Writing: Mrs. America, Shirley, Tanya Barfield; Normal People, Episode 3, Sally Rooney and Alice Birch; Unbelievable, Episode 1, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman; Unorthodox, Part 1, Anna Winger; Watchmen, This Extraordinary Being, Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson.
I want Barfield to win for her brilliant script. And Unbelievable holds a special place in my heart, too. The favorite: Lindelof and Jefferson.
Episodic Directing: Little Fires Everywhere, Find A Way, Lynn Shelton; Normal People, Episode 5, Lenny Abrahamson; Unorthodox, Maria Schrader; Watchmen, It’s Summer And We’re Running Out Of Ice, Nicole Kasse; Watchmen, Little Fear Of Lightning, Steph Green; Watchmen, This Extraordinary Being, Stephen Williams.
I can absolutely see the late Lynn Shelton winning, and that would make me a happy man. Schrader’s work is excellent as well. The favorite: Take your pick from the three Watchmen episodes.