Yesterday, all nominations for the 2020 Emmy Awards were announced. For those who don't know, the Emmys are considered the most prestigious awards on TV. They are comparable to the Oscars, transferred to the television medium.
To tell the truth, especially in recent years, many people find the Emmys a less and less reliable index of what is offered by the various streaming platforms, cable TV and generalist TV.
Alas, recent nominations have also confirmed this.
There are reasons for great satisfaction, such as the 26 Watchmen nominations and the great recognition given to Succession and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, but there are too many reasons for disappointment. 3 of them all:
- The complete absence of Mr Robot
- The humiliating absence of Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Sehorn, protagonists of Better Call Saul
- The total lack of courage in rewarding niche series but of absolute quality
As if that wasn't enough, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has shown a lack of respect for "classic" series that have given memorable seasons. Think of the total absence of Homeland, a series that ended its journey after 8 seasons and did so with a final season unanimously acclaimed, decisive, tense, epic. But that wouldn't be the only case.
The Deuce, HBO TV series created by David Simon (The Wire, The Plot Against America, Generation Kill), ended with a final sequence that we will not easily forget. Even The Affair, which in common with Homeland has the fact that it won the Best Drama award at its debut season, has greeted its audience without receiving attention from the Academy.
On Mr Robot I'm afraid one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the Emmy Awards has been made. The fourth, and last, season of the TV series written, directed and produced by Sam Esmail, starring the Oscar-winning Rami Malek, was one of the best seasons ever in the history of television (refer to the list of episodes on imdb to believe). In addition to closing Elliot's path in a perfect and visionary way, Sam Esmail has also made a technically perfect final season, full of experimental episodes (an adrenaline-filled but dialog-free episode followed by an episode set in a single room and totally full of dialogues, just to name one), succeeding in closing the circle on all the stories. For the Academy, apparently, this was not enough.
Just as it wasn't enough that Better Call Saul was by many people (Darren Arofknovsky and Guillermo Del Toro above all) compared to his mother series Breaking Bad in terms of quality and character construction. The main characters played by Bob Odenkirk and the magnificent Rhea Sehorn, not on the short list. This is frankly unacceptable. A decision that cries out for revenge.
It's quite disconcerting to note the lack of attention towards the international market, in an era where even the big streaming platforms are taking root in Europe and the rest of the world, attracted by the genius of European, Asian and extra U.S.A. authors in general.
It has always been the year of the planetary success of Dark, an ambitious German Netflix series that shocked and amazed the world. But it was also a 2020 signed Italy, with the overflowing second chapter of L'Amica Geniale by Saverio Costanzo and the imaginative, ecstatic and visionary The New Pope by Oscar-winning Paolo Sorrentino. Despite a critique enraptured by the 2 products made in Italy, no nominations.
The criticism, the disappointments do not end here.
In the first part of 2020 we witnessed a triumph of sci-fi, with Alex Garland's Devs absolute revelation and Tales From The Loop established itself on Amazon Prime Video with its poetic vision of a futuristic world. Courage was also lacking in other circumstances. Clamorous is the case of The Great, which apart from not receiving any mention (except for the screenplay) has seen its divine interpreter Dakota Fanning ignored. How not to highlight the zero nominations for The Good Fight. A TV series able to anticipate the themes and tell us the news in direct, live and without frills.
On closer inspection, then, the balance sheet is clearly negative.
The Emmy Awards are an important review but they can't be considered, at least not anymore, the reference point of the TV season.
The nominations system is fallacious and sees hundreds of people, with enormous power and responsibility, voting for this or that TV series having seen 10-100 total episodes a year, often in random order (think that some people watch 2 random episodes of a season and then vote...).
Who writes, is used to have a "race pace" of at least 600/700 episodes per year, just to give you a "pagan" comparison.
It's therefore legitimate to wonder if, really, the Emmy Awards are to be considered as the sacred serial Grail.
I leave you with this amletic doubt and the list of nominations, hoping for a triumph of Watchmen and Better Call Saul as (thin) consolation.
Best drama
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid's Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
Best comedy
Curb your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt's Creek
What we do in the Shadows
Best limited series
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen
Best tv movie
American Son
Bad Education
Dolly Parton's Heartstrings: These Old Bones
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Best actor in a drama
Jason Bateman - Ozark
Sterling K. Brown - This is us
Steve Carell - The Morning Show
Brian Cox - Succession
Billy Porter - Pose
Jeremy Strong - Succession
Miglior actress in a drama
Jennifer Aniston - The Morning Show
Olivia Colman - The Crown
Jodie Comer - Killing Eve
Laura Linney - Ozark
Sandra Oh - Killing Eve
Zendaya - Euphoria
Best actor in a comedy
Anthony Anderson - Black-ish
Don Cheadle - Black Monday
Ted Danson - The Good Place
Michael Douglas - The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy - Schitt's Creek
Ramy Youssef - Ramy
Miglior attrice di una serie comedy
Christina Applegate - Dead to me
Rachel Brosnahan - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini - Dead to me
Catherine O'Hara - Schitt's Creek
Issa Rae - Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross - Black-ish
Miglior attore non protagonista di una serie drama
Giancarlo Esposito - Better Call Saul
Nicholas Braun - Succession
Kieran Culkin - Succession
Matthew MacFadyen - Succession
Bradley Whitford - The Handmaid's Tale
Billy Crudup - The Morning Show
Mark Duplass - The Morning Show
Jeffrey Wright - Westworld
Miglior attrice non protagonista di una serie drama
Laura Dern - Big Little Lies
Meryl Streep - Big Little Lies
Fiona Shaw - Killing Eve
Julia Garner - Ozark
Sarah Snook - Succession
Helena Bonham Carter - The Crown
Samira Wiley - The Handmaid's Tale
Thandie Newton - Westworld
Migliore attore non protagonista di una serie comedy
Andre Braugher - Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Mahershala Alì - Ramy
Kenan Thompson - Saturday Night Live
Daniel Levy - Schitt's Creek
William Jackson Harper - The Good Place
Alan Arkin - The Kominsky Method
Sterling K. Brown - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tony Shalhoub - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Miglior attrice non protagonista di una serie comedy
Betty Gilpin - GLOW
Yvonne Orji - Insecure
Kate McKinnon - Saturday Night Live
Cecily Strong - Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy - Schitt's Creek
D'Arcy Carden - The Good Place
Alex Borstein - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marin Hinkle - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Miglior attore in una miniserie o film-tv
Jeremy Irons - Watchmen
Hugh Jackman - Bad Education
Paul Mescal - Normal People
Jeremy Pope - Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo - I know This Much is true
Miglior attrice in una miniserie o film-tv
Cate Blanchett - Mrs. America
Shira Haas - Unorthodox
Regina King - Watchmen
Octavia Spencer - Self Made
Kerry Washington - Little Fires Everywhere
Miglior attore non protagonista in una miniserie o film-tv
Dylan McDermott - Hollywood
Jim Parsons - Hollywood
Tituss Burgess - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Louis Gossett Jr. - Watchmen
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II - Watchmen
Jovan Adepo - Watchmen
Miglior attrice non protagonista in una miniserie o film-tv
Holland Taylor - Hollywood
Uzo Aduba - Mrs. America
Margo Martindale - Mrs. America
Tracey Ullman - Mrs. America
Toni Collette - Unbelievable
Jean Smart - Watchmen
Miglior regia per una serie drama
Lesli Linka Glatter - Homeland (episodio "Prisoners of War")
Alik Sakharov - Ozark (episodio "Fire Pink")
Ben Semanoff - Ozark (episodio "Su casa es mi casa")
Andrij Parekh - Succession (episodio "Hunting")
Mark Mylod - Succession (episodio "This is not for tears")
Benjamin Caron - The Crown (episodio "Aberfan")
Jessica Hobbs - The Crown (episodio "Cri de coeur")
Mimi Leder - The Morning Show (episodio "The Interview")
Miglior regia per una serie comedy
Gail Mancuso - Modern Family (episodio "Finale Part 2")
Ramy Youssef - Ramy (episodio "Miakhalifa.mov")
Andrew Cividino e Daniel Levy - Schitt's Creek (episodio "Happy Ending")
Matt Shakman - The Great (episodio "The Great (Pilot)")
Amy Sherman-Palladino - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (episodio "It's comedy or cabbage")
Daniel Palladino - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (episodio "Marvelous Radio")
James Burrows - Will & Grace (episodio "We Love Lucy")
Miglior regia per una miniserie o film-tv
Lynn Shelton - Little Fires Everywhere (episodio "Find a way")
Lenny Abrahamson - Normal People (episodio "Episode 5")
Maria Schrader - Unorthodox
Nicole Kassell - Watchmen (episodio "It's summer and we'running out of ice")
Steph Green - Watchmen (episodio "Little fear of lightning")
Stephen Williams - Watchmen (episodio "This Extraordinary Being")
Miglior sceneggiatura per una serie drama
Thomas Schnauz - Better Call Saul (episodio "Bad Choice Road")
Gordon Smith - Better Call Saul (episodio "Bagman")
Miki Johnson - Ozark (episodio "Fire Pink")
Chris Mundy - Ozark (episodio "All in")
John Shiban - Ozark (episodio "Boss Fight")
Jesse Armstrong - Succession (episodio "This is not for tears")
Peter Morgan - The Crown (episodio "Aberfan")
Miglior sceneggiatura per una serie comedy
Daniel Levy - Schitt's Creek (episodio "Happy Ending")
David West Read - Schitt's Creek (episodio "The Presidential Suite")
Michael Schur - The Good Place (episodio "Whenever you're ready")
Tony McNamara - The Great (episodio "The Great")
Sam Johnson e Chris Marcil - What we do in the Shadows (episodio "Collaboration")
Paul Simms - What we do in the Shadows (episodio "Ghosts")
Stefani Robinson - What we do in the Shadows (episodio "On the run")
Miglior sceneggiatura per una miniserie o film-tv
Tanya Barfield - Mrs. America (episodio "Shirley")
Sally Rooney e Alice Birch - Normal People (episodio "Episode 3")
Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon e Ayelet Waldman - Unbelievable (episodio "Episodio 1")
Anna Winger - Unorthodox (episodio "Part 1")
Damon Lindelof e Cord Jefferson - Watchmen (episodio "This Extraordinary Being")
Miglior guest star femminile di una serie drama
Cicely Tyson - How to get away with Murder
Laverne Cox - Orange is the new Black
Cherry Jones - Succession
Harriet Walter - Succession
Alexis Bledel - The Handmaid's Tale
Phylicia Rashad - This is Us
Miglior guest star maschile di una serie drama
Andrew Scott - Black Mirror
James Cromwell - Succession
Giancarlo Esposito - The Mandalorian
Martin Short - The Morning Show
Jason Bateman - The Outsider
Ron Cephas Jones - This is Us
Miglior guest star femminile di una serie comedy
Angela Bassett - A Black Lady Sketch Show
Maya Rudolph - Saturday Night Live
Phoebe Waller-Bridge - Saturday Night Live
Maya Rudolph - The Good Place
Wanda Sykes - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Bette Midler - The Politician
Miglior guest star maschile di una serie comedy
Fred Willard - Modern Family
Dev Patel - Modern Love
Brad Pitt - Saturday Night Live
Adam Driver - Saturday Night Live
Eddie Murphy - Saturday Night Live
Luke Kirby - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel