2020 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced on Tuesday. James Poniewozik and Margaret Lyons, two television critics for The New York Times, had a brief conversation about baffling selections and oversights, the emergence of the limited series, and what a virtual Emmy ceremony would be, or should be.
JAMES PONIEWOZIK So it’s not yet clear what kind of TV we’ll have, or will make, in the fall, but at least we’ll have Emmys. Which is where I feel this should start.
I really care about television. I have a harder time worrying about television awards even in the best of years. And this, as you may have noticed, is not the best of years! I have many doubts about the idea of an awards gala, while the industry is still largely closed (among other more important things).
That said, I also care about the people who care about television, the people who make it, and the people who watch it. If this helps them, and us, get through all of this a little bit happier until we get out the other side, that’s something.
MARGARET LYONS I guess, though I wonder if the awards show that enthusiasm should be ranked with pinch shoes, tedious grooming regimes, and pointless travel – I understand why we did it, but we won’t be back to that. We have the opportunity to do things differently! I also love television, but there is no straight line between that and thinking that the Emmys are a worthy pursuit. Anyway, not Rhea Seehorn, what a shame.
PONIEWOZIK As for the nominations themselves: I’ve probably said before that limited series has taken the cultural place of television movies, a category that is now almost an afterthought. But by looking at the nominees this year, not to mention what wasn’t nominated, they are possibly also stealing the heat from the drama series.
You look, for example, at “Mrs. America,” a historical drama by a writer for “Mad Men” that carried some of the feminism themes of that show (and reaction to it) forward another decade. “Watchmen”, possibly the show of the season long before George Floyd’s protests underscored its relevance, a unique season by Damon Lindelof from “Lost” and “The Leftovers”. I was also glad to see a nomination for “Not Orthodox,” which I loved, but I was afraid it was too quiet to be noticed. American television is really discovering the power of the unique.
(And yes: I am extremely Kim-Wexler-yells-at-Howard.gif for Seehorn’s omission.)
LYONS Yes, last year we both thought the limited series category was better than the drama category, and this year … that could be true again, in part because many cool dramas didn’t get nominations. I know we both love “David Makes Man”, and I was surprised that “The Good Fight” didn’t get any traction. I don’t understand who thinks this “Handmaid’s Tale” season was good. On the variety sketch front, how can “Sherman’s Showcase” and “At Home with Amy Sedaris” be excluded? This process does not cure me during the quar! It’s pissing me off, or at least making me wonder what the “Mrs. Maisel” people are getting that I’m definitely not.
PONIEWOZIK There’s always a problem of inertia with the Emmys, so for example I guess “Handmaid’s” has locked itself in the “important and relevant” niche in the minds of voters, however much it becomes an erratic dystopian roller coaster . Maybe “The Good Fight” suffered from having an incomplete season? (I just hope voters are paying as much attention.) “Pose” earned “Handmaid” for her second season even stronger. “Sherman” deserved to be in a category that oddly had a total of three nominees, and I’d love to see the conversation category add some new blood, like a “Patriot Act” or “Desus and Grouper.”
On a positive note, I always like to see the credit due to great performances in less cool shows. I didn’t love “The Morning Show”, but Jennifer Aniston’s portrait of a depressed and morally committed star was excellent. (The screaming co-star of Steve Carell, not so much). “Black Monday” is just a solid B show for me, but I love Don Cheadle’s energy. But man, as I head to the comedies, Pamela Adlon should file an insurance claim for the theft that “Better Things” suffered.
LYONS “Better things” deserve, yes, better. The exclusion of “Lodge 49” is a shame: I didn’t expect it to be cleaned up, but it was introduced as a comedy, and I think there’s room in those categories for, oh, less “Kominsky Method.” However, I am delighted to see that “What we do in the shadows” does it so well. I like comedies that make me laugh, not just think “oh, that’s funny” or “how clever” – you know, the surprise and joy of true laughter! What comedy can sometimes provoke!
If I had a wish, I wish “BoJack Horseman,” which was nominated for Best Animated Show, get the “uh oh, it’s your last season, and while it wasn’t the best season on the show, how can you let it go completely?” Oh, how silly have we been to “win,” like Kyle Chandler finally getting an Emmy for “FNL”.
PONIEWOZIK Even in that, a “BoJack” victory will still drift aside, due to its status, when what it has been for six seasons was one of the best on television. comedies. Emmy’s often feel a bit tangential to the TV talk of the moment, especially in terms of the categories that get primetime attention.
This was not the case with “Watchmen,” of course, but I did read an interesting piece from the LA Times that noted that the Emmys don’t seem to know what to do with the documentary series, despite the amount of bandwidth “The Last shows. Dance. ” . Even as someone who didn’t finally like “Tiger King” (it’s weird, we get the point), it seems like a space where the Emmys look where television is in 2020. (While they pay a lot of attention to “Dead to me.” )
LYONS “Tiger King” garnered seven nominations. Is that really overlooked? I’ll probably be cooking on slights for a few more days: “I’ve never done this before,” “High maintenance,” “My favorite ways,” I honor it in my own way, but maybe it’s also time to be curious about which Emmy ceremony. real will be or should be. Calling a Zoom or whatever to lose an award feels incredibly stupid, but avoiding silly things isn’t the strength of our culture.
PONIEWOZIK I get the spirit “The show must go on”. But many things are not Happening now, with good reason, and maybe the Emmys should be one of them. I don’t want to deny anyone their prizes! (Send them FedEx!) But a virtual Emmys, without the crowd dynamics in which acceptance speeches thrive, might awkwardly remind us of what’s missing.
But I reserve the right to be surprised by an ingenious production idea. Maybe they can find a way to keep everything inside “Animal Crossing”.
