Episode 105: The Cooler Gang returns to Stars Hollow again and for the very first time in their review of ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.’
This week, we take a look at Netflix’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which dropped this past Friday. How does it flow with the other seasons? Can it stand alone if you’ve never seen a single episode of the original series (cough, cough… Clarence and Joey)? Plus, what are the Girls’ Emmy chances? And do we think the ending is cause for another season in this show? We also talk TBS’s Search Party starring Alia Shawkat who you may know from another popular Netflix reboot, Arrested Development. Is this show a turning point for the Must See TV-rerun network? Or is it a series destined for a cult following?
As always, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.
Thanks to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!
06:58 – Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
34:23 – Search Party
50:04 – Flash Forward
Who will be the 2017 Golden Globe ingenue? Joey Moser looks at the possible candidates.
The 2017 Golden Globe nominations will be announced in three weeks (December 12 to be exact), so people are already predicting who will be nominated for top awards. Last year, I pointed out that the Hollywood Foreign Press usually gravitates to new faces when awarding Best Actress — Television Comedy or Musical. Rachel Bloom excitedly took the podium for The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but is she a shoo-in to repeat? Is there an ingenue or new face that the HFPA is dying to award or will we just see a bunch of returning favorites? Does a new face have a better shot in the Drama category?
If we look at the Comedy or Musical category, we see a lot of faces that we recognize. Last year, Bloom had the advantage of starring in the only musical on television, and we all know how much the HFPA can’t resist a musical. Who are the freshest faces that threaten Bloom’s reign? Well, there aren’t many ingenues in new comedies that could take her down, but there are some strong possibilities.
(Photo: HBO)
If anyone should be considered for awards, it’s Issa Rae. Insecure is one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the fall season, and it has HBO’s pedigree behind it. It’s a truly breakout performance, and it doesn’t hurt that Rae is the co-creator of the show. Did I mention that she’s hilarious? The show does feel like Rae’s baby much like how Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was the baby for Rachel Bloom last year. While it feels like other HBO shows like Westworld and Divorce are creating more noise, Insecure should get a bump when year-end lists come out next month. Is a nomination for Rae in this category too good to be true?
(Photo: Amazon)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s performance in Amazon’s Fleabag also feels like it’s destined for awards recognition, but is the show too small to be showcased? We all know that I’m a major fan, so this might be my bias shining through. Both she and the show recently landed at Critics’ Choice, so we know some people are watching it. Mozart in the Jungle netted two Globes last year (including Comedy or Musical Series), and Catastrophe was also nominated despite no love for the performances. Amazon is on their radar.
Rae and Waller-Bridge would be the newest faces in freshman comedies, but let’s take a look at some of the other potential women who could land at the Globes this year.
(Photo: ABC)
American Housewife’s Katy Mixon wouldn’t fit in the classic sense of an ingenue, because she’s been around for years in supporting roles. If you may not know the name, you’ve seen her in either feature films like Four Christmases (I’m so sorry) or you might recognize her from Eastbound & Down. It’s great to see her in a leading lady role. Will the Hollywood Foreign Press take notice as well?
(Photo: Amazon)
I know, I know, but crazier things have happened. Perhaps the HFPA will be interested in checking out Amazon’s Crisis in Six Scenes. It’s Woody Allen’s first foray into television, so they might be plotzing over the idea to nominate his effort. Miley Cyrus hasn’t been on the small screen since she burst out on Hannah Montana so many years ago, but, hey, they might applaud her for returning. Right? They should probably steer clear of the reviews, though. Yikes.
(Photo: Netflix)
Justice for Bamford.
Maybe there isn’t a threat from a newer, unknown actress in the comedy race this season? Perhaps Bloom will have to defend her crown from other seasoned performers we’ve come to know and love from series past.
(Photo: NBC)
Kristen Bell has actually never been nominated for a Golden Globe before (settle dowb Veronica Mars fans!), but that might change with NBC’s The Good Place. She’s been around for quite some time, but her projects have never garnered any major awards consideration. The Good Place is an audience favorite, so she might be able to land a nomination.
(Photo: ABC)
It was a bit surprising that Minnie Driver didn’t land a Critic’s Choice nomination for her work on ABC’s Speechless, but she could land at the Globes. She was nominated almost 10 years ago for the short-lived The Riches. The show won’t have the all around juggernaut presence like Modern Family did so many years ago, but Driver has received a lot of praise for her work in the ABC family comedy.
(Photo: FX)
Can Pamela Adlon break through for Better Things where Louie couldn’t? Since Louis CK’s show has only received 2 Golden Globes (both for Best Actor in a Comedy), it’s hard to believe that they would start paying attention to Better Things. I only wish that Adlon could get in, so we shouldn’t compare the future awards success for this show against a completely different one. The Globes have never nominated an actress from comedy on FX, so if she gets in, it will be a small victory for the network.
(Photo: HBO)
Sarah Jessica Parker is the definition of a sure thing here. The Golden Globes love her more than they love Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp film collaborations. When she was on Sex & the City (not to bring that up again), she was nominated for every season, and she won 4 times. Even though Divorce is not as light and as her last television venture, Parker should land a nomination easily. Parker is one trophy away from tying Carol Burnett for wins in this category. Who’s ready for some killer Once Upon a Mattress trivia 20 years from now, am I right?
Those are just the formidable contenders in new comedy series, so that’s not counting out the repeat nominees from the past few years. Gina Rodriguez has been here for Jane the Virgin for the past two seasons (winning this category for the freshman year), and it’s crazy to acknowledge that Julia Louis-Dreyfus has never won a Golden Globe for playing Selina Meyer on Veep. Louis-Dreyfus is a lock to get in, but could the tiresome election coverage stop her from winning yet again?
(Photo: HFPA)
If we turn to the last few years for Best Drama Series at the Globes, we’ll find a lot of cable shows like HBO and Showtime. Netflix has had a contender for the last 3 years, and Starz has popped in every so often–most loudly last year when Outlander landed 3 nods. There seems to be a growing interest in streaming platforms along with their love of HBO and cable programming, but it doesn’t seem like ingenues will play heavily in this year’s Best Actress in a Drama Series race. There might be two exceptions, however.
(Photo: Netflix)
If Claire Foy doesn’t land a nomination for Netflix’s The Crown, I will buy the most British hat I can find and eat it. Foy somehow missed being nominated for Wolf Hall (as Jalal mentioned a few podcasts ago), but she’s front and center in the royal series. She holds her own against Globe winner John Lithgow, and the series has been rapturously received. I expect that The Crown will have a very warm reception with the HFPA, and Foy will deservedly be included.
(Photo: FOX)
For some reason, I can’t let go of the possibility of Kylie Bunbury getting nominated for FOX’s Pitch. She’s definitely a fresh face in an underdog type drama, but it feels like the buzz from Pitch has considerably faded since its premiere. It doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. If Callie Thorne can get nominated for Unnecessary Roughness on USA, Bunbury has a chance of getting in.
Is there anyone I missed? Am I reading way too much into this? What female television performance from a new show are you hoping gets nominated this year?
In the most recent Water Cooler Podcast, I remarked that one of the things I’m most thankful for this year is TBS, for finally stepping up its programming game (remember Ground Floor? If you don’t, consider yourself lucky).
Angie Tribeca kicked off the year with a marathon stunt that worked, and soon TBS brought us summer guilty pleasures like Wrecked and thoughtful political discussions with Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.
TBS’s latest series, Search Party, may be the creme de la creme of network potential. It stars Alia Shawkat, who hipster audiences may know as Maeby Funke from Arrested Development (and of course, if they’re truly hipsters, they loved AD before general audiences discovered it). Shawkat plays Brooklynite Dory, who in the opening scene, discovers a missing-persons flier featuring her college classmate Chantal Witherbottom (Clare McNulty). When Dory tells her friends about her discovery, they are glib, making fun of the former classmate before tweeting about the story for attention.
This is where Search Party especially excels. What could be a witless satire of Millennials ends up being savvy commentary on this younger generation. The vapid and beautiful Portia (Meredith Hagner) claims Chantal was insanely jealous of her in college, and whether or not this was true, her “me! me! me” plea induces eye rolls. But when she pays a lunch visit to her mother (Christine Ebersole), we discover why she’s always clamoring for attention. Her mother dismisses her daughter’s recent success in acting before forcing a work colleague to attend lunch with them so they’ll have something to talk about. Ouch.
Dory’s friend Elliott, played by John Early, is not as developed over the course of the first two episodes, but is hilarious nonetheless, with fresh comedic delivery (“I heard about a party I’m throwing tonight”). Dory’s boyfriend Drew, played by John Reynolds, looks like the evil love interest in every ’80s movie, which is in stark contrast to his actual demeanor as Mr. Too Nice Guy. When he suspects Dory is cheating on him with her ex Julian (Brandon Micheal Hall), he texts him a nonthreatening message to get together, maybe at a restaurant if he’s hungry. It’s a clear lampoon of this softy social-media generation, while flipping the switch on character stereotypes. For as much as you hate Drew, you can’t help but like him a little bit, too.
With Search Party, TBS has officially transformed from the network of Must See TV reruns to a standalone venue for must-see programming. Don’t be surprised if Search Party gets Critics’ Choice nominations before it lands any bigger awards attention. Although that’s just the way Dory’s friends would prefer it. Once everyone else discovers it, it’s over.
Episode 104: The Cooler Gang shares the 2016 television moments for which they are most grateful.
This week at the Water Cooler, in light of all our recent complaining, we’re recognizing the spirit of the season. With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner here in the U.S., the Cooler gang wants to celebrate the 2016 television and associated events for which they’re most thankful. This is more than just a Friendsgiving ranking (which we did last year). These moments are a few of the bright spots for which we are truly thankful in a dark year. What are your 2016 television thankful moments? Make sure to comment below with your Thanksgiving thoughts.
As always, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.
Thanks to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!
07:30 – Saturday Night Live
19:45 – Giving Thanks
38:05 – Flash Forward
Alec Baldwin on SNL
The Great Kristen Wiig
The Lesser But Still Awesome Kate McKinnon
TBS shows Marvel’s Luke Cage Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 9 The Crown
Hans Zimmer
Rupert Gregson-Williams American Crime on ABC
Lili Taylor
Connor Jessup Insecure Atlanta Divorce
Thomas Haden Church Bates Motel
Vera Farmiga
Freddie Highmore Casual
Michaela Watkins Schitt’s Creek Quarry And Then There Were None The Dresser Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Fleabag Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Westworld Game of Thrones Gilmore Girls
Sarah Paulson The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Disney
The Affair Season 3 kicks off with a Noah-focused episode three years after the shocking Season 2 finale.
Showtime’s relationship drama The Affair returns tonight for its third season. Famous for dedicating episodes to dual perspectives on the same material, the premiere focuses instead on Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and his latest tribulations. Noah’s shocking proclamation of guilt at the end of Season 2 resulted in a 3-year stint behind bars. It’s a cliche to say that the experience changed him, but the outside world seems to have changed far more. The Affair Season 3 premiere settles on reintroducing Noah and the audience to this vastly altered world, and, in some ways, The Affair feels like a completely different show.
The Affair Season 3 premiere opens at the funeral of Noah’s father. There, Noah botches his eulogy by distractedly admitting to the distance between the two men. Later, a casual funeral-goer caustically informs Noah that his prison stint caused his father’s death. Perhaps connecting the dots, Noah tries to reconnect with his children, particularly Martin who takes a hardline stance on his father’s incarceration. He also tries to pacify his sister’s family after receiving his father’s house in the inheritance. None of it works. Everyone carries some degree of grudge against Noah.
Underscoring this familial drama is the presence of a mysterious man in a baseball cap. The hidden figure lingers just out of reach in nearly every scene, exponentially escalating Noah’s anxiety. We later discover that the man (Brendan Fraser) appears to be a prison guard, but the connection between the two isn’t immediately drawn. Closing events in the episode potentially indicate that their relationship was not a good one.
(Photo: Phil Caruso/SHOWTIME)
As different at The Affair Season 3 premiere felt, you do fall back into the Solloway world fairly quickly. Credit the clear and engaging writing of writer/producer Sarah Treem. The series already demonstrated an ability to grow and evolve over its short run, so there’s little surprise that Season 3 feels even more different than those before it. Distancing itself from the obsessed-upon multiple perspectives seems like a wise choice as we orient ourselves to the apparent theme of Season 3 – the rehabilitation of Noah Solloway. However, moments exist – particularly its unexpectedly bloody close – that feel completely removed from the soul of the show.
The introduction of Noah’s colleague Juliette Le Gall (Irene Jacob) as a potential love interest also initially feels like a step in an awkward direction. Perhaps that’s due to the unresolved questions around his marriage to Allison. Perhaps that’s due to my personal disdain for academia. There is one scene in particular where academics discuss “courtly love” at a dinner party that felt like bamboo shoots up my fingernails. Is this satire? Is this heartfelt? I’m not quite sure.
Still, I will always trust the creative team behind the series. Noah Solloway never emerged as one of my favorite characters, so the team faces an uphill battle with me. I wanted more time with Helen (Maura Tierney). I wanted Alison’s (Ruth Wilson) perspective. All of these things will come obviously, so maybe I’m being impatient. A premiere focused on the martyr Noah Solloway wasn’t something I particularly needed, but I’m ultimately glad to return to the show’s world. Just don’t leave me stranded on Noah’s island too long please. It’s a sleazy place to be.
The Affair Season 3 premieres tonight at 10pm ET on Showtime.
Long-term fans may know actor Tim Matheson as “Otter” from the cult-classic Animal House, but new fans may recognize him for his portrayal as the 40th President of the United States in National Geographic Channel’s film Killing Reagan. Matheson slipped so deeply into the role, capturing Ronald Reagan’s mannerisms and charisma, that it earned him a Critics’ Choice Nomination for Best Actor in a Movie Made for Television or Limited Series (the film also earned a nomination, along with co-star Cynthia Nixon).
I had a chance to talk to Matheson about this role, the fine line between character and caricature, and whether he’s up for his next presidential challenge.
Congratulations on your Critics’ Choice Nomination. Was that a surprise?
Yeah! I was so thrilled and honored. It’s good company. They nominated a lot of presidents. (Laughs.) [Bryan Cranston was also nominated for playing LBJ in All the Way.] It was really a treat. I just thought it was fantastic.
I’m always amazed by actors who are able to take these prominent figures and make them more than just impersonations. How do you tackle creating a character without creating a caricature? You do it so well. I’m sure it had to be challenging.
Thank you. I find it’s very intimidating. What I really didn’t want to do was an impression. Yes, it has to have elements of the character, because he’s so well-known and revered by so many people. I just wanted to make sure that I honored that. But I thought the most important element for me was the heart. That, to me, was really what it was all about. You found out what was going on inside the man. It’s really a love story between Ronnie and Nancy. Of course, I constantly was listening to his voice. I had a dialect coach to work on getting the Midwestern accent, sanitized by Hollywood. He had a very distinctive, warm quality to his voice. So I would work on those things and the physicality of it, then I just let go of that and just tried to get his heart.
Courtesy of National Geographic Channel
You did an excellent job. Did you read the book before taking on the role? What kind of research did you do?
I started with the script. Once I felt there wasn’t a political agenda there, that it wasn’t slanted politically in one direction or the other, then I jumped in and read Killing Reagan and every book I could find on Ronald Reagan. There are libraries full of stuff. I also read most of the stuff that he personally wrote, like his autobiography. I read Nancy’s books, all of the books his advisers wrote. I just tried to get as much under the skin of the man and the backstage of it all. That’s really what our story was, a peek behind the curtain, into the palace. I just wanted to make sure we weren’t taking license and captured exactly what was going on.
You and Cynthia Nixon work really well together on screen, and she was also nominated for a Critics’ Choice award. What was it like to work with her?
She’s a champ. (Laughs.) I had so much fun working with Cynthia. She makes it very easy. She’s a wonderful single partner, if you’re just playing opposite her, or doubles partner, if you’re playing scenes with her opposite other people. It was wonderful. When we were together, we were this united team. I always felt she had my back and was protecting me as Ronnie. I could always count on her. They just had a very intimate connection, Ronnie and Nancy.
Personally, I didn’t realize how much of a role Nancy had in Ron’s campaign. In the beginning of the film, she fires someone. What surprised you when working on this film? Was there anything you didn’t know about Reagan until taking on this role?
I was surprised they were such a singular couple. She was his closest aid and ally. She was the bad cop, he was the good cop. That was in his nature. He was an optimist and didn’t like confrontations with people or firing people. But when he had to do it, he could rely on her to be a good judge of whether it needed to happen. She was that person who really was always so honest with him and he could trust her judgment in that regard. She had a good read on people. He’d see the best in people, and she’d see the truth in them.
You have a Netflix movie called 6 Balloons coming out soon, with Dave Franco, Jane Kaczmarek, and Abbi Jacobson of Broad City. What can you tell us about that?
Photo by Kate sZatmari
It’s a very intriguing story about codependency and how families deal with having a drug addict, what they do, and how they deal with those things. It was wonderful to do something so out of the ordinary and so unique. There are certain sequences in it that are ultra real, and then there are certain scenes that are fantastical. I’m always looking to do something new and innovative and daring. It was a great chance for me to play in a whole different way. I have high hopes for the film.
So you’ve played JFK. You’ve played Reagan. We have a new president now. Are you up to the challenge to play Trump?
Well, I think Alec [Baldwin] did the best. I’d like to put on a white wig and go back and play the early presidents. I think the Trump story is yet to be written, so we’ll have to see about that.
That’s true. Are there any other presidents you’d like to play?
I think they’re all fantastic and fascinating. Because it takes a singular individual to want to be president and then to become president. It’s really the American version of Shakespeare’s Histories. I love doing character roles. I just look for the next one to be hopefully as challenging as working on Reagan was, with as good of a cast and director like Rod Lurie.
Check your local listings for showtimes of Killing Reagan on National Geographic Channel.
After a partnership with Entertainment Weekly that resulted in the departure of nearly a sixth of its membership, the Broadcast Television Journalists Association announced the nominations for their seventh annual Critics’ Choice TV Awards. The newest crop of nominees resulted in less typical critical favorites and even more surprisingly produced some very audience-friendly nominees from Jeffrey Dean Morgan of The Walking Dead to best series nominations for This is Us and Stranger Things.
Where are the best reviewed shows of the year?
A disconnect seems to be growing between the BTJA’s favorite shows and performances of the year and the overall critical favorites of the year. Past Critics’ Choice nominees like Rectify, Casual, Catastrophe, Broad City, Orange is the New Black, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and You’re The Worst failed to earn a single nomination this year even though they are currently some of 20 best reviewed shows of 2016 on Metacritic. On top of that, some shows earned acting recognition but were shut out of the top races. This happened even though they were nominated in the past and are still some of the best reviewed shows of the year like The Americans, Transparent, and American Crime.
Instead, BTJA voters decided to bring back Modern Family (as well as Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen), nominations that haven’t happened since 2012. Voters also fully embraced Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with five nominations for a season a lot of critics and fans referred to as an aimless sophomore slump after the voting group ignored the show’s breakout first season. Overall, popular choices that gained buzz through articles and online support prevailed like Stranger Things and This is Us even without individual acting nominations over shows that earned universal critical acclaim.
Voters also made the interesting choice of showering shows with acting nominations but ignoring them when it came down to picking their favorite comedies, dramas, and limited series of the year. Ray Donovan (3), House of Cards (4), Outlander (2), and American Crime (4) all earned a lot of nominations but were left out of the conversations for best series in their respected genres.
The single most glaring snub of any series might be the complete shutout of the limited series The Night Of which is currently tied with The People v. O.J. Simpson for the best reviewed limited series of the year. Unfortunately, this might be a sign that the acclaimed limited series might struggle to stay in the minds of voters throughout awards season and into Emmy season.
In terms of individual acting nominations, it’s worth pointing out that voters embraced Better Call Saul across the board except for a supporting actress nomination for Rhea Seehorn who arguably earned the loudest praise from critics. The Veep fans among the group chose to honor Tony Hale once again even though the fifth season was a treasure cove of material for the rest of the supporting cast. With four nominations total, the Roots remake did well in terms of nominations, but Anika Noni Rose was left out after seemingly getting the most buzz when the miniseries aired last Memorial Day.
So overall, the question needs to be asked if the Critics’ Choice Awards are becoming less about what are the most celebrated shows of the year by critics than what exactly are they? What are these awards saying about the state of the television and what are they celebrating? And what is the point of yet another awards show if they aren’t making unique passion fueled choices but instead, for the most part, simply copying and pasting the choices of the Emmys?
A Silver Lining
Critics have always been relied on to celebrate smaller shows, especially ones that industry awards tend to ignore and although the recognition of new comedies this year were few and far between no surprise was more welcome than the two nominations for Fleabag. The little-seen British import might not have made huge waves when it was initially released but critics (including ADTV’s own Joey Moser) have been passionately championing the show and its star Phoebe Waller-Bridge since its release. Less surprising but equally deserving is the recognition of the best reviewed comedy of 2016 Atlanta and its creator/star Donald Glover who critics have been excited about since his time on Community.
(Photo: Amazon)
A Confused Membership
In 2015, the BTJA voted on two sets of TV awards so that they could merge the eligibility calendar and ceremony with the film awards, and it looks like the change heavily confused some voters. Mandy Patinkin somehow snuck into the Supporting Actor in a Drama Race without a single new episode of Homeland to judge him off of. A day later the BTJA corrected their mistake by replacing Patinkin with Better Call Saul’s Michael McKean, but the embarrassment lingers and begs the question as to how necessary the BTJA is if they don’t even pay enough attention to television to know what shows are actually airing. On top of that voters also nominated Maura Tierney for the third season of The Affair, a season that hasn’t aired yet although the pilot is available to stream early online.
The Crown
The Crown was one of the few new dramas that BTJA voters seemed to really love with nominations for Jared Harris and John Lithgow as well as Outstanding Drama. Shockingly, voters left out the star of the show Claire Foy. What makes their omission even more confounding is that Foy’s performance as Queen Elizabeth is probably the main reason critics fell in love with the show in the first place. If voters wanted to use the Critics’ Choice to influence industry voters, nominating the relatively unknown star of the show in a breakout performance would be the obvious choice. Instead, voters chose to celebrate Emmy nominees like Lithgow and Harris who need much less help being noticed by their peers. Even without a Critics’ Choice nomination, Foy still has a good chance of winning an award this winter with Golden Globes voters.
Readers, what are your reactions to this year’s Critics’ Choice nominees? What were you most excited to see and who do you think will win when the winners are announced next month?
ADTV considers the Emmy potential for Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Roanoke
Well, that happened…
American Horror Story: Roanoke premiered mid-September in an exciting cloud of mystery. Previous seasons all but spilled their guts with highly stylized trailers that often felt more cohesive than the actual seasons they forecasted. Roanoke saw none of that. We actually only learned the theme and title of the new season when it originally premiered. Something inspired Ryan Murphy to work against his basic instincts, and, for a while, it really paid off. The sixth season of his Emmy-favorite series finally wrapped last night, wrapping a gruesome bow around wildly mixed results.
First, the good: Kathy Bates dipped into her inner Annie Wilkes to give us The Butcher in the first half of the season. Literally no one on Earth could wrap their tongues such clunky horror dialogue that invoked both the blood moon and “consecrate” so deliciously. Then, Murphy flipped the script halfway through and gave us Kathy Bates playing the actress who played The Butcher in “My Roanoke Nightmare.” This twist became the ultimate meta/snake eating its own tale saga, and Bates played the new role to the hilt. That is, until Murphy and crew killed her off just when things were getting great.
That leads to the bad: the back half of the year felt new and different, pulling American Horror Story into something of a bloodthirsty Big Brother scenario. It seemed to really work for exactly one episode until the entire cast started dropping left and right. In excruciatingly gory ways. Forget emotional connections or logic and reason. Roanoke devolved into “here a slice, there a cut” with the attention of a teen off his ADD meds. Potentially, I’m the only person in the world that found this disappointing. Granted, it offered a more horrific take on the material than any season since Asylum. These events actually depicted a horror story over the recent costume dramas Murphy seemed to favor. Yet, I always relished the moments where Murphy and his writers combined the horror with great performances – namely Murder House and Asylum.
And then there’s that finale, which danced uncomfortably between tabloid and reality TV satire and the horror pathos that closed the season. After weeks of exceedingly graphic deaths and real scares, the finale felt like an unnecessary coda. It seemed at once both choppy and rushed and meandering. I’m not sure how really you could have ended this series, but Chapter 10 is not what I wanted it to be. It left a bad taste that effectively diminished any good will engendered by such a raw approach.
But that’s just my take.
(Photo: FX)
What will Emmy think of Roanoke?
In its heyday, the American Horror Story series received recognition for both its creative flourishes and its accomplished acting. Neither are likely to factor heavily into the Emmy 2017 conversation. First, the unplugged nature of the season eliminates much of the opportunity for extravagant set designs. I’m still not over Hotel losing that race. Perhaps, the Television Academy will appreciate the construction of the Roanoke house, but its spartan interiors pale in comparison to much that came before. The costumes are effectively modern save the flashbacks and the dead colonist garments. Maybe there’s a slight opportunity there. The creative, reality TV influenced, and often hand-held cinematography could warrant attention as well, but many complained about the overall darkness of the series. That could indicate that the cinematography branch won’t look kindly on the proceeding for not effectively solving the problem of available light sources (much of the show takes place at night during the “blood moon.”)
So, with such limited creative arts potential, that leaves the actors. Kathy Bates is the strongest possibility here, even with Emmy favorite Sarah Paulson taking three roles. Her midseason monologue illustrating a descent into madness offered some of the finest moments in the entire American Horror Story series. However, beyond Bates, pickings are indeed slim, and we have the series framing to blame for that. The reality show whoring and adherence/devotion to horror movie tropes didn’t give the actors much room to grow or develop their characters. Paulson offered a fine trifecta, but her British accent bordered on comic. When she wasn’t “on camera” recounting her story in the first half of the season, Lily Rabe began to develop an emotionally resonant storyline as the characters returned to Roanoke. But then she died. As did everyone else in a fit of running and screaming and bloodletting.
Yes, it’s good horror, but it doesn’t make for great acting.
Given the Television Academy’s polite refusal of Hotel, Roanoke isn’t likely to stem that tide. It provided a definite uptick in overall quality, but this season as it finished didn’t provide Emmy a reason to return. I’m not saying it will be shut out, but last season’s eight nominations may not be as low as it gets.
Guaranteed Nominations
Kathy Bates, Supporting Actress
Possible Nominations
Limited Series
Sarah Paulson, Actress (or Supporting Actress)
Lily Rabe, Actress (or Supporting Actress)
Production Design
Editing
Cinematography
Costumes
Cinematographer Todd Williams discusses the crossover challenges built into The CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
Cinematographer Todd Williams rides a wave of strong buzz thanks to his latest television project. The CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow premiered January 21, 2016, to solid critical notices thanks to a sharply focused, energetic pilot. Now in its second season, the DC comic-based series received a vote of confidence in the form of an extended second season – 17 episodes up from the original 10 episode order.
Filmed in Vancouver, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow hails from the Greg Berlanti factory and exists in the same DC universe as Berlanti’s other hot properties The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl. Tomorrow‘s narrative offers a wild, time-traveling ride exploring outer space, Feudal Japan, and the wild, wild West. The opportunities for expansive, challenging cinematography drive Todd Williams and lensing partner David Geddes to create visually stunning pastiches of comic book lore. They’re loving every second of it.
I mean, who wouldn’t love filming Civil War-era zombies?
What drew you to The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow?
Number one, the time travel aspect of the show was one of the main things that… opened the door creatively. All of the creative team get to go to different time periods every episode and have a lot of fun creating that specific look. You don’t get that very often with TV shows or movies. Dave [Geddes] assembled an awesome crew, and I’ve really enjoyed working on the show as a result. Plus, the Berlanti group has been super gracious and want us to strive for the best. They keep pushing the limits of storytelling.
You know, the first time you read a script with such fantastic sequences, you think, “This is huge! I don’t know how we’re going to do it.” Somehow, every episode, we do. For me, it wouldn’t be as fun if you read the script and, at one point, didn’t have a bit of a heart attack. This is not a feature film. We don’t have 60 to 100 days to shoot a show. We’re able to pull it off and do an awesome job. The end result looks fantastic. I don’t know that I would be involved in the show without those challenges.
Is there a scene in particular that gave you more of a heart attack over others?
I guess there’s a couple. When you read a script as a cinematographer, the one line you read in the stage notes that’s always a tricky one is “…and the power goes out.” They’ve created a situation in which there’s no light, and you’re not allowed to see all the relevant information that you need to see as a viewer. There’s a scene last season (“Marooned”) where the guys had to enter a ship that’s been floating in space, and the power was out. This season, there was some tricky stuff in “The Justice Society of America” where there were 12 actors in a scene. That multiplies the camera angles you need to shoot. Technically, that becomes very challenging. The Western episodes with Jonah Hex were cool because it’s a different time period with a lot of interior lighting that needs to be based on lamp light. You don’t have the luxury of putting practical, 2016 lighting into a scene. You have to use lighting coming through windows, so you try to move action closer to windows for more natural lighting.
One of the things that is unique about the way The CW runs the DC universe is the high degree of crossover potential. How do you maintain consistency across the various series?
The crossover episodes are slightly different. We try not to duplicate exactly what’s happening on other shows. Each show has its own universe, but, when characters cross over, we tend to apply the visuals of the show they’re entering. We tend to use a lot of closer, wider lenses. The mandate on our show is to keep the camera moving, and we try to keep the camera as fluid as we can as we introduce characters or move back and forth between characters through their dialogue. No matter what characters enter the show, we still to the style we created on episode one of our show. The tight lens choices allow you to see the size of the sets built by the production design team. Last season, the Waverider set provided a complete set. It offered a ceiling which allowed us to tilt the camera up. You could get onto the Waverider with a steadicam and do a 10-minute walking/talking scene without seeing off the set. It’s amazing that way, and it’s a mandate of the show… that designers build a full set as a complete design. You’re in that world when you’re in there shooting.
That’s fairly unusual for a series like this to build a set of such scale and completeness.
Yeah, it is. We’ve been able to go and do some crossovers with some of the sets from The Flash and Arrow. A lot of their sets are built the same way with some exceptions. You can still go there and do these wider shots where a lot of other shows – CSI comes to mind – rely heavily on super long lenses. The backgrounds are out of focus. You can cheat a lot when you’re using lenses like that. It still looks pretty and still tells the story, but it tells the story in a different way.
What cinematography have you drawn on to inspire the look and feel of Legends of Tomorrow?
Well, it depends. There are bits and pieces in every episode, depending on the time period that we’re in. I have a library of blu-ray and DVDs that I’ve collected over the years, and I’ll use those as references. The Terrence Malick films’ usage of natural light is an inspiration. Some music videos… I recently borrowed bits and pieces from Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” We’ve pulled some stuff from Scorsese… it’s really an endless list of references. Sometimes, it’s just a single shot where the style of lighting hits the actors across the face. Sometimes, it’s big, wide scope John Ford Western vista shots that have inspired us. There’s a lot of horror movie influence where we’re positioning actors on the extreme right of the frame, but, on the left side of the frame, there’s a lot of empty space. You see the back of the room or the back of the hallway, and there’s a lot of darkness there. It’s alluding to the fact that (the villains) are out there, in the shadows watching the guys.
Yeah, Halloween did that a lot.
Yea, they did. And they did an awesome job. I rewatched that last season for the first time in I don’t know how many years, and I couldn’t believe how awesome that was. I remembered liking it, but I’d forgotten technically how good that film is. It’s very simple, but it really tells the story well with the use of framing and simple techniques. It’s great storytelling.
Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursday nights at 8pm ET on The CW.
AwardsDaily TV team members Joey Moser and Jalal Haddad join Clarence Moye to review today’s Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominations in an emergency Water Cooler Podcast. They go category by category and discuss the surprises, the omissions, and the mysterious nominations for series that didn’t actually air in 2016.
Join us next Monday for our regularly scheduled episode.
TBS’s latest series, Search Party, may be the creme de la creme of network potential. It stars Alia Shawkat, who hipster audiences may know as Maeby Funke from Arrested Development (and of course, if they’re truly hipsters, they loved AD before general audiences discovered it). Shawkat plays Brooklynite Dory, who in the opening scene, discovers a missing-persons flier featuring her college classmate Chantal Witherbottom (Clare McNulty). When Dory tells her friends about her discovery, they are glib, making fun of the former classmate before tweeting about the story for attention.
