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Emmy Tracker: The Dust Has Settled, Guest Emmy Races

Now that the typical grumblings of who was snubbed are over, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this year’s batch of nominees is actually pretty strong. New shows like Mr. Robot, UnReal, Master of None, and Baskets were recognized in one way or another, and voters ignored new shows that were less exciting but many were predicting simply because they seemed like Emmy bait (Billions and Vinyl).

Earlier this year when the Television Academy announced they would be randomizing the order (A-Z or Z-A) in which voters would browse the eligible contenders, there was a lot of talk on whether this would actually make a difference. Now that we have the nominees, I think it’s pretty safe to say it made a big change and for the better. A lot of the category clutter was cut out like Don Cheadle, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Julie Bowen, Jim Carter, Alan Cumming, Christine Baranski, Angela Bassett, and Joanne Froggatt. Instead, a lot of fresh faces were recognized like Constance Zimmer, Maisie Williams, Matt Walsh, Matthew Rhys, Thomas Middleditch, Kerri Russell, Tracee Ellis Ross, Laurie Metcalf, and Maura Tierney. If anything, the randomization of the ballots shook up the acting races and made them more exciting, which is exactly what everyone should want.

In the end it looks like voters finally embraced the opinions of critics and it will be interesting to see if critics and fans continue to have an influence when it comes to the winners.

Disqualified

Earlier this week the Television Academy announced that Peter MacNicol was disqualified from the Guest Actor in a Comedy race after someone did the math and realized he was in exactly 50% of the fifth season of Veep (as opposed to the >50% rule set by the Academy). It’s disappointing that he was disqualified for ten seconds of footage in a fifth episode, especially since he had a good chance of actually winning the Guest award. MacNicol was replaced by another Peter, Peter Scolari, for his work on Girls as Hannah’s father who, in his sudden sexuality discovery, panics when he finds out he left his wallet at the home of his first gay hookup. Depending on the next season, it will be interesting how the Veep writing team incorporates MacNicol (if at all) to give him a chance to return next year.

The State of the Guest Emmy Races

The four Guest Emmy races used to be some of the more exciting categories to predict simply because voters almost completely relied on the submitted tapes to make their decisions as opposed to outside factors. That all changed last year when new rules opened up voting from a panel of 70-ish voters to the entire acting branch. Last year’s winners showed that the entire branch can’t be trusted to watch all of the tapes (who would have the time?), and we saw popular character actors on well-liked shows win: Margo Martindale, Reg E. Cathey, and Joan Cusack. Bradley Whitford’s celebrated performance on Transparent was the one exception.

On top of last year’s rule changes this year the Television Academy announced that the final round of voting would be based off of a simple hard count as opposed to the usual ranking of the nominees. Relying on the popular vote of the entire branch will likely make it much more difficult for lesser known names to win even if they submit worthy tapes (Peter Scolari, Melora Hardin, and Horace & Pete’s Laurie Metcalf).

Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Some categories are so obvious that overthinking them would be pointless. Ellen Burstyn is going to win her third Emmy for her guest role as Claire’s mother on House of Cards. As a beloved actress on a well-liked show, she will easily win the popular vote and, with the scene where she takes off her wig and reads her daughter to filth, she would have won a juried tape vote as well.

Three of the other nominees have already won the Guest Actress in a Drama Series Emmy for their current characters. Even though Martindale and Janney are immensely popular among their peers they don’t stand out compared to Burstyn. Carrie Preston was able to win her first Emmy over big names by submitting a standout episode, but now she doesn’t stand a chance of standing out against popular actors like Burstyn, Martindale, and Janney.

Ellen Burstyn, House of Cards

Margo Martindale, The Americans

Allison Janney, Masters of Sex

Laurie Metcalf, Horace & Pete

Molly Parker, House of Cards

Carrie Preston, The Good Wife

Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Before the nominations were announced, Michael J. Fox was a clear front-runner for the Emmy, but after The Good Wife under performed in nominations it made room for other actors to win. Surprisingly, Ray Donovan has a lot of fans within the TV academy – especially in the acting branch – so Hank Azaria could easily surprise everyone with a sixth Emmy win (especially since Ray Donovan will be airing its current season during the voting period).

Last year Reg E. Cathey won simply for being a part of the most popular show in the group. This year, he has to compete against two other House of Cards actors and with only one scene he doesn’t stand out as much as in past years. Paul Sparks had the most memorable scene of the three nominees where he sits down for breakfast with the Underwoods in The White House, but Mahershala Ali’s Remy stands out as the most likable of the three characters. In the end, fans of House of Cards will be divided on their favorite of the three nominees and will probably end up slitting the vote clearing a path for Azaria or Fox.

Hank Azaria, Ray Donovan

Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife

Reg E. Cathey, House of Cards

Mahershala Ali, House of Cards

Max von Sydow, Game of Thrones

Paul Sparks, House of Cards

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

18 nominations into her career, Amy Poehler is clearly one of the most snubbed actors working in television. After years of hard work on NBC and some of the best Emmy ceremony moments, she will probably win her first Emmy after being submitted as a duo with Tina Fey for hosting SNL’s Christmas special. Submitting as a duo helped Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn stand out in the Reality Judge category, and the industry’s love for Fey and Poehler will push them over the edge. It’s unfortunate that Poehler’s first win will be shared and, as a guest win, won’t even air during the main telecast.

The rest of the nominees include four former winners and Melora Hardin who could have been a spoiler in the category if the submitted tapes still mattered. The two The Big Bang Theory nominees (Metcalf and Baranski) will probably cancel each other out and the same goes for the other two SNL hosts (McCarthy and Schumer). As the apple in a bag of oranges Hardin might still be able to stand out, especially if voters remember her meltdown with the stale birthday cake.

Tina Fey & Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live

Laurie Metcalf, The Big Bang Theory

Melora Hardin, Transparent

Amy Schumer, Saturday Night Live

Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory

Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

With Peter MacNicol out of contention, the race is likely to be between the two SNL hosts, Larry David and Tracy Morgan. As Bernie Sanders, David clearly has the most buzz going into voting, but as someone who recovered from a tragic car accident and then returned home to SNL, Tracy Morgan could easily earn support from an industry who loves a comeback story. Martin Mull could also easily spoil now that he is the sole nomination for Emmy voters’ favorite comedy, Veep.

The two previous winners (Bob Newhart and Bradley Whitford) don’t have the same momentum they had in the years they won. Peter Scolari, as Hannah Horvath’s father discovering his sexuality late in life, has the perfect tape but I doubt voters are going to award someone put in the race after someone was disqualified.

Tracy Morgan, Saturday Night Live

Larry David, Saturday Night Live

Martin Mull, Veep

Bradley Whitford, Transparent

Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory

Peter Scolari, Girls

‘Bates Motel’ To End with Rihanna Stepping In That Shower

A&E’s Bates Motel officially announces its series end… and the arrival of Rihanna

The Bates Motel crew hit Comic-Con today and made a handful of announcements. First, A&E confirmed that the critically acclaimed series would end with 2017’s Season 5. That’s not really news to those of us at AwardsDaily TV – series creator/writer Kerry Ehrin told us back in May this Season 5 marks the final season. As we also expected, Season 5 will provide a spin on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho. What we didn’t know, however, was that pop star Rihanna will be playing the infamous Marion Crane.

Taking over the role originated by the Oscar-nominated Janet Leigh, Rihanna will join the crew as the doomed Crane. There is no information as to how closely the season will adhere to the original material. Ehrin told AwardsDaily TV in May that “We are definitely taking a drive through Psycho and its events. It isn’t the whole season, but it weaves in with the story we are telling.” Here’s hoping the role of Crane will be limited in nature as Rihanna is, to politely put it, a relatively untested actress. It’s a shame to see her get the role as I’d secretly hoped the great Anna Camp would take a turn in the shower. Still, Ehrin and Carlton Cuse have yet to steer us wrong.

In other news, Nestor Carbonell (Sheriff Romero), Freddie Highmore (Norman Bates), and Max Thieriot (Dylan) will all direct episodes of the drama. Bates Motel will return to A&E for its final season in 2017.

‘Difficult People’ Who Need People

Hulu’s Difficult People continues its celebration of the people we don’t want to be (but often are)

Television would be a lot better if it had more selfish jerks. A perfect example is the rollickingly rude Difficult People on Hulu, and thank goodness it’s back. After a successful 8-episode freshman season, the buddy sitcom (starring Billy Eichner and creator Julie Klausner) returns with a vengeance, and it feels tighter, wittier, and much more aggressive.

The first three episodes of this current season focus again on Billy and Julie trying to break into the business, but, of course, they want to put in the least amount of work possible. Julie discovers that a frenemy made a showbiz connection at her local synagogue, so she fakes being a more devout Jew in order to land a writing gig. A fictitious show called Horse (about a single mom that sells heroin to support her trans daughter’s horseback riding hobby). The payoff at the end of the first episode is so well thought out and funny that it makes you immediately realize that Klausner and Eichner have stepped up their game this time around.

The best episode so far might be the second where Julie and Billy concoct a charity to gain attention that’s a gross descendant of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Instead of having people throw water over themselves, they think it’s a great idea to get celebrities to stick their hands into a public toilet. Poor Nathan Lane is bullied into the project when they run into him in the park, and they tell him that the proceeds go to the same organization for which Lane proudly volunteers.

The relationship between Billy and Julie has always been rock solid, so the other ones around them can continually flail. Andrea Martin’s role as Julie’s mother, Marilyn, feels more expansive so far. Billy continues to say he wants a suitable boyfriend even though he settles for getting blowjobs in the gym sauna. Eichner and Klausner have an ease with the language (it helps that she writes the scripts) and with each other. They are solidifying themselves as one of the best comic duos on television right now. Shame on Emmy for not taking notice.

The writing is especially biting so far, allowing Eichner and Klausner to really shine in selfish, bitchy comments to the surrounding idiots. I knew I was going to like this batch of episodes when Billy asks, “When did comedies become 30-minute dramas?” The assembled guest starts register an impressive note (Lane, Tina Fey, and Sandra Bernhard have made appearances so far), and it can only get better when Lin-Manuel Miranda and Julianne Moore show up. Hopefully Klausner will let some of these guest stars be as awful as her own character.

While I was preparing my top ten list last year, I hesitated putting Hulu’s Difficult People in the top spot. For some reason, I told myself that I should put something “important” or groundbreaking in the number one slot. Then, I realized that People was the show I anticipated every week. Julie and Billy are the people that I don’t want to be, but they sure as hell are funny.

Emmy Shocker: Peter MacNicol Out, Peter Scolari In

Peter MacNicol appeared in more than half of the season which goes against Emmy rules

One of Veep‘s 18 Emmy nominations is coming back, according to an exclusive reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Peter MacNicol received an Emmy nomination for his guest role on the HBO Emmy-winning comedy. However, the Television Academy announced today that MacNicol appeared in more than half of the 10-episode season. That directly violates an Emmy rule requiring actors to appear in less than 50 percent of a season to be eligible for a Guest nomination. The Television Academy later announced Girls‘s Peter Scolari as a replacement nominee.

MacNicol played the politically savvy uncle of Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons) throughout the fifth season. He was widely considered a frontrunner to win the award. Emmy submissions are the responsibility of the actor, and it appears that MacNicol made a completely honest mistake. “Kissing Your Sister,” the episode dedicated to Catherine Meyer’s political documentary, provided the offending moments.

Peter MacNicol’s character appeared for roughly 10 seconds in the episode, effectively a glorified clip show. It’s likely MacNicol didn’t film new scenes for the episode. He also wouldn’t have considered that episode when making the original Emmy submission in the late Spring. It’s a terrible shame. “Kissing Your Sister” is, in my opinion, the season’s worst episode.

His omission leaves Tracy Morgan (Saturday Night Live), Larry David (Saturday Night Live), Bob Newhart (The Big Bang Theory), Bradley Whitford (Transparent), and Martin Mull (Veep) as the remaining nominees. Scolari’s nomination marks his fourth career bid.

Take the AwardsDaily TV 2016 Emmy Quiz!

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‘Stranger Things’ Effectively Flashes Back to the 80s

Netflix’s Stranger Things uniquely blends 80s horror tropes to create a timeless series

On this week’s Water Cooler Podcast, Megan McLachlan rightly said that Netflix’s newest obsession, Stranger Things, had a timeless quality about it. She’s absolutely right. Even though the series sends up, borrows from, and honors 80s-era horror tropes, Stranger Things‘s central story feels out of time. A solid foundation of themes like coming of age, friendship, and family grounds the fantasia. Even though the 80s references are the window dressing, Stranger Things grows beyond its setting and influences. It isn’t just a gimmick. It’s the real deal.

The pilot episode introduces us to a Goonies-like group of pre-teen friends as they engage in that most 80s of games, Dungeons & Dragons. An unseen monster abducts one of the friends, and his struggling mother (Winona Ryder) embarks on a quest to rescue him. His friends get in on the action too, aided by a mysterious girl (Millie Bobby Brown) who possesses special powers of her own. That’s a very bare-bones description of the plot, but you get the general idea. You’ve really seen all of this before even though you may not directly realize it. Take The Goonies, Alien(s), and about six different Stephen King books, stick them in the blender from Gremlins, and you’ve got Stranger Things. That’s not a slam at all, by the way, and the least you know about the overall plot the better the surprises and sense of discovery will be.

But is it any good? Short answer, absolutely.

Some internet scuttle here and there calls Stranger Things merely a stunt show, something notable only for 80s kitsch value and little else. I take issue with that. This isn’t just an exercise in style. There are human emotions at play amidst the celebration of horror tropes. The four kids cast as the central group follow not only in The Goonies tradition but also Stephen King’s It and The Body (Or Stand By Me). They appear to know each other from birth, and they’re able to handle complex material without appearing overly staged. Winona Ryder embodies the Dee Wallace (formerly Dee Wallace Stone – ET, Cujo) role as the mother coping with single parenthood, lack of money, a missing child, and mysteriously blinking lights that may or may not be the embodiment of her missing child. Ryder digs deeply into the role, giving a manic, wild-eyed performance that brilliantly fits the mama bear role.

But, yes, those fantastic 80s-era tropes are staggeringly great. A Nightmare on Elm Street. ET. The Goonies. Firestarter. Alien. Aliens. Poltergeist. Stand By Me. And a whole bunch of John Hughes films. Even the way blood signifies fear of the feminine (OK, I won’t get too film school on you). The touchstone music of overly familiar tunes that immediately sets you in time and place. All of it works seamlessly together to create a new piece of entertainment based on emotions and fears we shared as children (of the corn).

There are a few quibbles I could make with Stranger Things. The pacing feels off at times – it needed to feel tighter in some sections. Also, there’s an overly generous retribution toward the end that felt completely unwarranted, but that’s likely by design. Someone has to die in the sequel, right? In the end, Stranger Things is an homage to the late-night cable TV obsessions of our childhood. Its secrets and surprises gradually reveal themselves in a familiar, yet totally rad way. Even though it’s an homage series, it really is unlike anything else on television right now. And that’s the highest compliment I could pay it.

‘Game of Thrones’ to Return in Summer 2017

Winter isn’t coming quite as soon as everyone thought. It’s looking more like summer for the seventh season of HBO’s epic drama Game of Thrones. HBO announced on Monday that Game of Thrones won’t return until the summer of 2017. Let’s hope that the news of 23 Emmy nominations will satiate fans for an entire calendar year. Not only with it take a while to get here, but the final 2 seasons will be broken up into two 7-episode sessions. Surely this is more devastating than The Red Wedding.

Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming, explained that the release date shift (pushed back from the usual April) is because of the shooting schedule:

“Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing. Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”

Game of Thrones usually wins Emmys by the boatload, but this new season will miss out on the eligibility window for next year. The current rules state that a show needs to have aired by May 31 in order to be in contention. Does this mean that something that’s been in the Thrones shadow will be able to celebrate for one year? Attention Better Call Saul lovers and The Americans fanatics! Your time is now!

Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men did something similar for its final few seasons. The final seventh season was broken up into two 7-episode blocks, but, unlike Thrones, Mad Men debuted both parts in April.

How does this change make you feel? Are you going to re-binge all the episodes in mourning of the pushed back premiere date? Does it give Thrones agnostics (like myself) finally a chance to catch up on a series on its way out?

A ‘Stranger’ Midsummer Night’s Podcast

Episode 86: The Cooler gang takes a look at two new midsummer shows and tackles Megan’s 2016 Emmy nominations quiz.

On this week’s Water Cooler Podcast, we take a look at the eagerly anticipated Netflix series Stranger Things. This throwback to everything 80s Sci-Fi horror stars Winona Ryder as a mother whose son has mysteriously disappeared. We take a look at whether or not this fetishistic approach to 80s filmmaking works on its own, or is this strictly for children of the corn? Then, talking about stranger things, we review the latest HBO Danny McBride production Vice Principals which bears remarkable resemblance to his last HBO effort Eastbound & Down. Does familiarity breed contempt or does co-star Walton Goggins give us enough new to warrant a recommendation? (FYI, there is a minor spoiler for episode 2 around the 26:30-28:00 mark.)

Then, Megan hits us up with a new Water Cooler Emmy quiz focusing on the numbers from the 2016 Emmy nominations. As always, we close with the Flash Forward of what television we are most excited about in the upcoming week.

As a reminder, be sure to check out our special edition 2016 Emmy nominations podcast, which dropped last Thursday. Until then, enjoy!

03:57 – Stranger Things
20:33 – Vice Principals (***spoilers***)
34:25 – Emmy Quiz
48:18 – Flash Forward

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‘Stranger Things’ Brilliantly Channels 80s Tunes

Stranger Things lovingly recreates an era through memorable 80s tunes

There are many wonderful things to praise in Netflix’s newest obsessive series Stranger Things. The Spielbergian themes layered with vaguely Michael Mann-inspired cinematography. The pack of kids straight out of The Goonies. Winona Ryder. We here at AwardsDaily TV have made this homage to the Sci-Fi / horror cinema and literature of the 1980s our newest obsession. We’ll publish a review of the entire series in the coming week. We didn’t want to rush it. We wanted to take our time and luxuriate in the 80s goodness. But here’s a heads up: one of Stranger Things greatest assets is a robust and lovingly selected series of 80s tunes (even though many songs hail from the late 60s).

Some of these are more standard selections. Some are unsung gems. One thing is clear: someone at Netflix missed a big opportunity to dish out a sure fire oldies soundtrack a la Guardians of the Galaxy a few years back. Since we’re lacking a single consolidated soundtrack, there are a few ways to recreate the sound and fury of the series 80s tunes yourself. Update: according to the LAist, the Stranger Things soundtrack will see the light of day as an official compilation.

There is at least one Spotify listing assembled here if you don’t already own the songs yourself. But if you already have a robust collection of 80s tunes, then here’s the full soundtrack listing episode by episode.

Stranger Things Track Listing

Episode 1

She Has Funny Cars – Jefferson Airplane
White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
Africa – Toto
Can’t Seem to Make You Mine – The Seeds

Episode 2

Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash
I Melt With You – Modern English
Hazy Shade of Winter – The Bangles
Tie a Yellow Ribbon – Dawn featuring Tony Orlando

Episode 3

Peter Gabriel – Heroes
Waiting for a Girl Like You – Foreigner

Episode 4

Atmosphere – Joy Division
Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash

Episode 5

Elegia – New Order
Nocturnal Me – Echo & The Bunnymen

Episode 6

Sunglasses at Night – Corey Hart
The Bargain Store – Dolly Parton

Episode 7

Fields of Coral – Vangelis

Episode 8

When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die – Moby

‘Vice Principals’ Is a Lovely Wallow in Hate

HBO’s newest comedy Vice Principals is an entertaining and hilarious bit of nastiness

There’s something cathartic about watching two grown-ass adult men fight like kids. Not just fight like kids, but fight like kids against a perceived common enemy in a fight they cannot possibly win. HBO’s Vice Principals relishes in the childlike rivalry between Neal Gamby (Danny McBride) and Lee Russell (Walton Goggins). There are no boundaries in this war, and the farther Vice Principals pushes the two actors, the better the exceedingly filthy and extremely funny comedy becomes.

Gamby and Russell are competing vice principals at South Carolina’s North Jackson High School. Gamby heads up discipline, Russell education. As the former principal (Bill Murray) retires to care for his dying wife, Gamby and Russell assume they will each ascend to the principal’s seat. Unfortunately for them, the school board has another / better candidate in mind in Dr. Belinda Brown (Kimberly Hebert Gregory). Brown’s appearance unites the two vice principals in a war against her. Hilarity clearly ensues.

Vice Principals isn’t a deep comedy, but it’s extremely good at doing what it sets out to do. It wants to shock you with the immaturity of the main characters and the great lengths to which they will go to win their coveted seat. The pilot gives you everything you’d expect from Danny McBride and co-producer/writer/director Jody Hill, namely a stream of hilariously profane improvisational moments between the two leads. It’s not until the second episode, “A Trusty Steed,” where the mania becomes inspired.

McBride is very funny, but he gives exactly what you’d expect. Gamby is a damaged man-child who uses his position of authority to lash out against the world. What really elevates the comedy is Walton Goggins’ blisteringly brilliant comedic skills, well employed here as the seemingly harmless, effete Russell. Russell’s interior, however, is even darker than Gamby’s. Like Gamby, Russell appears trapped by his circumstances and uses this war against Dr. Brown to release the inner beast. And he loves every second of it. Goggins’ performance is unhinged madness. He’s an immediate front-runner for Emmy attention next year in my book.

This isn’t just the McBride/Goggins show, though. Kimberly Hebert Gregory is also quite funny as Dr. Brown in dealing with these two men-children at work and with her own disrespectful kids at home. Over the course of the six episodes HBO provided for screening, Gregory evolves her character in interesting and unique ways thanks to the strong material. The actress makes the most of what could have been a throw-away role given the strong leads. Georgia King also has a few nice moments as hot English teacher Amanda Snodgrass, the object of Gamby’s unrealistic obsession.

Overall, Vice Principals gives you exactly what you’d expect from a Danny McBride / Jody Hill production, but it surprises by shading the proceedings with some nice extra touches. My best advice is to take in a few episodes if the pilot doesn’t 100 percent win you over. It took a few for the magic to work on me, but it hooked me after episode two. Danny McBride caught my attention, but Walton Goggins made me stay.