We’re over half way through the Emmy eligibility period (June 1, 2014 – May 31, 2015), so this week at The Water Cooler, Megan, Joey, Clarence and Craig are going to offer some early predictions and do a little advocating on behalf of their favorite shows. Drop us an email or weigh in below with some of your favorite shows so far that deserve to be recognized.
Look for the new episode on Monday, February 22. In the mean time, subscribe to AwardsDaily TV’s Water Cooler Podcast on iTunes and be sure to give us a rating while you’re there. If you’re not into the whole brevity thing, you can subscribe manually via various other software and devices via RSS feed.
I cannot believe we are half way through the eligibility period because there in my opinion has been so much great television and even with much more coming up I could probably complete a very list of nominees and have no problems with it. Some people and shows I want to talk about in particular are:
RECTIFY:
The sundance channel is so underrated when it comes to original programming and this show is the best the network has to produce and while it can be slow at certain times other times it is brilliant drama. Aden Young, Clayne Crawford and Adelaide Clemens all deserve awards attention for their performances but similar to the show they will continue to be ignored. Also can I just praise the cinematography of the show which is great and equals some of the best work being done on the big screen.
THE LEFTOVERS:
HBO continues to make interesting shows worthy of the many and many think pieces and this new show is a great example of misery can be done well. While we see all these characters suffering from multiple loses the show is never dragged down by this fact but instead flourishes creating such unique ways of storytelling no matter how emotional. Justin Theroux, Christopher Eccleston, Ann Dowd and especially Carrie Coon give wonderous performances on the show able to handle both the deep sadness and dark comedy of the material so well.
THE KNICK:
Of course this show was about Steven Soderbergh directing all 10 episodes starring Oscar nominee Clive Owen but the show is so much more then that. At times the writing might have been a bit weak but everything about the show was able to make it great to watch week after week. Clive Owen is great as the lead but the show is all about Andre Holland (Selma) and Juliet Rylance (Sinister) playing childhood friends now lovers in a world that objects to this relationship and the two just work wonders together. This show really should also be praised for Cliff Martinez’s great unconventional electronic score that adds to the show in so many ways.
TRANSPARENT:
The golden globe winning show is just genius and gives yet again a rare voice to the transgender community. This family drama never feels manipulative instead showing us this entire family for their many faults and all. Jeffrey Tambor is giving a career best performance and Gaby Hoffman continues her continued rebirth with her work on the show.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK:
The Netflix hit is for all those out there complaining about a lack of roles for women of all shapes, sizes and genders. The majority of the cast is filled with complex and creative women and sometimes the show is about following all these characters and every women is just brilliant and when they grief we grief and when they grow we grow. I cannot even single out any cast member because of the 100’s of women on the show but in this recent second season it is Lorraine Toussaint (Middle of Nowhere, Selna) as the villainess Vee who owned this past season and while we never felt sorry for her Toussaint’s performance was so commited that she turned it into one of the best modern villians on television.
Eva Green on Penny Dreadful, Lisa Kudrow on The Comeback and Frances McDormand on Olive Kitteridge are the three best leading female performances of this television season so far and each would easily win the awards but I feel they need mentioning especially Green who is sadly on an underwatched show and Kudrow who will a previous nominee for this character was snubbed by GG and SAG. McDormand has been given her great word and awards and it’s just great to see an actress like her being given this amazing role.
I don’t know if this will be up for any awards but everyone should watch Emma Thompson’s take on Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd that aired on PBS and can be found on youtube. If you are a Thompson fan and despise the film version like me I recommend this highly.
Other shows and performances I love are The Americans (Everything about this show which might have even taken back the Suitcase from Mad Men), Boardwalk Empire (Everything including the stellar cast), Broad City (Abbi and Illana and everything in between), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), The Fall (Christian Grey and Dana Scully sounds wrong but it is so right), The Good Wife (Everything about the show), Kerry Bishé (Halt and Catch Fire), Happy Valley, The Honourable Woman (From Maggie Gyllenhaal to Lubna Azabal and everything else is great television), Jane the Virgin (Gina and everything else is hysterical week to week), Justified (A final season that is defying odds and producing some of the best drama every week), The Legend of Korra (A show that was sadly underwatched but has redefined animation and children’s programming), Olive Kitteridge (Just a great miniseries calling back to the equally great Mildren Piece), Parks and Recreation (this show is not disappearing at the end but going out with a bang) and You’re the Worst (A show with a terrible pilot that became one of the best comedies of the season by the end that everyone needs in their life.).
As you can see I watch a lot of television and just believe it is the stronger medium willing to take more risks and with Woody Allen, David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh coming to television the debate of which is better needs to stop because having both in our life just supplies so much great things to watch. Also looking highly forward to the return of Game of Thrones, the end of Mad Men and Nurse Jackie, the beginning of Bloodline and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Also the return of Veep and Orphan Black. Also the transfers of The Casual Vacancy and Wolf Hall from BBC to HBO and PBS.
Great comments Eoin!
Thank you for reminding me I totally need to get caught up on Rectify. I always forget Sundance is a channel I need to pay attention to.
I was only half way happy with The Leftovers, but the performances were all terrific and I’m really curious to see where the show goes next. I was a little frustrated that more people seemed to give up on it. They missed out on a show that wound up paying off in the last few episodes of the season.
I have no doubt both The Knick and Transparent will come up in the podcast. I worry The Knick is going to be ignored, but I have a feeling Transparent is going to be in the Emmy mix. A bunch of us are also Orange is the New Black fans. Ditto Olive Kitteridge.
I’m really happy with the direction of Justified so far this final season. It feels more intimate and character driven and scaled down from some of the more ambitious previous seasons and I’m glad for that. It’s boiling down to a Boyd/Raylan showdown which is the way it started.
Obviously we watch quite a bit of TV around here too, though there’s so much to see and not enough time in the week to cover everything. I agree that lately TV has been where most of the interesting action is, both in terms of diversity, but also in terms of inventiveness and risk taking.
Another thing about Justified’s final season is while they are setting up the Boyd/Raylan final conclusion the great fact is Ava a female character is in the middle of two and is probably causing their conflict. This season so far has been ruled by Ava and it seems she will probably be the one to get out of Harlan unlike these two men and the fact Ava is front and center is great for this show. Also mustacheless Sam Elliot is probably the best villain since Margo Martindale’s Mags Bennett 4 years ago. Also thanks for actually reading my comments because I am a big fan of your podcast and listen every week although I still have not listened to the Twin Peaks podcast because I still have to watch the show and actually is the podcast ok to listen to if you have not watched the show.
I would definitely not listen to the Twin Peaks podcast until you see the show. There are many spoilers.
I love Sam Elliott in Justified, but I think I like Mary Steenburgen even more. She usually plays characters that are so nice, she seems to be having a great time playing bad. She’s a good partner to Elliott and it’s even more interesting because it sounds like she’s double-crossing him.
At this point, I don’t think both Raylan and Boyd are going to survive the show with Boyd the most likely to die. I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. I’m rooting for Ava to make it for sure.
Eoin, THANK YOU for reminding me of the brilliance of Eva Green in Penny Dreadful. Even though I raved about her last Spring, I apparently (just as many awards bodies) completely forgot her from my prep work for this weekend’s podcast. I will be sure to give you credit though. Like Craig, I do think Transparent is pretty set for Emmy recognition, although I’m singling out a performance on the podcast that I fear will be overlooked. And that’s a really interesting call on Emma Thompson for Sweeney Todd. I’m not sure which category she would feature, but I bet Joey would know and would completely agree. We’ll bring that up as well. THANKS for listening and for giving us your feedback.