I’m going to start this article by going on the mother of all (dragons) tangents. Forgive the rant.
The idea for this piece came from a recently received monthly issue of Entertainment Weekly. I use monthly written as such because I cannot express how deeply upset I am at how this magazine has deteriorated over the past year. I’ve subscribed to Entertainment Weekly since 1990. Literally over half my life. I’ve seen it dive deep into film. I’ve seen it deeply dive into ephemeral pop nothingness. This year, I’ve seen it drop its publication schedule to roughly ever two weeks, causing Joey Moser and I to give it the nickname Entertainment EveryOtherWeekly.
Now, the hard copy publication has been reduced to a monthly publication. Like Premiere before it. And like Premiere before it, I suspect the end of its print edition is a year or so away. And I know, all of their content is now available at EW.com. Forgive me while I bemoan the turning of the clock. This old man needs to yell at clouds for a while.
Thanks for your time.
The latest issue of Entertainment “Weekly” drops its official Emmy predictions. The predictions are spread over several pages with the first page dedicated to Drama Series. They (correctly? inevitably? rightly?) predicted HBO’s Game of Thrones to take the Drama Series crown. And that’s right, isn’t it? Sure the final season became one of the (if not THE) most divisive seasons of television in history, but no one really thought the Television Academy would send away this record-breaking series without a strong goodbye hug? When the nominations were revealed in mid-July, we found out that not only did the Television Academy give Game a goodbye hug, but it also slipped it the tongue, stuck a finger *thismuch* up the butt, and left some money on the dresser. A whopping 32 nominations, 33 if you count the documentary The Last Watch which most observers do not.
So, predicting Game of Thrones to win Drama Series is really a no-brainer. There’s no single series that everyone else can rally around. The competition all has their fans, of course, but there’s obviously a huge voting block of Game fans that will send it home with the top trophy while everyone else splits their votes. Plus, there are always voters who will just name-check the series wherever they can whether they watched it or not. And maybe that’s why the awards gurus over at Entertainment “Weekly” did this:
Kit Harington? Emilia Clarke? ALL of the drama acting races??? Really E”W?”
Let’s break this down.
Peter Dinklage will most certainly win his fourth Emmy Award for his fantastic Season 8 supporting performance. He will, in my opinion, rise above his two competitors Alfie Allen and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau whose nominations feel like wins for the two actors. And Dinklage deserves to win. He’s perhaps the most important, consistent and well defined character on the series. If anyone else wins, then it’s surely to be a left-field selection like Chris Sullivan from This Is Us. But Dinklage will take it home. E”W” has this right.
In Supporting Actress, they’re going with Gwendoline Christie, and it’s a very nice thought. Christie, a talented and beautiful actress, is an incredibly nice person. She’s full of joy and life. Predicting her to win, though, feels like someone not-so-objectively looking at the race and letting their love for her overrule common sense. Here’s a case where, I suspect, votes will be split between the major Game contenders for this race: Headey, Williams, and Christie. My thought is that Julia Garner takes it home for Ozark. I mean, Ozark has to win something right? She’s very buzzed about right now, and she did get that very surprise Lead Actress nomination back at this year’s SAG awards. So, I don’t think they’ve got this one quite right.
But here’s where the crazy starts.
Predicting Emilia Clarke to win over far more deserving actresses is akin to burning up King’s Landing after you’ve won the battle. It makes no narrative sense. Sure, I think Emilia Clarke is super cute. She’s been a strong presence through the entire series, and I have usually liked her performances. I’ll even defend her Season 8 moments save that one “I’m about to snap” moment atop the dragon which didn’t work at all and was an obvious candidate of green screen acting. But if Natalie Portman can rise above that, then surely Emilia Clarke can. But to say she’s going to win Drama Actress over Sandra Oh (who lost last year) or Jodie Comer or even Robin Wright is either pure insanity or 100% awards cynicism. More on that later. My prediction ties into Emmy’s tendency to play catch-up with awards. Remember last year when everyone thought Sandra Oh would win but Claire Foy caught up with her first season loss for The Crown? They’re probably going to do that again this year and award Oh. My guess is that the majority of the Television Academy think Killing Eve Season 1 is really the season in contention this year. But am I being too cynical?
Speaking of cynicism, the most egregiously cynical prediction here is that of Kit Harington to win Drama Actor. Like really? Jon Snow? The observer of everything in Season 8? The one whose only real action the entire season was to kill Daenerys in the series finale? Exactly what moments of great acting was Harington afforded? When he gaped open-mouthed at Daenerys’s frying of the King’s Landed ghettos? When he gaped open-mouthed at the Night King raising the dead during “The Long Night?” Or maybe when he gaped open-mouthed at Sam when he found out he was fucking his aunt? I can’t even mentally process a Kit Harington win this year. Not when so many great and ground-breaking performances exist against him. Bob Odenkirk. Jason Bateman. BILLY PORTER??? Emmy has the chance to make history with this award, and E”W” thinks they’re giving it to Peter Fucking Brady?
So, why are they going all-in on Game of Thrones?
The cynic in me thinks that the magazine, owned by Warner Media, is just giving props to sister corp HBO, also owned by Warner Media. But that’s surely not possible, right? Maybe they’re really deep-diving into the whole “Checking the Game of Thrones boxes wherever we can” theory. And that’s certainly possible. Everyone loves a winner (see Return of the King). Maybe they’re thinking the Academy didn’t love Pose enough to give it (deserved) supporting nominations and wouldn’t reward Billy Porter this year over Season 2’s far more impactful performance. Maybe it’s a misprint?
Honestly, I’m baffled.
But there is something in the air this year. After falling to Netflix in previous years, HBO now reigns supreme in Emmy nominations (thanks to Game). Is there a sense that this is “HBO’s Year?” Will HBO win Drama Series, Comedy Series (Veep or Barry), TV Movie (Deadwood), and Limited Series (Chernobyl)? It’s not out of the realm of possibility. I’m just not as convinced that the HBO love extends to the down ballot races.
I mean, if HBO wins Drama Actor, Drama Actress, Drama Supporting Actor, Drama Supporting Actress, Comedy Actor, Comedy Actress, Comedy Supporting Actor, Comedy Supporting Actress… I mean, the evening is going to be as boring as it was to type that sentence.
If they have to give an Emmy as a proper send off after being nominated for ALL the season of her show and being consistently brilliant that’s gotta be Robin Wright. Who, no offense for the cute and good Emilia, is a zillion times a better actress. Jodie Comer is insanely good and “should” win, but she and Oh will split votes and they still have the possibility of winning in the years to come. Awards are a huge power play form studios and networks and agencies, of course there’s talented people nominated and deserving, but in the end is all about the games the suits play behind the scenes.
Clarke and Harrington are the two weakest actors/characters on the show. I can’t imagine them winning. The supporting cast of the show is spectacular and I’d be happy to see any of them win.
I agree with you about the decline of EW and the oddness of the Game of Thrones-centric predictions. I appreciate your articles and podcasts. On a sidenote, do you have any thoughts about Big Brother as we enter the endgame?
Thank you Julie! Hope your school year is starting off well. I don’t have any BB thoughts actually. I’m a month behind. I do hate nearly everyone on it though if that helps.
I only really like Cliff and Nicole.
My school year has been good so far. 🙂
I think Gwendoline Christie is far more of a chance than a lot of pundits are giving her. Her season was highly memorable and evocative, and I think that really helps when you’re voting months down the line.
I can see Emilia, but not quite Dinklage, and certainly not one note Harrington. I’ve lost interest in GoT, since this last season was pure shit. Just check IMDB.
Chernobyl is where it’s at, also from HBO. Tremendous! I also loved HBO’s Euphoria and Netflix’s Death Love and Robots
Dinklage is guaranteed to win. He’s won for seasons where he had far tougher competition and far less to do than he did in Season 8.
Emilia Clarke I can see, Kit Harington not a chance.
Also agree that the supporting actresses surely cancel each other out, as there’s no clear frontrunner between overdue (but underused in Season 8) Headey, Williams & Christie (although I can almost see Christie being most likely due to her initial “underdog” status – having to submit herself for consideration, being absurdly snubbed by Jaime, etc etc).
I’m so not down with a Dinklage win cause I really struggled through this season, but I suppose it’s inevitable and not undeserved. He still lost for his two best seasons – 2 and 4 – so I’ll see this one as being for one of those.