Emmys

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards are over and done. What do they tell us about Sunday’s Primetime Emmys?

Over a two-day Creative Arts Emmy event, Game of Thrones and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story have essentially been solidified as the frontrunners going into the final week of Emmy prognosticating as well as good signs for The Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Inside Amy Schumer. Other than that no other major questions were answered, and the most exciting news to come out of the ceremony was the long overdue win for the one and only RuPaul Charles who, in full Aretha Franklin fashion, marched onto that stage with a ferociously giant designer bag.

I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.

Splitting The Vote?

After a weekend of Creative Arts winners, the jury is still out on whether or not voting without a ranked ballot will have any sort of effect on this year’s winners. In the past, nominees weren’t affected when they competed against their co-stars because the small voting juries were able to rank their ballots, but now the entire voting membership is deciding and simply asked to vote for a single nominee. There was some evidence of co-stars being at a disadvantage last weekend with actors from House of Cards cancelling each other out, most surprisingly Ellen Burstyn losing what should have been a sure win to Margo Martindale. The Guest Actor in a Comedy race was also thought to be between the two SNL hosts, but the award ended up going to Peter Scolari who wasn’t even originally nominated. In fact, the one guest race where a nominee was able to beat out a co-star was Tina Fey & Amy Poehler in the comedy actress race, but that win could be accredited to the duo standing out as a pair, something that has never happened in an acting race before.

A couple of the below-the-line races had lineups with two shows having double nominees and then a single show represented once. In the Comedy Editing race, Silicon Valley had two nominations, Veep had two nominations, and the fifth nominee was Crazy Ex-Girlfriend which ended up winning. In the voice-over performance category, South Park had two nominations as did SuperMansion, but the winner ended up being Seth McFarlane, the sole nominee representing Family Guy. The only category that goes against this new theory is the drama editing race where two episodes of Better Call Saul and Game of Thrones were nominated against Narcos. Game of Thrones won anyway for one of the biggest episodes of television this year “Battle of the Bastards.”

If The Pattern Continues, What Races Will Be Affected? 

If the pattern continues, a couple of this weekend’s big races might have some surprises coming. Most of the races that have the biggest risk of vote splitting include nominees from the three biggest contenders of the year: Game of Thrones, Veep, and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. These shows were so popular in the nomination process that they outperformed the predictions of just about everyone following the Emmys. Now that they might be at a disadvantage, it makes predicting this year’s winners even more complicated. The six categories to keep an eye on are:

1. Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Tony Hale and Matt Walsh from Veep   
2. Supporting Actor in a Drama: Peter Dinklage and Kit Harington from Game of Thrones 
3. Supporting Actress in a Drama: Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones
4. Lead Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie: Courtney B. Vance and Cuba Gooding Jr. from American Crime Story
5. Supporting Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie: 3 actors from ACS and 2 actors from Fargo 
6. Directing & Writing of a Limited Series/TV Movie: ACS with three nominees in each category

Other Observations from the Creative Arts Ceremony

• Inside Amy Schumer and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver seem to be the clear frontrunners for the Variety Sketch and Variety Talk races after pulling off wins in the directing and writing races respectively.
• Five different awards went to documentaries that contended for Oscars earlier this year (Cartel Land, The Hunting Ground, What Happened, Miss Simone?), complicating the streaming lines between film and television even further. Could this usher in new rules from the Television Academy to prevent streaming sites in the future submitting failed theatrical releases into the television movie races?
• Game of Thrones won nine Emmys at the Creative Arts ceremonies, one more than the eight Creative Arts awards last year. With those nine Emmys, Game of Thrones became the most decorated drama in the history of the Television Academy and cemented itself even further as the show to beat this year during the Primetime ceremony.
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won the Emmy for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series, an award that has always gone to major Emmy contender in the past. Every winner (except for My Name is Earl) became an Outstanding Comedy nominee so is this potentially good news for the CW musical? Probably not, but maybe the attention for the underrated show could potentially benefit Rachel Bloom for an acting nomination in future years.

This is the second in our 2016 Emmy Confidential series. Publishing this week, the Emmy Confidential series allows Emmy voters the opportunity to anonymously discuss what they voted for and why in four major Emmy categories. 

Our second post comes from an Emmy-winning Producer whose career in the competitive reality series genre has garnered multiple Emmy wins. This Producer found the new voting rules (striking the preferential ballot) made the voting process easier but does miss the fun baked into preference ranking. The Producer also lamented Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s absence from the major categories and roots for Sarah Paulson to finally win an Emmy.

Drama Series – Mr. Robot

Overall, I actually watch all seven of these. Usually, at least something gets in that I don’t watch, so that’s kind of rare. Better Call Saul I respect more than like. I like this season better than the first, but it still doesn’t connect with me. I don’t know what I want this show to be, but I don’t love it. I have watched every season of Downton Abbey, but it was literally time to go about two seasons ago. It is entertaining, but if there’s one in this category that shouldn’t have been nominated this is it. I would have put in The Affair or Bates Motel. The writing was getting pretty thin, and the characters were sort of played out by this point. I’ve been a fan of Game of Thrones since the beginning. This season, it played a lot faster in a good way where, in previous seasons, it dragged a little for me. I love it. It’s like watching a big screen movie every week. It’s a fun show.

Homeland is one of those shows I’ve had a love/hate relationship with. I loved the first season but thought it went downhill after that. It’s definitely coming back, and I thought this was another really good season. I loved Miranda Otto and that character. It was a nice change of view moving it to Europe. I binged it within probably five or six days. I’ve seen enough of Carrie crying to last me a lifetime though. I still like the show, but not enough to ever vote for it again. House of Cards had a good season. The show is getting a little soapy, and it’s always stretched believability. Once [Frank Underwood] pushed Kate Mara in front of the train, it sort of lost credibility, but it’s always been fun. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are always just incredible. Especially Robin Wright. She had a great season, and I think she should win at least once for this role. I love seeing her direct in this too. It played really well in light of all the craziness going on with the primaries at the time this came out. It almost didn’t feel crazy when you saw Claire’s name put up for vice president at the convention.

I was blown away by Mr. Robot. For first seasons, I think it’s tough to get a feel of what your show is and what you’re doing. I think right from the beginning, Sam Esmail knew exactly what he wanted this to be. Rami Malek is sort of mesmerizing, and everything really worked for me. There was a lot with his psychology, but there was also lot of plot to keep things moving forward. I really loved it. Here’s the funny thing. I’ve read that shows benefit more from airing a new season during the voting window, but it doesn’t work in this case. I don’t get Season 2. I have a hard time watching it. I voted for Mr. Robot because I loved the first season, but I can’t imagine voting for it based on Season 2. I’m happy The Americans made it in. I loved the first half of this season, and I didn’t really love the second half. Once ***spoiler*** died, the wind kind of went out of its sails to me. I didn’t care quite as much about that biological weapon. The last few episodes didn’t work for me. I still love what Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys do, but I just couldn’t vote for it based on what I saw this season.

Comedy Series – Veep

I had never seen an episode of black-ish. I feel like a terrible Emmy voter. On the Emmy website, they give you six episodes to review, and you’re only obligated to watch one. I watched all six. I think it’s incredibly funny. It went from never seeing it to now being on my DVR. It feels like what Modern Family was about six years ago. I like what Aziz Ansari is doing with Master of None, but it’s not quite funny enough for me as a comedy. It feels more in the vein of Louie, which you appreciate more than laugh along with. I liked it but didn’t love it. I stopped watching Modern Family religiously after Season 4. It feels exactly like where I left it. I think the actors are great, but it feels a little phoned in at this point. Especially with black-ish in the category, it doesn’t feel fresh to me anymore. It’s still cute but not as funny as it used to be.

Silicon Valley I have loved from the beginning. During preferential voting, it was almost always number two on my ballot. This past season I felt was a step back. Somehow, the story didn’t quite click with me overall. I thought Transparent Season 2 was a step up overall. Loved it, but this is comedy series. It’s not funny enough to me. If this were in the drama category, it would probably be in my top three. It’s funny-ish. To me, a comedy series still needs to be funny for me to vote for it.

Let me say that I loved 30 Rock. I voted for it many times. I do not get Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I don’t think it’s funny. I don’t think the lead character as written is funny. I mostly find it annoying, and I love all the producers, actors, writers involved. It just doesn’t do it for me. I would have nominated Crazy Ex-Girlfriend in place of this. I voted for Veep. In another year, if Veep hadn’t been this good, I probably would have voted for black-ish. To me, this was an historic best season of comedy. In particular, the “Mother” episode where her mother is dying is like top 50 all-time comedy episodes to me. It’s one of the funniest, most well written, well acted episodes of comedy for the year.

Limited Series – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

I really liked American Crime. I still think Season 1 overall was better, but I think it’s great that this series airs on American television. I think the actors are all great, and the writing’s great. I’m a huge fan of this series, and I’m glad they’re bringing it back even though the ratings aren’t fantastic for it. In other years, I could see myself having voted for this. Fargo was incredible. When that was airing between October and December, I thought it was a lock. I didn’t think there was any way something could possibly beat this for Limited Series. Incredible acting. Incredible writing. I loved all of it. It’s ridiculous that there’s something else I voted for other than this. Roots I also loved. This is such a huge degree of difficultly because people ask, “Why bother remaking this classic?” That first 20-30 minutes when they were still in Africa looked incredible in HD. If there was no other reason to re-do this, it was just to see how far visually TV and filmmaking has come. I thought Forrest Whitaker gave a career-best performance. I thought it was all just really well done, and this was another that I could see myself voting for in another year.

The Night Manager is the only one I would have taken out of the category. I didn’t like it. I got through half of it when it was airing, and I just sort of lost interest. It’s well acted, looks great, but the story didn’t grab me. Honestly, in place of this, I would have put Show Me a Hero. I voted for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. This is another one with a huge degree of difficulty. I couldn’t have been more surprised at how well written it was, how sharp it was in terms of showing Los Angeles at the time of the case. You really, really understood how they came to that verdict. The acting was great, almost entirely. There were a few performances I didn’t love, but I was willing to let that go. It was an accomplishment because it was just so difficult to make this work properly. It could have been a complete disaster, but it wasn’t.

TV Movie – All the Way

For the last five-to-ten years, there have been some great, great winners in this category. I thought this was not the greatest year for TV movies at all. With A Very Murray Christmas, I kept seeing Bill Murray get nominated or the movie, and I’d never bothered to watch until it finally got nominated. I did sit and watch it, and I just didn’t get it. I didn’t really think it was funny. I didn’t like it. Sort of by default, I voted for All the Way. It was well made. The actors are great. It’s…. good. I guess if I hadn’t already seen Selma already… I liked it enough to vote for it, but I had to vote for something. I liked Confirmation, I just liked it a little less. Again, the performances were all good, but it just didn’t come together quite as well for me. I’m glad the story was told, but it didn’t really resonate with me. I have loved Sherlock as a series overall, but I didn’t like this one. I sort of didn’t like the jumping between present day and past. I was so excited to see this one that I watched it the night it premiered, but I was disappointed by it. Luther I liked quite a bit. I thought the case was good and creepy. If I were ranking these, I would put it third on my ballot.

This is the first in our 2016 Emmy Confidential series. Posting this week, the Emmy Confidential series allows Emmy voters the opportunity to anonymously discuss what they voted for and why in four major Emmy categories.

Our first Emmy voter is a Publicist who worked on the 2016 awards campaign for a now Emmy-winning major player in the Emmy race. The Publicist’s biggest Emmy wish this year is that Rachel Bloom win anything and everything for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show applauded by our Emmy voter for its ethnic and sexual diversity.

Drama Series – Mr. Robot

I love Better Call Saul, but I don’t think it’s reached that level yet. Breaking Bad won for its two best seasons, so giving the award to Better Call Saul now doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. I haven’t picked Homeland back up after leaving it after Season 3, and I don’t watch Downton Abbey or House of Cards. Mr. Robot’s first season was a standout. It’s a fantastic introductory season, and I haven’t picked up any of Season Two yet. I’m waiting for the entire second season to be over, so I can watch it all at once and take it all in. The second season shouldn’t affect that though. Emmy votes really need to be judged on the episodes submitted. Other episodes in other seasons shouldn’t influence that.

Comedy Series – Silicon Valley

Veep is probably going to win. First of all, it’s disgusting that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend isn’t on here. That show is 8x better than anything nominated. I can’t believe that Modern Family is still there, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was good but not as good as the first season. Master of None’s “Parents” episode was a true standout, but I thought the rest of the season was uneven. I refuse to vote for Transparent in this category. Jeffrey Tambor is great, but that’s not a comedy. I think Silicon Valley is overdue. Seasons 1 and 2 are perfection. Thomas Middleditch is my favorite nomination of the entire Emmys this year.

Limited Series – The Night Manager

It’s completely stellar on every level—directing, acting, production design. Everything. It’s really remarkable that a lot of people said it was an unfilmable. It was updated with a contemporary setting, and it worked perfectly—not a lot of series can do the same thing. It’s fantastic, and I think some people forget that it exists. I almost voted for American Crime. My vote was very, very close to that. They took a huge risk with the show, and it’s phenomenal. I almost voted for it just to support how great that decision was. American Crime winning would validate broadcast networks’ decisions to pick up a show not because it will get huge ratings or fit their brand, but because they are good and have something to say.

Plus, Connor Jessup and Joey Pollari are the two biggest Emmy snubs of the year. Jessup gave one of the best performances in any category of the year, and he deserved to be recognized.

TV Movie – Confirmation

To be honest, not too thrilled with this category this year! Sherlock: His Last Vow was a spectacular achievement and deserved all of its surprise wins. Abominable Bride… not so much. I love this series, and I actually quite struggled to get through it. Luther should not be in this category! I know it suffers from a small episode count but that still doesn’t make it a TV Movie. A Very Murray Christmas was really fun, and it would probably get my second place vote. All the Way did nothing to elevate the exemplary stage play, and at places where I was supposed to be riveted I found myself bored. Cranston was great as always but don’t he and Jay Roach (who is 4-for-4 in nominations) have enough?

That leaves Confirmation. Kerry Washington was really phenomenal, and it’s unfortunate that she’s getting lost in the Sarah Paulson-fest. It’s also a really important story that more people need to be aware of. Now, if A Deadly Adoption made it in there, that’s where my vote would go!

 

Here are your categories and winners for night two of the 2016 Creative Arts Emmy Awards show. This year, the Television Academy split the Creative Arts Emmys Awards over two nights, and night one’s winners are available here. You can watch an edited version of the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 17, on FXX in advance of Sunday’s Emmy show.

Going into the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, HBO’s Game of Thrones won nine Creative Arts Emmy Awards with FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story taking home four trophies. Check out the AwardsDaily TV Water Cooler Podcast where we will recap the weekend’s activity on Monday’s episode.

Refresh for updates…

Creative Arts Emmy Awards – Night Two

Acting

ACTOR IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES – Rob Corddry, Children’s Hospital
ACTRESS IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES – Patrika Darbo, Acting Dead

Animated Program

ANIMATED PROGRAM – Archer
CHARACTER VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE – Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy

Choreography

CHOREOGRAPHY – America’s Best Dance Crew’s Quest Crew

Cinematography

CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING – Cartel Land
CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR REALITY PROGRAMMING – Life Below Zero

Costumes

COSTUMES FOR A VARIETY, NON FICTION OR REALITY PROGRAMMING – The Wiz Live

Directing

DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES – Inside Amy Schumer
DIRECTING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING – Making a Murderer

Documentary

DOCUMENTARY OR NONFICTION SERIES – Making a Murderer
DOCUMENTARY OR NONFICTION SPECIAL – What Happened, Miss Simone?
EXCEPTIONAL MERIT IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING – (tie) Cartel Land and Jim: The James Foley Story

Hairstyling

HAIRSTYLING FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL – Saturday Night Live

Reality

HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM – RuPaul
STRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM – Shark Tank
UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM – Born This Way

Lighting

LIGHTING DESIGN/LIGHTING DIRECTION FOR A VARIETY SERIES – The Voice
LIGHTING DESIGN/LIGHTING DIRECTION FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL – Grease: Live!

Makeup

MAKEUP FOR A MULTI-CAMERA SERIES OR SPECIAL (NON-PROSTHETIC) – Key & Peele

Editing

PICTURE EDITING FOR A STRUCTURED OR COMPETITION REALITY PROGRAM – Who Do You Think You Are
PICTURE EDITING FOR AN UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM – Project Greenlight
PICTURE EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING – Making a Murderer
PICTURE EDITING FOR VARIETY PROGRAMMING – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Production Design

PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR VARIETY, NONFICTION, REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION SERIES – Portlandia
PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR VARIETY, NONFICTION, REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION SPECIAL – Grease: Live!

Short Form

SHORT FORM ANIMATED PROGRAM – Robot Chicken
SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES – Children’s Hospital
SHORT FORM NONFICTION OR REALITY SERIES – Inside Look of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
SHORT FORM VARIETY SERIES – Park Bench with Steve Buscemi

Sound

SOUND EDITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING (Single or multi-camera) – Cartel Land
SOUND MIXING FOR A VARIETY SERIES OR SPECIAL – Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton
SOUND MIXING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING – Vice

Special Class

SPECIAL CLASS PROGRAM – Grease: Live!

Technical Direction

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR A SPECIAL – Grease: Live!
TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A SERIES – Dancing with the Stars

Variety

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL – Late, Late Show with James Corden – Carpool Karaoke: Primetime Special

Writing

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR NONFICTION PROGRAMMING – Making a Murderer

Here are your categories and winners for night one of the 2016 Creative Arts Emmy Awards show. This year, the Television Academy split the Creative Arts Emmys Awards over two nights. Saturday’s ceremony kicks off at 5pm PT at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. You can watch an edited version of the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 17, on FXX in advance of Sunday’s Emmy show.

Going into the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, HBO’s Game of Thrones won nine Creative Arts Emmy Awards with FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story taking home four trophies. Check out the AwardsDaily TV Water Cooler Podcast where we will recap the weekend’s activity on Monday’s episode.

Creative Arts Emmy Awards – Night One

Casting

COMEDY SERIES – Veep
DRAMA SERIES – Game of Thrones
LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR A SPECIAL – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Children’s Programming

CHILDREN’S PROGRAM – It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Cinematography

LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – Fargo
MULTI-CAMERA SERIES – Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn
SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES – Man in the High Castle

Commercial

COMMERCIAL – Love Has No Labels, Ad Council

Costumes

CONTEMPORARY SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – American Horror Story: Hotel
PERIOD/FANTASY SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – Game of Thrones

Interactive Media

INTERACTIVE PROGRAM – The Late Late Show With James Corden

Guest Acting

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Peter Scolari, Girls
ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – Hank Azaria, Ray Donovan
ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Margo Martindale, The Americans

Hairstyling

LIMITED SERIES OR A MOVIE – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES – Downton Abbey

Main Title

MAIN TITLE DESIGN – Man in the High Castle

Makeup

LIMITED SERIES OR A MOVIE (NON-PROSTHETIC) – American Horror Story: Hotel
SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES (NON-PROSTHETIC) – Game of Thrones
PROSTHETIC MAKEUP FOR A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR A SPECIAL – Game of Thrones

Editing

MULTI-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES – The Big Bang Theory
SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES – Game of Thrones
SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOVIE – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Music

LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR A SPECIAL (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE) – The Night Manager
SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE) – Mr. Robot
MUSIC DIRECTION – Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton
NARRATOR – Keith David, Jackie Robinson
ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC – Jessica Jones
ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS – “‘Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground

Production Design

NARRATIVE PROGRAM (HALF-HOUR OR LESS) – Transparent
NARRATIVE PERIOD PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE) – Downton Abbey
NARRATIVE COMTEMPORARY OR FANTASY PROGRAM – Game of Thrones

Sound

SOUND EDITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR A SPECIAL – Fargo
SOUND EDITING FOR A SERIES – Black Sails
SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR) AND ANIMATION – Mozart in the Jungle
SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR) – Game of Thrones
SOUND MIXING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOVIE – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

VFX

SPECIAL AND VISUAL EFFECTS – Game of Thrones
SPECIAL AND VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Sherlock

Stunt Coordination

COMEDY SERIES OR VARIETY PROGRAM – Shameless
DRAMA SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE – Game of Thrones

The Creative Arts Emmy Ceremony will take place this weekend and nearly 100 awards will be handed out over a 2-day ceremony. Last year, most headlines coming out of the creative arts ceremony focused on the Game of Thrones haul and the bizarre guest acting winners, but this year there are seven key awards to keep an eye on on top of the increasingly difficult to predict guest races.

Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series

Game of Thrones won 26 Emmys over its run in large part due to the craft guilds. The one notable exception is the cinematography branch that has never honored the fantasy epic and only started nominating the show in its third season. This is even more surprising with the realization that the cinematographers have awarded just about every big HBO show including shows like Carnivale, Rome, True Detective, and Boardwalk Empire multiple times. If Game of Thrones finally wins its first cinematography Emmy, it will beat out many of its drama series contenders (Downton Abbey, House of Cards, Homeland) as well as multiple underrepresented genre shows (Bates Motel, Gotham, Man in High Castle).

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program

Last year, voting was opened up to much larger voting pools, and for the first time HBO swept up wins in most of the major program races. This year, the premium network is bound to win even more program awards (including Variety Talk), and it will be interesting to see if they also win their first reality program Emmy. Last year, they didn’t have a bone in the race, but their once great Project Greenlight finally returned this year even though the season came with underwhelming story lines and a controversy thanks to Matt Damon. If HBO continues their program domination and Project Greenlight goes along for the ride, the film-making reality show will beat out fellow nominees like Born This Way, Gaycation, Intervention, United Shades of America, and the only show to ever win this category Deadliest Catch.

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing  

The biggest question about the Television Academy’s new voting system is whether or not the new rules will negatively affect shows with multiple nominees in a single category. By switching the system from a ranked ballot (a ballot that helped the Modern Family cast for so long) to a simple check-and-go ballot system, a lot of old favorites could be at risk. The two Creative Arts races that will best hint at the new system will be the two picture editing races with two episodes of Better Call Saul and two episodes of Game of Throne squaring off against a single episode of Narcos on the drama side while two episodes of Silicon Valley and two episodes of Veep square off against Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on the comedy side. If Narcos and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend end up winning this weekend, it might be the most telling hint for everyone to rethink some of their predictions for the main telecast.

Outstanding Original Music & Lyrics   

In the past, the Original Music and Lyrics Emmy tended to go to either awards show pieces or songs from sketch variety shows (SNL and Inside Amy Schumer). Without any obvious nominees, this year’s Emmy is up for grabs. The critic and ADTV favorite is without a doubt Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s “Settle For Me,” and, even though this might be the Bloom’s best shot at an Emmy this year, she faces a lot of competition from Galavant’s “A New Season” which might earn a lot of support for being written by Alan Menken. The other nominees from programs like Empire, The Hunting Ground, and Garfunkel and Oates: Trying to be Special all have their pros and cons but none of them seem quite as friendly as the other two nominees.

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series

Last year, the Variety Series race split into two categories, one for sketch shows and one for talk shows, although the writing and directing races continue to be mixed. Last Week With John Oliver Tonight appears to be the front-runner not only here but also in the Variety Talk Series race. If he and his writing team win, it will only lock him in as the front-runner for the main award. If one of the four Variety Sketch Series nominees wins, it could be an incredibly helpful hint on which show to predict next week. The Variety Sketch Series race is the more unpredictable of the two races and if Inside Amy Schumer, Key and Peele, Portlandia, or Saturday Night Live wins the writing race it might be a huge indicator of what show has the edge.

Outstanding  Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program

Once a category that felt like a wasted opportunity, the award for best reality host has become the award to watch this year. In recent years, the voters have gravitated towards new and exciting nominees whether they be Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn as a pair or Jane Lynch, so it makes sense that this year’s race is likely between the two newcomers: RuPaul Charles and Steve Harvey. RuPaul may have a more dedicated fan base, but some conservative voters probably won’t pay enough attention to appreciate how much work he does in and out of drag. Steve Harvey, on the other hand, has more mainstream appeal, can be seen on television at least five nights a week, and is even impersonated by Kenan Thompson on SNL. His only problem is that he isn’t even nominated for Family Feud. Instead voters nominated his other submission, Little Big Shots, a show that seemed to make very little impact last spring. In the end my heart tells me to stick with Ru but my head knows it will be Steve Harvey.

The Guest Acting Races 

Last month, I covered the four guest acting races that will be announced this weekend and none of my predictions have really changed. I’m still counting on Amy Poehler and Tina Fey making history as the first duo to win an acting Emmy, for Ellen Burstyn to win the most obvious Emmy of her career, for Tracy Morgan to win a well-deserved welcome back award, and for Hank Azaria and Ray Donovan to benefit from the House of Cards men splitting the vote. The only major change in my predictions is my newfound faith in Melora Hardin as the dark horse contender for her work in Transparent. Transparent is clearly popular within the acting branch and her drunken poolside meltdown is the type of over-the-top performance that usually stands out to voters. Also worth pointing out is the close race likely between the two SNL hosts Tracy Morgan and Larry David, which could very well make room for someone like Veep‘s Martin Mull.

Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Hank Azaria	Tracy Morgan	Tina Fey & Amy Poehler	Ellen Burstyn
Michael J Fox	Larry David	Melora Hardin	Laurie Metcalf
Max von Sydow	Martin Mull	Laurie Metcalf	Margo Martindale
Reg E. Cathey	Bob Newhart	Amy Schumer	Allison Janney
Mahershala Ali	Peter Scolari	Christine Baranski	Molly Parker
Paul Sparks	Bradley Whitford	Melissa McCarthy	Carrie Preston

Readers, what categories are you looking forward to the most this weekend at the Creative Arts Emmys? Sound off in the comments!

The first group of this year’s Emmy Awards presenters, representing the entertainment industry’s biggest stars from various television program genres, has been confirmed to appear at the 68th Emmy Awards telecast.

These presenters include:

Anthony Anderson – nominee, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for black-ish (ABC)
Aziz Ansari – quadruple nominee, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Oustanding Writing for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Comedy Series for Master of None (Netflix)
Kristen Bell – Good Place (NBC)
Julie Bowen – two-time Emmy winner, Modern Family (ABC)
Priyanka Chopra – Quantico (ABC)
James Corden – triple nominee, Outstanding Interactive Program, Outstanding Variety Music Or Comedy Special, Outstanding Variety Series Talk for The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
Larry David – previous Emmy winner and current nominee, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for SNL (NBC), Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Taraji P. Henson – nominee, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Empire (FOX)
Randall Park – Fresh Off The Boat (ABC)
Andy Samberg – Golden Globe winner, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)
Liev Schreiber – nominee, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Ray Donovan (SHOWTIME)
Michael Weatherly – Bull (CBS)

Produced by Don Mischer Productions, the 68th Emmy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and beginning with Countdown to the Emmy Awards.

 

The Emmys will air live on ABS Sunday, September 18 from 4pm ET.

Emmy Drama: Lead Actress

As Annalise Keating, Viola Davis has won every peer-voted award for which she has been nominated. At first glance, that makes her an obvious choice to once again take home the Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy for the second time. After years of carving out her space in Hollywood with unforgettable supporting roles in film, she is the reigning winner and likely front-runner. In addition to possibly winning an Emmy, an Oscar could be in her future for her role in the upcoming adaptation of Fences. The only thing getting in the way of her second Emmy is the lack of excitement around the second season of How to Get Away With Murder. As a Shondaland production, the show has its fans, but Emmy voters and critics largely ignored Season 2.

In what might be the closest major race of the year, Robin Wright has the chance of being the only upset of the night. The lack of enthusiasm around HTGAWM and the actor adoration for House of Cards makes this year’s lead actress race the performance race to pay attention to come Emmy night. Robin Wright has slowly been gaining momentum over the years and had an indelible arc with storylines revolving around her dying mother, a trip to Russia, manipulating her way into the VP slot, and that chilling final scene where she joins Frank in breaking the fourth wall. On top of her performance, she also directed nearly a third of the season, something a lot of actors will admire. As much as season four revolved around Claire Underwood, voters might not want to award both lead races to House of Cards and end up following their SAG choices instead (Davis and Spacey).

Wright and Davis might attract similar enough voters that they end up splitting the vote and making room for one of the biggest shocks of the night – à la Adrien Brody at the 2002 Oscars. If that’s the case an argument could be made for Keri Russell, Tatiana Maslany, and even Taraji P. Henson. After years of work on television starting with Felicity, Keri Russell might just be even more well-liked than expected. If the jury system were still in place, Tatiana Maslany would be the front-runner with countless performances that would be too good for actors to pass up. Taraji P. Henson, the most lively of any nominee, would give the best speech and after running around with cookies at the Globes a lot of voters might want it to happen again.

Current Ranking

Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Keri Russell, The Americans

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Claire Danes, Homeland

 

 

 Emmy Drama: Lead Actor   

After being enamored by Breaking Bad for so long, the acting branch has a lot of catch-up to do in the lead actor race. They started last year by finally awarding Jon Hamm after years of snubs. With Mad Men done, the most obvious performance to turn to is Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood. As a two-time Oscar winner and the SAG winner for the past two years, it’s clear he is beloved by his peers. With a southern drawl right out of a Tennessee Williams play, he gives the biggest performance, and it makes him standout even more to his peers when they sit down to fill out their ballots.

Unlike the lead actress race, the lead actor race is seriously lacking in exciting nominees. In their second seasons, Bob Odenkirk and Kyle Chandler don’t have the momentum behind their shows to pull off a win. Matthew Rhys seems to be a critical favorite, but he doesn’t seem to make himself as publicly available in interviews and press tours to get enough attention for a popular vote. Ray Donovan seems like it might have a silent majority of supporters within the Television Academy, but the show doesn’t elicit that much enthusiasm outside of its fan-base.

Of the contenders, Rami Malek seems to be getting the most buzz and visibility. He and Odenkirk are the only two nominees nominated throughout the entire TV awards year (Critics’ Choice, SAG, TCA, Golden Globe, Emmy), and he seems to have taken advantage of his new found success by getting his name out there with countless appearances. It doesn’t hurt him that the second season of Mr. Robot aired during the voting period either. In the end, a lot of voters might have trouble awarding a lead race to Malek, a relative newcomer, compared to a two-time Academy Award winner on one of their favorite shows.

Current Ranking

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Rami Malek, Mr. Robot

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

 

Emmy Drama: Series

In a year where thousands of voters are merely checking off their favorite show without having to put much effort into seeking out all seven nominees, Game of Thrones, the most popular show on TV behind The Walking Dead, appears absolutely unstoppable. The HBO fantasy’s total nominations might be slightly down, but it over performed in the acting races, making the show even harder to bet against. The show does have its weaknesses, however, and if enough voters feel a Game of Thrones fatigue, as unlikely as that sounds, a couple of shows could pull off their first series win.

The acting branch loves House of Cards and nominated it more than any other ensemble for the second year in a row. The political drama’s fans were so passionate about the fourth season that that actors without any name recognition made it into the race for the first time such as Mahershala Ali, Molly Parker, and Paul Sparks. Unfortunately for House of Cards, the acting branch doesn’t hold as much power as they do at the Oscars and most of the below the line branches completely left out the new season, most notably the directing and writing branches for the second year in a row.

Downton Abbey is another industry favorite that used to carry a lot of weight in the acting branch (and still does amongst SAG voters) and could collect a sentimental vote in its final season. Unfortunately, the period piece severely underperformed in nominations, and if they couldn’t excite the Television Academy in the nominations stage it probably won’t happen when voters are tasked with choosing the best drama of the year.

The Americans, Better Call Saul, Homeland, and Mr. Robot are all easily dismissible for the simple fact that none of them were able to reap anywhere near as many nominations as the main three contenders. In fact, Game of Thrones still has more nominations this year than all four of these shows combined. Without universal support across the academy in the new voting system, the path to a win is incredibly difficult. The argument could be made that Mr. Robot and The Americans have the passion behind them but both of the fresh nominees have big obstacles to overcome. The Americans is on the radar of the entire academy now, but to actually win most of them probably need a year to fully catch up on the series, which makes the show more of a threat next year when Game of Thrones isn’t eligible. Mr. Robot is probably the most exciting choice in the group and benefits from the second season airing during the voting period, but the second season has been divisive for fans.

In the end, Outstanding Drama Series is not the category to go out on a limb in your Emmy ballots. No other show has dominated pop-culturedom in its off-air months like Game of Thrones has and from an excitement standpoint the show is an obvious choice.

Current Ranking

Game of Thrones (23 Nominations)

House of Cards (13 Nominations)

Downton Abbey (10 Nominations)

Mr. Robot (6 Nominations)

The Americans (5 Nominations)

Homeland (4 Nominations)

Better Call Saul (7 Nominations)

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

On September 18, Julia Louis-Dreyfus should further the record for the most consecutive Emmys for a single performance with her fifth Emmy for playing Veep‘s Selina Meyer. With 21 career nominations, she is one of the most beloved actors working in television today, and because of her popularity she’s probably the biggest acting lock of the night. She submitted “Mother” as her episode of the year, but it really doesn’t matter because almost any episode of the season would have shown off her incredible talent including “Congressional Ball” and “Inauguration.” The argument could be made that a lot of voters might think that JLD has enough Emmys and might want to spread the wealth, but with Veep growing in acting nominations as well as being on a path to a second series win that scenario grows increasingly unlikely.

Almost none of the other nominees seem to have the momentum to upset Louis-Dreyfus’s fifth consecutive win. Laurie Metcalf is clearly popular amongst her peers with three nominations this year alone, but Getting On is a little show that a lot of voters probably aren’t paying attention to. Lily Tomlin may be the only comedian in the group more revered than Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but as hard as Netflix pushed Grace and Frankie most Emmy voters don’t find the show to be award worthy. Amy Schumer probably doesn’t have the momentum to win when her show didn’t garner anywhere near the same amount of online coverage and support as compared to last year’s buzzy season. Leading up to the nominations, Ellie Kemper seemed to be rising in popularity because of her first SAG nomination, but after Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt severely underperformed in nominations this year the conversation around her dark horse status seemed to disappear.

To upset someone like JLD and her character Selena Meyer voters will probably be looking for the exact opposite type of performance: Tracee Ellis Ross in black-ish. Tracee Ellis Ross is infectiously likable, and Rainbow Johnson’s humor comes from being incredibly relatable, the exact opposite of Selena Meyer.  On top of giving an award-worthy performance, Tracee Ellis Ross is a beloved TV actress receiving her first Emmy nomination after over 15 years in the industry. A lot of voters might see her on the ballot, reflect on all her work throughout the years, and decide to award someone new. It’s similar to how Regina King finally won her first Emmy after decades of work in front of and behind the camera.

Current Ranking

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace & Frankie

Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series  

Like many of the other lead acting races this year, Lead Actor in a Comedy Series seems to be a shoo-in for last year’s winner, Jeffrey Tambor. He is the reigning winner not only at the Emmys but also the SAG awards, and the acting branch embraced the second season of Transparent even more so than the first. The Emmys haven’t always been accepting of dramedies in the comedy races, but Tambor’s iconic Maura Pfefferman easily stands out on a ballot compared to the other nominees.

The other contenders just don’t have the excitement behind them to rally the acting branch. Thomas Middleditch finally broke through the disconnect between the acting branch and Silicon Valley, but his introverted performance does not stand out next to a character like Maura Pfefferman. William H. Macy won over his peers before at the SAG awards, but Shameless never clicked with Emmy voters (besides a rogue guest win for Joan Cusack). Will Forte couldn’t win last year when critics and fans actually cared about The Last Man on Earth, and now that the show has forgotten its premise most voters aren’t going to turn to it now. Anthony Anderson is a likable presence that has been working in Hollywood for over 20 years, but voters will probably have a hard time justifying marking off their ballot for him when compared to iconic performances and auteur-like shows.

Aziz Ansari has been on Emmy voters’ radar since the beginning of Parks and Recreation, but his string of nominations this year is the first time voters have actually decided to recognize his work. As someone who co-wrote and directed his show as well as starring as a fictionalized version of himself, voters could find themselves in awe of a creative endeavor like Master of None. Even if some voters aren’t fans of Ansari, they could be swayed by “Parents,” one of the best episodes of television this past year from any program.  Performances like these haven’t always done well in the past, but with a new popular vote system (and Louie on hiatus) Ansari probably has the best chance at standing out against someone like Jeffrey Tambor, even if his win would be one of most surprising (and most welcome) surprises of the night.

Current Ranking

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

William H. Macy, Shameless

Anthony Anderson, black-ish

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley

Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

 

Outstanding Comedy Series 

When the Television Academy opened up voting to more members last year, popular voters chose Veep across the board as their favorite comedy of the year. The fourth season won two acting races, a writing award, a casting award, on top of the biggest comedy race of the night, Oustanding Comedy Series. Veep became only the second non-broadcast comedy to win the award, and the show is more popular than ever (16 nominations, 17 if you count the disqualified MacNicol). Before Season 5 premiered, there were whispered apprehensions on whether the show would retain its quality after the showrunner switched from Armando Ianucci to David Mandel. All of those suspicions were put to rest once the season actually premiered.

To win a best program Emmy, a show needs to have deep support across multiple branches. Only two other shows demonstrate the potential to excite the entire Television Academy: Transparent (10 nominations) and Silicon Valley (11 nominations). The tech startup comedy might not seem like an obvious Emmy contender, but over three seasons the show has racked up support with a lot of below-the-line branches. This year, it even gained its first acting nominee. The show’s one detractor is that the third season wasn’t that entertaining, and even if it has its fans it likely won’t excite more voters than a show like Veep. Transparent has the advantage of being probably the most emotionally stirring of the seven nominees and even comes across as cutting edge for its subject matter and being a streaming show. The show was probably very close to winning last year and even had won more awards than Veep leading up to the final award but voters have been notoriously weary of dramedies competing as comedies.

The rest of the nominees have a fraction of the cross-branch support that the three frontrunners have. Modern Family, Master of None, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt all have four nominations this year while black-ish is only nominated three times. In fact Modern Family is the only nominee of the four that can boast any sort of craft support with a sole sound mixing nomination. Veep has more nominees than the four bottom shows combined, and that says a lot about the overall support behind HBO’s political satire and is the biggest signifier that the Television Academy will re-elect Veep.

Current Ranking

Veep (HBO)

Transparent (Amazon)

Silicon Valley (HBO)

black-ish (ABC)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

Master of None (Netflix)

Modern Family (HBO)

In an on-going series, Clarence Moye makes the Emmy® case for Better Call Saul to win the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. As the Emmy voting period winds down, the writers of AwardsDaily TV will pour out their hearts and minds to try and convince Emmy voters to follow their expert opinions.

AMC’s Better Call Saul

Metacritic: 85
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Number of Nominations: 7
Major Nominations: Drama Series, Lead Actor (Bob Odenkirk), Supporting Actor (Jonathan Banks)

Better Call Saul represents television’s current greatest underdog story. It’s fitting that the sophomore season of AMC’s hit continues to face HBO’s juggernaut Game of Thrones in the Drama Series race. All evidence points to a Game of Thrones win, and you can hardly argue with what feels inevitable. Still, it’s not difficult to imagine a Better Call Saul / Game of Thrones duel as the Emmy incarnation of the series’ persistent Jimmy McGill / Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill rivalry. Everyone loves an underdog, right?

The second season of Better Call Saul provides an overall enrichment of its successful first season. I’m convinced that’s because the series learned to embrace the capabilities of their incredibly talented cast. Case in point, the evolution of Rhea Seehorn’s Kim Wexler from onlooker supporting player in Season 1 to an adventurous and risk-taking force to be reckoned with in Season 2 provides some of the most rewarding television in all of 2016. Tell me you can’t immediately recall her desperate cold-calling scene (brilliantly photographed through a series of Post-It Notes). Tell me you didn’t cheer when she snagged the longest of long shots in actually winning new business. Don’t pretend you weren’t intrigued by her overstepping the moral and legal limits with Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) as they con deserving marks together. Kim Wexler’s growth as a character and Rhea Seehorn’s growth as an actress was the single most thrilling aspect of Better Call Saul Season 2. That she wasn’t Emmy nominated for her brilliant performance… Shame. Shame. Shame.

Forgive me from borrowing from that “other show.”

But Wexler’s ascension in Season 2 hardly proves the only memorable moments. The complexity of Jimmy’s relationship with brother Chuck (Michael McKean) escalated to near-unbearable heights by season’s end. Those who complain the series takes too long to unravel its plot points (a.k.a. “It’s too slow”) probably don’t appreciate the fine art of character building. It takes time to carefully lay the groundwork for “Big Moments.” We needed to feel Chuck’s desperation at remaining relevant as brother Jimmy seemed to be pulling it together. We needed to feel Chuck’s confusion and panic as Jimmy sabotaged Chuck’s legal case to win minor legal battles of his own. The season may have ended with a much-dreaded cliffhanger, but, to me, the earlier scene between Jimmy and Kim in Chuck’s darkened home provided more thrills. After stretching the boundaries of her morality, Kim Wexler ignores Chuck’s seemingly paranoid, but entirely accurate, theory on Jimmy’s sabotage. She sides with Jimmy over Chuck. She chooses the morally vague path. It’s as cataclysmic an event as the Red Keep explosion at the end of Game of Thrones.

Oh, there I go talking about “that show” again.

Better Call Saul Season 1 was a fine, accomplished season. It gave Bob Odenkirk an amazing opportunity to recast his famous Breaking Bad character Saul Goodman in a new, less experienced light. It realized a lot of fun moments in the process. However, Season 2 provides a deeper, more complex, more resonant, more rewarding experience because it finally starts expanding the world beyond Jimmy McGill. Sure, he’s still the star of the show, but now we’re becoming familiar with a broader array of characters. Vince Gilligan gives the great Odenkirk more colorful palate of characters off which to play in Season 2. And what a thrill that is to behold.

It’s time to put away the Breaking Bad comparisons and accept Better Call Saul on its own terms. It’s such a tonally different show that comparisons feel arbitrary. Maybe that’s why the Television Academy feels behind the curve in recognizing its greatness. They can’t let go of Walter White. It’s their loss, though. As brilliant as Breaking Bad was, it’s time to embrace something new and challenging in its own unique way. Better Call Saul ranks as the kind of show that grows in esteem over time. It holds its cards close to the vest and makes you work to appreciate how incredibly well attuned it really is. The writing, the direction, and the breathtaking cinematography (all of which were criminally ignored this year by the Television Academy) are all hallmarks of a great show. Better Call Saul more than lives up to the reputation of its predecessor, and it deserves equal footing, award-wise.

Again, the Game of Thrones coronation feels inevitable. I can hardly argue with that myself given the vast scope, the emotional trauma, and the legitimate shock value registered by that classic series. Yet, human nature inspires us to root for the underdog on occasion. Better Call Saul is one such underdog worthy of a thousand Emmys. Let it not be buried in the shadow of similar greatness.