‘South Park’ Podcast, ‘Quarry’ Hits Big, and Emmy News at ADTV

Flashback: Celebrating 20 Seasons of ‘South Park’

September brings the 20th season of one of the longest, and most unlikely, of television’s animated series, Comedy Central’s South Park. To honor this long-running series, we kick off a special Water Cooler Flashback featuring our personal favorite episodes to highlight what we love about the series. We talk about the things that challenge us and include some specially selected clips from each episode. We also take a brief look at the 1999 feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut and what impact it had on the television series. Then, as the Emmys are fast approaching, we make our final predictions in the Comedy and Limited Series Emmy races. (Podcast)

Digging into Southern Neo-Noir ‘Quarry’ with its Creators

Quarry, Cinemax’s new crime series, evolves into an intense and hypnotic dive into the seedy underbelly of the Memphis crime world over its 8 episodes. As the plot unfolds, viewers meet a series of compelling characters that help color the setting in unexpected ways. Quarry explores not only the inner turmoil of the title character but also the tempestuous relationship with Joni (Jodi Balfour), his wife left at home to await his return. Credit co-creators, primary writers, and native Southerners Michael D. Fuller and Graham Gordy for transforming Max Allan Collins’s (The Road to Perdition) source material into a series that stands as one of the best new dramatic series to premiere in 2016. Quarry is a smart action series that values character over plot mechanics and boasts natural echoes of AMC’s great Breaking Bad. Fuller and Gordy met with AwardsDaily TV to discuss their new series, its inspirations, and the daring characterizations that pepper the accomplished series. (Quarry writers)

Emmy-winner Greg Yaitanes on Directing Cinemax’s ‘Quarry’

Cinemax’s Quarry offers a great deal more than the surface pretense of a straightforward crime story. Quarry is about coming back home from a war no one wanted. It’s about reconnecting with those you left behind. It’s about finding your place in a world when no one seems to want you there. Quarry is about much, much more once you look beyond its surface. It’s that level of complexity that attracted Emmy-winning director Greg Yaitanes (House) to the series. (Greg Yaitanes)

‘Quarry’ Digs Deeper Than Its Crime Drama Surface

The Southern crime drama Quarry isn’t the kind of television series which viewers should judge based solely on the pilot. Several shows have promising starts but fade into obscurity with illogical plot twists and drawn-out storylines. Cinemax’s Quarry is kind of the opposite of all that. It establishes its basic premise efficiently in the pilot and then veers in complicated and engrossing directions. As a result, Quarry grows into the most promising new drama I’ve seen this year. It’s certainly the best thing Cinemax has ever produced. (Quarry)

Emmy Tracker: The Two Day Creative Arts Emmy Event

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. (Emmy Tracker)

John Simmons Talks about His Emmy-nominated Cinematography

John Simmons, ASC, is a 3-time Emmy-nominated cinematographer whose 30-year career spans television, film, and music videos. His third Emmy nomination comes from the Nickelodeon series Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn in the “Go Hollywood” episode. That episode, which features the central kids journeying to Hollywood to seek their deepest wish, offers several opportunities for unique lighting and camera work not often seen in multi-camera setups. Simmons is also known as a celebrated photographer. He recent series “It Started in the 60’s” captures 50 years of his life as influenced by the attributes of the era. (John Simmons)