You may hear in the coming days a lot of nonsense about paradigm shifts or some such when people discuss this year's batch of Emmy nominations, given this is the first time Netflix has landed the most overall nominations for its programming, usurping long-time titleholder HBO. Pay it no mind. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as our French friends are fond of saying, and just because a streaming service is swaggering around as cock of the walk in place of a premium pay-TV network, it doesn't really make much difference as far as the nature of nominees is concerned.
The same kind of conspicuously prestigious programming has this year, as in previous years, snapped up the spotlight. I hasten to add that the big dogs in this particular hunt are not necessarily bad shows — far from it, actually — but they are fairly obvious selections. Crowd-pleasers that are polished in their presentation and challenging to only such a degree. Of course, some outliers and renegades will slip through, by virtue of their quality or because their time is finally due or both. But we'll get to that as we run through some of this year's Emmy nominees in the more high-profile categories. So let's begin, shall we?
First, however, a warning: I may get a little ranty at certain points, especially when it comes to the egregious snub of one particular actor.
drama series
The Handmaid’s Tale
Game Of Thrones
This Is Us
The Crown
The Americans
Stranger Things
Westworld
In a disclosure that outs me as a shabby TV critic, I do not regularly watch two of these shows (here's a fun game: guess which!), so I cannot speak with any authority about the chances for The Crown or This Is Us. Stranger Things is quality fanboy pulp but maybe a little too populist, even for the Emmys. It's really down to a three-way race between Game Of Thrones, Westworld and The Handmaid's Tale, and in the #MeToo era the latter has social resonance to back up its artistic quality. Personally speaking, though, one of my favourite shows — The Americans — is finally getting some recognition in the wake of its sixth and final season, and after a run that had nary a bad episode, a little love would be appreciated.
Comedy Series
Atlanta
Barry
Black-ish
Curb Your Enthusiasm
GLOW
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
This is a tough one, and not only because I'm not across all the nominees. Comedy is subjective enough as it is, and this line-up runs the gamut of styles from droll to delightfully goofy. Kimmy has the best level of sheer joke density, while GLOW and Mrs Maisel seamlessly combine charm, smarts and great character work. And while Atlanta may not have the most laugh-out-loud approach in this line-up, its voice is so distinctive — unique, really — and compelling that it is, for me, the clear front-runner.
Limited Series
The Alienist
The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Genius: Picasso
Godless
Patrick Melrose
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The Assassination Of Gianni Versace and especially Patrick Melrose are vivid portraits of fascinating personalities, and their inclusion here is certainly warranted. But, man, I loved Scott Frank's Godless, a western both epic and intimate. I can't recall the last time I was as invested in a character's outcome as I was in the last eight minutes of this story.
Lead Actor - Drama
Jason Bateman - Ozark
Sterling K Brown - This Is Us
Ed Harris - Westworld
Matthew Rhys - The Americans
Milo Ventimiglia - This Is Us
Jeffrey Wright - Westworld
Ozark is Bateman doing his best Breaking Bad, and to be honest, it's a little obvious. Harris is given too much speechifying as Westworld's Man in Black. The only actor who could give The Americans' Rhys a run for his money when it comes to the construction and deconstruction of a character is Westworld's Wright, and really it's too close to call.
Lead Actress - Drama
Claire Foy - The Crown
Tatiana Maslany - Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss - The Handmaid’s Tale
Sandra Oh - Killing Eve
Keri Russell - The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood - Westworld
This. Is. Tough. Oh, Russell and Wood are both hypnotic in their own ways, and Maslany has basically performed acting miracles over Orphan Black's run. But there's thermonuclear fire and fury in Moss's work on The Handmaid’s Tale — it'd be career-defining work if it wasn't clear Moss is just getting started.
Lead Actor - Comedy
Donald Glover - Atlanta
Bill Hader - Barry
Anthony Anderson - Black-ish
William H Macy - Shameless
Larry David - Curb Your Enthusiasm
Ted Danson - The Good Place
Glover. Enough said. Ok, maybe Hader, showing some hitherto unseen shades and dimensions as the eponymous Barry. But, yeah, Glover.
Lead Actress - Comedy
Pamela Adlon - Better Things
Rachel Brosnahan - The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Tracee Ellis Ross - Black-ish
Allison Janney - Mom
Lily Tomlin - Grace And Frankie
Issa Rae - Insecure
Again, tough call. One is inclined to show some love to Adlon and Rae as both are creators and leads of their shows, Better Things and Insecure respectively. And if I wasn't for Brosnahan's magnificent — I almost wrote marvellous! — work as Mrs Maisel's lead, it could have been Adlon's year.
Lead Actor - Limited
Antonio Banderas - Genius: Picasso
Darren Criss - The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Benedict Cumberbatch - Patrick Melrose
Jeff Daniels - The Looming Tower
John Legend - Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesse Plemons - USS Callister
*clears throat, raises megaphone* NO KYLE MACLACHLAN FOR TWIN PEAKS, NO PEACE!
Ahem. In lieu of the clear and natural victor, I will settle for Criss's career-reinventing work as Andrew Cunanan, a bottomless well of need and want, in The Assassination Of Gianni Versace, with the 'Batch as a very close runner-up as Patrick Melrose. Honourable mention to Plemons' pitch-perfect Shatner.
Lead Actress - Limited
Laura Dern - The Tale
Jessica Biel - The Sinner
Michelle Dockery - Godless
Edie Falco - The Menendez Murders
Regina King - Seven Seconds
Sarah Paulson - American Horror Story: Cult
Some top-notch work in some little-seen productions here. I regret that I still have some catching up to do in some cases (The Tale, reportedly remarkable, is screening at this year's Melbourne International Film Festival), but I was extremely impressed with the conviction Biel brought to the challenging Sinner.
