BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2023: Outstanding Technical Design of a Limited/Anthology Series

The first award is Outstanding Technical Design of a Limited/Anthology Series! This award considers all technical elements of a show including sets, costumes, and cinematography. 

Past Awards in This Category: 2022   2021   2020

This year's nominees are...

BEEF (Netflix)

DAISY JONES & THE SIX (Prime Video)

FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL (Apple TV+)

FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE (FX/Hulu)

WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS (HBO)

THE WHITE LOTUS (HBO)

And the Winner Is...

THE WHITE LOTUS

HBO

For a second year in a row, Mike White's vacation satire takes the cake for Technical Design. The show moved its location from Hawaii to Italy and also benefited from less COVID restrictions that allowed more venturing out of the hotel. The first season of The White Lotus did an expert job at creating a little world within a luxury hotel. It would have been easy to lose that focus a bit when the world got a bit bigger but that didn't happen. The gorgeous Italian scenery added so much to the season and it really became a character all by itself. There was also some really clever cinematography that was used throughout the season, but especially in the finale. Once again, I felt like I was simultaneously on the vacation of my life and trapped in a nightmare - that is the specialty of The White Lotus.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

This is an interesting and wide-ranging mix of nominees. This category is often populated by period pieces but you don't think of the mid 2010s as a period piece, yet Fleishman is in Trouble did a great job of capturing a frenzied, pre-COVID New York City summer. White House Plumbers was a mess of a series but did have a distinct 70s visual style to match its larger than life tone. Speaking of the 70s, it seemed like no expense was spared for Daisy Jones & The Six, which was very large in scope of a hit rock band. It got dinged slightly though for some awkward aging up of characters. Five Days at Memorial did an effective job at portraying Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, especially in its harrowing first episode. Finally, the biggest competitor may have been Beef, which had unique visual style to match its wild tone. 

Tomorrow: Outstanding Technical Design of a Drama Series!