Welcome to my newsletter! This week, I am looking at Clipped and the second season of Criminal Minds: Evolution plus previews of the Tony Awards and the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series Emmy race!
Clipped is a new FX/Hulu series focused on the 2014 scandal that brought down long-time Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. It's one of the first shows that feels like a period piece from the 2010s. The show takes a lot of care in really trying to create the world of Los Angeles and online circa 2013-2014 and it is effective at doing so. Going into this miniseries, I knew the broad strokes of this story from when it happened, but I'm not a close followed of basketball so I didn't know the ins and outs or the characters involved.
When I watched the trailer, I was worried it was going to be hyper stylized - perhaps a bit like that other basketball drama Winning Time - and the first episode sort of was but then I felt like it grounded itself by midway through the first episode and into the second. Helping ground the show is a truly fantastic cast. Laurence Fishburne is given some of the best material he's had in a while as Doc Rivers. Ed O'Neill is pitch perfect as the completely off-his-rocker billionaire Donald Sterling. Cleopatra Coleman is intriguing as V. But the MVP through the first two episode has to be Jacki Weaver as the long-suffering, but also insufferable, Shelly Sterling. Weaver was perfect casting because she so thoroughly captures the conflicted feelings we often have about the wives of terrible men.
I really appreciate that this show is focused on the story it's trying to tell. It is not trying to be too big or too small. It's not trying to hit us over the head with commentary about race but it's also not getting into the nitty gritty of each moment of the scandal. It is painting with strokes that are not too broad or too narrow. It is telling us a straightforward story from a couple different points of view and, thank God, it is telling the story linearly (aside from the very, very beginning of the first episode). It also knows how to incorporate cell phones and social media in a way so many shows don't (to be fair, it better considering how much of this story had to do with social media). I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes!
I don't have too much to say about the second season of Criminal Minds: Evolution. I thought the first season was a step up from the CBS version of the drama thanks in large part to a compelling performance from Zach Gilford as a serial killer. I understand why the show wanted to bring him back for a second season since he was so strong and he still has some good moments in the first two episodes of the season, which dropped this past week. But the presence of Gilford's Elias Voit is keeping Criminal Minds: Evolution from being able to, well, evolve. The season long arc energized Criminal Minds so I feel like they needed a new "big bad" for the second season. They are sort of setting up for that with the mysterious "Gold Star" but keeping Voit in the fold is diminishing the new case. Maybe Gilford could have made a guest appearance, but not just keeping him around but actually upgrading him from recurring to regular, was a major misstep for the show.
The Tony Awards are this Sunday! Hosted by Ariana DeBose, this will be one of the more interesting Tonys with the Best Musical race so up in the air. There are locks (Stereophonic is winning Best Play and a lot of the Play category awards and Merrily We Roll Along is winning Musical Revival with some other major categories like Lead Actor very likely.
So let's get back to the Best Musical race. It really could go in any direction. Illinoise was the best reviewed of the bunch but there's some serious skepticism that a dance show can win Best Musical though it has happened before. Suffs feels like the "important" musical - the one that's about something. That doesn't always mean a win but it's worth noting. Hell's Kitchen is the biggest audience hit of the five. The show is doing boffo box office numbers and Alicia Keys has been campaigning like crazy. The Outsiders seems to be gaining some momentum and seen as quite artistic on multiple levels. Finally, Water For Elephants doesn't seem like it has a great chance but it overperformed on nominations morning so you never know.
So, with that in mind, here are my predictions for Best Musical and all Tonys categories. Subject to change before Sunday of course!
Best Musical: The Outsiders
Best Play: Stereophonic
Revival of a Musical: Merrily We Roll Along
Revival of a Play: Appropriate
Lead Actor in a Musical: Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along
Lead Actress in a Musical: Kelli O'Hara, Days of Wine and Roses
Featured Actor in a Musical: Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along
Featured Actress in a Musical: Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along
Lead Actor in a Play: Leslie Odom Jr., Purlie Victorious
Lead Actress in a Play: Sarah Paulson, Appropriate
Featured Actor in a Play: Cory Stoll, Appropriate
Featured Actress in a Play: Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Original Score: Suffs - Shaina Taub
Book of a Musical: The Outsiders - Justin Levine & Adam Rapp
Direction of a Musical: Marta Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along
Direction of a Play: Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic
Choreography: Justin Peck, Illinoise
Scenic Design of a Musical: David Korins, Here Lies Love
Costume Design of a Musical: Tom Scutt, Cabaret
Lighting Design of a Musical: Isabella Byrd, Cabaret
Sound Design of a Musical: Kai Harada, Merrily We Roll Along
Orchestrations: Will Butler & Justin Craig, Stereophonic
Scenic Design of a Play: dots, Appropriate
Costume Design of a Play: Dede Ayite, Jaja's African Hair Braiding
Lighting Design of a Play: Jiyoung Chang, Stereophonic
Sound Design of a Play: Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic
This is a category that feels pretty open and it could go a whole bunch of ways depending on which series get momentum. There are many names where I would be equally unsurprised if they won or were snubbed entirely. The actress I'd be most surprised to see snubbed is Jessica Gunning for Baby Reindeer. Despite some backlash to the phenomenon now, people were very into Gunning's performance so a nomination seems assured. Whether she can win is a different story. If the Baby Reindeer phenomenon holds, don't be surprised if Nava Mau also gets a nomination. Other leading contenders are Kali Reis for True Detective: Night Country and Jennifer Jason Leigh for Fargo. Reis went toe to toe with Jodie Foster and probably should be in lead with her (the Jean Smart/Hannah Einbinder version of this category). Leigh gave a larger than life performance that was mostly enjoyed. Leigh's co-star Richa Moorjani is a possibility but much more of a dark horse while Reis' co-star Fiona Shaw seems more possible but still on the outside looking in at the moment. Aja Naomi King received good notices for Lessons in Chemistry so she seems like a strong possibility. The Sympathizer didn't really break through but Sandra Oh definitely has a shot at a nomination for it. Then there's the question of Feud: Capote vs. the Swans. The show was not that well received but boasted a boffo cast of actresses. So, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on Diane Lane, Chloe Sevigny, Calista Flockhart and Demi Moore (probably in that order). Other less likely, but not impossible, contenders include Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough for Under the Bridge, Dakota Fanning for Ripley. Andrea Riseborough for The Regime and Sarayu Blue for Expats. A few unlikely dark horses are Kathy Bates for the TV movie "The Great Lillian Hall," Mary McDonnell for The Fall of the House of Usher and Allison Williams for Fellow Travelers.
Projected Nominees (ranked in order of confidence):
1. Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
2. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fargo
3. Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country
4. Aja Naomi King, Lessons in Chemistry
5. Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer
6. Diane Lane, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
7. Fiona Shaw, True Detective: Night Country
7. Fiona Shaw, True Detective: Night Country
Possible Spoilers
8. Dakota Fanning, Ripley
9. Lilu Gladstone, Under the Bridge
10. Sandra Oh, The Sympathizer
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
There's not too many premieres this week but the ones that are premiering are big ones. On Wednesday, Apple TV+ debuts Presumed Innocent, the new limited series starring Jake Gyllenhaal. This is something that would have been very big on Netflix but being on Apple, we'll see. On Thursday, Prime Video has the highly anticipated fourth season of The Boys, one of their signature shows. Thursday also has the second half of the third season of Bridgerton dropping on Netflix. Finally on Sunday, there is the long-awaited second season premiere of House of the Dragon on HBO. It is not a Game of Thrones in terms of viewer care but its first season still did quite well when it aired back in 2022. Sunday also has the premiere of Hotel Cocaine on MGM+.
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