Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week has an Emmy Awards preview, thoughts on English Teacher and The Perfect Couple and more!
The Emmy Awards are this Sunday! Here's my look at what will win, should win and should have been nominated in the major categories. Among the series races, I think Shogun is the only lock. The other two frontrunners could be upset. The Bear seems likely to win especially if voters kept it in their heads that they were voting for Season 2. But if some voters take into account their dislike for Season 3, that could hurt the chances for The Bear and give a lane to Hacks to win. Meanwhile, in the Limited Series category, Baby Reindeer seems like too big a phenomenon to not win. But the offscreen controversies surrounding the show could hurt it. If that happens, it seems like the Emmy could go to either True Detective: Night Country or Fargo, or maybe even the very deserving Ripley.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Will/Should Win: The Bear
Should Have Been Nominated: The Righteous Gemstones
Outstanding Drama Series
Will Win: Shogun
Should Win: Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Should Have Been Nominated: Elsbeth
Outstanding Limited Series
Will Win: Baby Reindeer
Should Win: Ripley
Should Have Been Nominated: None - these are the five I would have nominated!
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Will/Should Win: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Should Have Been Nominated: Kayvan Novak, What We Do in the Shadows
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Will/Should Win: Jean Smart, Hacks
Should Have Been Nominated: Rose Byrne, Platonic
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Will/Should Win: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
Should Have Been Nominated: Walton Goggins, The Righteous Gemstones
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Will/Should Win: Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Should Have Been Nominated: Lisa Ann Walter, Abbott Elementary
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Will Win: Hiroyuki Sanada, Shogun
Should Win: Donald Glover, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Should Have Been Nominated: Nathan Fielder, The Curse
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Will Win: Anna Sawai, Shogun
Should Win: Maya Erskine, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Should Have Been Nominated: Emma Stone, The Curse
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Will Win: Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Should Win: Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Should Have Been Nominated: Boyd Holbrook, Justified: City Primeval
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Will Win: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Should Win: Lesley Manville, The Crown
Should Have Been Nominated: Aunjanue Ellis, Justified: City Primeval
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie:
Will Win: Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
Should Win: Andrew Scott, Ripley
Should Have Been Nominated: Tobias Menzies, Manhunt
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie:
Will/Should Win: Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
Should Have Been Nominated: Emma Corrin, A Murder at the End of the World
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie:
Will Win: Robert Downey Jr., The Sympathizer
Should Win: Lamorne Morris, Fargo
Should Have Been Nominated: Dave Foley, Fargo
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie:
Will/Should Win: Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
Should Have Been Nominated: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fargo
Last week, I ranked FX's English Teacher as my #1 most anticipated new fall show. It felt a little nerve-wracking to rank it #1 on the same day it premiered but I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the two episode premiere last week. I don't know if it will end up being my top new show of the fall but I think it has a lot to offer and a lot of strengths.
As I've mentioned before, I work in the education field. That makes me both inherently interested and hyper critical of shows in a school setting. English Teacher was interesting because I felt like there were things that were so true to life and also things that would never happen in a school. Luckily, the true to life aspects were stronger and more ingrained in the show's DNA. The conversations between teachers at lunch and the way that any little thing can blow up into a giant controversy, especially when it involves parents, is something any teacher can probably relate to. On the other hand, there's no way teachers drop that many f-bombs in front of students. Even the most foul-mouthed teachers outside of school are typically able to turn it off in a professional setting.
The two episode premiere both dealt with LGBTQ-adjacent controversies. The first episode was about Evan Marquez (series star and creator Brian Jordan Alvarez) kissing his boyfriend in front of students. The second was about students wanting to cancel a powderpuff game because of the regressive nature of the football team dressing up as cheerleaders. This feels like one of the first shows that has the push and pull between millennials and Gen Z. Alvarez's character would be very progressive 15 years ago but now amidst a sea of "woke" teenagers, he seems a bit outdated and that's a funny avenue to explore with a new pair of generations. I just hope the show expands its world beyond just LGBTQ controversies because there are so many lanes the show can go down. It was a little surprising just how much the show hones in on Alvarez's character being gay. And to quote Seinfeld "not that there's anything wrong with that" but it actually felt a little dated in just how much that was a part of everything in the first two episodes.
Alvarez has a very naturalistic writing style and the show shined the most when conversations were happening between teachers and students or just between teachers. The show allows for awkward interjections such as "oh I love this song" and just silly moments (a HS football player saying "it's the most things we look forward to" to the titular English teacher). It lets the conversations breathe and feel pretty true to life. That aspect, along with a strong core cast (Enrico Colantoni is an early stand-out as an exasperated and mostly defeated principal), make me hopeful this show will live up to its potential.
I've watched half of the six episode season of The Perfect Couple on Netflix so far. No doubt some of you have already finished it but here are thoughts halfway through.
I mentioned in my fall preview that I was leery of another series with Nicole Kidman as a very wealthy woman with secrets and mysteries. It was a novelty to have Kidman on the small screen back in the stellar first season of Big Little Lies but since then, there's been a second season of Lies, The Undoing, Nine Perfect Strangers and Expats (I didn't watch Lioness) and Kidman is more or less a variation of the same character while all the shows/seasons have been pretty underwhelming.
I think The Perfect Couple might be the most entertaining Kidman show since the first season of Big Little Lies but you have to sort of let go and just appreciate it for what it is. It's not particularly well done but it does work as a bingeable thriller and there are some fun performances (the standout is Dakota Fanning with a dry delivery of all her lines but Meghann Fahy impresses again after her stellar trip to The White Lotus too).
Speaking of The White Lotus, I was always so impressed that the murder mystery took a backseat to so many other things in both seasons even though we knew someone died within the first couple minutes of each season. Now I know this show is more about the murder mystery but they really don't seem interested in doing anything except throwing up red herrings. The lingering looks from the camera on someone after a seemingly innocent conversation, the drip drip drip of the ties that each person has to the victim, the not-so-subtle lines like Kidman's Greer telling her husband Tag "I've been cleaning up after you all day." It all adds up to a show that doesn't trust its audience one bit and needs to hold their hand through every single step of the plot.
But just because it's dumb doesn't mean its not fun. The luxurious Nantucket setting and the super fun theme song at least let us know that this isn't a show taking itself too seriously. But it's taking it seriously enough to not devolve fully into camp. It's stuck in the middle between a serious minded prestige show and a straight up satire. I don't love it but you can bet I'm going to watch the rest of the episodes.
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
This week is a little quiet compared to upcoming weeks but there's still a fair amount of premieres. Monday has the fourth and final season premiere of My Brilliant Friend on HBO. The show has always had its critical praise but never been a major player. Tuesday has the launch of Hallmark's streaming service Hallmark+ and with that is a new family drama, The Chicken Sisters, starring Lea Thompson and Wendie Malick among others. Thursday has the second half of the fourth season of Emily in Paris on Netflix and the return of The Old Man for its second season. The FX drama starring Jeff Bridges was last seen back in July 2022. On Friday, Hulu premieres the Natasha Rothwell comedy How to Die Alone, which will air its entire eight episode season over three weeks, with four episodes dropping on Friday. On Friday night, Starz has the premiere of Showtime cast-off Three Women. The series looks a lot more like a former Showtime show than a Starz show. Rounding out the week, Sunday has the return of Tulsa King for its second season on Paramount+. The Sylvester Stallone show was last seen in January 2023 but CBS ran repeats of the first season this past summer.
ODDS & ENDS
- I watched the first two episodes of the second season of Tell Me Lies. I don't think it's a very good show and I didn't even love season one that much but I can't quite quit the show. I don't think it merited a full review. It's a frothy, soapy show that keeps things interesting and moves the plot along even if the performances are a little one-note. Maybe with the glut of upcoming shows this will drop off my list. But either way, it's a background show at best.
- The Creative Arts Emmys were held on Saturday and Sunday night. It's easy to read too much into them as far as making predictions for the main event but if looking at trends, Shogun seems poised to clean up after dominating the drama categories. The Bear did well too with wins for Guest Actor and Actress as well as many other comedy categories. And Baby Reindeer did well too. As mentioned above, those three shows remain the frontrunners in their respective categories but Shogun is the biggest lock. I don't usually care too much about who wins in these smaller categories but I was thrilled to see Ripley win sound and cinematography awards. If ever a show deserved those, it was Ripley.
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