Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the Tony Awards and Stick, the latest episodes of Poker Face and Criminal Minds: Evolution, the Emmys race for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #16.
TONY AWARDS RECAP
The Tony Awards were Sunday night and it's one of my favorite nights of the year. It beats all the other awards shows because of the performances that populate the night. I wasn't blown away by any performance this year but it was still fun to see some shows I will be seeing on Broadway this summer. I just don't think there was an epic Tony moment that some years produce outside of Cynthia Erivo at the beginning and end of the telecast. That's ok though. I've seen shows be incredible on the Tonys and then I've been disappointed when I've seen the show and I've been underwhelmed by performances on the Tonys before and then loved the show.
As far as the telecast itself, Erivo was a very game host. As already mentioned, her performances were very impressive (I love that she joined Sara Bareilles for the In Memoriam song). Her bits worked fairly well too. I thought the show was slickly produced too, aside from some microphone issues (and the Act One section on Pluto was less of a mess than its been in previous years). It was also interesting to see the Hamilton cast reunite. As Erivo alluded to in her intro, the 2016 Tonys where that show dominated feel like a lifetime ago. I think a lot of people are feeling nostalgic for that era and Hamilton to some degree feels like a relic from the Obama era. But this Broadway season was nothing to sneeze at with record breaking sales and plenty of well received new shows. I'm looking forward to seeing some of them this summer!
Stick is a new comedy on Apple TV+ that is benefitting a lot in my TV rotation from being one of the only things on. This is a show, like Loot and Love Victor in other years, that would probably be dropped if it came on during a busy time like before the fall or before the Emmys window closes. But as it stands now, I'm really only watching Poker Face so it's going to get a longer leash than it probably deserves.
Starring Owen Wilson, the show really feels like a Ted Lasso-lite. While Ted went off the rails in its third season, the first two seasons were wonderful and Stick has a long way to go to get to that level. Honestly, it's not even at the third season level of Ted yet. Owen Wilson is charming and the cast is solid but the first three episodes, which dropped this past week, left me somewhat cold. I feel like the show rushed Wilson's connection to the young golf prodigy (Peter Dager), who is a very underdeveloped character so far. The show is purposely leaving out details from the backstories of these characters, which I always find annoying because I don't think it's serving a purpose. I think it's actually detracting from us connecting with these characters because we don't know enough about why marriages may have fallen apart. It just feels like they're setting up to emotionally wallop us later in the season, and they haven't earned it - at least not yet. It also wants to be a goofy comedy so it's struggling with tone too.
I'll keep watching it because, again, there's not much else on. But it's not grabbing me too much yet.
Poker Face
Something about this season of Poker Face hasn't quite been clicking for me. This week's episode, set at a big box store and guest starring Sam Richardson, was fun in many ways but none of the episodes seem as fun or as clever as the first season episodes. I don't think it's that the format is getting tired. After all, this is supposed to be a throwback to procedural dramas and there's always going to be some rise and fall with those. But I think the lack of an overarching story, however thin it may be, is hurting this season of the show. Natasha Lyonne's Charlie is sort of aimlessly wandering around for no reason and stumbling into crimes. I'm fine with her not being on the run, but it's starting to feel like they needed to come up with a better reason for her to be moving around.
Criminal Minds: Evolution
I was a little behind on the third season of Criminal Minds: Evolution but have caught up with so many Emmy contenders finishing up their seasons and therefore giving me more time in my TV schedule. I thought the first season of the revamped Minds was surprisingly strong and a step above the week to week procedural. But then I was very disappointed in the second season. The third season falls somewhere in between for me so far. I am curious if the plan was always for Zach Gilford to still be a series regular in the third season or if they were so enamored by his strong first season performance that they found a way to keep him in the fold. If it was the latter, that was a bad idea because I think it's time to move on. I like the season arcs, but I'm tired of it being about the same guy.
THE EMMY RACE for LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series may as well be called the Jean Smart award as Smart has won for all the years she's been eligible for Hacks, which is three of the last four years. She's eligible again this year and a sure bet to get nominated as well as the frontrunner to get another win. However, there are many former nominees who will challenge her and are likely to fill out the category. The one year Hacks wasn't eligible, Quinta Brunson won for Abbott Elementary. I think Abbott might be starting to fade a bit in the Emmy horse race but Brunson seems very likely to get in again. Ayo Edebiri was also a former winner but in the Supporting category for The Bear before moving to lead last year. She is likely to get in again unless backlash against The Bear intensifies. Selena Gomez finally got in for Only Murders in the Building last year and could get in again. I think she's sort of right on the edge of getting in yet again this year so we'll see which way it falls. Natasha Lyonne was nominated two years ago for Poker Face and has been actively campaigning. Even though I think the show's chances are iffy at best, I think Lyonne still stands a good chance. There are a few stars from new shows who are in the mix as well and could shake things up. Kristen Bell received good notices for Nobody Wants This. She surprisingly never got in for The Good Place (or Veronica Mars for that matter) but this could be her time. Uzo Aduba is an Emmy favorite with five previous nominations so even though The Residence wasn't received all that well, you certainly can't rule her out. Kathryn Hahn was nominated for playing Agatha Harkness on WandaVision so she could get nominated for playing the same role on Agatha All Along. And then there's Tina Fey, who was nominated in this category seven times (and won once) for 30 Rock. She's back in The Four Seasons and could sneak in. It seems like a bit of a steeper climb for her but I wouldn't be surprised at all if she makes it. It seems like the nominees will be six of the nine actresses I already mentioned which doesn't leave a lot of room for dark horses but if something weird happens, look at Bridget Everett for Somebody Somewhere, Wendi McLendon-Covey for St. Denis Medical, Kate Hudson for Running Point or Natasia Demetriou for What We Do in the Shadows.
Projected Nominees (ranked by likelihood of a nomination):
1. Jean Smart, Hacks
2. Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
3. Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
4. Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
5. Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
6. Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
Just Missing:
7. Tina Fey, The Four Seasons
8. Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along
9. Uzo Aduba, The Residence
#16 - THIS IS US (NBC, 2016-2022)
I get all the complaints about This is Us: it was too cloying, too melodramatic, too addicted to pulling a fast one on audiences. But I thought it was really interesting to have a family drama that had the mechanisms of a show like Lost in terms of keeping the audience guessing. It was a family drama for the era it was in when an audience loves a mystery box show. That still could have gotten old quickly if not for a real army of talent in the cast. Sterling K. Brown, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chrissy Metz, Milo Ventimiglia, Justin Hartley, and especially Mandy Moore made it imperative to watch on a weekly basis and, aside from the unfortunate COVID year, kept it compelling to the very end. Yes, the show tried to get tears from everyone and often succeeded. But it also had humor and interesting twists and turns that, yes, do happen for families sometimes. I don't think it ever quite got the respect it deserved despite being the last somewhat acclaimed network drama.
COMING UP
The early summer dormant period on TV continues with just a couple premieres this week. On Tuesday, BET+ has the premiere of Divorced Sistas, a spinoff of BET's Sistas. On Thursday, Netflix has the second season premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's FUBAR. The show did not get much traction in its first season. Also premiering Thursday is the drama Revival on Syfy, which is surprising still producing original scripted shows.
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