THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 68 AUGUST 21, 2019
US: ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/NETFLIX. COMER: PARISA TAGHIZADEH/BBCAMERICA.THRONES,OLIVER,OBJECTS, DETECTIVE: COURTESY OF HBO (4).SAUL:NICOLE WILDER/AMC/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION.FLEABAG: COURTESY OF BBC. OH: ROBERT VIGLASKY/BBCAMERICA.SNL: WILL HEATH/NBC.EMMYS
THR’S
PICKSIt’s time for a Feinberg vs. Fienberg face-off! The awards expert considers the odds while the critic shoots from the heart
— with some strong consensus (When They See Us) and a few surprising divides (Sandra Oh vs. Jodie Comer)Like the three seasons before it, the final season of HBO’s landmark
show will take top honors. It ran just six episodes (its prior season
won for a record-low seven) but still garnered a drama-record 32 noms,
and voters haven’t rallied behind any one of its competitors.
WILL WIN Game of Thrones (HBO)
The conventional wisdom is that HBO’s other departing show, Veep,
will get a grand sendoff (its past three seasons won). But Maisel charmed
voters last year, and this year — with a comedy-high 20 noms (versus
Veep’s nine) and a ferocious campaign — it will not give up its title quietly.
WILL WIN The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Netflix will snag its first-ever series win for Ava DuVernay’s
dramatization of the Central Park Five case. It doesn’t have as many
noms as Chernobyl or Fosse/Verdon (19 and 17, respectively, versus
16), but it has the most acting noms (eight) and feels the most urgent.
WILL WIN When They See Us (Netflix)
One can’t rule out Deadwood: The Movie, but episodes of the Netflix
anthology series Black Mirror won this prize in the past two years, and
I expect a three-peat — although the streamer argues that this one, a
choose-your-own-ending experience, is genuinely a stand-alone movie.
WILL WIN Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix)
It’s the same nominees as last year, and likely the same winner:
John Oliver, who comes in with nine noms (a category and series high),
including directing and writing (which only The Late Show With Stephen
Colbert also can claim) and will leave with a fourth consecutive victory.
WILL WIN Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO)
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime one-off Who Is America? is a worthy
alternative, but voters are far likelier to rally behind Lorne Michaels’
institution, which has 18 noms, more than any other variety show and
indeed any other show, save for Thrones, Maisel and Chernobyl.
WILL WIN Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Past winner Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), perennial bridesmaid Bob
Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) and inimitable Billy Porter (Pose) all are
plausible winners. But a tie goes to the popular TV vet, whose second
acting and directing and first producing nom could result in his first win.
WILL WIN Jason Bateman, Ozark (Netflix)
For her portrayal of the title character, and despite having to compete
against co-star Jodie Comer and past winner Laura Linney (Ozark), the
winner of this year’s Golden Globe, SAG and Critics’ Choice awards will
become the first woman of Asian descent ever to bag this Emmy.
WILL WIN Sandra Oh, Killing Eve (BBC America)
The race to lose to Game of Thrones pits the inclusive joy of Pose against
the stylish flair of Killing Eve and the unfolding heartbreak of Better Call
Saul, but it’s HBO’s other, less dragon-filled family saga that’s the profane,
dysfunctional class of the category. Even if it’s really a dark comedy.
SHOULD WIN Succession (HBO)
The second season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s emotionally raw,
spiritually ambitious comedy required only six episodes to give us
several nightmarish family gatherings, an iconic jumpsuit, a stylish
haircut, one hot priest and endlessly rewatchable depth.
SHOULD WIN Fleabag (Amazon)
Look at the drama nominees and look here. This is where TV’s dramatic
ambition and depth are going. In a race between period snapshots with
contemporary resonance, Ava DuVernay’s triumphant reclaiming of the
young men dubbed the Central Park Five edges out Chernobyl’s terrors.
SHOULD WIN When They See Us (Netflix)
This remains one of the weakest categories on the board, even if it’s less
embarrassing than in 2018. There’s no topping David Milch’s achievement
in somehow giving Deadwood an emotionally satisfying conclusion more
than a decade after the foul-tongued Western’s truncated end.
SHOULD WIN Deadwood: The Movie (HBO)
It would be nice to recognize the great work being done by
Trevor Noah or Samantha Bee and shake this category’s repetition,
but week in and week out, nobody’s commentary on the modern
condition is more essential than that of John Oliver.
SHOULD WIN Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO)
IFC’s comic salute to the world of documentary film, where no
reference is too arcane and no homage too niche, had another
spectacular season of offering gloriously nerdy fodder to an audience
starved for a takeoff on Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present.
SHOULD WIN Documentary Now! (IFC)
It’s a battle of singing submission episodes with Billy Porter’s
heartbreaking “Home” facing off against Bob Odenkirk’s epically bad
“The Winner Takes It All.” Here, ineptitude reigns as Odenkirk capitalizes
on a key hour in Jimmy McGill’s descent into Saul Goodman.
SHOULD WIN Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Somehow, Sandra Oh won everything but the Emmy last year. Will TV
Academy voters play catch-up or will they recognize that as good as
Oh continues to be, the dynamic arc of the second Killing Eve season
belonged to Jodie Comer’s stylish, increasingly unhinged Villanelle?
SHOULD WIN Jodie Comer, Killing Eve (BBC America)Who Will Win
BY SCOTT FEINBERGCATEGORYDRAMA
SERIESCOMEDY
SERIESLIMITED
SERIESTELEVISION MOVIEVA R IET Y TA L K
SERIESVARIETY SKETCH
SERIESACTOR,
DRAMA SERIESACTRESS,
DRAMA SERIESWho Should Win
BY DANIEL FIENBERGThe Experts Weigh In
AGREED!AGREED!