And away we go! After months of FYC campaigning — robust events before May 1, and then a bit different (with writers obviously absent) after the WGA strike began — now we wait. Television Academy voters hopefully are considering everything they’ve watched over the past few months as they make their selections, and when nominations are announced on July 12, we’ll find out just how successful the Phase 1 barnstorming was.
If this year’s Emmy ballots are any indication, the era of Peak TV may truly be over — which FX boss John Landgraf has of course been predicting for some time. There are 163 dramas, 95 comedies and 51 limited/anthology series that have been submitted — down from 171 dramas, 118 comedies and 61 limited/anthology series last year. That’s still a lot of TV, but with fewer contenders comes the possibility of more dark horses getting noticed.
Regular readers of this column have seen me tubthump for some favorites over the years — including correcting the injustice of “Better Call Saul” never winning an Emmy. But as you head to the virtual Emmy ballot box, there are a few other worthy entrants that I think you should keep in mind.
Let’s start with the full selection of comedies that make you feel something, that really give you a sense of character and place. Not easy to do in this era of short episodic orders, and yet HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere” does it well. As does FX’s “Dave.”
Those are returning shows that I already knew would transport me to a place and people I wanted to visit. Among new shows, Netflix’s “Mo” was quite a pleasant surprise. Comedian Mohammed Amer stars as a fictionalized version of himself, a Palestinian refugee whose family now lives in Houston and wrestles with the red tape that comes with trying to obtain asylum. In the meantime, Mo’s undocumented status limits his opportunities as he hustles to make a living. It’s a story we didn’t get to see on TV until recently, and it resonates.
I spoke with Amer (whose comedy has been renewed for a second and final season), and he said his inspiration comes from “telling meaningful stories. This one just happens to be something I experienced firsthand. I want to continue to tell other really nuanced, important and different stories, preferably something that’s not been done before. I’m just trying to stay true to my own experience.”
That impulse is something you also see in “Reservation Dogs,” the FX series that has earned critical acclaim but deserves more attention at the Emmys. When people ask me for a TV recommendation, I frequently ask if they’ve seen “Rez Dogs” — and I prepare them for the journey that they’ll take with this group of teenagers on a reservation in Oklahoma, who are grieving the loss of their best friend and dreaming of fulfilling his quest to make it to California and the ocean. Creators Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi conceived a story that anyone with family, friends or friends who are family can relate to — but through the lens of Indigenous kids who are a part of the culture but also kids who eat a lot of Sonic.
Another series I often suggest is Apple TV+’s “For All Mankind,” whose alternative-history storytelling gets my imagination going. What if the space race had continued, and how might that have impacted society and technology? Every season, the show’s writers get more creative with what the world might have looked like. And among actors who stood out to me this year, I can’t get enough of Josh Segarra, who arguably has the best smile on TV, via both Max’s “The Other Two” and Apple TV+’s “The Big Door Prize.”
That’s just a primer of what I think you should consider when marking your Emmy ballot before next Monday’s deadline. No pressure.
