The Emmy B-Team: The Scruff

Welcome back to my 6th edition (yes, six!) of the Emmy B-Team. The idea is pretty simple. People like to complain about the Emmy nominations. They point out one or two "snubs", never consider what's actually on the nominating ballots*, and say that the Emmy voters did a bad job. The skeptic that I am, I wanted to find out if the Emmy picks were really that bad. So, I looked through the official Emmy nominating ballots. I created an alternate group of non-nominated performers/episodes/shows and compared those groups to the actual nominees to see which was stronger. I'll spare you the suspense: The Nominees always win handily, although it's close in the Drama and Comedy categories. Now, this serves as a fun way for me to point out the biggest snubs, audit the Emmy picks more fairly, and point out some quirks in the nominating ballots**.

*Remember, a show, person, or episode can only be nominated if it is submitted. Even if you want every episode of Game of Thrones to be nominated for writing, that won't happen, since they only submitted one episode there.

**You'd be surprised how often that actor you thought was snubbed wasn't even on the official ballot or had listed himself as a lead instead of a supporting actor.

I don't do every category. I don't pretend that I've seen everything or that I fully understand all the categories. I'm a one-man operation talking about hundreds of shows. I'm doing the best I can.

I'll start with what I call "the scruff". It's the random categories that I like to include that don't fit in any of my major groups.

* Indicates a show that I haven't watched this season.

# Indicates a show I've seen before, not this season.

Outstanding Animated Program

Nominees
Big Mouth – “The Planned Parenthood Show”) (Netflix)

Bob's Burgers – “Just One Of The Boyz 4 Now For Now” (FOX)

BoJack Horseman – “Free Churro” (Netflix)

#Adventure Time – “Come Along With Me” (Cartoon Network)

The Simpsons – “Mad About The Toy” (FOX)

B-Team

#American Dad! – “Rabbit Ears”

*F is For Family – “Battle of the Sexes”

#Family Guy – “Trump Guy”

#South Park – “Dead Kids”

*Tuca & Bertie – “Plumage”

I've been complaining for years about them snubbing BoJack Horseman. This year, they finally nominated it, added Big Mouth, and kept Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons. That doesn't leave me with much to complain about.

Winner: Nominees (Dominant)

Outstanding Directing For A Documentary/Nonfiction Program

Nominees
Free Solo (National Geographic)

*FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix)

Leaving Neverland (HBO)

RBG (CNN)

Three Identical Strangers (CNN)

B-Team

*America to Me – “Listen to the Poem!”

The Case Against Adnan Syed – “Time Is The Killer”

*Generation Wealth

Minding the Gap

Shirkers

Thanks to several loopholes, a lot of Oscar eligible documentaries are also eligible for Emmys too, so the field of programs to choose from is quite impressive.The Nominees list has a great mix of zeitgeist (FYRE, Leaving Neverland), pedigree (Free Solo, Three Identical Strangers), or both (RBG). The B-Team is pretty good too. Shirkers and Minding the Gap were highly praised documentaries from last year. Generation Wealth taps into the zeitgeist in its own way. The Case Against Adnan Syed and America to Me have better claims as "TV programs". I know of at least one critic I trust who called America to Me the best program that aired on TV in 2018. Still, the Nominee list is the ideal Emmy variety.

Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)

Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program

Nominees
*Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown – “Kenya” (CNN)

The Case Against Adnan Syed – “Forbidden Love” (HBO)

*Fyre Fraud (Hulu)

*Hostile Planet – “Grasslands” (National Geographic)

*Our Planet – “Jungles” (Netflix)

*Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics And Men – “Episode 1” (Showtime)

B-Team

*American Experience: The Circus

*American Experience: The Eugenics Crusade

*Generation Wealth

Shirkers

*The Staircase – “Flawed Justice”

*Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas – Inequality Problems”

I had to struggle to fill out this B-Team. American Experience always has solid writing, and Shirkers is a "you have to hear it to believe it story". Of Mics and Men received a ton of praise, and The Case Against Adnan Syed was well-structured. And, before you ask, the Fyre Festival documentary from Netflix isn't eligible, so that's why it's not in either group.

Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)

Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special

Nominees
*FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix)

*The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley (HBO)

*Jane Fonda In Five Acts (HBO)

Leaving Neverland (HBO)

*Love, Gilda (CNN)

Minding The Gap (Hulu)

B-Team

*Betty White: First Lady of Television

*American Experience: The Circus

*Fyre Fraud

*I Am Richard Pryor

*Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind

*The Steve Irwin Story

I'm fully confused by the difference between "Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special" and "Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking" (which didn't have a strong enough list for a B-Team). What I can say is that the B-Team list left slim pickings, including the lesser Fyre Festival documentary and a couple biographies that I forgot about. Meanwhile, the nominees include Minding the Gap and Leaving Neverland which were both excellent (as well as unsettling).

Winner: Nominees (Dominant)

Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series

Nominees
#American Masters (PBS)

*Chef's Table (Netflix)

*Hostile Planet (National Geographic)

*Our Planet (Netflix)

30 For 30 (ESPN)

B-Team

*America to Me

The Case Against Adnan Syed

*The Staircase

The 2000s

*Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics And Men

30 for 30 and American Masters are institutions. And, people love food and nature footage. The Nominees are strong. The B-Team interests me more. Of Mics and Men and America to Me earned incredible reviews. The Case Against Adnan Syed and The Staircase were compelling looks into crimes. CNN's decade series are always nice surveys of the years in question (even if it is way too soon to be doing the 2000s - right?). I've seen more of the B-Team than the nominees, and the 30 for 30s over the last year haven't been that great.

Winner: B-Team. (Narrowly)

 

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That makes it a pretty easy 4-1 for the Nominees on day 1.