Welcome back to my 7th edition 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, years ago 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 Watchmen to be nominated for writing, that won't happen, since they only submitted some of the episodes.
**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.
Now, the increasingly competitive Limited Series categories.
* Indicates a show that I haven't watched this season.
# Indicates a show I've seen before, not this season.
Outstanding Casting For A Limited Series, Movie Or Special
Nominees
Mrs. America
Normal People
Unbelievable
*Unorthodox
Watchmen
B-Team
Bad Education
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch
Looking for Alaska
The Plot Against America
Unorthodox is my big blindspot in the category this year, as you'll see. Looking for Alaska and The Sack Lunch Bunch did a great job casting young people, which is pretty difficult. The Plot Against America too actually. HBO films can put together really impressive casts, so Bad Education is no surprise. The real success of El Camino is re-populating the Breaking Bad world. which I feel like Better Call Saul is already doing. But, I mean, Mrs. America and Watchmen have deep benches. Unbelievable and Normal People had small, precisely-chosen casts.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Directing For A Limited Series, Movie Or Dramatic Special
Nominees
*Little Fires Everywhere “Find A Way”
Normal People “Episode 5”
*Unorthodox
Watchmen “It’s Summer And We’re Running Out Of Ice”
Watchmen “Little Fear Of Lightning”
Watchmen “This Extraordinary Being”
B-Team
Bad Education
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Unbelievable "Episode 1"
Mrs. America "Houston"
The Plot Against America "Part 6"
Looking For Alaska "It's Very Beautiful Over There"
Even though I'm a little cooler on Watchmen than the rest of the world seems to be, I wouldn't dare deny that the direction is great. The Nominees also sneak in Lenny Abrahmson's work on Normal People and the late Lynn Shelton for Little Fires Everywhere. This B-Team is awesome though. I have no idea how the opening hour of Unbelievable didn't get nominated. That's just insane. Everything comes together in the Mrs. America and The Plot Against America episodes superbly. Looking For Alaska made for feel more than nearly any of these. Vince Gilligan back in the Breaking Bad universe is never to be scoffed at. And, Bad Education is a festival movie hit that just happened to premiere on HBO. That group is stacked.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Writing For A Limited Series, Movie Or Dramatic Special
Nominees
Mrs. America “Shirley”
Normal People “Episode 3”
Unbelievable “Episode 1”
*Unorthodox “Part 1”
Watchmen “This Extraordinary Being"
B-Team
Bad Education
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Looking For Alaska "Now Comes The Mystery"
Mrs. America "Betty"
The Plot Against America "Part 2"
OK, the writing rights itself after a lot of directing oversights. The Nominees include Mrs. America, Normal People, Unbelievable, and Watchmen. It's hard to argue with that. The "Betty" episode of Mrs. America was pretty good though too. "Part 2" isn't what I would've submitted for The Plot Against America. Same with Looking For Alaska. El Camino did feel more like a couple OK episodes of Breaking Bad rather than a necessary self-contained story.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Nominees
*Dylan McDermott (Hollywood)
*Jim Parsons (Hollywood)
#Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt : Kimmy vs. The Reverend)
Yahya Abdul-Mat een II (Watchmen)
Jovan Adepo (Watchmen)
Louis Gosset t Jr. (Watchmen)
B-Team
Eric Lange (Unbelievable)
Denny Love (Looking For Alaska)
Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen)
Jesse Plemons (El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie)
John Slattery (Mrs. America)
John Tuturro (The Plot Against America)
So many shows are female dominated these days that the Actor fields are pretty thin. Tituss has long been the most annoying part of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I have no affection for Hollywood. None of the supporting Watchmen performances really blew me away. So, this is B-Team's for the taking. Eric Lange is missing from a lot of Unbelievable and is mostly just an impediment. Tim Blake Nelson doesn't stand out from the nominated Watchmen actors. John Slattery is too out shined by his female costars. Tutorro is appropriately overbearing in The Plot Against America. Denny Love has the best character in the wonderful Looking For Alaska. Jesse Plemons is fine in El Camino, but Breaking Bad really did most of the work building that character. I don't know. I'm not super impressed by either group. I'm really turned off by the Tituss Burgess nomination though.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie
Nominees
*Holland Taylor (Hollywood)
Uzo Aduba (Mrs. America)
Margo Martindale (Mrs. America)
Tracey Ullman (Mrs. America)
Toni Collette (Unbelievable)
Jean Smart (Watchmen)
B-Team
Elizabeth Banks (Mrs. America)
Rose Byrne (Mrs. America)
Hong Chau (Watchmen)
Ari Graynor (Mrs. America)
Allison Janney (Bad Education)
Sarah Paulson (Mrs. America)
This is an amazing reminder of how deep that Mrs. America cast is. Uzo Aduba only really had one episode of note, so I'd go with Byrne, Banks, or Paulson over her. Martindale and Ullman are strong choices for the Nominees though. They were smart enough to nominate Toni Collette. That's almost game over right there. Jean Smart is quite great too. Allison Janney is good in Bad Education, although it's a role I've seen her play too much. No need to overthink this.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Nominees
Hugh Jackman (Bad Education)
*Jeremy Pope (Hollywood)
*Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)
Paul Mescal (Normal People)
Jeremy Irons (Watchmen)
B-Team
*Russell Crowe (The Loudest Voice)
*Chris Evans (Defending Jacob)
Aaron Paul (El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie)
Charlie Plummer (Looking For Alaska)
Daniel Radcliffe (Miracle Workers: Dark Ages)
And I thought Supporting Actor was thin. The Loudest Voice and Defending Jacob had shockingly little buzz. While I think Miracle Workers is fun, Daniel Radcliffe's performance is more sweaty (by design) than good. It's really just Paul and Plummer, both excellent as true leads, carrying the B-Team. Bad Education is one of Hugh Jackman's best roles. Mark Ruffalo is always good. Paul Mescal for Normal People going to be the deciding vote. It's silly that Jeremy Irons was submitted as a lead, but, OK, sure.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie
Nominees
*Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere)
Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America)
*Octavia Spencer (Self Made: Inspired By The Life Of Madam C.J. Walker)
*Shira Haas (Unorthodox)
Regina King (Watchmen)
B-Team
Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable)
Zoe Kazan (The Plot Against America)
*Reese Witherspoon (Little Fires Everywhere)
Merritt Wever (Unbelievable)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People)
This is such a deep category. I could've easily made a C-Team that would've given the Lead Actors a run. It's nice that newcomer Shira Haas from Orthodox could sneak into the field. I'm impressed that voters even found Octavia Spencer for Self-Made (because I know they would never rubber-stamp someone just because they recognize the name). I'm not one to speak ill of Kerry Washington. The powerhouses of the Nominees are Regina King and Cate Blanchett. Good luck, B-Team.
Luckily, the B-Team came out to play. It's absurd that neither Kaitlyn Dever nor Merritt Wever from Unbelievable managed to get nominated (Dever should've submitted as Supporting, I think). Normal People is a two-person show. Daisy Edgar-Jones absolutely deserved a nomination. We all take Reese Witherspoon for granted. She was in 3 shows this year that earned a combined 8 acting nominations and none of them were nominations for her. Do you need more evidence that something isn't right in America right now? Zoe Kazan snuck into the B-Team because of how great she is in those phone call scenes in the last episode of The Plot Against America. Really excellent work. Apologies to the King and Queen (Regina and Cate), but I have to go the other way.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Limited Series
Nominees
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
*Unorthodox
Watchmen
B-Team
Four Weddings And A Funeral
Looking For Alaska
Normal People
The Plot Against America
*Quiz
So, this is going to the Nominees, because, well, look at that group. I want to highlight how much of the B-Team I liked though. Looking For Alaska was too teen and Millennial focused to get any realistic Emmy attention (see: Why, 13 Reasons), but only Unbelievable hit me at a gut level more than Alaska. Four Weddings and A Funeral is pure empty calories that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Plot Against America is a really well-produced alt-narrative. Normal People was really beautifully directed and subtlety-acted. The Limited Series field is getting so deep these days.
Winner: Nominees (Dominant)
Outstanding Television Movie
Nominees
*American Son
Bad Education
*Dolly Parton's Heartstrings: These Old Bones
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt : Kimmy vs. The Reverend
B-Team
*Lady And The Tramp
Noelle
*Stargirl
*Togo
Transparent Musicale Finale
Next year, thanks to Covid, the TV Movie field may actually be competitive. For this voting window though, everyone is still saving their best stuff for Oscar runs. Notice how my B-Team is just a bunch of Disney+ titles I recognized and a Transparent Musical that no one asked for?
Winner: Nominees (Dominantly)
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6-3 Nominees
Maybe if the breakdown of the best shows were more 50-50 Male-Female, then the B-Team could've made even more damage. I could always find more great actresses. I struggled to find more great male roles.
And let me be clear, I only say that for this B-Team practice. I'm actually quite happy that they are so many great parts for women on TV. I don't think it's a coincidence that the explosion of quality depth in shows has coincided with a smaller percentage of shows dominated by male anti-heroes.
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