The Emmy B-Team: Variety Series and Specials

Welcome to the 8^th edition of the Emmy B-Team. The idea is simple. People like to complain about the Emmy nominations. They point out snubs, never consider what was actually on the ballots*, and say the Emmy voters did a bad job picking nominees. The skeptic that I am, I wanted to find out if the Emmy picks were really that bad. So, every year, I look through the Emmy nomination ballots. I create an alternate group of non-nominated performers/episodes/shows (my “B-Team”) and compare those to the actual nominees to see which is stronger. I’ll spare you the suspense: The actual Nominees always win handily even though I go into it each time thinking this is the year the B-Team has the edge. It turns out, a couple bad snubs don’t outweigh 3-5 good picks. Instead, the B-team 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 Ted Lasso 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.

 

I want to make it clear what my decision means for these match ups. What I’m asking is, would I replace the Nominees list with the B-Team. That is the only thing I am testing.

 

And now it's time for all those appropriately-named variety categories.

 

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

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

 

Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series

Nominees

• *Last Week Tonight With John Oliver “Trump & Election Results / F*ck 2020”
• Late Night With Seth Meyers “Episode 1085a”
• The Late Show With Stephen Colbert “Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection; Senator Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Performance By Jamila Woods”
• Real Time With Bill Maher “Episode 1835”
• *Saturday Night Live “Host: Dave Chappelle”

 

B-Team

• A Black Lady Sketch Show “But the Tilapias Are Fine Though, Right?”
• The Daily Show with Trevor Noah “President Barrack Obama Sits Down with Trevor Noah”
• Desus & Mero “Respect the Eagle”
• Full Frontal with Samantha Bee “Episode 5156”
• How To With John Wilson “How to Cook the Perfect Risotto”

 

My goal hear is, which field picked fewer shows that are just a man or woman sitting at a desk most of the time? Nominees have SNL, which we admittedly take for granted how difficult it is to pull off. B-Team has A Black Lady Sketch Show and How to With John Wilson. B-Team wins.

 

Winner: B-Team (Barely)

 

Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special

Nominees

• *Bo Burnham: Inside
• *David Byrne's American Utopia
• 8:46 - Dave Chappelle
• Friends: The Reunion
• A West Wing Special To Benefit When We All Vote

 

B-Team

• Black Is King
• Bruce Springsteen’s Letter To You
• The 63^rd Annual Grammy Awards
• One Night Only: The Best of Broadway
• What The Constitution Means To Me

 

Inside isn’t like most comedy specials. Although I traditionally give them more credit for writing, I’m calling Inside an achievement in directing too. David Byrne’s American Utopia is nearly as good as Stop Making Sense, which is the highest praise I can give a concert doc. Frankly, my B-Team is full of the most familiar programs I could find. I can’t keep what was and wasn’t filmed with COVID limitations straight anymore.

 

Winner: Nominees (Dominantly)

 

Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series

Nominees

• The Amber Ruffin Show
• A Black Lady Sketch Show
• *Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
• The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
• *Saturday Night Live

 

B-Team

• Conan
• The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
• Desus & Mero
• Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
• Late Night with Seth Meyers

 

Amber Ruffin and Black Lady Sketch Show offer a touch of variety. Last Week Tonight and The Late Show are old familiars. SNL is an ode to inconsistency and taking risks. All I’ve really got for the B-Team is a bunch of formulaic talk shows, although I believe that Desus & Mero is pretty great.

 

Winner: Nominees (Dominantly)

 

Outstanding Writing For A Variety Special

Nominees

• *Bo Burnham: Inside
• The Daily Show With Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse - Into The MAGAverse
• 8:46 - Dave Chappelle
• John Lewis: Celebrating A Hero
• Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020

 

B-Team

• Brian Regan: On the Ricks
• Desus & Mero: The Obama Episode
• Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist
• Jim Jefferies: Intolerant
• Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical

 

Inside is the class of the category. Even though I’m tepid on the rest of the Nominees, the B-Team can’t collectively outweigh Inside. Simple as that.

 

Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)

 

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

Nominees

• Conan
• The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• *Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
• The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

 

B-Team

• Desus & Mero
• Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
• Late Night with Seth Meyers
• Real Time with Bill Maher
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

 

I know the same nominees every year gets old but I defy you to find a B-Team that can beat it. Real Time is on life support. Full Frontal has lost some edge. The Tonight Show never had any edge. I believe the people who praise Late Night and Desus & Mero, but are they really that significantly better than John Oliver and company?

 

Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)

 

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

Nominees

• A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)
• *Saturday Night Live (NBC)

 

B-Team

• How To With John Wilson
• #Whose Line is It Anyway?

So, SNL and the best new sketch series. Sounds good to me. I do need to get around to How To. I hear it’s amazing.

 

Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)

 

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

Nominees

• Celebrating America - An Inauguration Night Special (Multiple Platforms)
• The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
• *The Oscars (ABC)
• The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd (CBS)
• Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (Showtime)

 

B-Team

• The 63^rd Annual Grammy Awards
• Wrestlemania 37
• Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2021 with Ryan Seacrest
• 2020 VMAs
• Christmas in Rockefeller Center

 

Inaugurations and Superbowl Halftime shows are always good productions. The Oscars tried something new too. The weird calendar did mean I could’ve picked either the 2020 or 2021 Billboard Music Awards for my B-Team. That’s fun. The Grammys put on a good show. Same with the VMAs. I don’t put Wrestlemania as a joke. Those pay-per-views are impressive productions. I’m going with the lazy pick here though.

 

Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)

 

 

Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)

Nominees

• *Bo Burnham: Inside
• *David Byrne's American Utopia
• 8:46 - Dave Chappelle
• Friends: The Reunion
• *Hamilton
• A West Wing Special To Benefit When We All Vote

 

B-Team

• Black Is King
• Brian Regan: On The Rocks
• Desus & Mero: The Obama Episode
• Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist
• Jim Jefferies: Intolerant
• What the Constitution Means to Me

 

Inside and American Utopia along with a pretty well captured Hamilton performance is hard to beat. The B-Team doesn’t match up.

 

Winner: Nominees (Dominantly)

 

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7-1 Nominees

Don’t give Emmy voters too much credit though. These categories are shallow as hell.