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After struggling the past couple of years with Emmy campaigning in virtual lockdown, and with no in-person events or Q&As allowed by the Television Academy, things have gone back to ‘normal’. The pandemic protocol meant the 20,000-some voters in the Academy were relegated to participating in virtual online sessions where the opportunity for networking and word-of-mouth was greatly reduced.
This season, however, it was back to old times, with the shackles taken off studio and network consultants in terms of bringing voters out of the house and back into the swing of the very long TV season. Still, we saw the nominations tend to favor a handful of shows, and all those contenders associated with them, in a very big way. So, the campaigns didn’t really widen the field in a way the Academy might have hoped they would. For instance, nominations leader Succession saw a whopping 14 of their actors nominated, thus pretty much sucking the air out of the room for shows that might not have had quite so many Academy eyeballs on them. If you were in that show—or Ted Lasso, or The White Lotus, or Hacks to name four with huge hauls for performers—then well, welcome to the 74th Emmy Awards.
But with the absolutely enormous amount of content for members to absorb and watch, it should really come as no surprise that they couldn’t get to it all and instead went for familiar favorites, or others like Squid Game that managed to cut through the clutter by becoming viral sensations that were impossible for the Academy to ignore. With the race down to the wire, let’s not cry for those who came up short, but rather handicap the chances of winning for those who didn’t. We will be doing this for several days leading up to the Primetime Emmys on September 12.
First up however is Outstanding Television Movie, which will actually be presented this weekend at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony.
This is a category that has clearly fallen on hard times. Once a prestigious Emmy category, and a point of pride for the broadcast networks, the definition of a Television Movie is a gray area these days. The streamers turn out movies weekly, but very few of them are even entered in this race, with their filmmakers preferring to think of them as theatrical-style movies. In recent years Netflix has instead put up their Dolly Parton films (one won last year) or episodes of their Black Mirror franchise, successfully turning them into wins here until the TV Academy tried to redefine what a TV movie is, mostly referring to length rather than quality, or even intention. That leads us to 2022 and its mixed bag of nominees, four of which have received their one and only Emmy nomination this year, while the fifth managed two noms. Whereas you have nominees in Limited Series gaining big numbers across the board, this group appears to be barely watched by voters.
Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, Disney+
This charming live action/animation hybrid using classic Disney cartoon stars as its calling card might be better suited to the Children’s category, but somehow it qualified here instead, the first animated movie of its kind to ever receive an Emmy nomination in this category. As such, it could actually turn out to be a surprise winner, not only for its mirthful entertainment value, but also because the competition is pretty weak.
Ray Donovan: The Movie, Showtime
The cancelled series is now played out as a ‘movie’ in order to land an Emmy nomination here where it couldn’t in the Drama Series category. With the familiar beats of the actual series this is a bit of a cheat, but it isn’t an unusual gambit by producers to stretch out their series fodder as a bit of one-off event programming to qualify here. Its chances lie with voters reacting to its instant name recognition, which is a plus to be sure.
Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon, Paramount+
Yet another castoff from the familiar antics of the Reno 911 gang. This is the kind of comedy fodder that would rarely get any attention in a serious ‘movie’ awards category, but with the paucity of entries and quality on tap this year, it made the final cut, no doubt largely due to the instant familiarity with the title and the show. A zippy 90 minutes of silliness, its chances for a victory seem laughable.
The Survivor, HBO
The one entry that seems to belong here is a harrowing Holocaust drama from Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man). It features an exceptional lead performance by Ben Foster as a boxer who fights for his survival in matches set up for the entertainment of Nazi concentration camp commanders. A true story designed for theatrical, it was bought by HBO after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Powerful stuff.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas, Roku
Roku breaks into the Emmy race, picking up this offshoot from NBC’s cancelled and short-lived musical series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, that actually won an Emmy a couple of years ago for its choreography. But it is more of the same, just an elongated holiday special that now qualifies as a ‘Television Movie’ thanks to the reinterpreted Emmy qualification rules.
THE PREDICTED WINNER: THE SURVIVOR
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