Friday, July 31, 2020
Fri-Yay: Emmy Nominations Thoughts; Leah Remini to Host Game Show Network Game Show
by Vincent
This week, the Emmys announced their 2020 nominations, with the expected announcement that the ceremony will be virtual. It'll be the first major awards ceremony to be held remotely (the Tonys, which usually air in June, were cancelled) so it'll be interesting to see how the academy handles a virtual awards ceremony. Here's a list of the sitcom-relevant nominees, as a refresher:
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson (black-ish)
Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
Ted Danson (The Good Place)
Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)
Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek)
Ramy Youssef (Ramy)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me)
Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek)
Issa Rae (Insecure)
Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish)
Outstanding Comedy Series
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Dead to Me"
"The Good Place"
"Insecure"
"The Kominsky Method"
"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"
"Schitt's Creek"
"What We Do in the Shadows"
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”)
William Jackson Harper (“The Good Place”)
Alan Arkin (“The Kominsky Method”)
Sterling K. Brown (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Tony Shalhoub (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Mahershala Ali (“Ramy”)
Kenan Thompson (“Saturday Night Live”)
Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Betty Gilpin (“GLOW”)
D’Arcy Carden (“The Good Place”)
Yvonne Orji (“Insecure”)
Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Marin Hinkle (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”)
Cecily Strong (“Saturday Night Live”)
Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
All in all, the first thing that popped out to me was the sheer number of nominations for Schitt's Creek in its final season. Schitt's Creek is a show that grew more popular very gradually through-out its runs, and the show scored 15 nominations in its final season, its highest easily. It's pretty rare for a comedy series to actually increase in nominations (typically they start off very buzzy and gradually fade in Emmy voters' interests, such as what happened with shows like 30 Rock and Modern Family) but Schitt's Creek bucks the trend. It also bucks the Emmy voters' trend of favoring streaming services, as Schitt's Creek (a cable sitcom) out nominated streaming favorites like Dead to Me and GLOW. Still, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018's winner) also racked a lot of nominations, so the Emmy's love of streaming sitcoms hasn't completed faded.
Broadcast television continues to be gradually squeezed out by the Emmys, with The Good Place as the only nominee from a broadcast network in the Outstanding Comedy Series category. (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and black-ish scored nominations in acting categories but not in the series categories.) Previous Emmy darling Modern Family was not nominated for its final season (not surprising as the Emmy's love for the series faded in the show's later seasons), but FX's critically acclaimed fantasy comedy What We Do in the Shadows did score a handful of nominations. It's an interesting year for the Emmys - not just because they'll be remote, but because they nominated a lot of surprise choices this year, and I'll be very interested to see how they play out (virtually).
Game Show Network, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, has announced Emmy® Award winner Leah Remini as host of new pop culture crossword game show, People Puzzler. The half-hour original series is anticipated to premiere in early 2021. In People Puzzler, three lucky contestants will put their pop culture knowledge to the test to complete iconic, People Puzzler crosswords. The player who has won the most points after three rounds will move on to the Fast Puzzle Bonus Round where they will have the opportunity to win a cash prize Actress, author, producer, and television personality Leah Remini is perhaps most recognized as Carrie Heffernan on the long-running CBS comedy, The King of Queens. She was recently seen in the romantic comedy, Second Act, with Jennifer Lopez.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, October 23
Abbott Elementary - "Class Pet" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Janine gets a budget for class pets, but Melissa is resistant to taking on the added work and responsibility for her room’s guinea pig. An IT rep from the school district arrives to set up new computers.
Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Bullies" (Comedy Central, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Chris gets a gig DJ-ing at a drag ball and develops drag queen eyes.
Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Career Tests" (Comedy Central, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Chris and Greg tape over a porno rented from Caruso and must replace it.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 21)
Wednesday, October 23
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Watch Billy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Anna Kendrick (Love Life) - Anna appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Matty Matheson (The Bear) - Matty stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - NBC's Today catches up with Olivia some time between 7-9am.
- Bridget Everett (Somebody Somewhere) - Bridget talks about Somebody Somewhere on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- David Henrie (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place/Wizards of Waverly Place/How I Met Your Mother/The Pitts) - David discusses Wizards Beyond Waverly Place on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings. One or two Wizards Beyond Waverly Place cast members will be on New York Living at 10:05am.
- Judith Light (Who's the Boss?/Phenom/Transparent) - Judith talks about Before on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Billy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Mariska Hargitay (Can't Hurry Love) - Mariska talks about the greatest thing sheĆ¢€™s learned since turning 60 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Dexter Darden (Saved by the Bell) - Dexter talks about Peacock's Fight Night; The Million Dollar Heist on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Essence talks about Poppa's House on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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