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
Monday, May 19
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 19)
Monday, May 19
- Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Watch Seth on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Milly Alcock (Sirens) - Milly appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Bradley Whitford (Perfect Harmony/Trophy Wife) - Bradley is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Tim Robinson (Detroiters) - Tim appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Owen Thiele (Overcompensating) and Amita Rao (Deli Boys) - Owen and Amita are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Meghann Fahy (Sirens) - Meghann talks about Sirens on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings), NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am, and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That.../Divorce/Sex and the City/Square Pegs) - Sarah talks about And Just Like That... on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9a.
- Hugh Jackman (Human Resources) - Hugh discusses his Radio City Music Hall residency on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz/Sister Kate), Vanessa Morgan (The Latest Buzz) and Giacomo Gianniotti (Backpackers/Selfie) - Jason, Vanessa and Giacomo talk about the dramedy Wild Cards on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Blair Underwood (Fatherhood/The New Adventures of Old Christine) - NBC's Today catches up with Blair in the 9am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - It's the time management show on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Prime's Étoile on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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