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The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is hosting the 2020 Emmy Awards on Sunday, marking the first time the award show will take place virtually. The show, which Jimmy Kimmel will host, has a lot of interesting nominations with the potential to change the television awards circuit.

Here’s a quick preview of what’s to come:

No red carpet

How will the virtual awards show function? We’ve seen other massive events, such as charity concerts and the NFL and WNBA drafts, run fairly smoothly when held virtually.

Kimmel will host the awards from the Staples Center in Los Angeles without fans or red carpets, according to Variety. All the nominees will react to their wins or losses in real-time through professional cameras and more than 100 live feeds. That’s a lot of live feeds in one night, and it will be interesting to see how that transfers over to the quality of the Emmys.

Katelyn Marcy | Digital Design Director

Netflix’s big start

The streaming titan broke records this year with 160 Emmy nominations in total. With that many nominations, a lot of shows need to get some form of recognition (including a Best Cinematography nod for “The End of the F***Ing World!”).

Netflix has a few heavy hitters, namely “Ozark” with 18 nominations in the drama category and “The Crown” with 13. The streaming service also scored four out of the five nominations for Outstanding Television film, with “American Son,” “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones,” “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend” receiving nods. HBO’s “Bad Education” took the final spot.

Having the most nominations doesn’t always lead to having the most wins, but the amount of recognition Netflix received shows that streaming services are taking over the television landscape.

Side note: I’m happy to see “BoJack Horseman” receive a nomination for Outstanding Animated Series. Read about my thoughts on the series here.

HBO’S “Succession” of the guard:

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” ended its rocky run with an Outstanding Drama Series win last year. This year, the streaming service only has one nomination for that category, but “Succession” is no lightweight.

The series is incredibly popular with both fans and critics. The Television Academy also loves its cast — nine of its actors, including three guest actors, are nominated — and the series about a powerful and corrupt family fighting for power has all the qualities of an awards show hit.

While we’re talking about HBO, let’s discuss “Watchmen.” The miniseries scored a whopping 26 nominations, the most of the night. The show’s based on the beloved Watchmen comic series and has a strong cast led by Regina King. “Watchmen” is also a very relevant show, teaching more viewers about the Tulsa Race Massacre than most history textbooks. Look out for these two series dominating their respective fields.

Surprise nomination

Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” scored a surprise nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. The show, which centers around the titular Mandalorian roaming the galaxy protecting a Yoda-like child, earned 15 nominations, mostly in technical categories. I wouldn’t expect the show to top favorites like “Succession,” “Better Call Saul” or “Ozark,” but this is a good move for Disney+ to put their show up for awards so early in the streaming service’s run.

If Ludwig Göransson wins for Best Musical Composition for a Series, he’ll have three-fourths of an EGOT after winning an Oscar for his work in “Black Panther” and a Grammy for producing Childish Gambino’s hit “This Is America.”

Comedic goodbyes

“The Good Place” and “Schitt’s Creek” both ended with a bang, scoring Outstanding Comedy Series nominations, among several other awards. Comedic actors Ted Danson, Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara were all nominated for their work. Younger co-stars William Jackson Harper and D’Arcy Carden of “The Good Place” and Dan Levy and Annie Murphy of “Schitt’s Creek” also received nominations.

These two series have tough competition with Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which landed 18 nominations, but “The Good Place” and “Schitt’s Creek” should walk away with at least a couple wins between each other.

Katelyn Marcy | Digital Design Director

Diversity

The Emmys made strides in nominating a more diverse pool of actors this year — mostly. The Television Academy nominated 38 Black performers, including Zendaya for “Euphoria,” Billy Porter for “Pose” and Regina King for “Watchmen.”
The fact that King’s series earned the most nominations is a big step forward, as is Muslim American actor Ramy Youssef’s acting and directing nominations for his show “Ramy.”

But the award show isn’t perfect. The Television Academy nominated only a few Asian and Latino artists, with Sandra Oh, who is Asian, receiving a nod for her incredible work on “Killing Eve” and Alexis Bledel, who is Latina, being nominated for her guest work on “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

The Television Academy has made an effort to nominate a diverse pool of nominees, but they still have a long way to go.

Published on September 16, 2020 at 12:02 am

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu