While both are favorites, they have their vulnerabilities. The most recent episode of “Thrones” aired 13 months ago, which may have left Emmy voters trying to recall what happened in its long-ago seventh season. And many supporters of “Handmaid’s” — who have propelled the series into a red-cloaked cultural landmark — had mixed feelings about its second-season finale.
The plausible challengers for the best drama statuette are “The Americans,” the FX show about Russian spies, and Netflix’s decade-spanning study of Queen Elizabeth, “The Crown.”
The FX drama, which completed its six-season run in May, has won only two Emmys, but it has long been a critical favorite. And Emmy voters have been known to shower love on a show on its way out, as they did for “The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad.”
“The Crown,” meanwhile, won best cast in a drama at the Creative Arts Emmys a week ago, an occasional bellwether; four of the past eight best drama winners also won for best cast. Because the series will bring aboard new cast members every few years, this is also a last chance for Emmy voters to recognize the iteration of the show starring Claire Foy, who will cede the role of the queen to Olivia Colman as the show moves into the mid-1960s.
Lorne Michaels and the ‘S.N.L.’ Emmys
You may be asking: Why on earth are the Emmys on a Monday night? Thank NBC for that.
Because of “Sunday Night Football” rights, NBC kicked the ceremony to Monday, just as it did four years ago. (The four broadcast networks take turns broadcasting the Emmys.)
NBC hopes that its hosts, Colin Jost and Michael Che, who are co-head writers of “Saturday Night Live” as well as the anchors of its Weekend Update desk, can help reverse a trend of plummeting awards show ratings.
Lorne Michaels, the 73-year-old impresario behind “Saturday Night Live” and NBC’s late-night lineup, is producing the show for the second time, having last overseen the proceedings in 1988, when the “Dynasty” star John Forsythe was the host. Plenty of current and former “S.N.L.” cast members are expected to take the Microsoft Theater stage to inject some life into a show that has seen ratings lows in recent years.
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In a way, it’s surprising to see “S.N.L.” front and center at the Emmys. Emmy voters have looked askance at the New York-based show for most of its 43-year run.
But that has changed, with “S.N.L.” having won nearly half of its 61 Emmys in the last five years. Last year, it won the best variety sketch Emmy, the first time it had claimed a top show award since 1993. And even though many critics felt that “S.N.L.” had an off year this past season, it is nevertheless still scoring: After last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, it is tied for first with “Game of Thrones” among all TV shows, with seven wins. Those include Tiffany Haddish for best guest actress in a comedy and Don Roy King for directing.
We’ll see new winners in comedy
Over the last 11 years, only three shows have won Emmys for best comedy: “30 Rock,” “Modern Family” and “Veep.”
There will be a new winner this year.
The favorites are FX’s avant-garde “Atlanta,” starring Donald Glover, and Amazon’s 1950s-set comedy, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Mr. Glover took the prize for best actor in a comedy last year, along with an Emmy for directing, signs that “Atlanta” is poised to become the heir to “Veep.” But “Mrs. Maisel” is the show that won the Golden Globe for best comedy earlier this year.
Emmys Red Carpet 2018
CreditJordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated Press
For the first time in seven years, there will also be a new best actress in a comedy. (With “Veep” sidelined this year, Julia Louis-Dreyfus will hit the pause button on her record-breaking Emmy run.) Rachel Brosnahan, who plays a stand-up comic in late 1950s New York in “Mrs. Maisel,” is the likely winner. Also competing for the award is the seven-time Emmy winner Allison Janney, in the CBS sitcom “Mom,” and Tracee Ellis Ross, a star of ABC’s “black-ish.”
In the late-night battle, John Oliver’s weekly HBO show, “Last Week Tonight,” seems poised to take the best variety talk category for a third year in a row. But last year’s Emmys host, Stephen Colbert, the host of “The Late Show” on CBS, is still surging in the ratings, giving him the potential to topple his former Comedy Central colleague.
Expect #MeToo to have a big role
In the last year, many TV stars, including Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Louis C.K. and Mark Halperin have been forced out after facing allegations of sexual misconduct. Earlier this month, the #MeToo movement reached into the corporate side of the business, when multiple accusations of sexual misconduct led to the ouster of the CBS president and chief executive Leslie Moonves.
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How will Mr. Jost and Mr. Che address #MeToo? Will the winners make reference to it in their acceptance speeches? Tonight’s Emmys show is the first one to be broadcast since the first investigative article on accusations against Harvey Weinstein was published in The New York Times last October, meaning that it presents the first opportunity for the television industry at this ceremony.
And how will President Trump figure into the evening?
Invocations of Mr. Trump were never far from the lips of Emmy hosts and winners during the last two broadcasts. While hosting the 2016 edition of the show, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel called out Mark Burnett, the prolific reality show producer who produced Mr. Trump in “The Apprentice,” saying he would be the man to blame if Mr. Trump won. And at last year’s Emmys, at virtually every turn, Mr. Colbert and a number of the winners got in on the act of criticizing the president.
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Will a general sense of Trump fatigue mean less airtime devoted to politics on the show? Will Mr. Michaels, who has led numerous episodes of “Saturday Night Live” with Trump-skewering sketches in the last two television seasons, see to it that Mr. Che and Mr. Jost keep their comments on the subject to a minimum?
It’s Netflix versus HBO
It’s the battle of bragging rights.
During last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, HBO put 17 Emmys on the scoreboard. Netflix was right behind, with 16. Executives from both companies will be fidgeting in their seats as they watch for the outcome of a contest that may mean more to the television industry than it does to viewers.
HBO has won the most Emmys of any network each year since 2002. But in a sign that the jewel of cable may not dominate the ceremony for much longer, Netflix snapped HBO’s 17-year streak of leading all competitors in Emmy nominations earlier this summer.
There will be 26 awards handed out during Monday’s ceremony, a total that is slightly greater than the number of categories on the Oscar and Golden Globe broadcasts. Last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys gave golden statuettes to winners over nearly 100 categories.
But the supersize nature of the Emmys is a reflection of where television is these days, now that streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are taking up more of viewers’ time and challenging the industry’s old economic model. There will be more than 500 scripted shows by year’s end, which will set yet another record.
As a result, Emmy campaigning has grown more intense. So-called For Your Consideration events — panel discussions where voters have access to stars, canapés and booze — have filled the schedules of the more than 23,000 members of the Television Academy in the run-up to the 70th edition of the show. Last year, there were 61 academy-sanctioned events in Los Angeles and New York during Emmy campaigning season. This year, that number ballooned to 116, according to a spokesman for the academy.
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Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/arts/television/emmy-awards-live-updates.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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