Happy Emmy voting, everyone! I’m David Canfield, and the opening of the annual nomination voting window means it’s time for my favorite, if admittedly niche, tradition: poring over the ballots for all of the strange submissions, surprising omissions, and canny (or silly) strategies littered across every category.
For an example of what I’m talking about, let’s zero in on the approach of FX, which is arguably behind the front-runners for both best comedy (The Bear) and best drama (Shōgun). Submissions are judicious in the former’s case, perhaps to a fault: Only one episode was submitted for writing (“Fishes,” written by showrunners Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo), and two for directing. Its guest-star lineup is so stacked (Jamie Lee Curtis, Olivia Colman, Will Poulter—you get the idea) that some worthy names, like Robert Townsend, didn’t even reach the ballot. This is likely to ensure that the show prevents vote-splitting not only in the nominating phase, but also when it comes to wins. (The only hiccup: Its chief competition, Hacks, has employed a similar strategy.) The Emmys do not use a ranked-choice system, meaning if there’s less Bear in a given category, it’s more likely that a single contender eats up all the show’s support and goes the distance.
At the same time, it’s disappointing to see the network’s other great half hour, Reservation Dogs, get buried in so many options. The Television Academy has yet to recognize this brilliant show anywhere above the line, and for its celebrated final season, I’ve been hoping that at least the more critically discerning writers branch might manage a send-off nomination. Unfortunately, an excessive eight scripts were submitted for the show. While the series finale, cowritten by cocreator Sterlin Harjo, shouldn’t be counted out completely, this strategy hurts its chances overall. There’s a reason The Other Two, an acclaimed show otherwise well off the Emmys’ radar, managed to earn a writing nod last year for its final season: Max only submitted one episode for consideration, so there was no risk of its small pool of champions spreading the wealth. And while Shōgun may be overshooting with a similar ballot-saturation method in both writing and directing, as a top overall player, it’s at least understandable for FX to go for the jugular there.
Not to dump on the Reservation Dogs strategy—it’s simply a bummer to see one of this era’s very best shows bungle its strongest chances at some recognition—but how head-scratching to see several guest actors submitted (including the great, overdue Zahn McClarnon) without Ethan Hawke, certainly the season’s highlight as Elora’s estranged father, among them. There were, of course, other notable snubs on the ballot: The Crown’s Camilla Parker Bowles, the great Olivia Williams, was not submitted by Netflix despite the streamer’s hope that the show will go out with a bang, and HBO didn’t include True Detective: Night Country’s Fiona Shaw, a three-time nominee in the past five years alone. She seemed like a pretty good bet for recognition.
As ever, the ballots also offer hints about the state of TV. Due to a downturn in eligible programming, we’ll have fewer comedy-acting nominees than in years past, and as foretold, the talk-series race will be down to four slots for the same reason. Meanwhile, in the world of scripted variety, the likes of Saturday Night Live and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver aren’t even on the ballot for the main category—so few shows were submitted in that category that they’re being screened jury-style to determine nominations. Expect those two mainstays to make it, at least.
We’ll be discussing more about the ballots on next week’s Little Gold Men. In the meantime, readers—get going, and vote with your heart!
