The major nominees and winners
We saw the usual combination of problems that plague this and all other award shows – crappy shows nominated because they have good intentions or are politically correct; crappy minority performers nominated as tokens, winners who won as compensation for not winning something else in the past, plenty of Twitter outrage about some crap or another, boring speeches, and an occasional deserving winner.
You can’t take this seriously. Remember these are the same voters who decided that Frazier was a better comedy series than Seinfeld – five years in a row!
Compounding the cluelessness of the voters is the sheer volume of choices. The overwhelming quantity makes it exceptionally difficult for anyone to choose winners and losers, even if they believe that winners should be chosen. Who has the time to made studied, measured, contemplative choices? There are now about 500 original scripted series on TV and/or the streaming providers. There are about six of them (The Crown, Ted Lasso, Hacks, Mare of Easttown, Last Week Tonight and The Queen’s Gambit ) that won almost all of the awards, and I don’t even have time to watch all of those six, so the other 480 (or so) just get lost in the shuffle.
Noteworthy:
- The guard has been changed. Netflix won more awards than HBO for the first time. In fact, Netflix won more than HBO and Disney added together.
- The Handmaid’s Tale was awarded 21 nominations with zero wins, setting the all-time futility record.