The Sunday Mail
The Big & Small Screen
| That time of the year is here again!Mark your calendars and start budgeting for your subscription, because the 2016 Emmy Awards are upon us. |
This year’s edition, television’s biggest night of the year, will be screened live on DStv on September 18.
The nominations are out and upon perusing the list of contenders for television’s biggest prize, one thing really stuck out for me; this could be one of the strongest field of nominees ever!
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this year’s event, I would like to get a few things off my chest.
Firstly, ZBC, and I cannot emphasise this enough, is really letting the nation down with regards to its programming.
Unless you make an effort to surf the net and try catching up on what is trending in the world of television, the odds are you are unlikely to have heard of any of the films up for awards this year.
In this case, I am talking about the best of the best in terms of entertainment. None of them are currently showing on our sole television station.
At least Ster Kinekor has made an effort to move with the times and digitise their operations, and the results, while slow at the moment, are starting to show.
People have started shunning piracy by watching fresh movies at the cinema.
How so?
By the time pirates get their hands on the latest films, at the recommended 100 percent picture and sound quality, most of their previous customers will have already watched the films at the cinemas upon release.
The other day, I had an interesting conversation with one guy (name withheld) who was complaining about how Ster Kinekor is denting their “operations”.
And yes, the guy is a pirate.
With summer just around the corner and the blockbuster season upon us, expect the cinema houses to be sitting in the sun, both literally and figuratively.
Moving on, given that Emmy awards nominees just came out, how great is it that the race débâcle is yet to rear its ugly head?
Odds are it will not.
“The People v OJ Simpsons; An American Crime Story” has been the surprise package of this year Emmy race with 22 nominations.
The mini-series, which should be available locally in about a month or two, is a fictional take on the real life trial of OJ Simpson.
Its stars, Cuba Gooding Jnr and Courtney B Vance are going head to head in the Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
In fact, people of colour dominated some of my biggest picks for Emmy glory with Viola Davis and Taraji P Henson (Empire’s Cookie), much like last year’s Emmy awards, are clear favourites for the Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
There are also probable wins for the likes of Aziz Ansari (Lead Actor in Comedy Series), Idris Alba (Lead Actor in a Drama Series), Keegan — Michael Key (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy), Blackish (Outstanding Comedy Series) and The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story (Outstanding Limited Series).
Last but not least, just how great is “Game of Thrones”?
Once again, the film tops the list of nomination with 23 selections.
But the beauty of the Emmys is that unlike the Academy Awards, where all 5 800 motion picture academy members vote for most of the competitive categories, these ones are decided by just a portion of the 16 000 strong TV academy.
Their nominations are numbered too, so one has to think clearly before they vote and viewers actually have a big say on who wins and who loses in the end.
Now, it goes without say that “Game of Thrones” and
“The People v OJ Simpsons: An American Crime Story”, with 23 and 22 nominations respectively, will certainly have the biggest piece of the cake.
The two films have won over audiences, critics and pretty much everybody else, so come September 18, expect these two to dominate.
The past season of “Game of Thrones” was arguably one of the best the show has produced, moving many of the series’ major storylines forward in a significant way.
Kit Harrington’s Jon Snow, who I have never really been too fond off, was surprisingly one of my favourite characters in the season in question.
The buzz surrounding his character’s death, the emotionality of his performance during the penultimate episode — Battle of the Bastards and the way the show runners handled his character was pitch perfect.
Harrington and the incomparable Peter Dinklage will both be vying for the coveted Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Their co-star Lena Hedley has more or less won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in my book, but should things not go her way, it could be toss-up between her fellow co-stars Emilia Clark (Daenerys) and Maisie Williams (Arya).
Once again, the show runners should be given credit for the handling of both characters, growth of their storylines and overall development.
Now, as become the norm, nothing is perfect on this column and I do have one or two observations.
Firstly, the Emmys choice in host is a total let down.
I mean seriously, how do they justify following up the controversial Ricky Gervais and the comic pair of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler with Jimmy Kimmel.
No offence to the famed “Late Night” host but he doesn’t hold a candle to his predecessors.
Also there was an apparent snub of two films that I thought, at the very least, deserved nomination.
“Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones” are two of the breakout series of the past two years.
Their dark and adult like take of the comic book genre were second to none, with film deserving at least a nod in the actors, film and set categories.
