The 2019 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 16, and as that annual occasion approaches, I typically put together my own list of which shows and performers I would like to see recognized. But I’ve had some mixed feelings about putting that together this year, as I’ve grappled with the fact that in the era of Peak TV, it becomes more and more impossible to capture all my favorites in one place. Ultimately I decided I wouldn’t be too formal or too precious about it. If there are ten shows I really want to see nominated, then I’ll list ten on my wish list. But if there are just two I really like in another category, then I’ll just list two.
I’ve already run through Comedy, Drama, and Limited Series, and you know what? I’ve also got some thoughts on Variety shows, as they are a steady part of my TV diet. For Variety Talk, I am delighted to say that my top choice is the revitalized CONAN, as Mr. O’Brien has rediscovered plenty of his mojo by slimming down a half-hour. And let’s not forget Norm MacDonald Has a Show, a brilliant bit of comedic chaos. As for Variety Sketch, Documentary Now! may just be my very favorite show of 2019
Nominees are listed in alphabetical order. My top choices are in bold.
CREDIT: TBS/YouTube
Variety Talk Series CONAN
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Norm MacDonald Has a Show
CREDIT: Allyson Riggs/IFC
Variety Sketch Series Documentary Now!
Drunk History
The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale
If my grandmother had cancer and my parents and aunts and uncles decided to hide the diagnosis from her and instead organize a wedding so that all her loved ones could visit her one last time, I imagine my reaction would be a lot like that of The Farewell‘s supremely frustrated Billi (Awkwafina). But of course, I cannot imagine that anyone in my family would actually do that, so it’s a little hard for me to even wrap my head around this scenario as a real thing. But it is a real thing, as writer/director Lulu Wang based it on her own experience. And I suspect she wanted to have quite an impact on people like me who are not part of a culture that would engage in this type of subterfuge. That impact valuably exploits the empathetic power of cinema: by the end of The Farewell, I still do not come anywhere close to agreeing with Billi’s family’s decision, but I understand why they believe it is the right thing. Wang’s film will have you laughing, crying, and hopefully thinking about what works best for your family in sickness and in health.
The Farewell is Recommended If You Like: Weddings and Family Reunions in All Their Messiness
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Dave Bautista, Natalie Morales, Betty Gilpin, Mira Sorvino, Iko Uwais, Jimmy Tatro, Karen Gillan
Director: Michael Dowse
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rating: R for Explosive Police Detective Work and a Visit to a Strip Club
Release Date: July 12, 2019
Humor hits different people in different ways, so while it’s theoretically possible that some viewers may find Stuber hilarious, I must be honest and admit that I found it tiresome almost immediately. It all starts, or fails to get into gear rather, with that title. Stuber looks completely meaningless, and it essentially is, as so many nicknames are. The “Stuber” in question is Stu (Kumail Nanjiani), a big box employee who also works on the side for a ride sharing company that offers the perfect opportunity for an unremarkably simple portmanteau. Is this one big 90-minute long product placement vehicle for Uber? Eh, who cares, we’ve got bigger problems to deal with.
Anyway, Stu finds himself picking up a passenger who keeps him on retainer over the course of one very long day. That would be Dave Bautista as Vic, an LAPD detective who’s supposed to be taking some time to relax because his boss told him that a big drug case is being taken over by the feds and also because he’s temporarily blind from laser eye surgery. So of course Stu and Vic don’t see eye-to-eye, as that is how unlikely buddy comedies work. Alas, everything’s too loud and predictable to be endearing. Although at one point some guy does get his face blown up by a propane tank, a moment that kind of shocked me back to life. So overall, that’s about a minute worth of fresh material.
Stuber is Recommended If You Like: Action Comedies That Don’t Know When to Quit
The 2019 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 16, and as that annual occasion approaches, I typically put together my own list of which shows and performers I would like to see recognized. But I’ve had some mixed feelings about putting that together this year, as I’ve grappled with the fact that in the era of Peak TV, it becomes more and more impossible to capture all my favorites in one place. Ultimately I decided I wouldn’t be too formal or too precious about it. If there are ten shows I really want to see nominated, then I’ll list ten on my wish list. But if there are just two I really like in another category, then I’ll just list two.
Now that I’ve gone through the regularly scheduled Comedy and Drama, I’m moving onto the categories that really have to make their case to fit themselves into my viewing schedules. Limited Series come and go, and that transience is clear in my relative lack wishes. But boy do I love those who I’m wishing for! Florence Pugh is my favorite up-and-coming actress, and I thought I would totally be pulling for her little spy routine in The Little Drummer Girl, but then Michelle Williams came along and was totally undeniable as Gwen Verdon. And it is in this field that we find my most off-the-wall wishes, as Justin Theroux was rewardingly unmoored in Maniac and Wanda Sykes got to kill it with her take as Weezy Jefferson in one of the most “who’d-a thunk it” moments of 2019.
Nominees are listed in alphabetical order. My top choices are in bold.
Limited Series
Fosse/Verdon
The Little Drummer Girl Sharp Objects
On the July 8, 2019 episode of Whose Line is it Anyway?, Wayne Brady and Chip Esten performed “Duet” in the style of Cabaret along with special guest Elizabeth Gillies. The topic was “lactation consultant.” The resulting number was so incredible that I just had to record the lyrics for posterity. (And prosperity!)
Wayne: It’s that time
I feel my hormones jumping (Elizabeth and Chip: Jumping) Time to open wide
Get these mammaries pumping (Elizabeth and Chip: Pumping) And now I do not know
The end result
How do I work these?
Who will consult?
Please
Somebody please
Consult me (Elizabeth and Chip: Ooh ooh ooh ooh)
The 2019 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 16, and as that annual occasion approaches, I typically put together my own list of which shows and performers I would like to see recognized. But I’ve had some mixed feelings about putting that together this year, as I’ve grappled with the fact that in the era of Peak TV, it becomes more and more impossible to capture all my favorites in one place. Ultimately I decided I wouldn’t be too formal or too precious about it. If there are ten shows I really want to see nominated, then I’ll list ten on my wish list. But if there are just two I really like in another category, then I’ll just list two.
Yesterday I discussed Comedy, and I just couldn’t contain myself to the prescribed number of nominees per category. But now that I’m looking at Drama, I’m struggling to fully flesh them out. Partly that’s because I watch more comedy than drama, and partly it’s because some of the dramas I do watch had off-years.
But I still watched some good, juicy dramas! And tops among them was most definitely Pose, which is my #1 choice in just about every category. Billy Porter is pretty much showmanship personified, and all the main ladies are undeniably compelling. Sex Education also gets my endorsement. I initially thought it was mis-categorized, but since my drama choices are relatively sparse, I won’t complain. And let’s not sleep on The Orville, which has been consistently putting out some intellectually satisfying hard sci-fi without too much fanfare.
Nominees are listed in alphabetical order. My top choices are in bold.
Outstanding Drama
Better Call Saul
Homecoming
The Orville Pose Sex Education
The 2019 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 16, and as that annual occasion approaches, I typically put together my own list of which shows and performers I would like to see recognized. But I’ve had some mixed feelings about that this year, as I’ve grappled with the fact that in the era of Peak TV, it becomes more and more impossible to capture all my favorites in one place. Ultimately I decided I wouldn’t be too formal or too precious about it. If there are ten shows I really want to see nominated, then I’ll list ten on my wish list. But if there are just two I really like in another category, then I’ll just list two.
I’m kicking things off today with Comedy. Before I get to my selections, I’ve got some thoughts to share, mainly about the new entrants. Among freshman shows, The Other Two mixed affecting family dynamics with the silliness of fame, while What We Do in the Shadows was just so wonderfully goofy. But it’s a couple of sadly cancelled high school-set sophomore shows that have my most love: Netflix’s poopy mockumentary American Vandal and NBC’s sharp and lovable A.P. Bio.
Among the actors, Young Sheldon‘s ensemble has really been a welcome part of my weekly life, and with that in mind, it’s been a while since either the Academy or I have recognized Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory, and you know what? I’m going to recognize him for his final year. Among names that you may not recognize (yet), let’s all keep in mind What We Do in the Shadows‘ Kayvan Novak for our future comedy endeavors.
Nominees are listed in alphabetical order. My top choices are in bold.
Outstanding Comedy American Vandal A.P. Bio
Barry
GLOW
The Goldbergs
The Good Place
Jane the Virgin
The Last O.G.
The Other Two
Speechless
What We Do in the Shadows
Over the past few months, the delightful high school-set sitcom A.P. Bio has become one of my favorite shows on the air, but then NBC went a little cuckoo and cancelled it. There’s been some effort on the part of the cast, crew, and fans to find the show a new home, but unless that happens, we will have to be satisfied with two short-but-sweet seasons.
One of the reasons I love A.P. Bio so much is because it shares a lot of DNA with my favorite show of all time, which would be Community, another former NBC sitcom that was constantly on the brink of cancellation (though unlike A.P. Bio, it kept beating the renewal odds). Their premises and central characters are strikingly similar. In Community, Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is a high-powered lawyer who gets disbarred and must enroll at a community college. Meanwhile, A.P. Bio stars Glenn Howerton as Jack Griffin, a disgraced Harvard philosophy professor who is forced to take a lowly part-time teaching job at a high school in Toledo, Ohio.
As I watched and grew to love A.P. Bio, I kept noticing more and more Community similarities, to the point that I could detect analogues for all the major characters. So I’ve assembled below a side-by-side comparison of the Greendale Human Beings and their corresponding Whitlock Rams. Enjoy, and let me know if you need help reacting to riding that ram.
(Thank you to my fellow commenters at the AV Club and Disqus for helping me out with these comparisons!)
Jack (Glenn Howerton) = Jeff (Joel McHale)
CREDIT: YouTube
The protagonists who try to act above it all but eventually embrace the crazy scholastic ecosystems they’ve become an integral part of.
As I wrote this review of Toy Story 4 almost a week after seeing the movie, the main feeling that I have upon reflection is one of peacefulness. When Toy Story 3 arrived more than a decade after its predecessors, it brought with it familiarity but also emotional upheaval with all the life changes it sought to deal with. Number 4 is similarly concerned about new chapters, but the kind that you never saw coming, yet somehow feel so perfectly right when you let them happen. So did I cry when Woody made his final decision? I did not, not because of a cold heart, but because my warm heart was so proud of the scary, but promising, step forward I had never considered as a possibility in this series. If toys and franchises are basically immortal, sometimes they have to make big bold choices, and it’s a feat when one of them feels like the best decision for everyone involved.
I give Toy Story 410 Voice Boxes out of 12 Skunk Cars.
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