CREDIT: ABC; IFC

The 2020 Emmy nominations will be announced on July 28. As per annual tradition, I have assembled a Wish List for as many categories as I have something to say about. There is no minimum or maximum number per category, nor is there any strict adherence to official Emmy rules. And of course, there is the necessary caveat that I have not seen everything. Even with much of the country shut down for the past few months, that’s impossible.

Now that I have made my way through the avalanche of award-worth Dramas, Comedies, and Limited Series, it’s time to get a little silly with the Variety shows. And this year, I decided to also talk about Reality, as there are enough competition shows that I plainly love to be able to fill out a ballot.

Conan is my top choice among the talkies, as Mr. O’Brien and company adapted quite naturally to the new reality of at-home production and Zoom interviews. The Soul Train/American Bandstand homage that is Sherman’s Showcase is the easy choice in Sketch Series; seriously folks, you gotta check this show out. And while I don’t always include SNL in the field, it earned a spot this year thanks to the resiliency demonstrated in its at-home episodes.

Moving on to Reality, where my Competition Program picks are dominated by game shows, naturally enough. At the top of the heap is the mini-golf showcase Holey Moley, one of the most purely fun and positive shows on the air right now. And Joe Tessitore and Rob Riggle are the perfect silly/serious M.C. pair to present the whole shebang.

KEY:
Bold=My winner

CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot

Variety Talk Series
CONAN
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot

Variety Sketch Series
Saturday Night Live
Sherman’s Showcase
Whose Line is it Anyway?

Original Music and Lyrics
“Time Loop,” written by Phonte Coleman, Lorenzo Ferguson, Diallo Riddle, and Bashir Salahuddin, Sherman’s Showcase

CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot

Competition Program
Holey Moley
$100,000 Pyramid
The Masked Singer
Match Game
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot

Host, Reality/Reality Competition
Anthony Anderson, To Tell the Truth
Alec Baldwin, Match Game
Jimmy Kimmel, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race
Joe Tessitore and Rob Riggle, Holey Moley