The Emmys Are a Scam and I Am Upset
Why is 'The Mandalorian,' an entertaining show for babies, nominated for Best Drama??? And other gripes.
Hello. It's Tuesday and here is a thing I am mad at. This is a list of nominees for the 2021 Emmy awards, which are the awards they give to the supposedly best TV shows.
No!!! Wrong!!! The Mandalorian??????? No!!!
Let me elaborate because I feel as if I am going slightly mad. The Mandalorian is a very entertaining and fun show for babies, and also people who enjoy pretending that they are babies for 30-45 minutes depending on episode length. I am one of those people! I really liked The Mandalorian. It felt Star Wars-y in a way that many of Disney's other recent offerings in the Star Wars baby-verse did not. And yet! Is it an Emmy-worthy drama? Absolutely not! Who in their right mind would describe it as such!
Look. I get it. Art is subjective. Who am I to say that one piece of televised art is higher than other? Great question. I am just a guy with a blog. But it is my blog and I am here to say that The Mandalorian does not belong in this category. I want the show that wins best drama to make me feel something -- to have scenes and plots and performances that surprise or thrill or challenge me. The Mandalorian does none of that. The prevailing emotion that it invokes, that it was made to invoke, is a warm-bath feeling of rose-tinted nostalgia for the magical world of the original Star Wars trilogy. It is a show with a tiny puppet Yoda that burbles and bobbles around and exists to sell little plushies to children and adults who would like to feel like children again when they squeeze the little plushie and hear it burble. Again -- I like this! It works on me. Not enough to buy a little green Disney advertisement for my home, but still.
And this isn't a bias against what could colloquially be called "nerd shit." Of the shows I've seen on this list I would give the Emmy in this category to The Boys, which is by far and away the most subversive, exciting and challenging offering in the broader superhero category that I have seen in recent years. The Boys rocks. Give an Emmy to The Boys.
And yet -- here we are. The Mandalorian is nominated. It will probably not win, but the fact remains that some Disney executive bribed or cajoled or threatened someone responsible for making these decisions enough to get multiple Disney shows nominated in categories they have no business being in. Wandavision? Really? I mean the supporting actress nod to literal queen of my life Kathryn Hahn is completely justified (note: Wandavision's performances should only be judged by the first 6 episodes in the series before it devolved into the dumbest shit I have ever seen), and sure Elizabeth Olsen looked like she had fun in a way that she never did in the rest of the MCU movies, but the entire show up there for outstanding limited series? Get outta here.
All right it's time to wrap this up. You can only be mad at something for so long these days. Some final thoughts: The Flight Attendant was great but not... really a comedy? I don't know. Feels misplaced. Cobra Kai and Emily in Paris were fun and all but come on we are scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Let's give Ted Lasso its due and move along. This is Us continues to be a CIA op. I will finish this blog with the most cursed thing I have ever read and no other context: A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote.
Goodbye.