The Obsessive Viewer

I’m not big on award shows. I don’t like the self-congratulatory nature of them and I can’t stand the politics behind it. Having said that, I didn’t watch the Emmys. I thought about it, I even intended to watch them and livetweet them the next morning. But I didn’t bother. I’ll still share a few thoughts about them here, albeit several days later. 

Breaking Bad winning Outstanding Drama came as no surprise. It was well-deserved, definitely. Part of me still wishes House of Cards would’ve gotten it. The other part of me knows there was no chance of that happening at all. I’m just ecstatic it was nominated at all considering it’s a freshman series on a platform that’s cutting out the need for Nielsen ratings and advertising. By all accounts, I’m surprised the Hollywood elite isn’t shunning it.

I love that Bobby Cannavale won for Best Supporting Actor in Boardwalk Empire. He played a complex and potentially cartoonish villain character impeccably with just the right amount of terrifying instability and insanity.

As an aside here, I think it’s funny that I’ve seen a sizeable outcry from some Breaking Bad fans that Aaron Paul and Jonathan Banks didn’t get the award. I would have been very happy with any of the 3 of them getting it. But if the nominee I favored most (Cannavale) didn’t get it, I wouldn’t have been upset. It’s an award show, people.

I’m really happy to see David Fincher win for Best Directing on House of Cards Any win for Netflix makes me happy, but this category in particular is a big one. Fincher set the tone of the series brilliantly and the series itself is a uniquely directed series. I’m happy it got recognized in the face of some extraordinarily stiff competition.

I’m kind of shocked to see that Jeff Daniels won Best Actor, Drama. I thought for sure that it would be Cranston or (I hoped) Spacey. Either way, I’m satisfied. The Newsroom is a great show and Jeff Daniels is fantastic on it.

Anna Gunn winning Best Supporting Actress came as a pleasant surprise to me! If you listened to the Emmy Nominations breakdown episode of The Obsessive Viewer Podcast, you’ll here me pick her as my choice for the category. She played Skyler as a prisoner in her own house, helpless under the heel of the mighty and terrifying Heisenberg, very well. She gave a nuanced and powerful performance that really brought together Walt and Skyler’s scenes.

In a series where I feel like Cranston is the king, it’s easy for me to take notice of supporting actors and actresses who can step up to his level of the craft. Anna Gunn managed that very well in the first half of season 5. It’s a well-deserved win for an actress whose character catches a lot of unnecessary flak.

So, Homeland won for Best Writing for a Drama Series over the “Dead Freight” and “Say My Name” Breaking Bad episodes, not to mention the tragic and haunting Game of Thrones episode “The Rains of Castamere.” Hmm. Apparently, I need to watch Homeland.

Jim Parsons is the one good thing about The Big Bang Theory. That doesn’t mean he’s deserving of all the accolades that come with playing the role of “Sitcom Geek #2” on one of TV’s inexplicably highest rated comedies. Okay, yes, he plays Sheldon Cooper noticeably well. He deserves attention for his performance. But I feel like giving official recognition to this show is just encouraging bad behavior. By no means is The Big Bang Theory a high quality series. The characters are caricatures of a stereotype that was outdated ten or fifteen years ago. Not only that, the writing of the series grew stale very quickly with the lack of charm or chemistry between the main character and his central love interest. That is perplexing to me, considering Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco dated for a couple of years during the show.

Is it possible that Jim Parsons stands out because when a show is that steeped in mediocrity and genre tropes, any actor who’s above average and performing for a little more than a paycheck would stand out as great? Not to insult Jim Parsons or discredit his performance, but it’s The Big Bang Theory. The show is cookie cutter, broad comedy pretending to be smart by making the main characters scientists. It’s an insult to television fans.

Moving on, I haven’t watched Modern Family in a few years. I dropped it when the second or third season’s last two episodes were parked on my DVR for several months and I had no desire to watch them. Having said that, I think it’s funny that Tony Hale beat out 3 Modern Family actors for the Best Supporting Actor, Comedy category.

I haven’t watched Veep, but I know Tony Hale is a very talented guy. I also know that Hollywood loves the family-friendly, “something for everyone” sitcom style of Modern Family. Maybe I should check out Veep.

I skipped over a lot of categories, I know. Some of them didn’t interest me and others I didn’t have strong enough of an opinion to talk about them. I skimmed over the continued injustice of the Emmys overlooking Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation. That subject would have opened up a whole new can of worms.

For those who actually did watch the Emmys, what did you think? Who were you happy to see win and who do you think was robbed? Why do you think I waited until Friday night to post this thing? Leave a comment below and follow me around the internets with the following links.