Emmy Awards 2023: WSJ’s TV Critic on This Year’s Nominees
Contenders for the top prizes include Hulu’s kitchen dramedy ‘The Bear,’ HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel, and the final seasons of ‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’ Updated July 12, 2023 5:42 pm ET The nominations for the 75th Emmy Awards, which will be held on Sept. 18, were announced on July 12. Here’s a roundup of some of the contenders, as covered by the Journal’s TV critic, John Anderson. HBO House of the Dragon The unnervingly violent, unwaveringl
The nominations for the 75th Emmy Awards, which will be held on Sept. 18, were announced on July 12. Here’s a roundup of some of the contenders, as covered by the Journal’s TV critic, John Anderson.
House of the Dragon
The unnervingly violent, unwaveringly self-important “House of the Dragon” is as captivating as any season of “Game of Thrones,” which was one of the most successful, popular and critically well-regarded series ever to appear on television. Combined with the existing following of fantasy author George R.R. Martin, “Dragon” continued the franchise’s reign over Sunday night television, enjoying the most formidable of fan bases, and one well-earned.
The Bear
There are no furry woodland creatures on the menu at the Original Beef of Chicagoland, the centerpiece of “The Bear,” Hulu’s delicious eight-part dramedy that viewers will consume like a tray of hot hors d’oeuvres. Being set in a restaurant qualifies the show as a family story—everyone is distinctive, everyone has a role, everyone has a history, but all are bound together by a central purpose that not only defines them, but occasionally—no, frequently—makes them ferocious.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Still breathless after all these years, Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” entered its fifth season a marvel in many ways. Begun as a parody of Kennedy-era TV comedy, the show is set in early-’60s New York, with the delightful Rachel Brosnahan as a housewife-turned-standup-comic. In its final installment, her fate hangs in the balance–Does the show flash forward to show its title character evolving into a road-hardened comedy legend who is as brittle as her jokes? Or will she finally heed the advice of her in-laws, give up all this showbiz meshugas, attend to her children and make sure they don’t grow up to hate her, or go live on a kibbutz?
Ted Lasso
Comedy isn’t required to make sense and “ Ted Lasso ” never tried, especially during its infancy. One of the very few series ever spun off a television commercial, the Apple TV+ show was based on the character created by Jason Sudeikis to promote the 2013 debut of English Premier League soccer on NBC Sports. Ted was an American football coach who knew so little about “the beautiful game” that even a fundamentalist NFL fan knew more about it than he. It was a sly play to win viewers, but the idea that Ted would become manager of a Premier League team himself was the height of absurdity and had to have a subtext. Which it has, for three beloved seasons.
Wednesday
TV’s original goth girl gets her own show called “Wednesday” and starring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday. As in Addams. The Addams Family has enjoyed so many manifestations that the natural question isn’t how far the new eight-episode series strays from all the other TV shows, movies or what cartoonist Charles Addams
created in 1938. It’s about whether the show has a satisfying sense of many people’s favorite Addams—and some aspects of the show feel perfectly right: If you described the show as “delightful,” for instance, this Wednesday would probably retch.
Beef
With irrational anger so in vogue, the time seems ripe for “Beef”—as in gripe, or grievance, though neither does justice to the reckless ferocity of the antics in this nerve-jangling, black-edged comedy. Comedy may be overstating things, actually: The series, created by Lee Sung Jin (“Dave,” “Silicon Valley”), makes the venting of spleen look ridiculous. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous.
Daisy Jones & the Six
Based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s popular novel of the same name and indirectly on Fleetwood Mac, fictional rock saga “
Daisy Jones & The Six” found an audience, though its lazy reliance on ’70s counter-cultural clichés and apocryphal stories grows tiresome. Over 10 episodes (or “tracks,” as they’re described), the series is a memory tour framed by interviews with the eponymous, superstar rock band that played a sold-out concert at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1977 and never performed together again. Not only that, they’ve never spoken publicly about their legendary breakup. Until now, 20 years later.What's Your Reaction?
