Andrew here with some more Emmy treats.
In anticipation of Sunday's big night for TV, the television lovers at The Film Experience are bringing to you a special Team Experience top 10 list.Sure, each year a handful of Emmy nominees leave us scratching our head in confusion, but we wanted to celebrate the citations that the voters got right this year and compiled our list of favourite nominees. Unlike usual Team Experience top 10s, though, we're offering you a look at each of our individual top 10s.
Nathaniel always points out how interesting individual ballots in awards tends to be more dynamic than the final tally and to celebrate the wide range of nominees in the prizes still to be handed at Sunday's ceremonies. So, we disregarded the already decided on categories from the Creative Awards ceremonies and from the 26 categories to be decided on Sunday, our twelve person team each submitted their favourite of the nominees.
Unsurprisingly, our individual ballots were full of Actresses. Go below the jump to see them all.
1. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback (Actress in a Comedy Series)
2. The Honorable Woman (Outstanding Limited Series)
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal The Honorable Woman (Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
4. Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series)
5. Matthew Weiner Mad Men “Person to Person” (Writing in a Drama Series)
6. Elisabeth Moss Mad Men (Actress in a Drama Series)
7. Tatiana Maslany Orphan Black (Actress in a Drama Series)
8. Orange Is the New Black (Outstanding Drama)
9. Emma Thompson Live from Lincoln Center – Sweeney Todd (Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
10. Mad Men (Outstanding Drama)
1. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback (Actress in a Comedy Series)
2. Lena Headey Game of Thrones (Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series)
3. Amy Schumer Inside Amy Schumer (Best Actress in a Comedy Series)
4. Homeland (Outstanding Drama )
5. Adam Driver Girls (Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series)
6. Gaby Hoffmann Transparent – (Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series)
7. Transparent (Comedy Series)
8. Jane Krakowski Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series)
9. Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett on Live from Lincoln Center – Sweeney Todd (Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie)
10. Wolf Hall (Outstanding Limited Series)
1. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback (Actress in a Comedy Series)
2. Christina Hendricks Mad Men (Supporting Actress in a Drama Series)
3. Lena Headey Game of Thrones (Supporting Actress in a Drama Series)
4. Amy Schumer Inside Amy Schumer (Actress in a Comedy Series)
5. Matthew Weiner and Semi Chellas Mad Men “Lost Horizon” (Writing for a Drama Series)
6. Amy Schumer and Ryan McFaul Inside Amy Schumer “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” (Directing for a Variety Series)
7. Jill Solloway Transparent “Pilot” (Writing in a Comedy Series)
8. Elisabeth Moss Mad Men (Actress in a Drama Series)
9. Michael Kelly House of Cards (Supporting Actor in a Drama Series)
10. Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series)
Our group really rallied around Lisa Kudrow. Valerie Cherish can go out knowing that she's being heard. Here's what some of us had to say about her.
Manuel: That the Emmys didn't forget about Kudrow's performance in a highly contested Best Actress in a Comedy roster (it'll be a nail-biter!) is a testament to the fact that sometimes, even if by accident, the Emmys can get it right nominations-wise. I already wrote extensively about this gem of a performance but it bears repeating:
"Always aware of the camera, Valerie is always performing for an imagined audience and it is in Kudrow’s subtleties (a quick sigh, half an eye-roll, a half-hearted smile) that she tracks the way Valerie is slowly losing track of when she’s performing for the camera and when she’s merely performing for herself."
Jose: Even though we will see Valerie Cherish lose once more to Julia Louis-Dreyfus (this time, at least, for more deserving work) Kudrow's second nomination for a show that no one thought would ever come back, is the meta-est of meta things. Perhaps the work is still too mordant and raw for Hollywood to embrace it, but in our hearts, Val is it.
Kyle: Valerie's mind is as alive and alert as any on TV, and through this frenetic psychological pace, Kudrow gives us a heartbreaking dramatization of the current US nightmare: working really hard to achieve a dream we know we shouldn't have.
David: Lisa Kudrow's complete lack of vanity and ego in creating someone so full of those same qualities, and her magical ability to make this simultaneously funny, ingratiating and sympathetic, only go some way to explaining why Valerie Cherish is such a masterful comic creation. Some of it simply can't be explained, and we may just have to anoint Kudrow as our new God.
1. Veep (Outstanding Comedy)
Just looking at this list makes the little television pumping in my chest swell three sizes. Veep may by my all-time favorite show, and The Honourable Woman deserves applause beyond Gyllenhaal’s extraordinary performance, but, deep down, the loss that would most break my heart would be Niecy Nash’s. (Please no one show Emma Thompson my list.)
2. Niecy Nash Getting On (Supporting Actress in a Comedy)
3. Mad Men (Outstanding Drama)
4. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback (Actress in a Comedy)
5. Taraji P. Henson Empire (Actress in a Drama Series)
6. Maggie Gyllenhaal The Honorable Woman (Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
7. Olive Kitteridge (Outstanding Limited Series)
8. Richard Jenkins Olive Kitteridge (Actor in a Limited Series or Movie)
9. Armando Ianucci Veep “Testimony” (Directing for a Comedy Series)
10. Hugo Blick The Honourable Woman (Directing for a Limited Series)
1. Tatiana Maslany Orphan Black (Actress in a Drama)
It’s been three years and endless beating of the most robust drum in the business, and finally the world at large is awake to this woman’s extraordinary talent in making what could be such a gimmick into such a rich experience, and ensuring the marvel of her multiple performances is a secondary thought when in the moment of watching the show itself.
2. Parks and Recreation (Outstanding Comedy )
3. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback (Actress in a Comedy)
4. Anna Chlumsky Veep (Supporting Actress in a Comedy)
5. Taraji P. Henson Empire (Actress in a Drama)
6. Matthew Weiner & Semi Chellas Mad Men “Lost Horizon” (Writing for a Drama Series)
7. Jon Hamm Mad Men (Actor in a Drama )
8. Maggie Gyllenhaal The Honorable Woman (Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie)
9. Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche Veep “Election Night” (Writing for a Comedy Series)
10. Mad Men (Outstanding Drama)
1. Anna Chlumsky Veep (Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series)
Because her breakdown and finally telling her boss the truth was the funniest thing on TV last year. Yes the writing's genius but she delivered fantastically. And I watched it on repeat countless times already.
2. Maggie Gyllenhaal The Honorable Woman (Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie)
3. Mad Men (Outstanding Drama)
4. Christina Hendricks Mad Men (Supporting Actress in a Drama)
5. Lena Headey Game of Thrones (Supporting Actress in a Drama)
6. Matthew Weiner & Semi Chellas Mad Men “Lost Horizon” (Writing for a Drama Series)
7. Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche Veep “Election Night” (Writing for a Comedy Series)
8. Jill Soloway Transparent “Best New Girl” (Directing for a Comedy Series)
9. Taraji P. Henson Empire (Actress in a Drama Series)
10. Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, and Horton Foote, Bessie (Writing for a Limited Series or TV Movie)
1. Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actor in a Comedy)
2. Joshua Brand The Americans “Do Electric Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?” (Writing for a Drama)
3. Viola Davis How to Get Away With Murder (Actress in a Drama)
4. Andre Braugher Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Supporting Actor in a Comedy)
5. Tatiana Maslany Orphan Black (Actress in a Drama)
6. Keegan-Michael Key Key & Peele (Supporting Actor in a Comedy)
7. Parks and Recreation (Outstanding Comedy)
8. Last Week Tonight (Outstanding Variety Program)
9. Jane Krakowski Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actress in a Comedy)
10. Lily Tomlin Grace & Frankie (Actress in a Comedy)
1. Emma Thompson Live From Lincoln Center- Sweeney Todd (Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
Sublime intermingling of comedy and pathos. Had this production had a Broadway run (and it arguably should have), she would have won the Tony.
2. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Outstanding Variety Talk Series)
3. Lily Tomlin Grace & Frankie (Actress in a Comedy)
4. Taraji P. Henson Empire (Actress in a Drama)
5. Phil Lord and Chris Miller The Last Man on Earth (Directing for a Comedy Series)
6. Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actor in a Comedy)
7. Anna Chlumsky Veep (Supporting Actress in a Comedy)
8. Bob Odenkirk Better Call Saul (Actor in a Drama)
9. Tatiana Maslany Orphan Black (Actress in a Drama)
10. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss Veep (Actress in a Comedy)
1. Amy Poehler Parks and Recreation (Actress in a Comedy)
2. Last Week Tonight (Outstanding Variety Talk Show)
3. Key and Peele (outstanding Variety Sketch)
4. Christina Hendricks Mad Men (Supporting Actress in a Drama)
5. Anna Chlumsky Veep (Supporting Actress in Comedy)
6. Matthew Weiner Mad Men “Person to Person” (Writing in a Drama Series)
7 Steven Soderbergh The Knick “Method and Madness” (Directing for a Drama)
8. Jon Hamm Mad Men (Actor in a Drama)
9. Elisabeth Moss Mad Men (Actress in a Drama)
10. Andre Braugher Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Supporting Actor in a Comedy)
1. Niecy Nash Getting On (Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series)
I love this nomination as both a nod to an under-appreciated gem series and a great, enduring character actress.
2. Matthew Weiner Mad Men “Person to Person” (Writing for a Drama Series)
3. Mo'Nique Bessie (Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
4. Dee Rees Bessie (Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special)
5. Maggie Gyllenhaal The Honorable Woman (Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
6. Elisabeth Moss Mad Men (Actress in a Limited Series or Movie)
7. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback (Actress in a Comedy Series)
8. Taraji P. Henson Empire (Actress in a Drama Series)
9. Transparent (Comedy Series)
10. Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series)
1. Jon Hamm Mad Men (Actor in a Drama)
I’ve written about this before. Jon Hamm has delivered extraordinary, moving, revealing work for season after season in Mad Men. His submitted episode, the series finale, takes us on a journey of grief, shame, love, and loss that is staggering in its range. No one deserves the award more.
2. Mad Men (Outstanding Drama)
3. Jonathan Banks Better Call Saul (Supporting Actor in a Drama)
4. Christina Hendricks Mad Men (Supporting Actress in a Drama)
5. Orange is the New Black (Outstanding Drama)
6. Elisabeth Moss Mad Men (Actress in a Drama)
7. Queen Latifah Bessie (Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie)
8. Tim Van Patten Boardwalk Empire “Eldorado” (Directing for a Drama Series)
9. Matthew Weiner and Semi Chellas Mad Men “Lost Horizon” (Writing for a Drama Series)
10. Gordon Smith Better Call Saul “Five-O” (Writing for a Drama)
Each of Mad Men's seven nominations was cited on someone's list
1. Transparent (Outstanding Comedy)
2. Lesli Linka Glatter Homeland "From A to B and Back Again (Directing for a Drama)
3. Jeffrey Tambor Transparent (Actor in a Comedy)
4. Jane Krakowski Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Supporting Actress in a Comedy)
5. Jill Soloway Transparent "Pilot" (Writing for a Comedy)
6. Tim Van Patten Boardwalk Empire "Eldorado" (Directing for a Drama)
7. Homeland (Outstanding Drama)
8. Claire Danes Homeland (Actress in a Drama)
9. Taraji P. Henson Empire (Actress in a Drama)
10. Dee Rees Bessie (Directing for a Limited Series or TV Movie)
OUR COLLECTIVE TOP TEN
1. Lisa Kudrow The Comeback
2. Maggie Gyllenhaal The Honorable Woman
3. Christina Hendricks Mad Men
4. Anna Chlumsky Veep TIED with Mad Men
6. Taraji P. Henson Empire
7. Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
8. Lena Headey Game of Thrones
9. Tatiana Maslany Orphan Black
10. Last Week Tonight
Additional Thoughts on our Actressexual Ballots
- All the Actress categories had at least one person mentioned on a ballot with Actress in a Drama Series airing the best with five of the six nominees mentioned. (Look out tomorrow for a special section devoted to these six ladies.)
- Eight of the twelve ballots had an actress appearing at #1.
- Jose, Daniel and Kieran include the most actresses on their ballots of ten (6). Kieran wins, though, because he has 7 women on his ballot with the mention of Dee Rees' excellent direction of Bessie.
- Despite having the most nominations for tomorrow's main show American Horror Story: Freak Show didn't see any of its eight nominations appear on a ballot.
- Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Oustanding Reality-Competition Programme and Supporting Actor for a TV Movie or Limited are the only categories with no mentions.
- Elisabeth Moss appears on five ballots, but towards the end of most, so she just barely missed the collective top 10 at #11.
So, in anticipation of Sunday's ceremony. What would your list of 2015's Best Emmy nominees look like? Whose list is your favourite?