The Furniture: Who Should Win the Emmys for Production Design

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

Last year, I made a pitch to the Academy of Television Arts and Science on the subject of production design. Hopefully you also remember that amazing table tennis parlor from Penny Dreadful. But what you might not remember is that not a single one of the nominees I recommended actually won. Not even Lemonade, about which I am still annoyed.

But here I am, one year later, trying again. Here’s who should win each of the five production design Emmys. (At least Game of Thrones isn’t eligible this year, or they’d be winning for the fourth year in a row.)

Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)
The Young Pope is almost dizzyingly lush. It’s here as a “contemporary” program, but much of it feels just as fantastical as the other nominees. It revives the gilded extravagance of the old Catholic Church, back when the Pope presented himself as more of an emperor than a priest. One is reminded of the clerical fashion show from Fellini’s Roma, but with a much darker undercurrent.

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Emmy Review: Main Title Design

Emmy voters will be deciding the wins in each category from August 14th-28th. We'll be reviewing a few of our favorite categories.

by Nathaniel R

The Academy of Television Arts first gave out the Main Title Design Emmy in the 1976. The New Original Wonder Woman was actually nominated (how fun!) but the prize went to something called Addie and the King of Hearts. The award has had a spotty history since, going in and out of fashion, changing rules, sometimes having no winner selected, and the category's numbers have fluctuated in silly fashion anywhere from two to six nominees in a given year with no rhyme or reason. The award seems to have stabilized itself around 2003 after which there have always been either five or six nominees each time. We treasure this category because it's one of the few in which the Emmy voters are forced to have a whole new slate of nominees each year. Some of the category's most memorable winners include Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under, United States of Tara, and Mad Men. Last year The Man in the High Castle took the honor. 

Who do you think will win this year? Let's watch the sequences nominated for 2017 after the jump... 

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The Emmy Nominations!!

The 69th Emmy nominations have been announced! HBO need not worry that Game of Thrones wasn't eligible this year, as they landed the most nominated drama anyway with Westworld. The early-in-the-season genre hit tied Saturday Night Live for 22 nominations each, followed by Stranger Things and Feud tying for second place at 18 each.

Most of the nominations follow Emmy's expected players despite the openings left by departed perennials like Thrones, though this year isn't without surprises or fresh faces. The major breakthroughs this year were Hulu (finally in the major races thanks to the success of The Handmaid's Tale) and our beloved RuPaul's Drag Race (scoring 7 nominations, plus one for Untucked).

The team will be sharing their favorite nominations and frustrations on what missed the cut later today, but our dream ballot should give you a hint of our thoughts. Here are the nominees in the top categories:

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Olivia de Havilland Sues "Feud"

Photo by Damon Winter via LA TimesHere's a deliciously fitting coda to the first season of Ryan Murphy's Feud. Olivia de Havilland, who was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones (in a bewilderingly bad performance given CZJ's talent!), is suing Ryan Murphy and FX for the unauthorized use of her identity! She definitely did not like being portrayed on the bitchy side. Her lawyer says:

...the FX series puts words in the mouth of Miss de Havilland which are inaccurate and contrary to the reputation she has built over an 80-year professional life, specifically refusing to engage in gossip mongering about other actors in order to generate media attention for herself."

While Bette Davis's daughter B.D. (played by Kiernan Shipka) and one of Joan Crawford's twin girls Catherine (played by Chelsea Summer) are still alive, Olivia is the only celebrity portrayed in Feud: Bette vs Joan who is still living (aside from a couple of cameos like actors depicting Eva Marie Saint and Rip Torn if you want to get nitpicky). The two time Oscar winner, who we celebrated festively this time last year, turns 101 tomorrrow. Her birthday wish is apparently to stick one to FX. If she really wanted to do damage she might've announced this before Emmy voting closed, though.

Team Experience's Dream Emmy Ballot!

Emmy voting closes tomorrow evening, dear readers! Since Nathaniel and the team here at The Film Experience have been writing up our favorite FYCs of the past television year, we have decided to also do some fantasy Emmy voting of our own. Our own Emmy dream ballot has favorites you've read about here before, like nomination leaders Big Little Lies (7 nominations), Feud (6), The Leftovers and the conclusion of Looking (5).

That's a whole lot of love for HBO here at TFE, with Veep also being our most nominated comedy at 4 nods. Might HBO earn similar success with Emmy itself, even though mainstay Game of Thrones won't be eligible? Will this allow for The Leftovers to finally get some love?

Take a look at the results after the jump...

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