Blueprints: "The Assassination of Gianni Versace"

We’re less than one week away from the Emmys. For the last time, Jorge takes a look into the scripts for episodes of major contenders before the ceremony.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace was a big departure from the first season of American Crime Story in many ways. First of all, it is told in reverse. It opens with the titular murder of the fashion designer, and goes backwards into the other three murders that Andrew Cunanan committed, and traces back his childhood and upbringing. The show is less a legal procedural like O.J. and more a psychological dive into the mind of a broken man, and the emotional ramifications of his actions. The two seasons have completely different visual and narrative styles. They are written by different people. They are linked only by the series title after the colon.

Writer Tim Robb Smith uses Andrew’s story to make a larger comment about, among many other things, fame, self-hatred and the trauma of the closet...

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Who will win the Emmy for Leading Actress in a Comedy?

By Spencer Coile 

After six consecutive years of Julia Louis-Dreyfus deservedly dominating this category for her performance on Veep, we finally have a race on our hands in the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series field! Or do we? As diverse as this lineup is – consisting of newcomers, veterans, and representation from six different networks – it feels as though Rachel Brosnahan’s name has been on that Emmy statue since the pilot for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel premiered last March. Is she going for the gold, or is the race more competitive than we think? 

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Showbiz History: Rita & Orson, Keira's Karenina, and an Emmy boycott

6 random things that happened on this day, September 7th, in showbiz history

1940 Dario Argento is born in Rome. He goes on to fame as the director of stylish thrillers and horror movies, and to father actress/director Asia Argento. We're about to get the remake of his best known feature Suspiria.

←  1943 Movie stars Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles marry (though various internet sources seem to disagree on the date, sometimes September 9th is cited). They're both fresh stars in their twenties at the time having broken out in 1941 with The Strawberry Blonde and Citizen Kane respectively. The marriage will last for five years. I've urged you many times over the years to see the trans documentary Prodigal Sons which has an amazing connection to Welles & Hayworth...

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Blueprints: "Black Mirror: U.S.S. Callister"

Jorge continues to look into the Emmy nominees before the show on September 17th.

WARNING! Spoilers below for the Black Mirror episode "U.S.S. Callister"!

Black Mirror has to operate as an individual, stand-alone story in every episode. As an anthology series, there’s no cast of characters to follow through long arcs, no stories to pick up from, no built-in mythology or tone. In a way, this is incredibly freeing, as they can experiment as much as possible since he only thing that ties the episodes together is a theme. But being basically TV movies (which is what they submit themselves as with the Emmys), they also have to to the groundwork for the audience every time.

And it’s not simple groundwork. Black Mirror revolves around the dangers, consequences, benefits and untapped potential of technology. Elaborate worlds, complex gadgets, and characters living in somewhat alternate universes are built into its fabric. It’s always part of the journey to discover what terrifying side of our screen devices they’ll explore...

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Who will win the Emmy for Leading Actor in a Drama?

By Spencer Coile 

If you were to go back and evaluate the Lead Actor in a Drama Series race from the past decade, you may expect to find a lot of Bryan Cranston for his performance as Walter White on Breaking Bad. Yet, intriguingly, while Cranston won his fair share of Emmy’s, this category is more unpredictable than you might expect. 

With winners including Kyle Chandler for Friday Night Lights, Jeff Daniels for The Newsroom, Rami Malek for Mr. Robot, and of course Cranston and Jon Hamm for Mad Men, Lead Actor is often changing hands. In fact, Cranston is most recent consecutive repeat winner (back in 2010). Will last year’s winner Sterling K. Brown break this new one-off trend, or will a new winner emerge...

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