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September 18, 2017
Here Are All the Ways the Emmys F*cked Up
What’s up guys, Frazier here for Complex News. Last night the Emmys aired their 69th broadcast and typically only TV-nerds like myself really care, but they actually got a lot of shit right last night. Donald Glover and Atlanta took home two big wins, one of which was handed to him by Dave Chappelle, which was an iconic torch moment unto itself. Black Mirror’s “San Junipero” and Big Little Lies cleaned up. Riz Ahmed’s much-deserved win for The Night Of made him the first South Asian actor to win an acting Emmy, though as he rightly pointed out that doesn’t quite absolve the systemic inclusion problem across television. And Lena Waithe got a standing ovation when she became the first African-American woman to win the Best Comedy Writing for the “Thanksgiving” installment of Master of None, easily one of the best episodes of television this year. But, this being a major Hollywood awards show, there were still some things the Television Academy got very, very wrong. Let’s start with the worst first. How do you enlist Christopher Jackson to sing his ass off for a super in-depth In Memoriam tribute. ..and forget some of the biggest names that passed? Nothing for legendary comedian Dick Gregory. Nothing for a true GOAT, the dearly departed Charlie Murphy. Veterans Harry Dean Stanton and Frank Vincent passed within the last week, but really how hard is it to add a new name? You guys remembered to include a racist, sexual predator in Roger Ailes, but forgot 4 legends? OK then. Common wasn’t having it, and we agree. Second worst: cutting off Sterling K. Brown’s speech for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. I thought producers always made sure to allot speech time for the big awards but nope. After letting certified A-lister Nicole Kidman drops bars at length—which, admittedly, she was talking about Big Little Lies and the realities of domestic abuse so, OK the producers totally curved Sterling K, playing off what was up until then, arguably the speech of the night, in the most disrespectful manner. Nevermind that best actor in drama is again, one of the biggest awards of the night, Sterling’s first win in that category and the first win by a black man since 1998. Not only did they play the loudest wrap it up music of the night, they did an extreme zoom-out and cut his mic and the stage lights off. Thankfully he got to finish backstage, but still smh. Third: Normalizing Sean Spicer. So is this what we’re doomed to endure over the next few years now? Third-rate Trump henchmen being welcomed into Hollywood with open arms at the expense of a mid-joke? Liberal celebrities are quick to give Trump bars on public platforms but… when you include his complicit goons in your opening monologue and then mob him at parties for pictures, the words suddenly ring hollow. WHat’s next, Mooch announcing the Grammy nominees? And lastly, the nominees have been out there for months now so I should be over this, but, guys, WHERE THE FUCK...was The Leftovers?! Shoutout to the Handmaid’s Tale. The pilot was one of the best episodes of the year and despite a handful of extremely mid episodes and moments in the middle there, it was easily the best show out of all the drama series contenders. BUT that’s only because HBO’S LEFTOVERS wasn’t nominated for its powerful, brilliant, emotionally devastating, tour de force final season. Real niggas know what I’m talking about. If you’re sleeping, HBOGo that. That’s all my Emmy thoughts, but for the latest on TV news subscribe to Complex News on YouTube right now. For Complex I’m Frazier.
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