Dave came back from vacation last night with a moving, 10-minute monologue on his old friend Robin Williams, who made appearances on both of his shows at least 50 times over the years. One of the more personal tributes to the comedian:
Emmy Predictions, Part 1: Acting in a Miniseries or a TV Movie
Starting today I'm going to take my life into my hands with some predictions for the annual Emmy ceremony next Monday. My record on this particular show was pretty dreadful last year, but in my defense, last year was a bizarre out of nowhere year where absolutely every winner was in total shock as well as the audience. Hopefully this time will be a little more predictable, at least for the sake of my credibility. But the Emmys are still a bit of a crapshoot, because the winners are voted on by individual viewing panels who choose after watching a submitted episode from each nominee. You never know what could happen when someone on a bad show sends in their one great episode of the season. So I'll start today with the acting winners in the TV Movie or Miniseries categories, and move through the other major nominations throughout the week.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
• Martin Freeman, Fargo
• Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
• Idris Elba, Luther
• Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
• Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow
So, my gut tells me this is between Billy Bob and Mark Ruffalo. Fargo did well at the Creative Arts Emmys so they obviously love the show, plus he played a psychotic and darkly funny scene stealer. On the other hand, Mark Ruffalo gave a very big, very showy performance with a lot of speechifying that they have always tended to respond to. I think it's a tossup here honestly, but I'm going to go for Billy Bob because I'm thinking that they may have liked Fargo more than The Normal Heart.
Winner: Billy Bob Thornton
Alternate: Mark Ruffalo
Dark Horse: Benedict Cumberbatch (not sure if there is a dark horse here, but Sherlock actually won some Emmys at the tech awards the other day for the first time ever- so it's possible this panel might feel it's time to award Cumberbatch).
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
• Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
• Sarah Paulsen, American Horror Story: Coven
• Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
• Minnie Driver, Return to Zero
• Kristen Wiig, The Spoils of Babylon
• Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
As much as I would love to see Kristen Wiig take this category, my guess is that it goes to Cicely Tyson pretty easily. Sometimes the name does matter, especially in the movie/mini category, and Jessica Lange has already won for American Horror Story (which isn't even a miniseries, but whatever). Bet on Tyson here.
Winner: Cicely Tyson
Alternate: Kristen Wiig
Dark Horse: Jessica Lange
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
• Colin Hanks, Fargo
• Jim Parsons, The Normal Heart
• Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
• Alfred Molina, The Normal Heart
• Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
• Martin Freeman, Sherlock: His Last Vow
This has to go to uber hottie Matt Bomer, who showed real range and acting talent in The Normal Heart, and his role in that movie just tore my heart in pieces, as I suspect it had to for anyone who watched it all the way through. He won the critics choice award for it (not that that means much) but considering his competition of nearly all co-stars here, I think he'll take it hands down.
Winner: Matt Bomer
Alternate: Alfred Molina (simply for name recognition alone, that always gives someone a chance in these categories)
Dark Horse: Martin Freeman (a true dark horse pick, but I suppose it's possible they'd want to honor him here if they were adding up his work on Fargo to the vote).
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
• Frances Conroy, American Horror Story: Coven
• Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven
• Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Coven
• Allison Tolman, Fargo
• Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic
• Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart
Most people would probably tell you Julia Roberts takes this in a walk, but I'm not so sure. I could almost see any of these actresses winning. Ellen Burstyn's a big name, as well as Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates. And hey, if they loved Fargo a whole lot, Allison Tolman should stand as good a chance as anybody. I'll go ahead and predict Julia (I guess it'd be stupid not to, even though I thought she was actually a bit distracting in that part), but I wouldn't be surprised to see an upset here.
Winner: Julia Roberts
Alternate: Allison Tolman (I'm serious, don't count her out- she was great and if they actually watched it, they'll see that. But that's a question mark, since for this specific category they don't do individual submitted episodes- they've got to watch the whole thing, which dampens her chances frankly, because most people won't).
Dark Horse: Ellen Burstyn (she's very popular and it was a super baity part, so that could very well happen).
So that's it for today. Tomorrow I'll come back with predictions for acting in a comedy series, then drama on Thursday, and finally the top awards for series in all categories to close out the week.
RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x06 "Blackbird"
Well. Bill's tenure at Buell Green was even shorter than his last job. It is getting a bit ridiculous, but they seemed to indicate that Bill was finally headed towards giving up his surgical career in order to focus entirely on his research. But first, Bill and Ginny are in bed, finally acknowledging the fact that they don't kiss, even though they both seem to want to and are, as always, toying with each other about it. But mostly Bill and Ginny take a backseat to Ginny and Lillian in this episode, as Lillian continues to receive radiation treatments that she's become increasingly intolerant towards.
Ginny keeps taking Lillian to these appointments, but eventually Lillian gets the doctor to tell her straight what's going to happen to her, and when she's told it will be a slow, painful deterioration made even slower by the radiation, she makes a choice to end it early. Ginny's furious with her, but Lillian is certain about this, saying she doesn't want to go out that way and would rather end it all now. Ginny's very broken up and confides in Bill her sorrow about a losing a friend she never saw coming. Bill observes that Ginny never saw it coming because she's a woman, but comforts her by telling her that he also knows her as Lillian does, and the two of them finally kiss, seeming to get closer and closer each week. Ginny helps Lillian with making arrangements for her death (that's gotta be unpleasant), and Lillian says she would rather donate her body to science than be buried. The two of them then spend an evening drinking together, where Lillian confesses she missed out on the intimacy and closeness of being in love, like Ginny has with Bill. Ginny tries to laugh it off, but seems to agree with the sentiment. Later on, Lillian takes an overdose of sleeping pills and when Ginny comes back to the house after having forgotten to retrieve a letter she was supposed to mail, she finds Lillian dying and at first calls for an ambulance, but then decides to hang up and respect Lillian's final actions. Poor Lillian.
Let's go ahead and get the Libby story out of the way early this time. So, yeah, she continues to be awful as she spies every day on Robert dropping off and picking up Coral outside the house, and even Bill thinks she's losing it. She then has a friend do a background check on Robert, finds out he's been arrested three times, and again tries to make Coral break up with him. God, Libby. How much further can she try my patience? Coral refuses once more, so Libby tells her to have someone else drive her, because she doesn't feel "safe" with him in front of the house. Coral nods, but when she tells Libby her aunt is picking her up, Libby actually follows her outside the house and around the corner to of course see her getting into the car with Robert down the street. So what does she do then? Well, she actually gets in her car at night, taking the baby with her, and goes to their apartment, snooping around the mailbox like a stalker, where she's caught by Robert in the hallway. Ok, this is becoming like a tragicomic scene from The Office, as Robert naturally asks her what she's doing, and corrects Libby that he's not actually Coral's boyfriend, but her brother (I thought so!). Libby seems to be in a stunned silence, and Robert notices her leg is bleeding from a scrape she got getting out of the car. He tries to patch it dry with a cloth, and now, finally, we see that Libby has been having some kind of erotic fit, because she's clearly attracted to this guy and so into him touching her that she freaks out, shoves him Coral's severance pay and tells him to tell her she's fired, before running back to the car and collapsing in tears. Ok, so Libby's got forbidden urges, and that's what's behind her racist behavior? Weird. But I guess it's a slightly better explanation for what they've been doing with her recently, and at least it kind of ties into her dance lessons with the carpenter guy last season.
In the other B-plot, Betty has resumed her affair with Helen, even after getting a talking to from Gene that he's ok with it just being the two of them, since he'd rather not adopt kids. Betty suggests to Helen that she get her an apartment so they can see each other all the time, but Helen's not into the idea of being Betty's "mistress." Betty thinks it's just as well to lead an unconventional life since they could never be normal anyway, but Helen instead drops by the house with Al in tow, announcing that they're going to elope. Betty completely flips at this news and tells Gene she hates them both and never wants to see them again. When Gene tries to tell poor dumb Al that Betty just doesn't like Helen, Al thinks it's weird because he saw them kissing at the restaurant the other night and assumes they must be so close. Wow- were people really that oblivious back in the 50's? Turns out Gene isn't, as he figures out that Betty loves Helen and confronts her about yet another lie. She cops to it, saying it doesn't matter because they're married now, but this is the final straw for Gene, who says he can't handle this many lies and pretty much tells her it's over. Can't really blame him there.
Finally, Bill and Virginia aren't getting any traction with recruiting black patients for their study, and Ginny finds out from a nurse that Hendrix forbade the staff from participating. Bill gets into it with him about this and Hendrix is understandably worried about the perception of two white doctors doing sex research with only black subjects, thinking it's dangerous for the hospital. Bill and Ginny then go to a black journalist to publish a story on the study, but the reporter is mostly interested in portraying Bill as a revolutionary in order to tie him to a larger picture so the community can identify with him, using his past instances of resistance with violence as examples. Bill balks at the smearing of his reputation and tries to threaten the editor of her newspaper with falsifying results on black sexuality that confirm racist stereotypes. The editor's not cowed in the slightest, but Bill doesn't back down, which of course, once again, costs him his latest job. Hendrix does encourage him to cut the chord with practicing medicine though, and strike out on his own, which Bill seems afraid of doing, but may finally be ready to make the leap. He rushes over to Virginia's house to tell her, but the door is opened by some guy who turns out to be the man Virginia met in the hotel lobby at the end of the fight episode, who says they've been dating for two months. Bill's so upset by this he nearly has a panic attack on the way to his car (lol). But hey, what do expect, dude? You've got a wife, so she's entitled, right? So that's it for tonight- Bill's angry, Ginny's sad, Libby's insane, and poor Lillian has dearly departed from this earth. But come back next week, when I believe the show will be making a time jump, but we'll have to tune in to see how many years we're going to be skipping forward. See you then!
TRAILER #2: "Homeland" Season 4
A new trailer for the next season of Homeland is here, where we get another look at Carrie's baby, plus Corey Stoll and Rupert Friend, who'll be working with Carrie in the Middle East. I wonder how they're going to deal with the death of James Rebhorn, who played Carrie's dad in the first three seasons. He was a fairly regular character, so they're going to have to either explain him away or recast him (shows don't do much recasting anymore, unless it was someone with a very minor role, like little Bobby on Mad Men, who they've recast three times).
2014 Creative Arts Emmy Winners
Ahead of the Primetime Emmy Awards a week from Monday, the creative arts winners were announced last night at a separate ceremony that'll be streamed next weekend. They give out everything from makeup to editing to hairstyle and costumes, but here are the results of the bigger categories (some of these actually used to be given out on the main telecast):
- Guest Actress in a Drama: Allison Janney (above), Masters of Sex
- Animated Program: Bob's Burgers
- Guest Actor in a Drama: Joe Morton (above), Scandal
- Guest Actor in a Comedy: Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live
- Guest Actress in a Comedy: Uzo Aduba (below), Orange is the New Black
- Variety Special: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks
- Writing for a Variety Series: The Colbert Report
- Directing for a Variety Series: Saturday Night Live
- Host for a Reality/Reality-Competition Program: Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night
- Documentary Series: American Masters
- Structured Reality Program: Shark Tank
- Unstructured Reality Program: Deadliest Catch
So, if we can read anything into these tea leaves, it'd be best signaled in the writing win for Colbert in the Variety category. I'm probably going to predict that to win again in Variety Series this year over The Tonight Show and The Daily Show. The other wins here probably don't tell us very much (the tech wins never do), except that the Emmys continue to love Allison Janney (this is her sixth Emmy) and the guest actors from Scandal (Joe Morton denied Robert Morse the chance to finally win an Emmy for the Mad Men cast when many people thought he would, thanks to the musical number in his episode this year). And I'm kind of shocked that Cosmos missed out in Documentary, because that makes the Emmys the only organization not to honor that series in the category. How'd that happen? Orange is the New Black also picked up three awards tonight, so I think I'll go ahead and predict that show to take down Modern Family on the 25th. It's time, don't you think? Tune in all this coming week for my predictions in the major categories.
TRAILER: "Boardwalk Empire" Season 5
I was sad to hear that the upcoming fifth season of Boardwalk Empire is also going to be its last. It's a show I've watched since the beginning and even though it seemed to lose buzz with every season, that was always a mystery to me since it's remained remarkably consistent in quality. But now, the final 8-episode arc will premiere on Sept 7th and big changes will already be in place, because we're jumping about seven years into the future to 1931. Prohibition will soon be coming to an end, along with Nucky's empire (and certain historical figures that have been on the show as regulars are supposed to be dead by now too- which means so long to Michael Stuhlbarg's Arnold Rothstein). Most of the cast does look to be returning though, so I look forward to finishing it out.
TEASER: "Better Call Saul"
Remember that Saul Goodman spinoff of Breaking Bad that's been talked about for months now? Well, it looks like it's finally happening, because AMC has released an 11-second teaser featuring Bob Odenkirk reprising the role in the supposed prequel/sequel (apparently events are supposed to take place in this show before and after what happened on Breaking Bad). I know the teaser's barely anything (I mean, come on- 11 seconds?) but we do get a premiere date, or part of one, out of it. Better Call Saul will show up sometime next February it looks like. I have a sinking feeling this show may not live up to the standards set by its predecessor, but I guess we'll all find out soon enough.
RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x05 "Giants"
Well, tonight Bill starts his new job at Buell Green and is thrilled about it, but Ginny not so much, at least at first, when she finds out about it second hand from Libby, who comes over with baby Johnny just to chat. When Ginny meets Bill at the hotel she demands a full contract in writing, seeing how Bill has hopped to three different hospitals in three months and she doesn't have that luxury because of her kids. Bill agrees, but spills the beans that Lillian probably doesn't regard her very highly, because she knows about their "work." Ginny confronts Lillian the next day and the two get into a shouting match about her personal life, as Lillian sees it as a betrayal of working women who sleep with their bosses to get a leg up (pun intended) and Ginny's furious that Lillian is judging her when the affair doesn't affect her work at all. Ginny then storms out of the office, presumably for good. But because she's a decent person, Ginny does still show up to take Lillian to her radiation treatments, and when Lillian passes out in the bathroom at the hospital and must be released to someone, she calls Ginny and tells her she can't work anymore, but also can't afford to be mad at her only friend. Aw.
When Ginny meets Bill in their new office at Buell Green (where the administrator Dr. Hendrix is played by Courtney B. Vance) they find it to be much smaller and more cramped than their quarters at Memorial, and Ginny's sour mood continues, as she asks Bill whether their "participation" in the study is a requirement of the job. Bill at first says no, but then changes his mind and insists that it is. Ginny nods and at their next session in the hotel decides to assert her dominance by demanding he strip down in front of her and masturbate. He slowly and somewhat reluctantly does it, but then seems to get into it, and when Ginny asks what he's thinking about it he confesses it's her. She then caves and makes him get down on his knees and service her, but they very nearly kiss this time too (I think they must be getting there soon, right?)
At the new office the next day the two try to separate their hot affair from their actual study work and Ginny gets busy putting up flyers around the hospital. But the flyers get torn down and they soon find they're having a hard time recruiting both new patients and their old ones, who don't want to come to the all black hospital. One even gets in a fight in the waiting room (which Bill shares with another doctor's patients) and Bill gets clocked in the face when he gets in the middle of it. Ginny wonders whether there's any value in separating the study results of African-American test subjects, if no other reason than to scientifically prove to everyone that there's no difference between them, but Bill is discouraged by all the difficulty they've had by the end of the episode. Dr. Hendrix is undeterred though and gives them both a stirring lecture about the need to force integration on the public, and says that's why he hired the pioneering Bill in the first place. Bill places the task of wooing the patients on Virginia, grudgingly admitting that she's better at some things than he is, and they are both set to go forward, but in the last shot of the episode we see that it was Hendrix himself who ripped down the flyers, clearly not approving of the study either and committed to this for his own agenda of integration above all else.
Meanwhile, in the B-plots tonight, let's start with the one that didn't drive me up a wall. Betty finally gets Gene to stop being mad at her by suggesting they adopt, but then her old lover Helen shows up (hey, it's Sarah Silverman!) and wants to get back into her life somehow. Gene suggests they set her up with his friend Al, but Betty tries everything to dissuade him from this, telling him about her addiction to gambling even, but it's to no avail. When Betty confronts Helen on the street we find out that they were a couple that lived together for many years while she worked as a prostitute but now she's willing to live a lie for the sake of security. Helen's not into that, angry at Betty for jilting her and goes on the double date with them and Al, flirting shamelessly with the man much to Betty's annoyance. Helen then tells the story of the time the two of them bet on a horse at the tracks called Beautiful Betty, and the memory of it brings the two women to tears of laughter, confusing their dates. They then meet in the bathroom and kiss, realizing they can't stop loving each other. So I guess Betty's kind of like the female version of Barton, huh?
Finally, we get to the awful, awful Libby storyline. God, I'm starting to dread this now, since they've apparently insisted on completely assassinating Libby' character by turning her into a horribly racist bitch (when there was no evidence of that in the first season) whose mission in life is to make poor Coral miserable. So, first of all, a man named Robert shows up at Libby's door (the description for the episode actually said it was Coral's brother, but Libby assumes it's her boyfriend and nothing is said about it, so I guess he is?) and kind of shakes her down about forcing Coral's head under the faucet last week. He doesn't say anything that bad really, but Libby is resultingly terrified and immediately tells Coral she has to see less of him. God, what kind of monster are they turning her into? Coral though, takes the chance to get back at Libby by describing in detail how they live together and sleep in the same bed at night, where all the problems of the day just fade away despite his temper, before taunting Libby for her and Bill's separate beds. Libby is cowed by that and tries to get Bill to have hot "makeup sex" with her (doesn't seem to take) and then goes to him about being scared of Robert threatening her. When she admits what she did to Coral, Bill is aghast and says she got off lightly and needs to apologize. So Libby goes to Robert in his car when he pulls up to take Coral home and says she's sorry, but when he thinks she should instead apologize to Coral, she refuses, saying Coral deliberately disobeyed her. Um, what? Robert then tells Coral to get in the car and says this is an example of white people refusing to take responsibility for their own actions. Libby's angry and throws a newspaper at the back of the car as it drives off.
Ok. Couple things. First of all, Libby was never this awful at any point last year, so to me this is clearly an attempt to turn her into a villain so that we can feel free to root for Bill and Virginia instead. That's stupid and totally unnecessary, because everyone knows (or at least the people who watch this show) that Masters and Johnson got together in real life and had this affair for years. That part is a true story, so why can't they just trust that people will accept it anyway without the need to make us hate his wife? Second, the execution of this whole Libby/Coral thing has totally misfired. I'm sorry, but would an 18-year-old maid have ever spoken to her employer like that in the 1950's, taunting her about her sex life, and not gotten immediately fired for it? I appreciate that the black characters on this show aren't victims, as opposed to Mad Men for example, but it still IS the 1950's right? Would anything like this scenario that's playing out between Libby, Coral and Robert actually be taking place? It seems like a massive reach for this to even be happening at all. And it looks like there's more next week, so I guess we have that to look forward to. Great. Other than this one plotline though, good episode. See you guys back here next time!
TRAILER: "Sons of Anarchy" Season 7
One of FX's most popular shows ever is set to resume its final season this fall. Sons of Anarchy returns Sept 9th and FX has just released a trailer with a first look at the seventh season. I wonder if star Charlie Hunnam's going to be able to make the transition into movies after this. SOA fans, mark your calendars for the 90-minute premiere!
RECAP: Masters of Sex 2x04 "Dirty Jobs"
Well, all the supporting characters are back this week, as we check in with Austin, Lillian, Betty and Libby after spending the entire time with just Bill and Ginny in the epic third episode of the season. But tonight it's back to business as usual, although we do start off with Ginny having a dream wherein Bill has resumed the study without her and downgraded her official position to "mistress." This freaks her out, as she wakes up in the hotel to find Bill reading the paper at the table and she's now in a prickly mood, as she scolds him for not waking her. As the two leave the hotel they're spotted down the hall by Austin, who has to occasionally take his kids there for their visits while he's separated from his wife.
Ginny then wants to unload her car of all the paperwork relating to the study but Bill doesn't want Barbara to have it because she's terrible as a secretary and wants Ginny to organize everything herself. This puts her in an even worse mood, which sours still further when Bill questions her selling of diet pills he spots in the trunk. Back at the hospital, Bill is resuming the study but keeps getting horned in on by Greathouse, who continues to be a pig who just wants to watch women masturbate, and Bill attempts to shoo him off first by telling him he's only watching old men, and then by warning of possible "transference," that might make him attracted to other men, but Greathouse persists in showing up, much to Bill's disdain. Bill also keeps trying to make Greathouse bring up the possibility of hiring Virginia with the board, and at first Greathouse pretends to agree but later tells him he never brought it up at all. He also brings a bunch of male colleagues into the study room to watch a pretty young girl in the lab but at that point Bill's had enough. He punches out Greathouse along with some of the other men and is promptly fired by him, who threatens him with never working at any other hospital. Libby is of course greatly upset by this and fed up with Bill's continual quitting of his jobs, but when Bill gets panicky and starts to stutter while he promises to take care of her, she calms him down and agrees that it will be fine.
Speaking of Libby, the show continues to try to turn her into Betty Draper 2.0, which I do not like at all. She keeps needling Coral about her pronunciation, and Coral defies her on it in front of her bridge group, but then baby Johnny gets lice and Libby's convinced it came from Coral and pushes her to wash her hair with anti-lice shampoo. Coral appeals to Bill for help and he's on her side, but that only angers Libby more, to the point where she forces Coral into the bathroom and washes her hair for her. Ugh. Why are you doing this, show? I actually liked Libby, which was rare for me when it comes to the standard "wife" character on a lot of these shows, but this is really forcing her over the edge. And frankly, Caitlin Fitzgerald is far too warm and kind to play bitchy in that ice queen perfect way that January Jones does it. It won't work.
Elsewhere, back on Ginny's side of things, she's confronted by Austin in the cafeteria about him seeing her at the hotel and she plays it cool by claiming that she and Bill just need a place to work on the study. He seems to believe her and she tells Bill what happened later, but he's worried about it, which turns her off and she walks out on him (at least this time). But Bill's right, because stupid Austin didn't buy it at all and in fact has a drink with Lillian later and spills the beans to her about the affair (she's very upset), and in the last moments of the episode comes over the BIll's house for dinner to give him what he thinks is sound advice when it comes to fooling around on the wife. He basically asks him if it's worth losing his family for and Bill just says nothing in response. Lillian spends the episode trying to get an endorsement for her pap smear program from the doctor it's named after, despite her failing health and radiation treatments she's now enduring. He doesn't seem all that interested and when Lillian finds out from Austin about Bill and Ginny she tries to get Ginny to fess up to her, but Ginny won't budge an inch. Lillian seems devastated by this and decides to hand the entire program over to the doctor who will take all the credit for it. Ginny's upset but Lillian is sure about it, having decided there was no one appropriate to carry on the work in her place (because she's that disappointed in Ginny, in case you didn't get it).
Finally, Betty comes back tonight, still deceiving her husband Gene, the Pretzel King about her maybe having children. This time though, Bill's had enough of that as well and tells him that they've just found out Betty's sterile. He's clearly uncomfortable lying and Gene is extremely upset about it, and when he wants to pay Bill for all the fertility treatments anyway, he finds out that Betty lied all along and knew before they even met. She tries to explain how she knew he wouldn't marry her if he knew the truth, but Gene fesses up that he met her before they met at the church, when he was a shy teen who came to her at the brothel. Betty's shocked, having not remembered this at all, and Gene says he didn't care that she wasn't a "good Christian girl," he just thought they it was fate when they met again. In the last moments of the episode, Ginny's losing hope of the study returning, as she tries to embrace her new career as a diet pill saleswoman, but Bill secures a new position rather quickly, as he joins an African-American hospital headed by Dr. Hendricks (Courtney B. Vance) who tells him they're happy to welcome both him and his partner there. So that's it for tonight everyone. Lots of talking as usual (this is probably one of the more cerebral shows on TV), but come back next week to find out where all this is headed.
