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Tonight we gather ‘round the TV/laptop/tablet/smartphone/Apple Watch for the annual celebration of last year’s shows. That’s right, the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andy Samberg, airs live tonight on FOX at 8pm Eastern.
For those of us in the TV industry, it might feel like watching the string ensemble play “Nearer, My God, to Thee” on the listing Titanic. But here’s the good news: in an era of “Quality TV”, television is a legitimate art form (and now the Internet gets all the bad press). This year’s awards may feel different, because we do.
Taken as a body of work, this year’s nominees celebrate thoughtful and at times provocative expressions of life in a post-2008 world. Demographic, economic and psychographic changes are leading seismic shifts in how important issues like race, income, gender and age are viewed and discussed. We haven’t seen a TV era hold a mirror to society like this since the early 70s with All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times and Maude.
While fans and industry execs speculate on the winners, the ratings, the tweets and the carpet, I’d like to share some thoughts on the cultural relevance of a few of this year’s nominees. (Out of respect for the Television Academy, the listing order of the nominees from the EMMYs website is replicated here).
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES What It’s About: Today’s version of masculinity runs the gamut: successful black executives, lovable losers with dad bods, a transgender father and an arrogant actor looking to re-establish his relevance.
- Anthony Andersen, Black•ish
- Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
- Don Cheadle, House of Lies
- Louis C.K., Louie
- William H. Macy, Shameless
- Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
- Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Why It’s Culturally Relevant: In terms of sexual identity and race, today’s America aspires to be inclusive. Men, on the other hand, are struggling to reinvent themselves in a post-collapse world. And millennials especially adore TV that’s meta: a loving excoriation of its own navel.
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES What It’s About: Two driven but delusional bureaucrats, the least self-aware desperate actress in Hollywood, older women with a drug habit, and a young new feminist icon.
- Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
- Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
- Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
- Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
- Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Why It’s Culturally Relevant: Women today are busy. We’re not “having it all”, because we don’t have time for that. We’re doing it all. So, sometimes we need to take the edge off. Because being the breadwinner can still make us feel like an imposter – or a really bad actress.
Amy Schumer gets MVP in this category for simultaneously making fun of herself, and pointing a finger at society for making her do it.
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES What It’s About: Badass women who won’t take sh*t from anyone.
- Taraji P. Henson, Empire
- Claire Danes, Homeland
- Robin Wright, House of Cards
- Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
- Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men
- Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Why It’s Culturally Relevant: What women look like from a feminist POV. Cookie is cut straight outta Reality TV, an archetype we love to hatewatch, but fierce and fabulous nonetheless. The rest of the nominees represent women inhabiting what have traditionally been male leads on TV – the spy, the pioneer, the politician, the mastermind.
It’s interesting to note that all of the characters played by these women are “lone wolves” – independent, driven, and not reliant on men (or marriage) to define them.
OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM (UNSTRUCTURED) What It’s About: Showing us the world from the great outdoors to the 60th floor – and the dark places in between.
- Alaska: The Last Frontier
- Deadliest Catch
- Intervention
- Million Dollar Listing New York
- Naked and Afraid
Why It’s Culturally Relevant: Our collective hopes and fears are encapsulated here in one category:
With roots long established in adventure and subcultures on the fringes, Deadliest Catch and Alaska: The Last Frontier are taking on new relevance. They’re starting to be seen more widely: in the context of climate change. And while environmental themes are also at play in Naked and Afraid, what’s culturally notable is the mainstreaming of male vulnerability – literally and figuratively.
Like its fellow nominee Shark Tank (in another category), Million Dollar Listing helps us believe we’re rebuilding our economy one transaction at a time. The show also happened to have a real-life storyline about a gay couple beginning the surrogacy process.
And ever since the financial meltdown sparked this pervasive sense of chaos, Intervention has been a metaphor for the problems – and hope for solutions – in our world today.
So why is it important to talk about the cultural connective tissue of these nominees right now?
A few years ago, I pitched a Hollywood agent (small guy, big ego) on the value of cultural analysis. He wasn’t convinced that paying attention to the outside world could help make a hit.
“A good show is a good show is a good show,” he said confidently. “Culture doesn’t matter. It’s all just luck and timing.” As if timing and its cultural context were mutually exclusive.
I hope he’s learning that the more we try to understand the times we live in, the better TV will be. And the better off we’ll be as a society.
Enjoy the show.
TruthCo. is a cultural branding and insights company, headed by CEO Linda Ong, that analyzes the current cultural landscape to deliver actionable recommendations that keep entertainment brands and their offerings relevant.
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