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Emmy Awards: Who Will Win, Who Should Win, And Where Are Christian Slater and Hugh Bonneville?

Roger Friedman
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Emmy Awards: Who Will Win, Who Should Win, And Where Are Christian Slater and Hugh Bonneville?

 

Sunday night, we’ve got the Emmy Awards. Listen, none of the right people will win. Plus, a lot of shows are missing. The Emmys can no longer encompass all the cable and new platform shows. There’s so much good work being done. And just the people who are missing from this group: Christian Slater from “Mr. Robot”? Where is he? Hugh Bonneville, constantly overlooked from “Downton Abbey.” In fact, except for Maggie Smith, “DA” was ignored in acting for its final year. What’s that all about? And why is Jane Fonda not acknowledged for “Grace and Frankie”? She’s terrific.

So I’ve put in black who I’d like to see win and who I think will win. Some notes: Matthew Rhys is overdue and so is “The Americans.” Viola Davis, I say, give her all the awards. In limited series, both Courtney B. Vance and Cuba Gooding Jr. should tie for “People vs. OJ Simpson.” I can’t decide. Sarah Paulson must win for “OJ.” I think they could just give her an award and send everyone home. Comedy series is tough because I’m really rooting for “Blackish.” But “Veep” was crazy this season, crazy good, and deserves the statue. Ditto JLD. I could eat “Veep” with a spoon.

Peter Dinklage has to win for “Game of Thrones.” Come on. He’s the bomb. You wait through a whole episode for him. You have to get past Emilia, the dragon, Lena Headey doing Shakespeare, Jon Snow dead or alive, etc. But Peter sums it all up. Two other nominees who deserve some accolades. Louie Anderson– he’s playing Zach Galifianakis’s mother, for goodness sake. He’s waited his whole life for this. And Anna Chlumsky– as much as I do Kate McKinnon, my vote goes to Anna. Kate plays different characters all season. Anna’s Amy is a work of art.

Anyway, I’m waiting til next year when “The Night Of” wins everything. It was the “Hamilton” of TV. This year’s best TV movie was “All the Way.” Hands down. And best drama was “Downton Abbey.” But it won’t win because the Academy thought it was over. So, I go for “The Americans.” Give them some love, it’s almost over.

Here is the list of nominees in major categories:

Lead actor in a drama

Kyle Chandler, “Bloodline”

Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”

Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”

Matthew Rhys, “The Americans”

Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”

Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”

Lead actress in a drama

Claire Danes, “Homeland”

Viola Davis, “How to Get Away With Murder”

Taraji P. Henson, “Empire”

Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”

Keri Russell, “The Americans”

Robin Wright, “House of Cards”

 

Lead actor in a limited series

Bryan Cranston, “All the Way”

Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride”

Idris Elba, “Luther”

Cuba Gooding Jr., “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” 

Tom Hiddleston, “The Night Manager” | Video

Courtney B. Vance, “The People vs. O.J. Simpson”

Lead actress in a limited series

Kirsten Dunst, “Fargo”

Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”

Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille”

Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” 

Lili Taylor, “American Crime”

Kerry Washington, “Confirmation”

Lead actor in a comedy

Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”

Aziz Ansari, “Master of None”

Will Forte, “Last Man on Earth”

William H. Macy, “Shameless”

Thomas Middleditch, “Silicon Valley” | Interview

Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

Lead actress in a comedy

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

Ellie Kemper, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish”

Laurie Metcalf, “Getting On”

Amy Schumer, “Inside Amy Schumer”

Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie”

Comedy series:

“black-ish” | Review

“Master of None” | Review

“Modern Family”

“Silicon Valley” | Interview

“Transparent” | Review

“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

“Veep”

 

Drama series

“The Americans”

“Better Call Saul”

“Downton Abbey” 

“Game of Thrones”

“Homeland”

“House of Cards”

“Mr. Robot” | Review

Limited series

“American Crime”

“Fargo” | Review

“The Night Manager” | Review

“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” 

“Roots” | Review

TV movie

“All the Way”

“Confirmation”

“Luther”

“Sherlock: The Abominable Bride”

“A Very Murray Christmas”

Supporting actor in a comedy series

Louie Anderson, “Baskets” 

Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”

Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele”

Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”

Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

Tony Hale, “Veep”

Matt Walsh, “Veep”

Supporting actor in a drama series

Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”

Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”

Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline”

Kit Harington, “Game of Thrones”

Michael Kelly, “House of Cards” | Video

Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan”

Supporting actor in a limited series or movie

Jesse Plemons, “Fargo”

Bokeem Woodbine, “Fargo”

Hugh Laurie, “The Night Manager” | Interview

Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” 

David Schwimmer, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

John Travolta, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Supporting actress in a comedy series

Niecy Nash, “Getting On”

Allison Janney, “Mom”

Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”

Judith Light, “Transparent”

Gaby Hoffmann, “Transparent”

Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”

 

Supporting actress in a drama series

Maura Tierney, “The Affair”

Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”

Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones”

Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones”

Maisie Williams, “Game of Thrones”

Constance Zimmer, “UnREAL” 

Supporting actress in a limited series or movie

Melissa Leo, “All The Way”

Regina King, “American Crime”

Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Hotel”

Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Hotel”

Jean Smart, “Fargo”

Olivia Colman, “The Night Manager”

Box Office: Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” Seeks Pardon with $3 Mil Friday Opening, $9 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” Seeks Pardon with $3 Mil Friday Opening, $9 Mil Weekend

Edward Snowden wants President Obama to pardon him, but first he may need some help at the box office.

Oliver Stone’s entertaining love letter to Snowden looks like it pulled in a meager $3 million on Friday night including $390,000 from Thursday previews. If they make a $9 million weekend, they’ll be lucky.

I thought “Snowden” was very entertaining, plus I learned a lot from it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is excellent as the kid who blew the whistle on the NSA, up-ended the world intelligence community, and then ran away to Russia. Shailene Woodley is very good as his girlfriend and the whole thing moves well until the end when Snowden himself shows up and gives a speech.

But reviewers thought the movie lacked the Oliver Stone “magic” (I disagree) and gave it a 48 on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences appear to be ambivalent, maybe not understanding that this all really happened, and that unbridled surveillance of all of us continues.

The “Snowden” budget is said to be $40 million, but I’d say add another 10 for all those trips to Russia, and the considerable amount of promotion. If you haven’t seen it yet, tonight’s the night. If nothing else, you might learn to solve a Rubik’s Cube.

“My Name Is Earl” Star Jason Lee Joins Leah Remini, Paul Haggis: “We don’t practice Scientology”

Roger Friedman
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“My Name Is Earl” Star Jason Lee Joins Leah Remini, Paul Haggis: “We don’t practice Scientology”

“My Name Is Earl” star Jason Lee has quietly exited Scientology. Lee has followed a bunch of celebrities out the door including Leah Remini, Paul Haggis, Lisa Marie Presley, and Jason Beghe. The news comes from an interview with a Denton, Texas blog that was picked up by and elaborated on by Tony Ortega.

In the Denton interview, Lee is asked whether in his family’s move to Texas if he planned on buying commercial property. Lee says: “And being that we don’t practice Scientology, and that we aren’t particularly interested in opening religious centers in general, we have no plans to open a Scientology center. Quite a few rumors about me/us floating around but none of it’s true.”

Lee leaving Scientology is a big deal. He’s been in the cult since he started as an actor. He was brought in by his friend Giovanni Ribisi, whose family have been members for years. Recently, however, Ortega reports, Ribisi’s 18 year old daughter has left the group, too. (Ribisi’s sister, also an actress, is married to rock star Beck; the Ribisi’s dragged him in, too.)

As Ortega points out, all these exits raise a lot of questions about how families and friendships continue to function afterwards since Scientology prohibits its members from having contact with those who have left the organization. (This is called “disconnecting.”) It seems clear that Lee’s answer was simply to get out of town– he left Hollywood to start a new life with his wife Caren and their kids. Smart. Now, he can “only connect.”

Lee was an up and coming film actor before getting the (repulsive) hit series “My Name is Earl.” He starred in several Kevin Smith movies including “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma,” as well as Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.”

 

Meryl Streep, The Beatles, “Equal Means Equal” All Tie in with “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Leah Sydney
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Meryl Streep, The Beatles, “Equal Means Equal” All Tie in with “Florence Foster Jenkins”

How cool is Meryl Streep?  She is down to earth, bawdy and fun, and even puts the extras first on a set. That’s  according to her “Florence Foster Jenkins” co-star Simon Helberg.  “The Big Bang” star recently told me that first off, everyone thinks it was shot in New York, when it was shot in London and Liverpool of all places.  Why the birth place of the Beatles? Simon answered, “The exteriors were shot in Liverpool because some of the buildings in the financial district in New York were actually built by the same architects who built some buildings in Liverpool, so it doubled perfectly. The film does looks gorgeous.” 

Simon told me that Meryl was self-deprecating through out and was concerned about the extras, so she had the crew do something out of the box.  Simon explains,  “We shot at the Apollo Theater in London and there were hundreds of extras mostly playing serviceman piling in. She saw it was going to be a long day, so she asked if her and I could perform a concert for them off camera and get their reactions so they wouldn’t be tired by the time we were doing the concert on camera for them.  So we did and they basically had a private concert. She met as many as she could, chatted with them as well.” 

Did her endless awful on purpose singing hurt his ears after awhile I asked?  Simon wisely answered, “Nothing she ever did or does hurts me.  Every moment with her is glorious.”

Speaking about Meryl being the coolest, we all remember her being the first to stand and  hoot and holler when Patricia Arquette gave her inspiring Oscar acceptance speech highlighting the discrimination and disparity of pay for working women.  

Now Arquette executive produces and is featured in the upcoming documentary, “Equal Means Equal,” which is getting rave reviews, won the Best U.S. Documentary Audience award at Michael Moore’s latest Film Festival and garnering terrific buzz.  

Directed by Kamala Lopez and co-written by Lopez and Gini Sikes, “Equal Means Equal” just premiered in L.A. and NYC, was recently shown at the United Nations, The State Department, before members of Congress and at events throughout the country.  Elizabeth Warren purposely gave a plug to the film when she uttered the words,  “Equal Means Equal,” at the Democratic Convention. Last week it became available online on iTunes, Google Play and other digital platforms.  Much needed and looking forward to this timely documentary.  Check in out at:  http://equalmeansequal.com.

Mel Gibson’s New Baby Mama is As Old as His Sixth Adult Child, 26, But Older Than His Youngest Two

Roger Friedman
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Mel Gibson’s New Baby Mama is As Old as His Sixth Adult Child, 26, But Older Than His Youngest Two

Congrats to Mel Gibson! He and his 26 year old girlfriend, Rosalind Ross, are expecting a baby!

Ross is as old as Mel’s sixth adult child, Milo, but older than his 17 year old and his toddler. The first seven were with wife Robin, and the 8th, of course, was with Oksana Grigorieva.

The whole gang must be very happy. Some families have nothing to say to each other at Thanksgiving. But the Gibsons– who already can discuss Mel’s DUI, his infamy for anti-semitism and racism, his belief that the Jews killed Jesus and that there was no Holocaust, now expect to have Baby Number 9 to chow down with. And the baby can be baptized in the non diocese church Mel has banked $70 million on in Agoura Hills.

Mazel tov, Mel!

PS If Roz is 3 months pregnant now, she’ll be due on or around the Oscars. Mel’s hoping his movie “Hacksaw Ridge” will be in the mix. What timing!

RIP Edward Albee, Winner of Three Pulitzer Prizes, the Great Playwright of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Age 88

Roger Friedman
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RIP Edward Albee, Winner of Three Pulitzer Prizes, the Great Playwright of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Age 88

Edward Albee has died at age 88. The great playwright of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” died in Montauk on Long Island.

Albee won three Pulitzer Prizes but not for “Virginia Woolf.” They were in 1967 for “A Delicate Balance,” in 1975 for “Seascape,”and 1994 for Three Tall Women.

His Tony Awards were for “Virginia Woolf” in 1963, 2002 for “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?,” and a special lifetime award in 2005.

Of course his most famous play is “Virginia Woolf,” which was made into a movie by Mike Nichols and became one of the all time classics with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, and George Segal. “Virginia Woolf” in all forms earned so much money over the years that Albee started a foundation in his own name in Montauk for writers and visual artists.

Albee’s death is a major milestone, he was up there with Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as the greatest American playwrights and dramatists.

Here’s the full list of his plays:

  • The Zoo Story (1958)
  • The Death of Bessie Smith (1959)
  • The Sandbox (1959)
  • Fam and Yam (1959)
  • The American Dream (1960)
  • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961–1962)
  • The Ballad of the Sad Café (1963) (adapted from the novella by Carson McCullers)
  • Tiny Alice (1964)
  • Malcolm (1965) (adapted from the novel by James Purdy)
  • A Delicate Balance (1966)
  • Breakfast at Tiffany’s (adapted from the novel by Truman Capote) (1966)
  • Everything in the Garden (1967)
  • Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (1968)
  • All Over (1971)
  • Seascape (1974)
  • Listening (1975)
  • Counting the Ways (1976)
  • The Lady from Dubuque (1977–1979)
  • Lolita (adapted from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov) (1981)
  • The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981)
  • Finding the Sun (1983)
  • Marriage Play (1986–1987)
  • Three Tall Women (1990–1991)
  • The Lorca Play (1992)
  • Fragments (1993)
  • The Play About the Baby (1996)
  • Occupant (2001)
  • The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2002)
  • Knock! Knock! Who’s There!? (2003)
  • Peter & Jerry, retitled in 2009 to At Home at the Zoo (Act One: Homelife. Act Two: The Zoo Story) (2004)
  • Me Myself and I (2007)

 

Pop Charts: Jason Aldean is Number 1, The Beatles are Number 3, and the Rest of the Chart Adds Up to Nothing

Roger Friedman
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Pop Charts: Jason Aldean is Number 1, The Beatles are Number 3, and the Rest of the Chart Adds Up to Nothing

If Jason Aldean hadn’t released an album last Friday there would be negligible sales for the last week. Aldean sold 132,000 copies of “They Don’t Know” and finished at number 1. He had 7,000 streams for a total of almost 140,000.

“The Beatles Live at Hollywood Bowl” sold 34,880 and had about another 2,000 streams for a total of 36,500. The concerts on the CD are 50 years old, and the estate of late promoter Sid Bernstein is suing because they say he owned the masters. (I love the Beatles but they never treated Sid very well.)

Otherwise, the chart is garbage. The number 50 album sold 3,500 copies. Everything in between the Beatles and Lauren Daigle (?) sold an average of 5,000 copies. When they tell Paul and Ringo the total for “Hollywood Bowl,” the boys must just laugh. Those aren’t sales numbers. That used to be what you gave away.

How is it possible record companies can survive on these numbers? How can anyone take a limo, a helicopter, have lavish dinners?

Next week country star Luke Bryan will topple Aldean. His last album sold 1.1 million copies in August 2015. The only other acts releasing a new album between now and Christmas that sold over a million copies in their previous outing is Pentatonix (1,785,000).

Showtime Cancels “Roadies” After Other Rock Shows Including “Vinyl” and Denis Leary Bite the Dust

Roger Friedman
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Showtime Cancels “Roadies” After Other Rock Shows Including “Vinyl” and Denis Leary Bite the Dust

Each was terrible in its own way.

“Roadies,” “Vinyl” and “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” all have now been cancelled after huge amounts of hype and millions of dollars wasted. So far, cable TV has not been able to make a hit of rock and roll.

The worst was Denis Leary’s “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll,” which made no sense from the beginning and just kept getting worse. Leary was too old to play an ex punk rocker, but his character really wasn’t a punk but just a never-was bar band rocker. He was a loser, and no one wants to celebrate a loser week after week.

“Vinyl” was like a story told by someone who read a lot of magazine stories about the 70s, and heard about cocaine. It was all fourth hand, quite unbelievable, very artificial. Bobby Cannavale’s eyes kept bugging out from drug use. No one was subtle about the drugs, which overtook the music. No one was likeable. The only good thing I saw was Olivia Wilde, naked.

“Roadies” had so much potential. But instead of being “Almost Famous” as a TV show, it was about two people– Luke Wilson and Carla Gugino– who looked like they’d be the parents of roadies.

None of the shows expressed fun or a sense of humor. There was nothing witty in them. And unlike the shows that have worked since time immemorial, there were no core families, no deep allegiances, and no plot. Everything felt like, Look what I found when I Googled Max’s Kansas City!

Cameron Crowe’s great movie “Almost Famous” still holds up because it’s organic. You know Crowe was writing from the heart. The TV shows, including Crowe’s “Roadies,” just felt like treatments that had been filmed.

Maybe one day…

Pop: Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion” is a Perfect Disappointment on iTunes and on Radio

Roger Friedman
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Pop: Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion” is a Perfect Disappointment on iTunes and on Radio

Lady Gaga scored big time last night at Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday celebration at Radio City. She got a standing ovation, and her performances were historic. Gaga talks about her whole life and career have changed since she met Bennett and discovered she a voice for jazz, standards, and Broadway.

But Gaga’s return to the pop world hasn’t been so smooth. She released her new single, “Perfect Illusion,” a week ago and it went straight to number 1 on iTunes. But today it’s number 15, and number 25–at best– on radio. After a quick bit of excitement, “Perfect Illusion” fell out of favor.

Yesterday Gaga announced her new album, called “Joanne,” will be released on October 21st. The title is odd, but it means something important to Gaga– she named it after her late, beloved aunt. But let’s hope the release isn’t as haphazard as
“Illusion.” With sales in the toilet across the board on all albums, really shrewd marketing and some kind of plan is needed. The cover of “Joanne” is a lovely picture, but I can’t stay it does or means anything particularly.

On the bright side, “Perfect Illusion” has had 14 million views on You Tube. Imagine if she’d made money on that. But views on YouTube plus $2.50 will get you on the subway.

PS Yesterday Billboard ran no fewer than four articles on Lady Gaga and “Joanne.” What’s that all about?

\\

Watch Sting Sing His New Hit, Plus Some ABBA Songs, on Satirical French TV Show “Catherine & Liliane”

Roger Friedman
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Watch Sting Sing His New Hit, Plus Some ABBA Songs, on Satirical French TV Show “Catherine & Liliane”

Sting appeared on this very popular satirical French TV show last month and the clip is just catching up to us. “Catherine and Liliane” are two men– they do this every day and it requires a ton of makeup. So French! Sting sings a bit of “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” but the ladies sort of push him into an ABBA medley.

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