Editors debate Creative Arts Emmy predictions for animation, reality TV, variety categories [WATCH]
Night 1 of the Creative Arts Emmys will take place Saturday, September 3 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and will focus primarily on animation and unscripted fare (i.e. reality TV, documentaries and variety specials). Gold Derby editors Denton Davidson, Daniel Montgomery and Marcus James Dixon recently got together to wage a war of words over their predictions for many of these races. Watch the editors’ Emmy predictions video slugfest above.
For Best Animated Program our staffers reach a consensus that Netflix newbie “Arcane” will pull off a win over more established favorites like “Rick and Morty,” “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers” as well as MCU’s “What If?” Daniel notes, “I think after ‘Primal’ won, that told me that the show that stands out here will likely win.” Denton agrees adding, “It also just won three juried awards. It cleaned house there and it’s the only one among the nominees that just took home three juried awards.” And Marcus reminds viewers that if all else fails, copy our resident animation expert Charles Bright. “He knows what he’s doing.”
SEE 2022 Emmy nominations: Complete list of contenders for 74th Primetime Emmys
We try to make sense of the Best Documentary Filmmaking, a juried category to which Daniel says, “It’s sort of like the MTV Video Music Award for Video for Good. It’s like their social justice documentary category.” Both Marcus and Daniel are currently predicting the frontrunner “Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches” to prevail, but Denton is going with “Changing the Game.” It “feels timely,” he says. “It’s about trans athletes in high school sports. That could strike a cord with people if they want to award something that’s about issues we’re talking about today.”
Everyone is curious to see if President Barack Obama (“Our Great National Parks”) will win an Emmy for Best Narrator and our editors believe he will. “I think [the TV Academy] would love to give him an Emmy,” says Denton. “I think they would love to agitate Donald Trump, who wanted that “Apprentice” Emmy so badly.” Marcus reminds us all that three-time winner David Attenborough (“The Mating Game”) can never be counted out and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (“Serengeti II”) is the only woman nominated.
We become more divided once we reach discussions about Best Variety Special Live and Best Variety Special Recorded. In the live race Daniel is picking “Tony Awards Presents: Broadway’s Back,” Marcus goes with “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” and Denton thinks the “Super Bowl Halftime Show” can finally prevail. For recorded specials both Marcus and Daniel think sentimentality for “Norm MacDonald: Nothing Special” will take it over the edge, but Denton says “Adele: One Night Only” will prevail.
Some of the other Creative Arts categories discussed in our slugfest are Best Reality Host, Best Structured Reality Program, Best Unstructured Reality Program, Best Variety Series Directing, Best Variety Series Writing, Best Variety Special Directing, Best Short Form Animated Program, Best Voice-Over Performance, Best Documentary Series, Best Documentary Special and Best Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
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