Covering Our Favorite Contenders From 2018’s Short Form Emmy Nominees
Didn’t know that the Emmys had Short Form categories?
That’s probably because the awards, just like the form itself, are still in their infancy.
Starting in 2016, the Emmys added special Short Form Only categories to their prestigious list. This being only its third year, it’s hard to yet gauge the full landscape of this exciting but unpredictable new field of television.
Just as short films are misunderstood in many ways, so too the short form television medium remains largely un-regarded by TV critics and the mass media. Yet, we have to appreciate the forward thinking going on over at TV’s biggest night. While there are as many genres and styles of short form television as there are people working on them, one thing’s for sure: the short form is here to stay!
Let’s break down the categories and offer up our favorite original content nominated this year…
OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
Among all five contenders, two bold and daring originals really stand out.
aka Wyatt Cenac — Exec. Producer Wyatt Cenac
In true auteur fashion, former The Daily Show writer Wyatt Cenac is writing, directing, executive producing, and even starring (phew!, move over Orson Welles) in this brand new web TV series about a man who’s a crime-fighting vigilante by night….and just a regular guy in Brooklyn by day.
Distributed by Topic.com, an exciting new video essay celebrating the “creators at the forefront of culture”, this popular web series follows in the footsteps of last year’s Get Out and this year’s Sorry To Bother You, by providing biting social commentary while at the same time playing with popular genre elements.
Besides building this series from the ground up, Cenac has been rather busy of late with a satirical documentary series over at HBO that’s already been renewed for a second season.
As much as we’d love to see a second season of aka Wyatt Cenac, we’re just happy that someone as creative and prolific as Cenac chose to embrace this new and exciting form of storytelling.
If this series takes home the award this year, we have to believe there’ll be more short form content from Cenac in the future.
An Emmy For Megan — Exec. Producer Megan Amram
It’s with a series like An Emmy For Megan that you know you’re living in the wild, wild west age of short TV. There’s just no way a cable network or traditional streaming site (except Miniflix of course) would go for this. And that’s why we love it!
The conceit is quite meta, and rather brilliant because of it. Megan Amram — a prolific TV writer that’s penned everything from The Simpson to Parks And Recreation — plays herself (well, a “fictionalized version” of herself) as she attempts to meet all of the minimum guidelines set by the Emmys regarding the Outstanding Actress In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama.
Spending each episode ticking all of the right Emmy boxes, Amram and company manage to poke fun at the awards establishment, the pursuit of fame and even short form content. And as if the irony wasn’t rich enough, Amram got exactly what she asked for (she’s nominated for Outstanding Actress too!).
How could this have possibly happened? Well, first off the show is terrifically funny, and the parody never feels like a misstep. Plus, it helps to get cameo appearances from Seth Rogan, Ted Danson, RuPaul and more.
We wouldn’t be disappointed with a win for An Emmy For Megan in this category or for actress, if only to make this ironical dream come true.
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
While many rising careers are on display here (plus an established late night host), two in particular caught our eye.
This Eddie Murphy Role Is Mine, Not Yours — Melvin Jackson Jr.
Melvin takes out his competition for a Eddie Murphy role he is auditioning for. He is convinced this role is his and not anyone else’s.
Just from the IMDB synopsis line, you get a pretty good sense of what this show’s trying to do. Part satire, part self-referential meta-text, this inventive and surprisingly literal web series lives or dies with its starring performer.
Melvin Jackson Jr., also a co-writer and a producer on this series, plays a desperate aspiring actor and an Eddie Murphy imitator pretty well. The cast of characters around him help make the series feel both lived in and extremely absurd. But it is Jackson Jr. who grounds the story here, playing it mostly straight against all the mayhem around him.
He does some really good work here, but whether his work gets recognized with an award win this year or not, he’s got enough projects in development right now to keep himself very busy.
I Love Bekka And Lucy — Alexis Denisof
Now to a more “traditional” web series. I Love Bekka & Lucy, which premiered back in 2017’s SWSX and got distribution by Stage 13, tells the story of two girls who vow to live together as friends for the rest of their lives…until some other potential lovers get involved.
Alexis Denisof plays a new neighbor to the girls, proving quirky and off-putting to the main characters at first. Over time though, Denisof perfectly plays out a satisfying character arc to reveal the soft and empathetic side underneath.
We appreciate Denisof’s role throughout the season for its dynamism and its heart. If he took home the award this year, we’d know it was much deserved. Especially considering he’s no newbie to television, having been a series regular on Joss Whedon’s Angel and a cast member on countless hit shows of the past.
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
American Koko — Diarra Kilpatrick
Diarra Kilpatrick gives one of the most electric and humorous short form performances we’ve seen over the last few years in both seasons of American Koko. She leads a team that investigates awkward or nuanced racial situations in people’s everyday lives…sort of an existential detective agency, but strictly with matters of race and discrimination.
Both hilarious and insightful, Kilpatrick’s brainchild also looks stunning…and it surely helps that it’s backed by ABC. The story goes that mega-producer (and award-winning actress) Viola Davis saw early episodes of the show on Kilpatrick’s personal Youtube video and loved it so much that she reached out using her ABC connections to give this show one of the best marketing and production budgets an original short form series could ever hope for.
And we stress original short form, because so many of the major networks are strictly developing short form television that only expands on already-established shows (and reminds you to watch those shows). Here is an example of where we believe short form needs to go and how the big companies and studios can get involved in that.
American Koko is one of the most delightful and watchable short form shows out there, and an Outstanding Actress win would be a much deserved one.
Broken — Lee Garlington
While most of the short form performances up for nominations this year are comedic in nature, Lee Garlington plays the serious and compassionate therapist in a very earnest drama. Garlington is best known for her film work in such classics as Field of Dreams and Dante’s Peak, but we appreciate her willingness to bring her acting chops to a new kind of medium.
This six-episode series follows a boy’s unclear memories surrounding his friend’s death causing him to slowly unravel. Intense situations and psychological realism abound, but it is Lee Garlington’s grounded and resolute performance that is, when she is onscreen, most affecting about this show.
We hope a win here would get more people interested in revisiting her past work…and get industry people interested in sending more great projects her way.
OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM NONFICTION OR REALITY SERIES
The final two categories in the Short Form part of the Emmys are mostly nominating traditional television programs so far. However, we found two examples of shows that, no matter whether you consider them traditional or not, must be celebrated as great and important television.
Anthony Bourdain: Explore Parts Unknown
We still can’t believe he’s gone, but with the Emmy nomination this year, we’re glad the world has another chance to celebrate both the man and the legacy he left behind.
Though there’s not much to be said about the rich, humorous and breathtaking filmmaking behind all of Anthony Bourdain’s travels that hasn’t been said already, we do believe that his show was one of the trailblazers for the original short form as we see it today.
Bourdain’s willingness to break television conventions and do things his way has no doubt inspired thousands of other filmmakers and film lovers (including us at Miniflix) to follow suit and make their own original, bold, daring content (many of which are nominated for Emmys this year).
OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM VARIETY SERIES
Gay Of Thrones
This part-parody-part-recap-show has been going on over at Funny Or Die for nearly as long as the phenomenon it comments upon, yet we feel like it’s the rare short form show to get better with age.
Whether it wins this year or not, we appreciate the fact that an idea formed on a whim by its creator could be fully-fleshed, funded by a great digital video hub like Funny or Die and remain this successful and relevant.
While most web series fizzle out after 1 or 2 seasons, this one hasn’t. And we hope this is the start of great things to come for the future of short form television both online and among the major networks.
