By Amanda Spears ā
āIām going to take you television fans through how to methodically make your Emmy predictions and win your pool. Previously we looked at Outstanding Comedy & Drama Writing and Directing. Next up, the hard to predict Outstanding Limited Series/TV Movie Writing and Directing categories.
Five years ago, the Emmys moved to a plurality vote replacing the more level playing field of 80-100 person panels. Since we spend more time watching television than a film, itās easier to let our personal preferences affect our predictions as we try to manifest a win for our favorites.
Like the Best Drama Writing and Directing categories, the Limited Series/TV Movie races are harder to predict. Letās take a look at the nominees and try to predict the winners for Best Limited Series/TV Movie Directing and Writing based on recent trends.
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE DIRECTING NOMINEES
āFind a Way,ā āLittle Fires Everywhereā directed by Lynn Shelton
āEpisode 5,ā āNormal Peopleā directed by Lenny Abrahamson
āUnorthodox,ā āUnorthodoxā directed by Maria Schrader
āItās Summer and Weāre Running Out of Ice,ā Watchmenā directed by Nicole Kassell
āLittle Fear of Lightning,ā āWatchmenā directed by Steph Green
āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā directed by Stephen Williams
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE WRITING NOMINEES
āShirley,ā āMrs. Americaā written by Tanya Barfield
āEpisode 3,ā āNormal Peopleā written by Sally Rooney
āEpisode 1,ā āUnbelievableā written by Susannah Grant
āPart 1,ā āUnorthodoxā written by Anna Winger
āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson
Continuing with the trends weāve seen in both Best Comedy/Drama and Drama Directing and Writing, letās begin with eliminating all nominees that do not come from a nominated series…
āFind A Way,ā āLittle Fires Everywhereā directed by Lynn Shelton
āUnorthodox,ā āUnorthodoxā directed by Maria Schrader
āItās Summer and Weāre Running Out of Ice,ā Watchmenā directed by Nicole Kassell
āLittle Fear of Lightning,ā āWatchmenā directed by Steph Green
āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā directed by Stephen Williams
And for writing…
āShirley,ā āMrs. Americaā written by Tanya Barfield
āEpisode 1,ā āUnbelievableā written by Susannah Grant
āPart 1,ā āUnorthodoxā written by Anna Winger
āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson
Now, weāre going to eliminate episodes for Best Limited Series/TV Movie Directing with the least amount of below-the-line nominations. While itās not a guarantee that an episode has support across multiple branches of the television academy, it is at best a sign that theyāve seen the episode.ā
āUnorthodox,ā āUnorthodoxā directed by Maria Schrader
āItās Summer and Weāre Running Out of Ice,ā Watchmenā directed by Nicole Kassell (4)
āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā directed by Stephen Williams (8)
āWeāre only able to narrow the directing field down to three possible winners. āUnorthodoxā has the advantage of having all four of its episodes directed by the same person. In the past five years, four series have won for the entire series: āOlive Kitteridgeā (2015), āThe Night Managerā (2016), āBig Little Liesā (2017), and āChernobylā (2019). With the exception of āThe Night Manager,ā each of the Directing winners would go on to win Best Limited Series. Ironically, āThe Night Managerā bested three episodes from the eventual Best Limited Series winner, āThe People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.ā But the 2016 race was a lot more competitive than the 2020 race. Add in that āWatchmenā is a technical marvel and āThis Extraordinary Beingā is it opus, but āItās Summer and Weāre Running Out of Iceā is the series opener and happens to be the recent DGA winner over āThis Extraordinary Being.ā It is entirely possible āWatchmenā could cancel themselves out.ā
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The Writing category is one of the most diverse categories in this yearās lineup. Each has its pluses and minuses. Lindelof may be the most well-known in the category, but heās never won an individual Emmy. His only win comes as one of the producers of āLostā (2005). Should he and his co-writer Jefferson win, Jefferson would be only the second African American winner in the category after David Mills won for āThe Cornerā (2000). But look for Barfield and āShirleyā to sneak off with the prize. āShirleyā focuses on Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress and the first Black candidate of a major party for President. With Kamala Harris making history as the first African American woman on a major party ticket as the Democrat Vice President candidate, this episode seems timelier than ever. Should Barfield win, she would make history as the first African American woman to do so.
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE DIRECTING NOMINEES
1. āUnorthodox,ā āUnorthodoxā directed by Maria Schrader
2. āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā directed by Stephen Williams
3. āItās Summer and Weāre Running Out of Ice,ā Watchmenā directed by Nicole Kassell
4. āLittle Fear of Lightning,ā āWatchmenā directed by Steph Green
5. āEpisode 5,ā āNormal Peopleā directed by Lenny Abrahamson
6. āFind A Way,ā āLittle Fires Everywhereā directed by Lynn Shelton
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE WRITING PREDICTIONS
1. āShirley,ā āMrs. Americaā written by Tanya Barfield
2. āThis Extraordinary Being,ā āWatchmenā written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson
3. āEpisode 1,ā āUnbelievableā written by Susannah Grant
4. āPart 1,ā āUnorthodoxā written by Anna Winger
5. āEpisode 3,ā āNormal Peopleā written by Sally Rooney
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Do you agree or disagree with my logic? What are you predicting to win the Emmys for Outstanding Directing and Writing for a Limited Series/TV Movie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Twitter account. Stay tuned for more articles on the Emmys as I finalize my predictions.
You can follow Amanda and hear more of her thoughts on the Emmys and TV on Twitter at @msamandaspears