LIMITED SERIES
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Mrs. America (Hulu)
Unbelievable (Netflix)
Unorthodox (Netflix)
Watchmen (HBO)
Should and will win: Watchmen
Could win: Mrs. America
Should have been nominated: Briarpatch (USA)
The skinny: It’s not quite Watchmen all the way down. (We’ll get to that in a moment.) But 2019’s best show is going to have awards rain down like baby squid.
It’s too bad that even though these categories have fewer nominees than the comedy or drama fields that Briarpatch couldn’t pick up a single nomination.
ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True
Should and will win: Hugh Jackman
Could win: Mark Ruffalo
Should have been nominated: Nick Offerman, Devs
The skinny: While I had long that Ruffalo would walk away with this for his dual role, it now seems like Jackman is going to win, and deservedly so. It’s his best on-screen performance.
ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
Should and will win: Regina King
Could win: Cate Blanchett
Should have been nominated: Rosario Dawson, Briarpatch
The skinny: It wouldn’t be the most shocking thing if Blanchett won for her humanizing portrayal of Phyllis Schlafly, but if anyone other than King wins, there will be gasps across America. She’s the best part of the best show.
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
Louis Gossett Jr, Watchmen
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Should and will win: Yahya Abdul-Mateen
Could win: Jovan Adepo
Should have been nominated: Alan Cumming, Briarpatch
The skinny: While all three Watchmen actors could cancel each other out, I think it’s the crowning of up-and-comer Yahya Abdul-Mateen, who dazzled as Cal and the long-dormant Doctor Manhattan.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Jean Smart, Watchmen
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America
Should win: Jean Smart
Could win: Margo Martindale
Will win: Uzo Aduba
Should have been nominated: Sarah Paulson, Mrs. America
The skinny: While Jean Smart was stellar as always as a world-weary FBI agent/former superhero, and Mrs. America could have nominated several more women (including Paulson, the best of the bunch), I’ve thought Aduba has had this locked up since the spring.
WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Mrs. America (“Shirley”)
Normal People (“Episode 3”)
Unbelievable (“Episode 1”)
Unorthodox (“Part 1”)
Watchmen (“This Extraordinary Being”)
Should win: Watchmen
Could win: Normal People
Will win: Mrs. America
Should have been nominated: Bad Education
The skinny: While Watchmen had terrific writing, I think the Academy will choose to honor something else here. Mrs. America‘s complex debates about ideas big and small was part of what made it so special. I don’t know if its third episode was the best example of it, but I won’t be mad if it wins.
Normal People, with its literary heritage, has a remote chance, but it should have been sharing this category with Bad Education, which should have been nominated over Unorthodox.
DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Little Fires Everywhere (“Find a Way”)
Normal People (“Episode 5”)
Unorthodox
Watchmen (“It’s Summer and We’re Running out of Ice”)
Watchmen (“Little Fear of Lightning”)
Watchmen (“This Extraordinary Being”)
Should win: Watchmen (“This Extraordinary Being”)
Could win: Little Fires Everywhere
Will win: Watchmen (“It’s Summer and We’re Running out of Ice”)
Should have been nominated: Mrs. America (“Houston”)
The skinny: I think premieres and finales tend to have an advantage, so I’m giving the edge to the Watchmen pilot, though its flashback-heavy episode could easily take the award. They should have found room for Janicza Bravo’s turn behind the camera for the trips (literal and drug-induced) for the penultimate episode of Mrs. America, but I was glad to see the late Lynn Shelton get some deserved attention.