Janelle James on ‘Ava's season' of ‘Abbott'; Aaron Pierre breaks down the action of ‘Rebel Ridge'
In the latest episode of 'The Envelope' video podcast, Janelle James discusses her character's arc on 'Abbott Elementary,' and Aaron Pierre details the training required to master the 'seamless' action of 'Rebel Ridge.'
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
All the ‘Abbott Elementary' Season 4 Emmy predictions, including those ‘Sunny' guest stars
Abbott Elementary Season 4 has received straight A's from TV critics, earning a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But will that perfect score translate to the 2025 Emmys? To date, ABC's school-set mockumentary has been nominated for 24 Emmys and won four: Best Comedy Actress for Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues (2023), Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard (2022), Best Comedy Writing for Brunson for the pilot (2022), and Best Comedy Casting (2022). It's still waiting on that coveted victory for Best Comedy Series, for which it has been nominated for each of its first three seasons. Let's take a look at Abbott's strongest Emmy chances for Season 4, category by category. More from GoldDerby Ryan Murphy and the JFK Jr.-Carolyn Bessette controversy, explained: Why 'American Love Story' Instagram post got so much hate Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2 'The Daily Show' leads Best Talk Series Emmy odds amid outrage over the low number of available slots As usual, there will be eight slots for this series race, and Abbott Elementary is sitting pretty in fifth place. (Hacks, The Studio, Only Murders in the Building, and The Bear are above it.) The fact that Abbott is one of the funniest shows in contention should work in its benefit, especially given the backlash that a certain kitchen dramedy has received over the years. It's a comedy category, after all. However, Abbott has something going against it that may not be recoverable: it airs on broadcast. Emmy voters have notoriously shunned the Big Four networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) in recent years, and instead have embraced shiny new streamers and reliable pay-cable channels. It has been more than a decade since ABC's Modern Family completed its five-year comedy series streak in 2014, and Fox's 24 was the last drama series to prevail, way back in 2006. Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images Quinta Brunson won this award in 2023, the year that Hacks was on hiatus. That's important to note because the other two times she was nominated for Best Comedy Actress, in 2022 and 2024, she was beaten by Hacks star Jean Smart. Smart is back again this year and is Gold Derby's frontrunner to prevail, while Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) sits in second place, and Brunson rounds out the top three. There will only be five slots in this category, due to a lower-than-usual number of submissions. One of the throughlines of Season 4 was the romantic relationship between Janine and Tyler James Williams' Gregory Eddie, but it never came at the expense of other characters. "Quinta never wanted this to be the Gregory and Janine show," co-showrunner and executive producer Justin Halpern told Gold Derby "She wanted that to be, certainly, a storyline in it, and maybe it's even a reason why some people are watching it, but it wasn't the center that the show rotated around." Gold Derby predicts that Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James (Ava Coleman) will reap nominations for the fourth time in a row, as they both rank within the seven expected nomination slots. A third supporting actress, Lisa Ann Walter (Melissa Schemmenti), is in 30th place. Ralph surprisingly won this category in 2022, despite the potential vote-split from her costar, and memorably sang "Endangered Species" during her acceptance speech. Her storylines in Season 4 included putting on a Christmas pageant, teaching Charlie Day's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia character how to read, and stressing out about growing old. As for James, Season 4 was undeniably "the season of Ava," co-showrunner and executive producer Patrick Schumacker told Gold Derby. The feisty principal fell on the sword for the rest of the school following an audit, and was fired from her position. "They kind of threw everything at me this season and I feel like I delivered," the actress proudly told us. In addition, Ava experienced a mature romance with IT guy O'Shon (Matthew Law), and reunited with her estranged father, Frank (Keith David). If voters are watching, James is undoubtedly an Emmy threat in her Best Comedy Supporting Actress category. Tyler James Williams is in fifth place for an Emmy nomination, which would be his fourth overall. He won the Golden Globe in 2023 and declared at the podium, "I pray that this is a win for Gregory Eddie [and] that we may understand that his story is just as important as all of the other stories that have to be told." One of the actor's most memorable moments in Season 4 was stepping behind the camera as a director for "The Science Fair" episode. "I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity," Williams told Gold Derby. "There was just something about this show that was different. It feels very close to me, like family." Elsewhere in the Best Comedy Supporting Actor category, Chris Perfetti (Jacob Hill) is in 15th place, and William Stanford Davis (Mr. Johnson) is in 33nd place; both are looking for their first career nominations. As Davis revealed to Gold Derby, "What I really love about [Mr. Johnson] is his mystery. You don't know what he's going to do next, and you don't know what his experiences are. ... He feels like he's the smartest guy there." One opportunity for Abbott Elementary to experience an Emmy boost would be in the guest categories. To date, the only day player to receive a bid was Taraji P. Henson as Vanetta Teagues, Janine's estranged mother, in 2023. Henson was predicted to win, but lost to Judith Light (Poker Face). Disney/Gilles Mingasson Season 4 guest stars in contention for Emmys this year are Keith David as Frank Coleman for "The Science Fair," Talia Shire as Melissa's mother, Teresa Schemmenti, for "Winter Break," plus four It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast members for the cross-over "Volunteers" episode: Charlie Day as Charlie, Danny DeVito as Frank, Rob McElhenney as Mac, and Kaitlin Olson as Dee. (Glenn Howerton as Dennis also appeared, but was not submitted for Emmy consideration.) Olson currently enjoys the strongest Emmy odds, in 15th place for Best Comedy Guest Actress, while Day is in 20th place for Best Comedy Guest Actor. Abbott Elementary submitted three directors on this year's Emmy ballot: Jennifer Celotta for "Strike," Jaime Eliezer Karas for "Audit," and Randall Einhorn for "Please Touch Museum," the Season 4 finale. "As directors, all we're ever doing is serving the scripts," Einhorn shared with Gold Derby. He said that the mockumentary comedy has "maintained a consistent style," though he always tries to "find new and interesting ways to tell our story." Einhorn received the only directing nomination so far for Abbott, for "Party" in 2024, which lost to The Bear's "Fishes." The show has received two Emmy nominations for writing, both for Brunson: "Pilot" (which won in 2022) and "Career Day" (which lost to Hacks' "Bulletproof" in 2024). This year, it's only on the ballot once for writing, for the Season 4 premiere, "Back to School," written by — who else? — Brunson. It's a savvy strategy to only submit one episode for contention, so as not to split the vote. Abbott Elementary is a collaborative effort and that's reflected in its Emmy submissions, where artisans are eligible in 10 below-the-line races: casting, cinematography ("Karaoke"), costumes ("Costume Contest"), hairstyling ("100th Day of School"), makeup ("Ava Fest: Tokyo Drift"), music supervision ("Karaoke"), picture editing ("Karaoke" and "Ringworm"), production design ("Karaoke"), sound editing ("Please Touch Museum"), and sound mixing ("Please Touch Museum"). Besides its casting victory in 2002, the comedy has also been nominated for casting in 2023 and 2024, plus hairstyling in 2023 and 2024. There's no reason to think Abbott won't be adding more craft bids to its tally in 2025, particularly after fans and critics agreed that Season 4 schooled the competition. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2 Adam Brody, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and the best of our Emmy Comedy Actor interviews Kristen Bell, Tina Fey, Bridget Everett, and the best of our Emmy Comedy Actress interviews Click here to read the full article.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
With ‘The Rehearsal,' Nathan Fielder needs his own Emmy category
Yes, Tom Cruise will soon own an Oscar. But has he ever flown a Boeing 737 with 150 passengers on board? I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter, here to explain why Nathan Fielder should be the Top Gun of this Emmy season. The second season of Nathan Fielder's brilliantly bonkers 'The Rehearsal' opens inside a commercial jet cockpit where the plane's captain and first officer are having a tense exchange as they prepare to land at a fogged-in runway. The first officer suggests they're off course. The captain disagrees but is soon proved wrong as the plane crashes. We see the pilots slumped in the cockpit, dead. Then the camera pans to Fielder, surveying the fiery aftermath, a disaster he just re-created in a simulator on a soundstage. With that prelude, it may seem strange to tell you that I laughed out loud as many times watching 'The Rehearsal' as I did any other TV series this season. Not during the simulated disasters, of course, which Fielder used to illustrate what he believes to be biggest issue in airline travel today — pilots failing to communicate during a crisis. So, yes, 'The Rehearsal' is about airline safety. Mostly. But Fielder is a master of misdirection. There is no way you can predict where he'll direct his premise, and I found myself delighting in utter surprise at the tangents he took in 'The Rehearsal' this season. An alternate biopic of pilot Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, with Fielder playing Sully from diapered baby to the Evanescence-loving hero landing in the Hudson River? Yes! Re-creating the German subsidiary of Paramount+ as a Nazi headquarters? OK! Vacuuming up air from San Jose to help train a cloned dog in Los Angeles while he attempts to understand how the nature-vs.-nurture dynamic might play out in human behavior? Ummmmm ... sure. We'll go with it! With Fielder's incisive mind, the detours are everything. Even the destination this season came as a jolt. Yes, it involves that Boeing 737 I mentioned in the intro, and, no, I'm not going to elaborate because I still feel like not enough people have watched 'The Rehearsal.' The series' first two seasons are available on HBO, as are all four seasons of Fielder's Comedy Central docuseries 'Nathan for You,' which had Fielder 'helping' small-business owners improve their sales. (Example: Pitching a Santa Clarita liquor store owner that he should sell booze to minors but just not let them take it home until they turned 21.) The humor in 'The Rehearsal' can be just as outrageous as 'Nathan for You,' but the overall tone is more thoughtful, as it also explores loneliness and the masks we all wear at times to hide our alienation. For the Emmys, HBO has submitted 'The Rehearsal' in the comedy categories. Where else would they put it? But the show is so singular that I wonder if even its fans in the Television Academy will remember to vote for it. They should. It's funny, insightful, occasionally terrifying, utterly unforgettable. And I hope Isabella Henao, the winner of the series' reality show competition, goes places. She sure can sing! Meanwhile, that other pilot, Tom Cruise, will finally receive an Oscar, an honorary one, in November at the Governors Awards, alongside production designer Wynn Thomas and choreographer and actor Debbie Allen. Dolly Parton, singer, actor and beloved icon, will be given the annual Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her charitable work. Cruise has been nominated for three acting Oscars over the years — for playing Marine Corps Sgt. Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's 1989 antiwar movie 'Born on the Fourth of July,' the sports agent who had Renée Zellweger at hello in Cameron Crowe's 1996 classic 'Jerry Maguire' and the chauvinistic motivational speaker in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 opus 'Magnolia.' Cruise was also nominated as a producer for 2022's dad cinema favorite 'Top Gun: Maverick.' Cruise should have won the supporting actor Oscar for 'Magnolia,' a ferocious turn in which he harnessed his strutting brashness to play an odious character hiding a deep well of pain. It came the same year as his star turn opposite then-wife Nicole Kidman in 'Eyes Wide Shut.' Not a bad double feature! Instead, Michael Caine won for 'Cider House Rules' during an Oscar era in which there was seemingly no prize Harvey Weinstein couldn't land. It wasn't even Caine's first Oscar; he had already won for 'Hannah and Her Sisters.' Cruise has devoted himself to commercial action movies, mostly of the 'Mission: Impossible' variety, for the past two decades. He did recently complete filming a comedy with director Alejandro González Iñárritu, scheduled for release next year. It'd be funny if Cruise wins a competitive Oscar after picking up an honorary one. It happened with Paul Newman, Cruise's co-star in 'The Color of Money.'
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
That Sterling K. Brown shower scene in ‘Paradise' had EVERYONE sweating — even its creator's mother-in-law
In the latest episode of The Envelope video podcast, we sit down with 'Paradise' creator Dan Fogelman in front of a live audience at the Newport Beach TV Festival. Here, he talks about the one moment of the show that actor Sterling K. Brown was most concerned about and that even Fogelman's mother commented on.
