Television Triumphs

The 73rd Emmys awards ceremony will be celebrating excellence in television in just over a month from now. The Emmys always gets me thinking about the best television that I have been experiencing and always gives me a range of TV material to put on to my own 'must see' lists. 
If you haven't checked out the line up yet, here are the TV programs that gained the most attention overall this time around that are also nominated for an Emmy:
Comedy series
“black-ish”
“Cobra Kai”
“Emily in Paris”
“The Flight Attendant”
“Hacks”
“The Kominsky Method”
“PEN15"
“Ted Lasso”

Limited series
“I May Destroy You”
“Mare of Easttown”
“The Queen’s Gambit”
“The Underground Railroad”
“WandaVision”

Drama series
“The Boys”
“Bridgerton”
“The Crown”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Lovecraft Country”
“The Mandalorian”
“Pose”
“This Is Us”

TV movie
“Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square”
“Oslo”
“Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia”
“Sylvie’s Love”
“Uncle Frank”

Variety special (prerecorded)
“Bo Burnham: Inside”
“David Byrne’s American Utopia”
“8:46 — Dave Chappelle”
“Friends: The Reunion”
“Hamilton”
“A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote”

Animated program
“Big Mouth”
“Bob’s Burgers”
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”
“The Simpsons”
“South Park: The Pandemic Special”

Variety sketch series
“A Black Lady Sketch Show”
“Saturday Night Live”

Competition series
“The Amazing Race”
“Nailed It!”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Top Chef”
“The Voice”

Variety talk series
“Conan”
“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”

Do I personally think that anything got snubbed this year that should've made the list? Well, I am no expert but I do think that the following shows were all worthy of a nomination and deserved a lot more attention, so let's give them an honourable shout out right now:

• It's a Sin
• The Good Lord Bird 
• Small Axe
• Behind Her Eyes 
• Resident Alien
• What We Do the Shadows S2 
• High Fidelity 

Anyway, maybe some of them fell outside of the cut off date and will get their moment of glory sometime in the future. And hopefully you will be able to find something on these lists that is worthy of your own viewing time or to add to your own 'must see' list.
As always dear readers, happy viewing. 

HOST
Release Date: 2020
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 57 mins 
Directed by Rob Savage in his first feature length debut and released on Shudder streaming, Host is different from regular horror films for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is only 57 minute long which is too long to be a short and too short to be a full fledged feature film, so it is unique in that way. Secondly, it was released, shot and edited during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period and the characters in the film reflect that by wearing masks, social distancing and engaging in Zoom meetings to touch base with each other which makes the content feel quite realistic. In fact, a lot of the movie does have an unscripted, almost improvised vibe to it, which in my opinion greatly assists in carrying the scare levels to greater heights. 
A group of six friends decide to perform a séance together whilst they are in an online Zoom meeting with the assistance of a qualified medium. It isn't long before everyone in the meeting begins to sense that something supernatural is occurring and escalating quickly. 
This isn't the first time that a horror movie has been based around sinister online interactions, but it easily the best and most unique version of its kind.  The virtually unknown actors are all really convincing and the overall delivery is so authentic that you cannot help but feel unnerved as the awful events unfold. 
Hardly a game changer, but at 57 minutes Host delivers some decent and plausible scares for half the run time of regular horror films. 
FINAL SAY:  Please take it seriously tho and be respectful. 
3.5 Chilli Peppers ​

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