From Peak TV to Weak TV: Emmys 2024 drama category shows how awful series have become
So much for the thinking that movies are dead and quality TV shows have snatched the reins of Hollywood.
A quick glance at the 2024 Emmy Award nominations, which were announced Wednesday, is enough to blow that theory into a million pieces.
Television is in dire shape.
This year’s pathetic lineup for Best Drama Series, supposedly the best the industry has to offer, would better serve as a list of streaming services to unsubscribe from than a group of must-watch shows.
The marquee nominees are “The Crown” (Netflix), “The Gilded Age” (HBO), “The Morning Show” (Apple TV+), “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (Prime Video), “3 Body Problem” (Netflix), “Slow Horses” (Apple TV+) and “Shogun” (FX).
I keep rereading that over and over, in complete and utter disbelief.
Sans ads, watching them all will set you back a pricey $65 a month.
Don’t bother. Go to the beach instead.
Where once the Emmys honored brilliant cable groundbreakers such as “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men” and “Succession,” in 2024 what makes the cut is “The Morning Show” sending Reese Witherspoon into outer space.
The glory days of hourlong network hits such as “The West Wing,” “ER,” “Lost” and “24” have given way to unspeakably tacky “The Crown” schlepping out the ghost of Princess Diana like Charles Dickens had a Bravo show.
Julian Fellowes’ New York-set post-“Downton Abbey” project, “The Gilded Age,” is much like the final grating seasons of the once-phenomenal British series — overwrought and underpowered.
“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” which confuses viewers because of the absence of Brangelina, “3 Body Problem” and “Slow Horses” have made no cultural impact. Try talking about them at work and it will be a very lonely water cooler, indeed.
FX’s “Shogun,” the inevitable winner, is the best of the octet. But the series, which takes place in 17th century Japan, doesn’t quite live up to the media’s enthusiasm for it.
Just like audiences at home, critics are starved and hungry for a hit. So they attempted to anoint one. “Shogun” does what prestige period dramas should, but it’s also rather manufactured. You can smell the freshly sawed two-by-fours off-frame.
Some will say that the actors and writers strikes that hobbled Hollywood for months in 2023 are to blame for the slim pickings. A little, sure. Of the big guns, they delayed “Stranger Things,” which is nowhere near as addicting as it once was, and “The White Lotus.”
The unspoken secret of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” now in its second season, is that it’s not very good.
But the decline began well before that, as “Game of Thrones,” “Succession” and “Better Call Saul” came to an end with no heirs to take their crown.
Others assert that the comedy categories are where greatness lies. That’s closer to the truth, particularly when it comes to “Hacks” and “The Bear.”
But few of the noms are hilarious.
The only ones to really go for the joke were the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which was fan service, and losing-its-luster “Abbott Elementary.” The rest are light.
What speaks loudest about the Everest that the television industry must climb is the most talked-about program of the year: Netflix’s nominated limited series “Baby Reindeer.”
That binge, like “Squid Game,” became an international sensation. Say “Will ye hang ma curtains?” in Martha’s gruff Scottish brogue to anybody — cab driver or defense attorney — and they’ll likely know the reference.
But, Netflix, we have a problem. “Baby Reindeer” was based on creator and star Richard Gadd’s life, and is just seven episodes. Everybody watched it in a single day, and there’s no Season 2 on the way.
That’s no TV savior — or, for that matter, a sustainable TV business model. ‘Tis a blip, I’m afraid.
In the wake of a post-pandemic streaming downturn and the strikes, Hollywood has severely curtailed production. Studios are said to be focusing on quality, not quantity. We’ll see about that.
Should these executives, drowning in red ink, keep their promise, soon the weeds will be whacked and new hits will sprout.
But, as of this writing, it is incontrovertible that the wondrous age of Peak TV has ended. And what we’re left with is Weak TV.
