64 | SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020
Arts&Life
celebrity jews
THE EMMYS AND MORE
The Emmys, for excellence in
TV, will be “virtually” presented
on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 8
p.m. (ABC). My coverage is
condensed this year to make
room for regular TV premieres.
My sense is that these “times”
make us more interested in
new stuff than an awards show
without a red-carpet parade.
Nominee ages are omitted for
the Emmys. If a series creator
(below) has a “W” near their
name, they are also nominated
for a writing Emmy. Other
writing nominees are omitted
this year.
BEST COMEDY
The award for best comedy,
drama, etc., is given to the
series’
principal producers. My
practice is to note that “best”
series creator, who is always a
nominated producer, too. Seven
of the eight series nominated
for best comedy have a Jewish
creator: Curb Your Enthusiasm,
Larry David; Dead to Me, Liz
Feldman; The Good Place,
Michael Schur (W); The
Kominsky Method,
Chuck Lorre; The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-
Palladino; Schitt’
s Creek,
Eugene Levy and his son, Dan
Levy (W); and What We Do in
the Shadows, Taika Waititi.
BEST DRAMA
Three of the eight nominated
(best) drama series have a
Jewish creator: The Crown,
Peter Morgan (W); The
Handmaid’
s Tale, Bruce Miller;
and The Mandalorian, Jon
Favreau.
BEST LIMITED SERIES
The following were nominated
for (best) limited series and had
a Jewish creator(s): Watchmen,
Damon Lindelof (W);
Unbelievable, Ayelet Waldman
and Michael Chabon, her
husband; and Unorthodox
(based on a book by Deborah
Feldman). The series, about
a Hasidic woman, was written
by Anna Winger (W), Alexa
Karolinski and Daniel Hendler.
BEST ACTING
Lead actor, comedy series:
Michael Douglas, Kominsky
Method, and Eugene Levy,
Schitt’
s Creek; Supporting
actor, comedy: Alan Arkin,
Kominsky, and Dan Levy, S.
Creek; Lead actress, comedy,
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish;
Supporting actress, comedy:
Alex Borstein, Mrs. Maisel;
Lead actress, limited series:
Shira Haas, Unorthodox;
Supporting actress, drama
series: Julia Garner, Ozark.
BEST DIRECTING
Seven Jewish directors are
nominated for helming TV
episodes: Lenny Abrahamson,
James Burrows, Mimi
Leder, Nicole Kassell, Matt
Shakman, Lesli Linka Glatter
and Alik Sakharov.
CREATIVE EMMIES
Many Emmy awards are given
at the separate Creative Arts
Emmy ceremonies (held on
Sept. 14-17; airs on FXX on
Sept. 19). Here are just some
of the Jewish “Creative”
nominees: Guest actress,
comedy series: Bette Midler,
The Politician, and Maya
Rudolph, SNL (for a comedy
skit in which she played Sen.
Kamala Harris) and for The
Good Place; Unstructured
Reality Show: Amy Learns
to Cook, Amy Schumer;
Hosted Non-Fiction Series:
Jerry Seinfeld, Comedians
in Cars Getting Coffee, and
Jeff Goldblum, The World
According to Jeff Goldblum;
and Outstanding Short Form
Comedy Series: Randy
Rainbow, The Randy Rainbow
Show (on YouTube).
NEW TO WATCH
Ratched is an original Netflix
series that begins streaming on
Sept. 18. It is a horrific prequel
to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’
s
Nest. It focuses on the Nurse
Ratched character in Cuckoo
(the villain). Sarah Paulson
plays Ratched. The supporting
cast includes Corey Stoll, 44,
and Sophie Okonedo, 52.
Okonedo, who got a supporting
actress Oscar nomination for
Hotel Rwanda (2005), is the
daughter of a (white) English
Jewish mother and a Black
African father. Her parents
split when she was 5 and her
mother raised her. She was
raised Jewish.
The documentary All In: The
Fight for Democracy also begins
streaming on Sept. 18 (Amazon
Prime Video). Liz Garbus, 51,
directed this film about voter
suppression. It is narrated
by African American Stacey
Abrams, a Georgia politician and
an anti-suppression movement
leader.
NATE BLOOM
COLUMNIST
RANDYRAINBOW.COM
SLGCKGC VIA WIKIPEDIA
Randy
Rainbow
Larry David
Jerry
Seinfeld
DAVID SHANKBONE VIA WIKEPEDIA
Liz Garbus,
director of All
In: The Fight for
Democracy
HENNY GARFUNKEL