Steel yourselves, TV fans: The flood of shows striving for last-minute Emmy nomination consideration premiere this week to get the bulk of their episodes released before the Emmy eligibility period closes at the end of May.
‘The Boys’
In its bleak-but-funny final season, now streaming its first two episodes, Amazon’s Prime Video superhero satire “The Boys” feels more relevant than ever.
Homelander (Antony Starr) has turned America into a fascist state with dissidents rounded up and interred in “Freedom Camps.”
“Ongoing conflict is useful to us,” says Sister Sage, played by 2005 Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama grad Susan Heyward. “It keeps people afraid.”
In a March virtual interview, Heyward smiled when she heard that bit of dialogue referenced.
“I jumped up for joy and clapped that I got to say it,” Heyward said. “(Showrunner) Eric (Kripke) and the writers are so passionate about holding up a mirror to nature, even if it is a warped, bloody mirror. And it’s true, and I really take it to heart that I have an opportunity to say it out loud. … And I hope that the audience can sit up. I hope it hits them right in the spine, and gives them an awareness that, yeah, there are so many people out there, so many institutions who are trying to get inside your mind, trying to get inside your peace, especially.”
Heyward acknowledged that while it would be almost impossible for any acting program to prepare an actor for some of the outrageous occurrences that have happened over five seasons of “The Boys,” CMU did help shape her into the actress she is today.
“Nothing can fully prepare you for this universe at all,” Heyward said. “But my time at Carnegie Mellon gave me technique. It gave me grounding. It gave me exposure to different acting techniques that I never would have heard of without their investment. It gave me teachers and relationships that I depend on to this day. My time at Carnegie Mellon was essential to the person and the performer I’ve become.”
New episodes of “The Boys” will continue to stream Wednesdays through the May 20 series finale.
‘The Audacity’
Consider “The Audacity” Hollywood’s revenge against Big Tech, the Netflixes and Apples and Amazons that disrupted and broke the entertainment industry.
Premiering Sunday at 10 p.m. on AMC and AMC , “The Audacity” is a comedic soap about ill-behaved Silicon Valley denizens, insecure CEOs and the people who hate them.
Data-mining company CEO Duncan Park (Billy Magnussen) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown when a business deal falls apart.
Duncan takes his worries to paranoid psychologist JoAnne (Sarah Goldberg) who dumps stock in his tech company after Duncan confides in her that the stock is about to tank. While seeing another client (Zach Galifinakis), JoAnne researches gun types instead of paying attention to her client.
Then there’s Duncan’s wife (Lucy Punch), who’s preoccupied with their daughter’s weight and getting her diagnosed with ADHD to help with the college admissions process along with a $3 million to $4 million donation to Stanford’s endowment fund to grease the skids (“Anything more starts to look like a bribe,” per an admissions consultant).
“The Audacity” brings to mind “Succession” — “Audacity” creator Jonathan Glatzer wrote on “Succession” and “Better Call Saul” — because both shows feature characters that are deeply flawed in the most darkly humorous ways possible. Already renewed for a second season, “The Audacity” is a show to keep an eye on.
‘Big Mistakes’
Dan Levy co-created and stars in Netflix comedy series “Big Mistakes,” and once again his character has an eccentric family and a wacky sister in tow, which will be a familiar setup for fans of Levy’s “Schitt’s Creek.” Levy is pretty clearly playing to his and his audience’s comfort zone while still trying to create something different enough to pass muster.
Now streaming its eight-episode first season, “Big Mistakes” follows gay Protestant pastor Nicky (Levy) and his wild child sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega), who find themselves in over their heads after Morgan steals a piece of jewelry for their dying grandmother, which inadvertently gets them caught up in a world of organized crime. Laurie Metcalf (“The Conners”) plays their demanding mother.
Fast-paced with escalating stakes, “Big Mistakes” is another half-hour comedic thriller in the same style as Netflix’s “Dead to Me” and “Good Girls.”
Renewed
Fox renewed Patrick Dempsey’s “Memory of a Killer” for a second season.
Paramount will bring back “Canada Shore” for a second season.
Channel surfing
Retired KDKA-TV reporter Harold Hayes will be the first speaker in a new series, “In Greater Context: Media, Messaging and the Mon Valley,” at 3:30 p.m. April 13 in the Ostermayer Room of the Student Community Center at Penn State Greater Allegheny, 4000 University Drive in McKeesport. The event is free and open to the public. … “The Pitt” star Katherine LaNasa (aka nurse Dana Evans) will have a recurring role in Hulu’s limited series “Count My Lies” as the mother of a compulsive liar (Shailene Woodley) who fibs her way into a nanny position for parents played by Lindsay Lohan and Kit Harrington. LaNasa will likely film this role before she returns to work on Season 3 of “The Pitt,” which begins production this summer. … Netflix announced a two-part Lego “One Piece” animated special, “Capt. Usopp the Brave & the Straw Hats,” streaming Sept. 29.