Re: Olive Kitteridge. This is a very difficult program to watch. The title character is incredibly mean. Hard to separate out the disgust of the character from the quality of the show. Bill Murray was barely in it at all. And didn’t do much. I’d say the other nominees were robbed but I haven’t seen any of them.
The wins by Allison Janney and Viola Davis are bothersome. Great actresses. Terrible shows. In particular Mom is painful to watch for even 5 minutes. I would have preferred to see Maslany, Moss, or Wright in drama. For comedy, it was a flat out weak field. Nash from that Getting On disaster? Bialik? Give me a break.
One long term problem with the Emmys is inertia: giving the same awards to the same people. Veep, while a top notch show, should have been passed over in favor or others. (And had better nominees in comedy.)
Someone suggested something like… once a show or actor has won 3 times for the same category, they get a special “lifetime super-awesomeness” plaque, and then just aren’t eligible anymore. No hurt feelings, no need to say that it’s just a feel-good award for other people. Rather, we’ve recognized that this is of superlative quality forever, the end.
One of my high school friends now has an Emmy award. Which is cool, to be sure, but also causes a reflexive worry that I’m not doing enough with my life.