Emmy Recap: Breaking Bad Wins Everything, HBO kicks themselves for not submitting True Detective as a Mini-Series

The Emmy's weren't a huge surprise this year, generally speaking. Breaking Bad won Drama Lead Actor, Drama Supporting Actress, Drama Supporting Actor, Drama Writing (for Ozymandias), and obviously Drama Series overall. True Detective managed to snag Drama Director, but that's about it.

I'm guessing it didn't take long for HBO executives to start pointing fingers about whose idea it was to submit True Detective as a Drama, not a Mini-Series. At the very least, Matthew McConaughey should've been mad he was denied his well-deserved Emmy for Rust Cohle, especially because he almost certainly won't have another chance to win with that character.

In Comedy, Louie took home Best Writing, and Modern Family generously got Best Comedy Series, Supporting Actor and Director. Julia Louis-Dreyfus received her well-deserved Emmy for Best Actress. All was well, except...

As a strange insult to every other talented person in the Best Comedy Actor category, Matt LeBlanc, Ricky Gervais, Don Cheadle, Louis f-ing C.K., and William H. Macy, Jim Parsons won, again. The man responsible for the, hands down least funny, most annoying, catch-phrase having, cringe inducing, did I say unfunny, character on television right now won. It's generally good to make an effort to separate dislike of a character from the actor portraying them (Anna Gunn for example, seems like a lovely person even though Skylar became pretty unbelievable by the end of Breaking Bad). However, in the case of Jim Parsons, I make an exception. His unbelievable greed for 90 million goddamn dollars a year cost him any benefit of the doubt he had left. I don't often say this, but I think after my experience in school plays for a few years, I could create a better character than Bazinga-man has. 

So the Emmy's were relatively, and in one case unfortunately, predictable. A disappointing side-effect of True Detective and Breaking Bad is that Game of Thrones got shut out this year. It's hard to disagree with any decision but I hate to see such a good show not recognized. It's too bad the Emmys don't have an honorable mention category. 

Also, this happened.

Any disagreements?

Netflix's "BoJack Horseman" Has Potential to be Great

In their never-ending quest to completely take over all things on-screen, the good people over at Netflix recently released another original show. It's called BoJack Horseman, and it throws a lot at you. First of all, the show is set in a world where animals are all functioning members of society, equal and completely similar to humans. As important as this sounds, it's not often a source of conflict or plot development, so I won't dwell on it. The titular character is the washed-up former star of a cheesy but successful 90s' sitcom. He's a rich, self-involved, and ultimately lonely person (well...horse, but whatever). 

The plot structure of BoJack Horseman covers some fairly familiar ground. The ideas of the washed up former celebrity, his lazy roommate who's there to relieve emotional tension, disappointed ex-wife/girlfriend who our protagonist pretends to hate but is secretly infatuated with... they're all there. 

However, what it lacks in overall originality, the show makes up for in style. There are a plethora of excellent actors that have lent their voices to the program. Will Arnett plays BoJack superbly, invoking a great range of emotions smoothly. Aaron Paul, fresh from his Breaking Bad success, has dived into a whole different genre where he also excels playing the roommate, Todd. Patton Oswalt makes frequent appearances as several characters on the show. Patton's an excellent stand-up, but more and more it seems like he was made for voice acting. The frantic desperation he lends his characters is hilarious on an H. Jon Benjamin level.

Speaking of Mr. Benjamin, it is clear from the start that the BoJack Horseman writers love Archer. The show has already shown a tendency towards effectively employing running jokes. At one point, a character is dating Andrew Garfield and he, to the amazement of only Todd, consistently displays the same characteristics of the infamous lasagna-loving, monday-hating cat. As the parallels pile up and Todd gets more and more incredulous that only he seems to notice, the joke gets better.

In that same episode, characters often refer to "Adam Levine's Halloween party" in relation to various extreme occurrences.  We're never told exactly what happened at the infamous party, but that's the point. Every time it's used in reference to an event, it become less of a descriptor and more of a joke. A joke that keeps getting funnier. 

BoJack's animation is presented in a lovely, intentionally-crude fashion. It is a refreshing departure from other animated comedies on the air today which are nice to look at, but insist on being a little too crisp. The semi-inconsistent outlines are reminiscent of Home Movies, if that means anything to anyone (if not, read this). 

In short, BoJack Horseman is an overall predictable show that is filled with talent and creativity. You might not love it, but BoJack is worth the watch. It certainly might improve with season 2, and we could be looking at a hit. Or not. I'm hoping for the former and giving it an tentative B+. 

One other thing in BoJack's favor: it has a kick ass theme song produced by The Black Keys. 

Breaking Bad Stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Julia Louis-Dreyfus Return to Star in Electric Emmy Promo

Some stars just don't have an off switch. Bryan Cranston can't seem to stop being excellent. He is back along with Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul and Veep/Seinfeld queen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in a hilarious Emmy promo skit. Cranston and Dreyfus both have already proven beyond a doubt they have consummate comedy chops, but it's a delightful surprise to see Aaron Paul play a hilarious simpleton pawn shop owner. 

Granted, Jesse had his moments in BB (the dinner scene, wow), but this short shows Paul might have a serious future in comedy. Now that Breaking Bad is over, he can do pretty much whatever he wants. An Aaron Paul sitcom could be great, or turn out to be a disaster, but either way a lot of people would certainly tune in. I'm sure more than a few writers out there are thinking about it after watching this.

Also, JLD is wonderful as always.