Review enough television and the notion of "better" or "best" begins to blur. Is "Fargo" better than "The Crown"? Who knows, and frankly, who cares? I’ve watched every episode of both series. More than once.
With that attitude, I’ve come to see events like the 72nd Emmy Awards (8 p.m. Sunday, ABC, TV-14) as decidedly pointless. It will be interesting to see how host Jimmy Kimmel "works" a room that’s been emptied by COVID restrictions. Speaking of rooms, remote cameras have been stationed in more than 140 nominees’ own homes to gauge their reaction. Kimmel has joked that it will be a "combination of the Emmy Awards and ‘Big Brother.’" I’m not sure where a red carpet fits into all this.
If Emmy nominations and other award shows are instructive at all, they offer a contrast to one’s own tastes and inclinations. Everything’s subjective. So I shouldn’t be surprised that Apple TV+’s "The Morning Show" received four nominations, including Best Actress and Actor nods for Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell, respectively. I found the show entertaining, but as a kind of trainwreck just teetering on megabomb status. Both leads, sitcom veterans, were wildly miscast as miserable and scheming talking heads caught in the middle of network machinations. Billy Crudup did rise to the occasion as the brash programming whiz, and just may win in the supporting actor category. But I can never consider "The Morning Show" the "best" anything.
Let’s look at two gems that the Emmys overlooked. For this viewer, the most remarkable character and performance of the TV season was stage actress Jane Lapotaire’s evocation of Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice, in the third season of "The Crown." She breathed life into a historical personality few people have ever heard of, a chain-smoking nun who had been hospitalized for mental illness and who still emerges as a major inspiration to her granddaughter Princess Anne (Erin Doherty). Doherty wasn’t nominated either.
I also have to point out the remarkably understated performance of Zoe Kazan, who played Elizabeth "Bess" Levin in HBO’s miniseries adaptation of Philip Roth’s "The Plot Against America." Overshadowed by her showy older sister (Winona Ryder) and frightened by her husband’s (Morgan Spector) growing radicalization, Bess becomes the quiet center of her family and the fierce protector of her boys, while, in great contrast to her hectoring husband, rarely raising her voice. Much like her character, Kazan’s performance was so good, it was almost too easy to overlook.
Neither woman will win Emmys on Sunday, because neither was nominated. But some of us are paying attention.
— The Emmys are a two-night affair. The 2020 Creative Arts Emmy Awards (8 p.m. Saturday, FXX) honors the technical genius behind the special effects and animation that make so much television possible. It also celebrates work in several nominated genres, including animation, reality and documentary programming.
— An actress who has appeared in four critically acclaimed television series — "The West Wing," "Mad Men," "Top of the Lake" and "The Handmaid’s Tale" — Elisabeth Moss has carved out an interesting career in horror films and gothic psychological dramas including recent films "Us" and "Shirley."
On Saturday, HBO debuts "The Invisible Man" (8 p.m.), a 2020 science fiction/horror movie adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic. Released in February, just before the COVID-related lockdowns, it was one of the last bona fide hits to play in theaters. Both the movie and Moss’s performance received very good reviews.
— The Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots in NFL Football (8:20 p.m. Sunday, NBC). The most successful NFL franchise of the 21st century, the Patriots attracted huge ratings from an audience that either loved or hated their quarterback, Tom Brady. Now 43 years old, Brady has joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so it remains to be seen if New England maintains its dominance or audience appeal.
— Scheduled on the 53rd season premiere of "60 Minutes" (7:30 p.m., CBS): an interview with former national security adviser Ret. Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster; voting by mail in Pennsylvania; a profile of LSU football coach Ed Orgeron.
"60 Minutes" has not been around forever. It just seems that way. To put it in some perspective, we are as far away in time from its 1968 debut as it was from the year 1915, a time when Americans flocked to silent movies starring Fatty Arbuckle, Theda Bara and Mary Pickford. It was still years before the development of popular radio programming, never mind television.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— MLB Baseball (7 p.m., Fox).
— NHL Hockey (7:30 p.m., NBC).
— College Football (7:35 p.m., ABC).
— "Animal Babies" (8 p.m., BBC America, TV-PG) looks at animals that give birth in the water.
— A woman signs a fateful deal with a famous creep in the 2020 shocker "The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate" (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-PG).
— Old flames rekindle during a struggle to save a small-town general store in the 2020 romance "Follow Me to Daisy Hills" (9 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Alan and Celia experience a seven-year itch as "Last Tango in Halifax" (8 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) returns for a fourth season.
— An executive assistant discovers that perks come with a price in "Her Deadly Sugar Daddy" (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
— A murder has occult overtones on "Van der Valk" on "Masterpiece" (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings).
— "How It Really Happened" (9 p.m., HLN) recalls the sudden, shocking death of musician Tom Petty.
— Tariq becomes overwhelmed by his mother’s legal bills on "Power Book II: Ghost" (8 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
— A fateful roadtrip on "Lovecraft Country" (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
— Richard’s bills come due on the season finale of "Love Fraud" (9 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— Catherine fights for her daughter’s safety "The Vow" (10 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
Director Spike Lee presents a musical evocation of life at an all-black university in the 1988 comedy "School Daze" (7:30 p.m. Sunday, BET, TV-14).
SATURDAY SERIES
A witness vanishes on "Magnum P.I." (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … "Love Island: More to Love" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … A vintage helping of "Saturday Night Live" (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
Picked pockets on "The Simpsons" (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … A pantry raid "Fridge Wars" (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-PG) … Julie Chen Moonves hosts "Big Brother" (8:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Moonlighting on "Bless the Harts" (8:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14).
A road trip on "Bob’s Burgers" (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … A race against time on "Supernatural" (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-14) … "Love Island" (9:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Don’t fear the reaper on "Family Guy" (9:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … Death knocks on JAG’s door on "NCIS: New Orleans" (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
