The nominations have been announced for The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. So now, it's time to speculate on who will and should win in each major category. Next up for analysis is Unstructured Reality Program.The Nominees Ranked By Which Should Win:
- Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil
- VH1's RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
- CNN's United Shades of America
- A&E's Born This Way
- Discovery's Deadliest Catch
- National Geographic's Life Below Zero
Uplifting stories can provide such comfort food viewing at this precise moment in time. Sure, it is important to stay informed and be painfully aware of the true dysfunction of the world at large. That is certainly represented in this category with the work W. Kamau Bell is doing with his CNN series. And yet, it's just a joy to watch Philip Rosenthal travel the world and form connections with people as they enjoy food together. It's such a nice version of the food traveler format as well. It is solidly executed while providing so much charm. The other nominees in this category do a strong job in extending the overall brand value of their network homes as well. Untucked is a proud extension of the competition portion of RuPaul's Drag Race. And A&E, Discovery and National Geographic can point to these three shows as the pinnacle of what they are trying to do with their own nonfiction programming. These nominees are so different from one another. But they each provide entertainment in a unique and solidifying way.
The Nominees Ranked by Which Will Win:
- CNN's United Shades of America
- A&E's Born This Way
- Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil
- VH1's RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
- Discovery's Deadliest Catch
- National Geographic's Life Below Zero
Deadliest Catch is a three-time winner in this category. United Shades of America has prevailed for the last two years. Born This Way has also emerged victorious once. In fact, an argument could be made for almost any of these shows actually winning. That makes this a very unpredictable race. It may not be an easy bet on the reigning champion either. United Shades of America still does important and in-depth work. However, RuPaul's Drag Race continues to surge in popularity amongst the Emmy voters. The main show has already won for Outstanding Competition Program. As such, it's easy to suspect that Untucked could follow up as a winner itself. Meanwhile, Somebody Feed Phil could collect the boost that comes from airing on Netflix with the voters taking more and more notice of the streamer's wide array of programming each year. And finally, it's stunning that this is the first nomination for Life Below Zero in this category. Both it and Deadliest Catch win technical Emmys every year. Deadliest Catch is a perennial favorite here but Life Below Zero hasn't been. That changes now and could possibly signal some momentum on its behalf as well.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below!
