Rian Johnson and More Film Directors Helming Emmy-Contending TV Shows

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “Law & Order” fans, you have Rob Lowe to thank for the entire franchise. As does Dick Wolf’s bank account. At least, Lowe says with his tongue a bit in cheek (but also with some accuracy). As the star of Fox’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” and Netflix’s “Unstable” recently told Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Lowe starred in Wolf’s 1988 feature flop “Masquerade.” It was just the kind of movie disappointment that would have sent Wolf back to TV — and two years later, “Law & Order” premiered. “I remember him saying to me how frustrated he was in the movie business, that he was going to write a pilot,” Lowe said. “And he wrote ‘Law and Order.’ And the rest is history. You’re welcome. Yeah, I’m happy to provide the bomb that powers your rise to dominance.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Most of this year’s limited or anthology series Emmy frontrunners had several choices on where to compete. “Dahmer: Monster — The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is part of a new “Monster” anthology series, but it could have gone drama. “Beef” might have found a home in drama or comedy, but landed in limited (same goes for “Mrs. Davis”). All of these series have a trailblazer to thank for the flexibility that comes with the limited/anthology category: HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon.” It’s been 25 years since that landmark miniseries was an Emmy contender — and it’s remarkable to look back at what a controversial decision it was at the time to even call it a “miniseries.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Tyler James Williams has experienced several different kinds of fandom since childhood, starting with films like “Unaccompanied Minors,” and then his starring role in “Everybody Hates Chris,” and even a stint on “The Walking Dead.” But there’s nothing that compares to the passionate audience of teachers who have gravitated his latest series, ABC’s hit comedy “Abbott Elementary.” On this episode, Williams talks about the show’s resonance, his experience as a child actor, where his character’s relationship with Quinta Brunson’s character might be heading and so much more. Listen below! “It’s such a blessing that they feel so represented by it,” Williams tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit podcast. “Now I feel like, if there’s a teacher within ten blocks of me, I’m going to know about it. They’re going to say something. I didn’t realize how much this show resonated with them until going back out into the world. And seeing how willing they are to give all of the love towards us. It’s really been one of the more beautiful experiences of my career.”

“As children, we fear the dark. Anything might be out there. The unknown troubles us. There are those who say we should not inquire too closely into who else might be living in that darkness.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Netflix’s controversial reality competition show based on its smash South Korean drama “Squid Game” will finally debut in November, and the streamer offered up a very brief glimpse of reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge” on Saturday during its global, virtual Tudum fan event from Brazil. “The world’s most notorious game becomes reality,” the teaser clip says, before showing contestants exiting their rooms and heading to the game of “Red Light Green Light” — featuring the giant, killer doll that in the scripted “Squid Game” swivels its head around and fires gunshots to eliminate players who were moving. The unscripted game show, which was first announced in June 2022, was shot across two studios in the U.K. and produced by Studio Lambert and The Garden. Like the series, 456 contestants were cast (in this case, from around the world) to compete in various challenges based on the Korean children’s games featured on the show, as well as new games. The winner receives a $4.56 million cash prize.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer At long last, Netflix has revealed the first footage of its highly anticipated sci-fi epic from “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — their first large-scale project at the streamer since signing a mega overall deal in 2019 — and Alexander Woo. Based on the book series by Cixin Liu, the eight-episode drama, which recently wrapped production, will launch in January 2024. Per Netflix’s logline for the sci-fi series, “A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before their eyes, five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”

Hunter Ingram The Emmy race has never been more crowded for those working behind the camera on TV’s most acclaimed series. While these directors below have never won Emmys, their work on this year’s juggernaut dramas, side-splitting comedies and affecting limited series could change that come September. Hikari The titular “Beef” between Amy (Ali Wong) and Danny (Steven Yeun) in Netflix’s hit limited series wouldn’t be as raw if not for Hikari’s direction in the pilot episode. Relatively unknown to many audiences, Hikari’s shorts and feature have played film festivals like Berlin and Tribeca and she’s helmed episodes of Max’s “Tokyo Vice.” But “Beef” serves as an undeniable pronouncement of what’s to come.

This story about Andy Serkis and “Andor” first ran in the drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Andy Serkis was already a part of “Star Wars.”Thanks to the magic of performance capture, the actor starred as Snoke, the gnarled heir apparent to the evil Galactic Emperor, in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” So it was a surprise when Serkis, in human form, popped up in “Andor,” Tony Gilroy’s live-action prequel series to 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”Serkis plays Kino Loy, an inmate in an Imperial prison that is also holding Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor. Loy is a gruff enforcer who is slowly radicalized by Andor and his escape plan.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large We still don’t know when the Daytime Emmys will take place — the kudocast was delayed this month in the wake of the WGA writers strike — but when it does, we do know that daytime icons Susan Lucci and Maury Povich will be honored. Lucci, who famously spent years waiting to finally win a Daytime Emmy (for her long-time starring role on “All My Children”) and talk show host Povich, who recently hung up the microphone after years of paternity test reveals, will receive the lifetime achievement award at the 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. The New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which administers the Daytime Emmys, announced the honors on Friday.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Emmys have been here before. In 1980, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (back then, they were two separate unions negotiating a joint contract with the studios but are now the combined SAG-AFTRA) went on strike for three months. That year’s Emmy telecast happened to fall right in the middle of it. Actors boycotted the ceremony, but for some reason, the TV Academy went ahead with the Emmy telecast anyway. Famously, only one out of 52 nominees attended: Powers Boothe, who said when accepting his trophy for playing cult leader Jim Jones: “This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the stupidest.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large I bring all this up not just to boast, but also to note that one of the categories in which I was nominated was for “feature under 1,000 words,” for a piece I did giving a behind-the-scenes account of how Netflix revived the comedy “Girls5eva” after it was canceled by Peacock. It was a fun piece to report, and I got to tell a quick, first-hand account of how things all went down. But it wasn’t a sweeping, long piece of magazine journalism, and so it rightfully shouldn’t be compared to a 3,500-word opus. (Those go in another category.)

Sometimes actors won’t always reap the benefits of a career highlight.

Editor’s note: The interviews conducted in this podcast were recorded at Deadline’s Contenders TV event, prior to the WGA’s strike starting on May 2.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large When I arrived in Los Angeles and first started covering television, it was summer 1996. I was a young 22-year-old kid suddenly thrust into reporting at events like the Television Critics Association press tour, where nearly everyone else around me was a crusty newspaper journo twice my age. (And lying to network execs by telling them I was 25 — apparently, I thought that made me sound seasoned?) That first TCA was a boot camp in learning how new TV shows are launched, and I still vividly remember that freshman crop of fall 1996 series. In those hopeful months before September premieres, anyone has the chance to break out and go the distance. One of those sitcoms was ABC’s “Life’s Work,” starring a promising, brash, hysterical comic named, you guessed it, Lisa Ann Walter. She had already starred in a short-lived comedy for Fox, a midseason entry that didn’t get much attention. But this was the one that was going to be a hit, inspired heavily by her own routine as the working mother aiming to “have it all.”

Emily Longeretta Thirty years after “Cheers” came to an end, the cast and creatives got back together on Friday night, courtesy of the ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas. The reunion panel, hosted by Variety‘s Michael Schneider, included co-creators James Burrows, Les Charles and Glen Charles and actors Ted Danson, George Wendt and John Ratzenberger. During the conversation, the iconic creators reflected on the making of the show and the cast opened up about how they joined the series and how it’s affected their lives over the years. “Teddy and Shelly auditioned together and they had chemistry that only makes writing better,” Burrows said of casting Danson and Shelley Long, who portrayed Diane Chambers, Sam’s love interest for five seasons.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Ch-ch-check it out: Hulu’s gotta fight… for the right… to part–ake in some Emmy FYC campaigning. The streamer hopes it has a sure shot at nominations for “Only Murders in the Building,” which is why it has partnered with Yeastie Boys to give out what’cha what’cha want (what’cha want): free food. “Only Murders in the Building”-themed bagel sandwiches will be passed out by Yeastie Boys this weekend and next, prior to the start of Emmy voting on June 15. Of course, it’s only while supplies last, so no sleep till Brooklyn. Here’s why Hulu says it went with bagels for this FYC stunt: “The series takes place in a typical New York apartment building and we wanted to celebrate New Yorkers’ favorite breakfast meal.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The official 2022-2023 TV season ended on May 24, according to Nielsen and as you may have seen via my annual TV series rankers (which I posted on Monday), we’ve got the wrap on this year’s winners and losers in the good ol’ fashioned linear TV world. Football, “Yellowstone” and procedurals, oh my! But we’re not living in a good ol’ fashioned linear TV world anymore. Television didn’t grind to a halt on May 24, and the Memorial Day weekend gauntlet of finales and premieres (!) was a fine reminder that TV no longer plays by the rules of a Nielsen calendar. Three of the biggest on-screen events of the year all took place on Sunday night: The series finales of HBO’s “Succession” and “Barry,” as well as the mind-blowing Season 2 ender for “Yellowjackets,” which hit Showtime’s linear channel that same evening.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The simultaneous demise of both Twitter and The CW as we knew it reminds me, however, of one of my favorite industry Tweets of all time. On July 19, 2012, a sharp CW social media staffer posted this: “#Emmy nomination day! Or as we call it, Thursday.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large These are indeed the waning days of the scripted basic cable juggernaut. That may be a strange thing to point out when once again, the most-watched entertainment show of the just-completed 2022-2023 TV season was “Yellowstone,” the modern western that airs on Paramount Network. But “Yellowstone” is wrapping up sometime in the next year, and the only other scripted series from a basic cabler to consistently be ranked among TV’s top shows, AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” has already ended its run. “The Walking Dead,” of course, dominated the season-ender charts for years — even beating football in the 2014-2015 TV season with a whopping 13.2 rating among adults 18-49. But as basic cable is almost completely out of the original scripted series business now (unscripted hits like “Vanderpump Rules” still abound, of course), those brief halcyon days are coming to an end.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large And of course, at the top of that list is star Bob Odenkirk, who turned what began as a guest spot on “Breaking Bad” into one of the most iconic characters in TV history. Last year we finally got an Emmy nomination for Rhea Seehorn, and the show overall has landed 46 noms over the years. But that’s not enough.