PGA Awards Nominations for TV Bolster ‘Cobra Kai,’ ‘The Morning Show,’ and ‘Yellowstone’
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced nominations in the Television categories for this year’s Producers Guild Awards, the final — alongside the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards, also announced on Thursday — major organization to share its nominations during TV’s winter awards season.
The shows celebrated for the work of their producers is another interesting combination of mainstay contenders and up-and-comers and over the past few weeks it’s been increasingly clear which series are on the rise and which could use a boost as Emmy season looms in the (far) distant future.
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Among shows on the upswing is Netflix’s comedy series “Cobra Kai,” a continuation of the events that took place during the original “The Karate Kid” movies. The series has been something of a rags to riches story, with its first two seasons streaming on YouTube Red and production on Season 3 completed when the aforementioned subscription service opted to stop producing scripted programming. At that point, Netflix welcomed the series with open arms and the rest, as they say, is history.
Reception for the series has been so positive, in fact, it scored a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series last year.
Also getting a bump from the nominations is Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” which has been popping up with increasing consistency throughout this leg of the TV awards season. Getting noticed by the PGA is of particular note for the series, which did not score the same recognition for its first season. Season 2 has been a different story with the show also nabbing nominations at the Writers Guild Awards and the Screen Actors Guild as well.
Speaking of a series largely overlooked in prior seasons, Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” is slowly but surely winning over the industry. It scored a PGA Awards nomination to accompany its SAG nomination earned earlier this month, which feels like slow and steady progress for the drama series which has seen exponential growth in its ratings through its fourth season, but has yet to see that regard transfer to awards accolades.
But for as happy as today’s nominations made the above shows, there are plenty more feeling the sting of being overlooked.
CURTIS BONDS BAKER/NETFLIX
Despite a healthy obsession by its fan base — which includes a fair number of TV critics — Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” has seen only a burble of awards chatter, stemming primarily from its two WGA nominations and two Critics Choice Award nominations. That’s not to say that the series can’t or won’t be able to ratchet up the buzz in the coming months, but a PGA Awards nomination sure would have been nice.
The same goes for HBO Max’s “Station Eleven,” which saw a lot of critical love, but not as much chatter (or awards love). It’s possible the limited series got swallowed by the holiday season or avoided by an audience spooked at the thought of watching a pandemic-sparked post-apocalyptic tale. Either way, the PGA’s nominations serve as a miss where the show really could have used a hit.
But new series weren’t the only shows to be left out in the cold by the PGA decisions. Several series that had previously earned the organization’s favor were overlooked when nominations were announced, including Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.” Both shows earned PGA’s accolades last year, but couldn’t repeat the feat this year.
Regardless, all of the cards are now on the table and all that’s left is the actual awarding. As for the good people of the PGA, the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
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