Canada at the Emmys: Five things to know about Canadians at this year’s show
The fate of many of this year’s Canadian Emmy nominees has already been decided on Sunday’s big show on CTV and CBS, but there are still plenty of reasons to wave the Maple Leaf.
The Creative Arts Emmys in Los Angeles last weekend presented awards in most of the categories in which the Canucks were nominated, with filmmaker James Cameron among the earliest winners.
Here are five things to know about local talent at the 73rd Emmy Awards:
Adjustment
Sunday’s show was originally an indoor affair, but was moved outdoors in early August due to concerns about the COVID-19 Delta variant.
Small audiences will gather on the Event Deck at the LA Live entertainment complex, behind the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where the Creative Arts Emmys were held.
It’s a much nicer affair than last year’s largely virtual event, where award presenters wore tuxedo suits and handed out materials to the winners’ homes.
The stars
Canadians expected to appear on television include Dogs Reservation stars D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs and Paulina Alexis as the presenters.
Schitt Creek, who swept the comedy Emmys categories last year with seven wins, will be represented by stars Dan Levy, Eugene Levy, Annie Murphy and Catherine O’Hara.
Comedy star Seth Rogen is also scheduled to appear on the show, hosted by comedian Cedric the Entertainer.
The pretenders
Among the nominees vying for the material on Sunday was Lorne Michaels, Toronto creator of Saturday Night Live. He’s in the running for Best Writer for a Variety Series, on a team that includes Celeste Yim of Toronto.
The category also includes Montrealer Barry Julien, nominated as a member of the editorial team on CBS / Global’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
And Toronto-raised pop superstar Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, is on a team for Best Live-Action Variety Special for his Super Bowl halftime show.
The first victories
Canadians who emerged victorious last weekend include Cameron for National Geographic docuseries Secrets of the whales on Disney Plus.
The executive producer born in Kapuskasing, Ont., Was part of a team that won the award for best documentary or non-fictional series, beating nominees including Canadian filmmakers Elliott Halpern and Elizabeth Trojian of the PBS documentary American Masters What it feels like to be free.
And sound designer Craig Henighan, a graduate of the Media Arts program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont., Shared an award with the sound editing team for Netflix’s adult animated anthology series. Love, Death + Robots.
The first losses
Many Canadians lost prizes at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys.
They included Dan Levy, whose visiting guest hosted NBC’s SNL failed Dave Chappelle’s turn to host the comedy series.
Vancouver-born renovation twins Jonathan and Drew Scott of HGTV Ownership Brothers: Forever Home and ABC / CTV’s business tycoons Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec Shark aquarium lost structured reality TV category to Netflix strange eye team.
The category of best host for a reality or competition show was packed with Canadians, but they lost to RuPaul from RuPaul’s Drag Race, on Crave: including O’Leary, Herjavec and the other Sharks; Antoni Porowski of Montreal and the Fab Five hosts of Netflix strange eye, and Gail Simmons, cookbook specialist from Toronto, co-host of Food Network’s Excellent chef.
Late night host Samantha Bee, ready for a short non-fiction or reality series for Pandemic Video Diaries: Vaxxed and Waxed, lost to YouTube Uncomfortable conversations with a black man.
The work of Montreal composer Christophe Beck on Disney Plus WandaVision lost in music on netflix The Queen’s Gambit, while the best choreography for a variety or reality programming went to Dancing with the stars on the work of Toronto-raised Sergio Trujillo on NBC Christmas at Rockefeller Center.
Ontario shooting The Handmaid’s Tale, available on CTV Drama Channel / Crave, has been missed by Canadians several times, including the categories fantasy / sci-fi costume, production design, sound mixing, picture editing, casting and contemporary makeup (non-prosthetic).