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An Overview Of The 2023 Emmys Ballot

Can A Stand-Up Comedian Win In The Very Varied Variety Special Category?

This is the first half of the first page of 8 pages containing the 91 entries on the ballot for the 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards in Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).

Only two stand-ups made the cut as nominees last year (Dave Chappelle; Norm Macdonald posthumously), only to lose to Adele. Only Chappelle and Bo Burnham received nominations in 2021, losing to Hamilton. Chappelle did win in 2020 for Sticks & Stones, when the category boasted an all-comedy sweep of nominations (Hannah Gadsby, Jerry Seinfeld, Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney’s Sack Lunch Bunch special and Chappelle’s own Mark Twain Prize ceremony were the others). So what are the chances for a comedian to win Emmy for their stand-up in 2023?

Voting ends Monday, June 26, at 10 p.m. Pacific (with nominees announced July 12). Let’s look at the ballot and assess their chances!

OK, so of the 91 entries on the ballot, I counted 42 solo stand-up specials, two Mark Twain Prize ceremonies (the Kennedy Center managed to squeeze both Jon Stewart and Adam Sandler into the eligibility calendar year ending May 31), two tributes to living legends (Norman Lear’s 100th birthday, Carol Burnett’s 90th), one tribute to a dead comedian (Bob Saget) two showcases from the Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival, one sketch duo (Kate Berlant and John Early), plus another seven that could be classified as comedy-adjacent. They are:

  • Adam Sandler: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor

  • Alex Borstein: Corsets & Clown Suits

  • Andrew Schulz: Infamous

  • Atsuko Okatsuka: The Intruder

  • 2022 Back That Year Up With Kevin Hart & Kenan Thompson

  • Bert Kreischer: Razzle Dazzle

  • Bill Burr: Live At Red Rocks

  • Byron Allen Presents The Comedy And Music Superfest

  • Byron Bowers: Spiritual N***a

  • Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love

  • Chelsea Handler: Revolution

  • Chris Redd: Why Am I Like This?

  • Cristela Alonso: Middle Classy

  • The Daily Show With Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers The Midterms – America Unfollows Democracy

  • Dane Cook – Above It All

  • David A. Arnold: It Ain’t For The Weak

  • Deon Cole: Charleen’s Boy

  • Dirty Daddy: The Bob Saget Tribute

  • Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune

  • Gabriel Iglesias: Stadium Fluffy

  • Hannah Gadsby: Something Special

  • Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester

  • Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin: Ladies Night Live

  • Jena Friedman: Ladykiller

  • Jim Jefferies: High & Dry

  • Jimmy O. Yang: Guess How Much?

  • Jo Koy: Live From The Los Angeles Forum

  • John Mulaney: Baby J

  • Jon Stewart: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor

  • Kate Berlant: Cinnamon In The Wind

  • Kathleen Madigan: Hunting Bigfoot

  • The Last Last Late Late Show With James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special

  • Leanne Morgan: I’m Every Woman

  • Lil Rel Howery: I Said It. Y’all Thinking It.

  • Mae Martin: SAP

  • Marc Maron: From Bleak To Dark

  • Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me

  • Matt Rogers: Have You Heard Of Christmas?

  • Mo’Nique: My Name Is Mo’Nique

  • Mr. Saturday Night

  • Nate Bargatze: Hello World

  • Nick Kroll: Little Big Boy

  • Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth

  • Norman Lear: 100 Years Of Music & Laughter

  • Patton Oswalt: We All Scream

  • The Problem With Jon Stewart: Election Wrap-Up Special

  • Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love

  • Sebastian Maniscalco: Is It Me?

  • Sheng Wang: Sweet And Juicy

  • South Park The 25th Anniversary Concert

  • Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration

  • Tom Papa: What A Day!

  • Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would

  • Wanda Sykes: I’m An Entertainer

  • Would It Kill You To Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant & John Early

  • Yvonne Orji: A Whole Me

  • Zarna Garg: One In A Billion

Keeping in mind that awards voters gravitate toward lifting up celebrities based on name recognition and previous work over perhaps better work from comedians who should be famous, and that there are 34 other broadcast specials in the category just as likely, if not more so, to land nominations based on the same factors, I’ll just tell you whom I would lift up, if I had a Television Academy ballot to cast my votes.

I’d urge you to nominate the following for both Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) as well as for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special:

  • Atsuko Okatsuka: The Intruder

  • Jena Friedman: Ladykiller

  • Lil Rel Howery: I Said It. Y’all Thinking It.

  • Marc Maron: From Bleak To Dark

  • Nate Bargatze: Hello World

  • Sheng Wang: Sweet And Juicy

*No Chappelle this year! And of course, Chris Rock’s 2023 Netflix special will compete in the other Outstanding Variety Special category, because it was LIVE.

In Outstanding Scripted Variety Series, Emmy rules say 12 submissions only gets you three nominees, and the list already includes long-running Variety Talk winner (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) which moved into the group with last year’s nominees, A Black Lady Sketch Show and Saturday Night Live. Going to be tough for the other nine submissions to break through! But it opens up the Outstanding Talk Series category to any of the 19 submissions…

Whether or not Billy Crystal’s Mr. Saturday Night earns him an Emmy, he’s going to be feted in grand style in December as one of the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors. Mahvelous! He previously received the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007.

From Crystal: “I am overwhelmed to be part of this fantastic group of artists. I started performing when I was five years old, making my parents and family laugh. Those laughs have carried me my entire life and career. I so wish they could be at the Kennedy Center for this glorious occasion. It has been a thrilling lifetime of performing in so many different arenas and my heart is full of gratitude to the Kennedy Center, my wife Janice, my children and grandchildren, our family and friends, and all the amazing people I’ve had the pleasure to work with. And finally, of course, my wonderful fans.”

And in other awards news hot off the email presses today, Just For Laughs announced they’re giving awards this July in Montreal to Quinta Brunson for COMEDY PERSON OF THE YEAR, Bert Kreischer for STAND UP COMEDIAN OF THE YEAR, Ronny Chieng for BREAKOUT COMEDY STAR OF THE YEAR, and Mae Martin for RISING COMEDY STAR OF THE YEAR.

Carolines Goes To The National Comedy Center

https://vimeo.com/838063734

Earlier this week, Caroline Hirsch showed up in Jamestown, NY, to see what her iconic comedy club looks like now that it’s an exhibit in the National Comedy Center. Carolines ended a 40-year run, which spanned from lower Manhattan to Times Square, ended Dec. 31, 2022. Portions of Carolines on Broadway — including the stage backdrop, showroom curtains, signs, and stools — are now on display at the center.

Industry News and Notes

Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary threw a three-hour primetime party on a Sunday inside 30 Rock in February 2015. For SNL’s 50th, they’re kicking things off next summer on a Friday at neighboring Radio City Music Hall — on Peacock — to help attract viewers to NBC’s streaming platform for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Lorne Michaels told folks at Cannes Lions: “Right now, there’s a Friday event at Radio City — a kind of homecoming night. It will have musical acts and stand-ups. Throughout the show, musical things that the cast have done over 50 years will be live. It will probably be streamed because the language won’t be in control, and it will take as long as it takes…You’ll see bands that have left a mark on the show, and stand-ups that were part of it from the beginning or relatively recent. There are some documentaries being made. We’re going to be part of the French Olympics, so that will be the official start of our celebration.” 

What else is new?

  • Congrats to Anthony King and Scott Brown, who started performing a musical satire in the basement of UCB almost two decades ago, and now will get to stage Gutenberg! The Muscial! on Broadway this fall! Previews begin Sept. 15 at the James Earl Jones Theater, and it’ll star Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad (who debuted together in The Book of Mormon) as the writers hoping to launch a show about the inventor of the printing press. Alex Timbers will direct.

  • Trevor Noah has inked a deal with Spotify to host a weekly podcast, debuting later this year that will “blend his signature humor and razor-sharp wit with his global perspective to deliver a unique take on the hottest and most captivating topics of the moment.”

  • Chelsea Peretti’s feature directorial debut, First Time Female Director, debuted at Tribeca and will get distribution next year via Roku.

  • Dave Burd, aka Lil Dicky and the star of FX/Hulu’s Dave, will put out his first album in about eight years, based on tracks from the first three seasons of his TV series.

  • Related? Wolfie’s Just Fine, aka Jon Lajoie, just released his new album Everyone Is Dead Except Us. It’s his first big release in more than five years.

  • Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox have bought back their Smosh channel from the current owners, Rhett and Link’s Mythical Entertainment. They plan on relaunching with a new video next week.

  • Hulu’s animated series Solar Opposites has hired Dan Stevens to voice Korvo, replacing series creator Justin Roiland.

  • ICYMI: HBO ordered a third season of Somebody Somewhere, starring Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller, while Showtime cancelled I Love That For You after only one season, and NBC cancelled American Auto after two model years, while passing on Amber Ruffin’s Non-Evil Twin multi-cam.

  • Adult Swim has ordered Common Side Effects, from Joe Bennett and Steve Hely, and executive produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.

  • Rebel Wilson has a record deal with Warner Music. Will it sound pitch perfect?

  • Dick Clark Productions acquired the Golden Globes, which means there’s no reason for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to junket now, n’est ce pas?

  • Netflix announced the voice cast for Captain Fall, a new animated series bowing July 28 — Jason Ritter, Christopher Meloni, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Anthony Carrigan, Alejandro Edda, Adam Devine and Trond Fausa.

  • NBC cancelled The Wheel, a game show hosted by Michael McIntyre. Yeah, I wrote about it in this newsletter and forgot it existed, too.

  • Eddie Izzard announced Eddie Izzard – The Remix: The First 35 Years, visiting theaters in 28 North American cities this Fall. “In the first 35 years of my stand-up career I came up with many weird and crazy comedy stories,” Izzard said. “The ones I like the best will be in my 2023 live Remix Tour.“ Promoted by WestBeth Entertainment, tickets go on sale Friday, available at Eddie’s website.

  • Andrew Santino and Bobby Lee announced they’ve added 7 new dates on their 2023 Bad Friends tour. Tickets via Live Nation.

  • Tina Fey and Amy Poehler announced a second leg for their Restless Leg Tour this fall.

Related: After all these years, Poehler has started posting to social media. She’s on TikTok and already hip to the trends.

@amypoehler#fitcheck
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RIP Pat Cooper

https://youtu.be/4vfJdGs5Xl8

Pat Cooper would roast the hell out of me for waiting so long to mention his passing. Hell, Cooper roasted me the first time I met him, which was in 2006, when I got talked into coming down from Boston to compete in Jamie Masada’s “Funniest Reporter on the Planet” competition in 2006 at the short-lived NYC edition of the Laugh Factory, which was located in a former strip club a block north of the Port Authority terminal. Cooper was one of the judges. The late Catie Lazarus won the contest.

Cooper died earlier this month at his home in Las Vegas. He was 93.

As Ryan Stiles mentioned in introducing him on the clip above, Cooper became famous performing and arguing on TV for Ed Sullivan, and three decades later kept it up on Howard Stern’s radio show. His humor and feistiness made him a popular talk-show guest for many hosts over the years.

Born Pasquale Caputo in Brooklyn, Cooper was a high-profile Italian American comedian generations before Sebastian Maniscalco. Cooper appeared onscreen with Robert De Niro in both Analyze This and Analyze That, and Seinfeld fans would know him best for playing himself in the Friars Club episode.

Because of course, Cooper was known in comedy circles for being the closer on many a Friars Club roast.

Who’s gonna follow him now? Rest in peace, Pat.

Worth Reading Elsewhere

Last Week’s Specials

New on HBO and Max

New on Netflix

New on Fox Nation

  • Rob Schneider: Woke Up In America (my review)

New on Patreon

New on Dry Bar

New on YouTube

Also Mark Normand re-released Matt Ruby’s Substances on his channel.

THIS WEEK: 16

LAST WEEK: 17

THIS MONTH (JUNE): 25+16=41

RUNNING TOTAL for 2023: 336+16=352

New Specials Filming

The Crossroads club in Garwood, NJ, is in the middle of filming 12 more new specials for 2023 as part of its Crossroads Comedy Fest. They filmed a half-dozen this week (Corey Rodrigues, Dan Naturman, Cory Kahaney, Tommy Tiernan, Wendy Liebman, Brian Scolaro), and will do a half-dozen more (Raanan Hershberg, Rocky LaPorte, Tom Cotter, Tony V, Christine Hurley, Gregg Rogell) this coming Monday-Wednesday. Tickets available via Eventbrite.

And in July, the folks at GaS Digital will film six half-hours this coming July 10-12 at The Cutting Room in Manhattan. Lineup includes main GaS guys and Legion of Skanks Luis J. Gomez and Dave Smith, plus Kurt Metzger, Jordan Jensen, Rich Vos, and Colum Tyrrell. Tickets through Merch Engine.

Fun Things To Do In NYC

This weekend’s show I plugged in The New York Times: Gina Yashere headlines this Saturday at The Bell House in what stands to be a Pride-full weekend at the Brooklyn venue.

Also around the city this weekend…

Alex Edelman’s Broadway run of “Just For Us” kicks off tonight!

Tonight at Ars Nova for ANT Fest: Soojeong Son does a clown show about…cum? What else could follow that but Showgasm, hosted by George Civeris.

Also tonight at QED in Astoria, it’s Catbaret (kitty-themed comedy, music and burlesque); Emily Walsh previews her Edinburgh Fringe show, “Dad Girl,” on Sunday.

Marcello Arguella is visiting from Los Angeles, Saturday at Union Hall.

Carmen Lynch is taping her new special Monday at the Comedy Cellar.

Puddles Pity Party, plus Dave Hill, Monday at City Winery.

Cat Cohen’s new show is running at Joe’s Pub with opener Ikechukwu Ufomadu through July 20 but many shows have sold out already. Get limited tickets before they’re all gone.

Would you like to promote your comedy show or album or special or whatnot on this newsletter???

Please let me know and we can work out the details.

Thanks for reading!

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