My Picks For This Year’s Emmy Nominations: TV Movie/Limited Series

Edgar Ramirez, The Assassination of Gianni Versace

In some ways, much like in the first season of Crime Story, the title character ended up playing second fiddle to far more brilliant suns. But its hard to imagine the series working as well as it did without Ramirez to anchor it. As he played an iconic fashion designer, struggling with his relationship, deal with being HIV positive, trying to find a way for his sister to find her muse, and slowly climb himself back to life all the while knowing that he would face a horrible demise, Ramirez managed to hit all the right notes as this man who was born too early and died too soon. It’s hard to imagine the rest of the leads won’t get nominated, but Ramirez earned it.

My Picks For This Years Emmy Nods: Limited Series – David B Morris – Medium

The Assassination of Gianni Versace (FX)

Okay, it wasn’t at the level of People Vs. O.J. Simpson. But the second season of American Crime Story did have some of the more memorable performances of the year. And by operating in reverse chronology, we got to see a lot clearer what drove Andrew Cunanan to become the monster he was — something we never saw for O.J. Simpson. The series took on the issue of homosexuality in a far darker and more realistic way than we’ve come to expect from Ryan Murphy and company, and in its own way, it was as relevant as Simpson was in 2016. We still had a harder time looking at the title victim, but considering how closely we viewed all the other victims — including Cunanan himself — it was hardly lacking. The odds on favorite to win this year.

My Picks For This Years Emmy Nods: Limited Series – David B Morris – Medium

My Picks For This Years Emmys, Outstanding Limited Series Awards

Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace

One of the most dominant and fascinating performances for the entire year, Criss did something that even the greatest television has rarely been able to do: put you in the mind of a psychopath. The reverse unfolding of the series showed us just how Andrew Cunanan went from a gay rent-boy to a serial killer. He never quite earned our sympathy — he was just too deranged a personality to accomplish that — but through Criss’ portrayal we saw that in many ways, Cunanan was as broken and damaged as the victims he killed. The fact that Criss managed to do all this while making us forget the memorable portrayal of Blaine in Murphy’s Glee demonstrated just how great a talent he is. Probably the front-runner for the Emmy.

My Picks For This Years Emmys, Outstanding Limited Series Awards