The Emmys celebrate television’s best Cover Story

By Francis Babin TV Media

Fall is nearly here, and that means it’s time for cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice everything and the new prime-time television season. After a summer of repeats, it’s finally time for our returning favorites and a new crop of aspiring series.

With both new and old shows vying for our attention, we set aside an evening to look back at the past year and celebrate television’s outstanding achievements. See the stars, relive the best moments and have a good time with the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, airing Monday, Sept. 17, on NBC.

This marks the first time in four years that the peacock network will broadcast the event, and it looks to showcase its bright, young talent with “Saturday Night Live”

Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost as MCs for the ceremony. Following Stephen Colbert’s (“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”) tremendous performance from last year will be no easy feat, but despite the pressure, the pair is ready to tear down the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Che and Jost discussed how the Emmys will be a nice change of pace from the constant political topics they cover on Weekend Update. “The exciting part is to do things about television and that particular awards ceremony and make it, in general, less political than normal,” Jost said. “There’s a lot to celebrate in television right now. It’s a very strong time.”

Jost is spot on — we’re currently in a new golden age of television. When the nominations were announced by Ryan Eggold (“The Blacklist”) and Samira Wiley (“Orange Is the New Black”) back in July, this was made very clear. The usual complaints followed the announcements, but they quickly dissipated. Instead of focusing on the snubs, people turned their attention to the many sur- marks the first time in its nine-year run that the ABC hit “Modern Family” wasn’t nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series — a nod the single-camera comedy has consistently secured since 2009. History was made when Sandra Oh became the first Asian actress nominated for Best Actress in a Drama for her excellent performance in “Killing Eve,” while Jessica Biel (“The Sinner”), Matt Smith (“The Crown”) and Nikolaj CosterWaldau (“Game of Thrones”) all received nominations for the first time.

“Game of Thrones” leads the pack with an impressive 22 nominations, followed closely by its HBO counterpart “Westworld” with 21. The legendary “Saturday Night Live” also raked in 21 nods. Not far behind is Hulu heavyweight “The Handmaid’s Tale” and FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” with 20 and 18 nominations, respectively, with the latter looking to take home the Outstanding Limited Se-

Without the perennial “Modern Family” and last year’s winner, the running, the Outstanding Comedy Series award is up for grabs. With the exception of FX’s “Atlanta” and ABC’s “Black-ish,” broadcast networks and basic cable were virtually shut out

Colin Jost and Michael Che are set to host the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

Match of the Month

Kinship Partners Inc.

Madison and Memphis have faced some struggles in their young lives but they were fortunate enough to have been taken in by their grandparents.

Madison, 9 and Memphis, who is 7 have been blessed to have wonderful grandparents who have provided love and support at a very important time in their lives. However, when their grandfather became ill it became clear that additional support would be welcome and Kinship Partners was able to provide mentors for the siblings.

Bruce and Pam Cunningham saw the need and decided they would each become a mentor. They have been a real blessing to Memphis and Madison, and when their grandfather passed away, Bruce and Pam were able to take the kids for a couple of days to provide some relief for their grandmother.

Congratulations Bruce, Memphis, Pam, and Madison on your Match of the Month! These four have had a lot of fun and both families would say this has been a match that all of them have enjoyed.

Late Laughs

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon (repeat)

in favor of premium and streaming series. Newcomer “Barry” is up against HBO stablemates “Silicon Valley” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” while Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Netflix’s “GLOW” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” round out the nominees.

It’s not all bad news for broadcast, however, with NBC garnering a respectable 78 nominations. Streaming services are well represented at this year’s ceremony, with Netflix reaping the most noms of any streamer with a whopping 112. Hulu, with 27, and Amazon, with 22, though far behind, nevertheless saw an increase from last year and have nominations in the most important categories.

On the drama side, FX’s “The Americans” finally received some love from the academy for its sixth and final season. The ‘80s-set Cold War series faces off against a couple of Netflix period pieces in “The Crown” and “Stranger Things.” The trio, along with fellow nominees “Game of Thrones, “ “This Is Us” and “Westworld,” will try to prevent “The Handmaid’s Tale” from repeating as Outstanding Drama Series.

The Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series is dominated with returning nominees in Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”), TV veteran Ted Danson (“The Good Place”), Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Donald Glover (“Atlanta”) and William H. Macy (“Shameless”). Bill Hader (“Barry”) is the lone rookie in the field of comedic giants.

Who will emerge victorious as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is anyone’s guess. The heated race is once again up in the air between Claire Foy (“The Crown”), Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”), Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”), Keri Russell (“The Americans”), Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”) and last year’s winner, Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).

Banks are starting to offer services through virtual assistants like Amazon Echo, which backfires when you ask Alexa for your account balance and she just starts laughing.

I heard about a man here in New York who dresses up like a sorcerer, goes up to people on the subway and grants them wishes. And this is interesting, it turns out people’s No. 1 wish is for him to leave them alone.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (repeat)

The story of the week has been Trump’s pro-baby-snatching agenda, and today it took another weird turn — because to try to humanize these child detention centers, the administration sent their most high-profile detainee, Melania Trump.

This is what first ladies often do: go to a troubled area, see the children, show that we care. You can’t mess that up. Guess what? I spoke too soon. Today, on her way to show that she cares, Melania wore a jacket that says, “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” That’s what they settled on? What was her first choice, a jacket that says, “Womp, Womp”?

The Late Late Show With James Corden (repeat)

Here in the United Kingdom, officials are looking at the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana. When asked about it this week, Prime Minister Theresa May said that she had never smoked cannabis in her life. I believe her! You know why? Because she calls it cannabis.

As the World Cup continues, a report just came out that football fans in Russia have been drinking so much that bars and restaurants are completely running out of beer. See, this is what happens when England wins one game.

Be a Friend. Be a Mentor.

Why not start your own friendship journey?

For more information about Kinship Partners, please call (218)-829-4606 or visit our website at www.kinshippartners.org

Will Sterling K. Brown win backto-back gold statues for NBC powerhouse “This Is Us”? Will Allison Janney (“Mom”) make 2018 a year to remember by adding an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series next to her Academy Award for her memorable performance in “I, Tonya” (2017)? Have a laugh with Che and Jost and see how it all plays out with the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, airing Monday, Sept. 17, on NBC.