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77th Emmy Awards

Just like last year, I've managed to watch at least one episode of every show nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, including the specific episodes nominated in the writing and directing categories (but not counting the reality/variety categories). Once again I don't have enough time left before the ceremony tonight to write up my opinions of each show, but here are my rankings in each category from most to least favorite. (These are not predictions, just how I would fill out my ballot if I were in the Television Academy.) I've indicated how many episodes I've watched of each show; for the ones with no indication, I watched the full season. (For multiple-season shows that were new to me, I watched the pilot episode first. In the case of Somebody Somewhere, I watched the first and last episodes of the series, since the finale was nominated for Outstanding Writing, so it felt like I was on Alan Sepinwall's Too Long; Didn't Watch podcast!)

Outstanding Comedy Series

The Bear (FX)
The Studio (Apple TV+) - 5 episodes
Hacks (HBO Max) - 4 episodes
Abbott Elementary (ABC) - 8 episodes
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Shrinking (Apple TV+)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX) - 2 episodes

While none of these shows were home runs (and not the best season for any of the returning shows), they were all worth watching, and it's honestly hard to rank them.

Outstanding Drama Series

Andor (Disney+)
Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Severance (Apple TV+)
The Pitt (HBO Max) - 4 episodes
The White Lotus (HBO)
The Diplomat (Netflix) - 1 episode
Paradise (Hulu) - 2 episodes
The Last of Us (HBO) - 1 episode

While I ranked Severance over Andor in my best TV of 2022 list, it was a very close call. After their second seasons, though, I'm ready to call Andor the clear winner, and the clear leader for best show of the decade. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like it's going to win, but you should all watch it! Even if you hate Star Wars!

Everyone says episode 7 of Paradise is the one to watch, but I haven't gotten there yet. Looking forward to it, but from what I hear, the rest of the season is unlikely to change my rating. And I think the same goes for episode 2 of The Last of Us, but I already was lukewarm on season 1 (ranking 49th in my best TV of 2023 list), so you shouldn't be too surprised to see it ranked last here.

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

The Penguin (HBO)
Adolescence (Netflix)
Black Mirror (Netflix) - 2 episodes
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)
Dying for Sex (FX) - 6 episodes

All worthy shows, and while Dying for Sex didn't totally land for me, I can see its appeal for many others. I was skeptical about Monsters but after episode 5 I understood why it was nominated, and it's worth watching the show just to see how it gets to that. I regret not getting around to the other Black Mirror episodes, but the first two felt a little lower than average compared to past seasons.

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September, still

The other day, I saw something cute and reposted it on Mastodon:

Overheard, and for Internet old-timers: "Today is the 11,691st day of September 1993".

Someone responded to tell me that Debian has the sdate command "which keeps track for all of us".

I laughed. And then I found that there are also online calculators, for people who don't use Debian.

I am amused, even if -- or perhaps because -- those of us who remember the September that never ended are now a very small minority of the online population. Back then people were frustrated; today it's quirky history. Whatever your online community is -- Usenet, mailing lists, Twitter, Reddit, Dreamwidth, Stack Overflow, whatever -- it's going to change just from the people using it, let alone technology and companies. Don't get too comfortable.

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money

strange credit-card pitch

I've had my Visa card for a very long time (decades). I've been happy with the provider, and the few times I needed the weight of Visa behind a dispute, they came through. No fuss, just like I want a credit card to be.

A few months ago they started sending me email to invite me to add another authorized user to my card, suggesting it as a safety net (so if something happens to me, someone else can administer my account). Maybe that appeals to someone, but I'm not interested so I ignored it. More recently they have been offering minor inducements (a one-time small credit) to do this, and that makes me wonder what their real goal is.

If this is merely a service they offer for peace of mind, the peace of mind is the inducement and nothing else is needed. That they are trying to entice people to do it means there's some other motivation that benefits them more directly. I'm assuming this is not a way to add your minor children so they can more easily make in-app purchases or whatever the kids are doing these days -- and anyway, unless they're giving you a way to throttle spending from other users, that would be a very bad idea.

The only thing I can come up with is that this is a way for people with bad credit scores to get access to credit cards. They aren't going to issue cards to such folks directly, but if they can get you to add your deadbeat cousin with a terrible credit rating (to "help" your family member), then the credit-card company gets more transactions and thus more transaction fees at very low risk to them. They know an existing customer who'd like to keep a good credit rating is on the hook for the charges; they're going to get paid. This might be in Visa's interest, but how is it in mine? It's not, which is presumably why they're trying to buy folks off.

Have I missed some benign reason for them to push this scheme?

(Still not doing it, but curious.)

Current Mood: sick

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Vid Con

Following up on the last post, Inbox Zero has been working well. I cleared out my main inbox back to about mid 2019, which appears to be the time that I arbitrarily marked everything in my inbox as read. When I started I had over twenty thousand unread conversations, and I finished with a Trash folder containing over twenty-seven thousand items. I'm now undertaking the same process on my real-name account, and it's going well.

And it's been a pretty good low-effort project to work on while dealing with my first case of COVID-19.

Last Thursday night (August 28), I was feeling unusually antsy regarding my sinuses so I decided to take a COVID test to put my mind at ease. It did not do that. Instead, I woke up Psyche and we figured out how we were going to deal with isolation. I logged into work to tell them that I'd tested positive, but the symptoms were minor, and I would not be working on Friday. I then proceeded to develop a raging fever for the next 24 hours or so. A few days later, Psyche tested positive despite our best efforts, and we have spent the rest of the week muddling through major fatigue coupled with relatively minor flu symptoms.

There is, of course, no good time to be laid out for over a week, but it was particularly rough because we had been the main people organizing the logistics for the 74th wedding anniversary of Psyche's grandparents, an event scheduled to take place last Sunday. So she had to spend a frantic few days collecting all of the remaining tasks and assigning them to various members of her family, all while having to sit at home while everyone enjoyed the party we threw.

As for contact-tracing, I believe I was exposed when visiting with Psyche's other grandmother, who had been sick (untested) earlier that week; and then I exposed Psyche before testing positive myself. Given the way our positive test results seem to be hanging on longer than our main symptoms, it's not too hard to believe that Grammy was still shedding virus when I visited. I didn't spend much time with her directly, but the windows were generally closed in the house.

It's been a week and a half of sleeping and hydrating and then doing it again but reversed.

In less plaguey developments, I'm looking forward to this year's Beyond Fest which will be announcing its full slate this week. So far, the only screenings announced or for a retrospective of Guillermo del Toro, and I have tickets to see his early works (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, and Mimic) and a screening of Pan's Labyrinth. I will also be in New York at the beginning of October for a work trip and am making the time to see Reeves and Winters in Waiting for Godot before flying back home.

I just need a negative test soon...