OUTSTANDING MINISERIES OR MOVIE

Baby Reindeer

Fargo

Fellow Travelers

One Day

The Sympathizer

Under the Bridge

AND THE WINNER IS:

FARGO

With this win Fargo wins one prize from nine nominations. The season was nominated for Leading Actor (Hamm), Leading Actress (Temple), Supporting Actor (Morris), Supporting Actor (Spruell), Supporting Actress (Moorjani), Directing, Writing and Cinematography.

Fargo as an anthology series has always been among the best seasons of television produced every year the show released with its previous season being perhaps the only I question its overall quality. The fifth season felt like such a strong return to form and I instantly fell in love with the show all over again. With many impressive cast members, a plot that was worth investing my time into it really was a strong show to watch during the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024.

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE

Emma Corrin as Darby Hart in “A MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD”

Ambika Mod as Emma Morley in “ONE DAY”

Annie Murphy as Joan Tait in “BLACK MIRROR: JOAN IS AWFUL”

Kali Reis as Trooper Evangeline Navarro in “TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY”

Juno Temple as Dorothy "Dot" Lyon / Nadine Tillman in “FARGO”

Sofía Vergara as Griselda Blanco in “GRISELDA”

AND THE WINNER IS:

AMBIKA MOD AS EMMA MORLEY IN "ONE DAY"

This is the first win and second nomination for Ambika Mod. She was previously nominated individually for This is Going to Hurt (2023). She wins for her performance as Emma Morley on One Day.

Ambika had already delivered a breath taking performance as the gentle but ultimately tragic Shruti Acharya last year that who was to know she'd follow it up almost immediately with an even more impressive work as the delightful yet challenging Emma Morley in the Netflix series adaptation of the great novel of the same name. Having only been familiar with the One Day story from the rather unimpressive movie from a decade ago I was unprepared for how riviting this series adaptation would be mostly due to the great power of its central acting couple.

Mod I found especially brilliant able to play the flaws of her character yet never have you the audience not be entirely in love with her. Mod with this two brilliant breakthrough performances looks to be in for a brilliant career in the future. So far she has showcased a dramatic range any actress her age would be lucky to showcase. I for one look forward to the next project starring her.

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE

Matt Bomer as Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller in “FELLOW TRAVELERS”

Richard Gadd as Donny Dunn in “BABY REINDEER”

Jon Hamm as Sheriff Roy Tillman in “FARGO”

Aaron Pierre as Malcolm X in “GENIUS: MLK/X”

Leo Woodall as Dexter Mayhew in “ONE DAY”

Hoa Xuande as the Captain in “THE SYMPATHIZER”

AND THE WINNER IS:

HOA XUNADE AS THE CAPTAIN IN "THE SYMPATHIZER"

This is the first win and nomination for Hoa Xunade. He wins for his performance as the Captain on The Sympathizer.

This season was already full of strong leading actor from miniseries and deciding on an overall winner was hard as I enjoyed so many performances equally. What made my mind in leaning towards my eventual winner was looking at the competition and going towards an actor I'd not awarded an individual prize in my years of doing this which is what led me to Hoa Xunade as my leading actor winner. On the great HBO series he played the unamed Captain part which led this challenging and thrilling spy war drama.

Xunade was an actor I was familiar with prior and the perfect example of why I love watching new television shows and discovering a great acting talent when they are given both the attention and role to highlight the possibilities they might've not acted upon previously.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Nathan Fielder for (“Land of Enchantment”), The Curse

Jeremy Lovering for (“Strange Games”), Slow Horses

Hiro Murai for (“First Date”), Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Frederick E.O. Toye for (“Crimson Sky”), Shögun

Jonathan van Tulleken for (“Anjin”), Shögun

AND THE WINNER IS:

JONATHAN VAN TULLEKEN FOR ("ANJIN"), SHÔGUN

This is the first win and nomination for Jonathan van Tulleken.

The directing team of Shögun really did an impressive job during the whole season but when it came to choosing a best directed episode going for the pilot directed by Jonathan van Tullekenfelt like the right decision. The pilot had so much to set up and managed to do so incredibly so. We are thrown into the world of Shögun in such a pleasurable way getting minor introductions to many of the main players of the series. With many thrilling moments featured this was an impressive introduction to this brilliant series.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MINISERIES OR MOVIE

Richard Gadd for (“Episode 6”), Baby Reindeer

Noah Hawley for (“The Tragedy of the Commons”), Fargo

Nicole Taylor for (“1988”), One Day

Matthew Lopez & Ted Malawer for Red, White and Royal Blue

Quinn Shephard for (“Looking Glass”), Under the Bridge

AND THE WINNER IS:

RICHARD GADD FOR ("EPISODE 6"), BABY REINDEER

This is the first win and nomination for Richard Gadd.

Baby Reindeer the surprise television event of the season. I love a show like this as it comes out of nowhere and takes over the popular culture with many including myself loving the overall quality of the series. Richard Gadd the series lead also acted as series creator giving life to his life story in some aspects. The shows sixth episode was an especially standout moment and come together of many the plot points in previous episodes. Truly a standout TV moment this season was the Netflix surprise hit Baby Reindeer.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Robert King & Michelle King for (“Pilot”), Elsbeth

Julian Fellowes for (“In Terms of Winning and Losing”), The Gilded Age

Maegan Houang for (“Broken to the Fist”), Shögun

Rachel Kondo & Caillin Puente for (“Crimson Sky”), Shögun

Will Smith for (“Strange Games”), Slow Horses

AND THE WINNER IS:

WILL SMITH FOR ("STRANGE GAMES"), SLOW HORSES

This is the first win and second nomination for Will Smith. He was previously nominated for writing Veep (2015).

I will fully admit that it took me until this year to finally catch up on season two and three of Slow Horses having been a fan-ish of the first season. When watching this third season I was impressed by just about every choice the writers team made in regards to story. The premiere episode written by Will Smith was especially impressive as it immediately picked up the action of what had happened the season prior and introduced some great new characters to follow in the season. Such a great example of writing for this impressive if under watched series.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE

Jelani Alladin as Marcus Gaines in “FELLOW TRAVELERS”

Jonathan Bailey as Timothy “Tim” Laughlin in “FELLOW TRAVELERS”

Tony Curran as James VI and I in “MARY & GEORGE”

Harris Dickinson as William "Bill" Farrah in “A MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD”

Lamorne Morris as Trooper Witt Farr in “FARGO”

Sam Spruell as Ole Munch in “FARGO”

AND THE WINNER IS:

JONATAHN BAILEY AS TIMOTHY "TIM" LAUGHLIN IN "FELLOW TRAVELERS"

This is the first win and third nomination for Jonathan Bailey. He was previously nominated individually and with the ensemble of Bridgerton (2021). He wins for his performance as Timothy “Tim” Laughlin in Fellow Travelers.

When it comes to unstoppable acting talents currently Jonathan Bailey surely has to be top of the list of actors who continue to rise based on great work, wonderful projects chosen and just appealing charisma on and off the screen. Fellow Travelers was a buzzy series before and after its premiere with the work of Bailey especially being reason for this buzz. Bailey really invested himself into the role and I found him so compelling every week and even with some strong competitors to premiere after him in this category I knew that no one was gonna be my choice in this category besides Bailey.

His year continues to look impressive with his upcoming work in Wicked and returns to Bridgerton I believe that if your a true fan you must watch this series as it contains Bailey's greatest on screen acting.