‘The Walking Dead’ uses Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus as cornerstones of Emmy campaign
Even though the Emmys may still be months away from airing on NBC this summer, voting season is just about here. This is when everyone starts to cast their initial ballots, where the field becomes eventually whittled down to the small group of nominees that is announced in the summer.
Therefore, this is the time when shows and networks try to get creative, much in the way that Don Draper does while he tries to sell a notable product on “Mad Men.” For “The Walking Dead,” for example, you would think that there would be a certain temptation to post something with a tom of zombies all over it. Instead, the decision here ultimately was to focus the show a little bit more on the people.
In the poster to the left (per The Hollywood Reporter), you can see that the network is instead centering the campaign on the show’s human characters, and in this case the performances of Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus. We could see both of them getting some buzz for some individual episodes this season, just as we could Melissa McBride for her performance as Carol in “The Grove.”
For “The Walking Dead” to get some awards-show love, the challenge is virtually the same as it has always been. They have to figure out a way to tell more set-in-their-ways voters that it okay to embrace more genre television, and that there are worthy performances being done outside of the traditional dramas. This is a similar problem that has befallen “Game of Thrones,” and while it has scored a number of series nominations, the only trophy that it has to its name is for Peter Dinklage’s performance.
Do you think that this is the right focus for “The Walking Dead” to take for its Emmy campaign? Let us know below! Also, click here to see what is becoming an interesting casting controversy, or here to sign up to get further TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: AMC
ddddddd
May 20, 2014 @ 5:47 pm
I’m surprised the show didn’t get nominated in its first 2 seasons, least surprised with the third and fourth. The first two were better in quality overall, yes they weren’t as “action packed”, but the walking dead is about the human drama, and the first 2 seasons were all about drama.
The writing is good for the majority of it, but some is just awful. They make everything a certain way so that Daryl remains a badass. Robert Kirkman has said that when writing a script for each episode the first thing they do is think “how does Daryl influence this story”!
The acting is good. The best performance was Jon Bernthal as Shane. The worst is probably a tie between Norman Reedus as Daryl, and Steven Yeun as Glenn.
Hope it doesn’t win an Emmy. At least until the show gets better in quality.
Beans12
May 24, 2014 @ 1:29 pm
I’m really surprised at your comments about Norman and Steven; personally I think Norman is a wonderful actor; he makes Daryl both dangerous and vulnerable at the same time, and also manages to make him appealing to all ages and both sexes-a rare feat indeed. He absolutely nails it 99% of the time for me-any failings, I think, are competeley the fault of the writing team. Andrew Lincoln, also, is a revelation as Rick, and deserves much more kudos than he gets.
Miss Kittenella
May 20, 2014 @ 2:29 pm
I am surprised TWD has never had Emmy buzz for their stars. Norman, Andrew and Melissa are great. Scott Wilson was wonderful in his role. So tired of the same boring actors being nominated for less than interesting portrayals.
diane
May 19, 2014 @ 9:19 pm
There is no reason in the world for the Emmys not to recognize the walking dead. the writing is great and the acting is the best on any show. IMO