Awards Circuit Column: Call it 'based on a true story,' as Emmy contenders take on climate change, political unrest, massive social inequality and much more. I must confess, one of the appeals of Apple TV’s Emmy-nominated “Your Friends & Neighbors” is seeing how awful it is to be that wealthy. I mean, it’s a TV show, so I’m guessing it’s actually still pretty awesome to be rich. (And if you’re still a Variety subscriber and reading this in print, there’s a good chance you made it big in entertainment and are sitting on a hefty bank account.
And if so, congratulations. I still want to be you.) “Your Friends & Neighbors” gives us a glimpse of what it’s like to be in the 1%, especially in Season 2, as James Marsden joins the cast as a billionaire with plenty of questionable morals. At a time, of course, when it seems like all we’re confronting are billionaires with questionable morals who are taking over the government, the media and everything in between.
But are they truly happy? Sure, there’s occasional nuisance — on “Your Friends & Neighbors,” it’s Jon Hamm stealing some of their loot; in real life, it’s state attorneys general trying to slow down your desire to consume as much of Hollywood as possible. But the answer is yes, yes they are.
How upside down is this world now? HBO Max’s “The Gilded Age” is actually now wish fulfillment compared to 2026. OK, so there was great inequality, rampant corruption and poverty throughout much of the country even as America boomed in the 1880s — but at least the tycoons, magnates and moguls of the era at least pretended to care about the lower class.
The Carnegies, the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers all funded stuff that was good for the public, including public libraries, education, medicine, science, parks and culture. These days, they slam rockets into the side of the moon because it sounds cool and shut down global agencies meant to save the lives of millions of people. Or they stomp their feet and whine that they’re going to leave California if they don’t get their way.
That “Gilded Age” sequel about the 2020s is gonna look a lot more like a tragedy. It turns out most of this year’s outstanding drama series nominees at the Emmys have something to say about the state of our world, and it’s pretty telling that there’s so much to talk about. In the case of Apple TV’s “Pluribus,” creator Vince Gilligan has still not confirmed if the drama is a comment on artificial intelligence, or even inspired by it.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
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