Contenders Television Underway; Here Is The Schedule For Our 44 Panels

Pete Hammond
·6 min read

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Deadline’s invitation-only Contenders Television all-day event is underway. For the first time ever, out of necessity due to restrictions posed by the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve gone virtual.

Originally we had aimed to present Contenders in April at Paramount Studios in front of a live audience of Television Academy and key guild voters, just like we always do. But it became abundantly clear that was not going to be possible as Hollywood, at least physically, shut down. So what to do? We went back to square one and completely reimagined Contenders for the COVID-19 era. In the spirit of the show must go on, indeed it will.

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Like many of the TV series we are showcasing in this massive undertaking involving 22 studios and networks plus 44 different shows and 106 speakers, we have gone virtual in our first-ever live-streaming Contenders — a logistical challenge to be sure but one that has actually turned out to be a lot of fun to put together. In the end we expect this event to carry with it the spirit and informative value of every Contenders event that has gone before since we started doing these a decade ago.

Panels began today at 8 AM PT with Netflix and run until just after 5 PM with Disney+. Click here to register for the livestream, see the list of shows and participants, and follow along with the complete down-to-the-minute schedule. (You can also access the schedule below.) Please follow along for the day on social media at #DeadlineContenders.

Participating today are ABC Entertainment, Amazon Prime Video, AMC Networks, Apple TV+, Wiip, CBS All Access, CBS Television Studios, Comedy Central, Disney+, Disney Television Studios, Fox Entertainment, Freeform, FX, HBO, Hulu, Lifetime, Nat Geo, Netflix, Pop TV, Showtime, Sony Pictures Television and Starz.

The response just in terms of booking talent (thank you to the indefatigable team of Madelyn Hammond and Javier Infante) has been phenomenal, and in fact exceeds any number of participants we have ever welcomed to previous Contenders. Going virtual certainly has proven to have advantages, with one being that the world is our oyster. Rather than talent being just in Los Angeles for this one day, we actually have them coming from all parts of the globe including the Australian Bush (Russell Crowe), Rome (Willem Dafoe), London (Cate Blanchett, to name just one), the East Coast, the West Coast and all points between. It certainly has become a logistical challenge, but one being met by our production team behind the scenes including executive producer Bob Holmes and his crew. For the past few weeks, Deadline writers have been pre-taping sessions that will be weaved in and out of the live feed with host Joe Utichi.

Actors, showrunners, writers, directors and more will take part in panels moderated by Deadline staffers including myself, Dominic Patten, Peter White, Antonia Blyth, Dino-Ray Ramos, Anthony D’Alessandro, Amanda N’Duka and Utichi.

The look, locations, and logistics of how this is all coming to you are certainly as new to us as it will be to you, but one thing has not changed in the least: the invaluable content the Contenders events are always about. We aim to make this a kind of one-stop shopping for industry voters who can sit down and get a taste of what will eventually appear on their awards ballots this Emmy season. The idea, as it has always been, is to provide a blueprint of the season that will serve as a catalyst for voters as they wade through the infinite numbers of TV achievements placed before them. It is an impossible, almost Herculean task to see everything, but what Contenders Television does is give you a taste — through clips and conversation with the key movers and shakers involved — to perhaps entice you to see more, and most importantly become an informed voter when it comes time to cast that ballot.

Sponsors and partners of Contenders Television include Eyepetizer, Michter’s, Crop Organic Vodka and The Four Seasons Maui.

Deadline’s Contenders Television will also be making a donation, which is being matched by our parent company PMC, to the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, with a focus on the organization’s youth/arts programs; and to Campaign Zero, a national organization dedicated to police reform.

Here’s today’s full schedule:

NETFLIX

Hollywood – 8:03-8:16 AM

Ozark – 8:16-8:29 AM

Space Force – 8:29-8:41 AM

Stranger Things – 8:41-8:52 PM

HBO

A Black Lady Sketch Show – 8:52-9:02 AM

Mrs. Fletcher – 9:02-9:13 AM

SHOWTIME

The Loudest Voice – 9:13-9:26 AM

NAT GEO

Cosmos: Possible Worlds – 9:26-9:36 AM

Barkskins – 9:36-9:48 AM

CBS TV STUDIOS

Dead To Me – 9:48-9:58 AM

Unbelievable – 9:58-10:11 AM

MORNING BREAK – 10:11-10:22 AM

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Hunters – 10:22-10:32 AM

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – 10:32-10:45 AM

Homecoming – 10:45-10:55 AM

SONY PICTURES TV

The Boys – 10:55-11:05 AM

FREEFORM

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay – 11:05-11:14 AM

ABC

Black-ish – 11:15-11:24 AM

For Life – 11:24-11:34

APPLE TV+

Defending Jacob – 11:34-11:44

The Morning Show – 11:44-11:54

Dickinson – 11:54 AM-12:05 PM

LUNCH BREAK – 12:06-12:36 PM

HULU

Little Fires Everywhere – 12:36-12:47 PM

The Great – 12:47-12:57 PM

Ramy – 12:57-1:09 PM

FX

Mrs. America – 1:09-1:26 PM

Better Things – 1:26-1:37 PM

CBS ALL ACCESS

Star Trek: Picard – 1:37-1:49 PM

Why Women Kill – 1:49-2:01 PM

COMEDY CENTRAL

Drunk History – 2:01-2:11 PM

South Side – 2:11-2:22 PM

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah – 2:22-2:33 PM

LIFETIME

Stolen By My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story – 2:33-2:43 PM

Patsy & Loretta – 2:43-2:52 PM

AFTERNOON BREAK – 2:53-3:03 PM

AMC

Better Call Saul – 3:04-3:16 PM

Dispatches From Elsewhere – 3:16-3:26 PM

DISNEY TV STUDIOS

Homeland – 3:27-3:38 PM

Godfather of Harlem – 3:38-3:47 PM

POP TV

One Day at a Time – 3:47-3:58 PM

Schitt’s Creek – 3:58-4:11 PM

STARZ

Hightown – 4:11-4:21 PM

FOX ENTERTAINMENT

The Masked Singer – 4:22-4:32 PM

Lego Masters – 4:32-4:42 PM

DISNEY+

Togo – 4:43-4:55 PM

The Mandalorian – 4:55-5:08 PM

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