Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series—The Beatles Worry About ‘100 Foot Wave’
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Last Year’s Winner: “Secrets of the Whales”
Still Eligible: No.
Hot Streak: Disney+ itself is not on a hot streak, having only won last year, and no other year since its existence. Disney as a whole though has won two years running, with ESPN winning in 2020 for the blockbuster docuseries “The Last Dance.”
Notable Ineligible Series: “The New York Times Presents” (FX’s documentary series is submitting individual entries, like “Controlling Britney Spears,” in the Documentary Special category); “Biography” (the Emmy-winning A&E docuseries is also submitting individual entries, like “Bobby Brown,” in the Documentary Special category)
This article will be updated throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2022 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting took place from June 16 to June 27, with the official Emmy nominations announced on Tuesday, July 12. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be given out over two consecutive nights on Saturday, September 3 and Sunday, September 4, with an edited presentation on the ceremonies to be broadcast on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 8:00 p.m. ET on FXX. Finally, the 74rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on Monday, September 12, and air live on NBC at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.
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The State of the Race
Here’s the thing, while the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series category this year is dominated by blockbuster series about pop culture, that is not really what Emmy voters have gone for in years past. The closest thing to a “Jeen-yuhs” or “The Andy Warhol Diaries” that has won recently is the Michael Jordan series “The Last Dance.”
What makes it seem like “The Beatles: Get Back” will fare better with the TV Academy is the filmmaking, and not the subject itself. Peter Jackson did a really cool thing by taking the footage from forgotten Beatles doc “Let It Be” and making it into something completely new, with a whole different vibe. It helps as well that The Beatles were the biggest band in the world, so anyone who actually is looking for a project about pop culture is likely keen to give the Disney+ series a watch.
“100 Foot Wave” was not as buzzy as the other projects it is nominated against, but it is another filmmaking achievement that delivers on the title. If “Secrets of the Whales” could win last year over much-talked about projects like “Allen v. Farrow” and “Pretend It’s a City,” then this thrilling docuseries is not to be counted out.
Finally, “We Need To Talk About Cosby” really does an excellent job of figuring out how to process acknowledging all the great work “The Cosby Show” star did alongside the abject horror he was capable of. It draws the most comparisons to “O.J.: Made in America,” a game changer in the documentary world, but even that project did not fare as well at the Primetime Emmys as one would have assumed it to.
Power Rankings:
“The Beatles: Get Back” (Disney+)
“100 Foot Wave” (HBO)
“We Need To Talk About Cosby” (Showtime)
“Jeen-yuhs” (Netflix)
“The Andy Warhol Diaries” (Netflix)
Will Win: “The Beatles: Get Back”
Could Win: “100 Foot Wave”
Should Win: “We Need To Talk About Cosby”
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