| Feels like a good weekend to stay in, stay cool, maybe put some peaches in a deep freeze and catch up with some favorite shows, old and new. (I'm still watching "Miami Vice," even though my white linen suit is at the cleaners.) |
| I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Got any home improvement projects on tap? Seems like a good time to tackle one while we take a look at the shows that might win Emmys next month for writing and directing. |
Writing and directing power rankings |
| The writing and directing categories at this year's Emmys could give us a couple of A-list acceptance speeches — Ben Stiller and Seth Rogen — as well as providing the usual hints about what shows will wind up prevailing in the series categories. |
| Let's sketch out how the races are shaping up with our official set of power rankings, ordered from worst to first for drama, comedy and limited series. Try to see if you can read it all in a single take in honor of all the "oners" nominated. |
| |
Drama series directing |
 |
| Adam Scott and Britt Lower in "Severance." (Apple TV+) |
| 7. "The White Lotus." "Amor Fati," Mike White
Season 3 aftertaste remains as bitter as one of Timothy's poison piña coladas. |
| 6. "Slow Horses." "Hello Goodbye," Adam Randall
Another exemplary season. There's a reason Randall recently became the first director to be hired for another go-round. |
| 5. "Andor." "Who Are You?," Janus Metz
Should be required viewing for American citizens right now. |
| 4. "The Pitt." "7 a.m.," John Wells
How it all began ... |
| 3. "The Pitt." "6 p.m.," Amanda Marsalis
And how it ended. |
| 2. "Severance." "Chikhai Bardo," Jessica Lee Gagné
We finally got our Gemma episode and it was breathtaking in the ways it used visual language to convey the most heartbreaking love story this side of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." |
| 1. "Severance." "Cold Harbor," Ben Stiller
Innie Mark vs. Outie Mark. Frantic chases down the hallways. An impossible choice. And a marching band. |
| |
Comedy series directing |
 |
| Sarah Polley, left, Catherine O'Hara and Seth Rogen in "The Studio." (Apple TV+) |
| 5. "Mid-Century Modern." "Here's to You, Mrs. Schneiderman," James Burrows
For those keeping score, that's Emmy nomination No. 28 as a director for Burrows. (He has won five times.) |
| 4. "The Bear." "Napkins," Ayo Edebiri
Tina's origin story, and the episode that probably won Liza Colón-Zayas her Emmy last year. Also likely to be remembered for being Edebiri's directorial debut and, taken with her co-writing this season's standout "Worms," an auspicious sign of good things to come. |
| 3. "The Rehearsal." "Pilot's Code," Nathan Fielder
In which Fielder lives the life of Sully Sullenberger, from baby to adult, complete with a puppet mom and an unforgettable lactation scene. |
| 2. "Hacks." "A Slippery Slope," Lucia Aniello
Blueprint for Colbert's last episode? |
| 1. "The Studio." "The Oner," Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Not my favorite "Studio" episode (that would be "The Pediatric Oncologist") but an obvious choice to take this category. |
| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
Limited / TV movie directing |
 |
| Owen Cooper, left, and Stephen Graham in "Adolescence." (Netflix ) |
| 6. "Sirens." "Exile," Nicole Kassell
It was not a good year for limited series. |
| 5. "Zero Day," Lesli Linka Glatter
Seriously. |
| 4. "Dying for Sex." "It's Not That Serious," Shannon Murphy
La petite mort onward to the last roundup. Que Dieu te garde, Molly. |
| 3. "The Penguin." "A Great or Little Thing," Jennifer Getzinger
Just when you thought it couldn't get any darker, the show's finale went there. |
| 2. "The Penguin," "Cent'Anni," Helen Shaver
The series' best episode and why Cristin Milioti will probably win the Emmy. |
| 1. "Adolescence," Philip Barantini
Every episode was a oner. |
Drama series writing |
 |
| Tramell Tillman in "Severance." (Apple TV+) |
| 6. "Slow Horses." "Hello Goodbye," Will Smith
To my great and everlasting surprise, "Slow Horses" won this Emmy last year, meaning that however long it lasts — and there will be at least two more seasons — it will have triumphed at least once. |
| 5. "The White Lotus." "Full-Moon Party," Mike White
I'm a little like Saxon after his hookup with his brother in this episode, wanting to pretend it — and the whole season — never happened. |
| 4. "The Pitt." "7 a.m.," R. Scott Gemmill
This is such a wonderfully written episode, introducing us to a couple of dozen characters, establishing them and the setting and doing so in a tight 53 minutes. |
| 3. "Andor." "Welcome to the Rebellion," Dan Gilroy
There's so much respect for what the Gilroy brothers did with "Andor" that you could see voters having a strong impulse to reward it. |
| 2. "The Pitt." "2 p.m.," Joe Sachs
You remember how this episode ends? The honor walk for Nick? I am getting tears in my eyes typing this sentence. And that was just one element in an episode that left me so gutted that I had to sequester myself after it ended before I could even choke out a word or two with my wife. |
| 1. "Severance." "Cold Harbor," Dan Erickson
Trippy, emotionally fraught season finale that'll probably win since loyalists of "The Pitt" have two choices in this category. |
Comedy series writing |
 |
| Jean Smart in "Hacks." (Jake Giles Netter / HBO Max) |
| 6. "What We Do in the Shadows." "The Finale," Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis and Paul Simms
They shut the casket one final time, satisfying nearly everyone who loved the show for six seasons. |
| 5. "Somebody Somewhere." "AGG," Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett
Another series finale, a near-perfect summation of the show's lovely blend of joy and melancholy. |
| 4. "Abbott Elementary." "Back to School," Quinta Brunson
Solid season opener of a series that has crossed over into "taken-for-granted" status. |
| 3. "The Rehearsal." "Pilot's Code," Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Adam Locke-Norton and Eric Notarnicola
"It was difficult at first to inhabit the mind of a baby. I know so much more than babies do, and it can be hard to forget all that stuff. So I tried not to think about the fact that I was a 41-year-old man and just did my best to be present in the moment." |
| 2. "The Studio." "The Promotion," Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez
The episode that started it all and made me more interested to see a "Kool-Aid" movie than practically anything that an actual studio released this summer. |
| 1. "Hacks." "A Slippery Slope," Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky
"Hacks" has won this Emmy twice in its first three seasons, and the dramatic episode — Deborah loves Ava more than her dream job! — seems a spot to prevent a "Studio" sweep. |
Limited / TV movie writing |
 |
| Christine Tremarco and Stephen Graham in "Adolescence." (Netflix ) |
| 5. "Say Nothing." "The People in the Dirt," Joshua Zetumer
Car bombs, hunger strikes, political assassinations. |
| 4. "Black Mirror." "Common People," Charlie Brooker and Bisha K. Ali
Technology really is going to destroy us, isn't it? |
| 3. "Dying for Sex." "Good Value Diet Soda," Kim Rosenstock and Elizabeth Meriwether
Of course, we're all gonna die anyway. Might as well indulge. |
| 2. "The Penguin." "A Great or Little Thing," Lauren LeFranc
After all, evil and depravity win out in the end. |
| 1. "Adolescence," Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham
So hug your children tonight. |
