Emmy Nominations Offer a Grownups Guide to Good TV

The 2020 Emmy nominations announced this week offer an interesting guide to grownup TV watching, regardless of which shows and actors may win on Sept. 20. Among the nominees are intriguing dramas like Watchmen, with the most nominations (26), that seem prescient and particularly relevant to current times. Then there are nostalgic period pieces, such as The Crown and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, that take us back to a seemingly less complicated era through the work of incredible actors.

Of course, all the nominated shows will not be attractive to all viewers. But we see a guide to the best TV for grownups in the shows listed here:

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Watchmen (26 nominations)

This masterful sci-fi fantasy, based on a 1986 DC Comics graphic novel, is about a masked superhero cop played by the incomparable Regina King, who battles white-supremacist killers in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its themes and scenes, including disturbing flashbacks to the actual 1921 Tulsa Race Riots, could not be more resonant as social justice movements following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis continue to make headlines. It may take an episode or two to get into the story, but once in you will likely be hooked.

Watch it here: HBO, Amazon

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (20 nominations)

This is a funny and heartwarming series about a pampered, rebellious 1950s Manhattan housewife — as they used to call married women who did not work outside the home (played by the nominated Rachel Brosnahan) — who achieves her dream of becoming a nightclub comic while also discovering a lot more about what she wants from life. It's in the third season but start with the first. It's better that way, and you will meet Lenny Bruce.

Watch it here: Amazon

Brian Cox (left) and Jeremy Strong in "Succession."

Zach Dilgard/HBO

Succession (18 nominations)

The adventures of the savagely nasty, double-crossing, unthinkably wealthy Roy family is addictive. Its scathing, highly intelligent satire is both hilarious and horrifying. Nominated as lead actor, Brian Cox is at the center of it all as the scary patriarch of a media conglomerate who discovers that his kids can be scary, too. This is one to binge-watch from the beginning.

Watch it here: HBO