For all the negativity and nervousness one might find if they found themselves in a room with media’s leaders and titans, you;d be hard pressed to find someone with more of a spring in their step than you’d be likely to find in John Landgraf’s today.
Landgraf is more than merely a survivor, now in his 20th year of uninterrupted leadership of FX. Yes, his title and purview has been augmented a few times and today he’s part of a different company than the one he began under. But regardless of what responsibilities he may have on paper make no mistake: there is little that matters more to him than how FX fares, and especially when it comes to the topic of awards, most especially the Emmys.
He’s been entrenched so long that I actually have a personal history with him hearing both the degree of his passion and determination to have what he believes are award-worthy efforts from creatives get similar accolade from the Hollywood rank and file. In meeting after meeting with his trusted executive team, many of whom have been and are still with him from his Day One, he has relentlessly focused on strategy, opportunity, messaging and campaigning. And even though my personal involvement was limited to the outset of his reign, I have zero doubt any of that has changed and neither success nor age has mellowed him.
Whatever thoughts to the contrary I may have had was offset by the victory lap interview THE WRAP’s Kayla Cobb conducted with him that dropped after this year’s nominations were announced yesterday morning:
Going into the nominations for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, many suspected it would be a good day for FX. Yet no one was quite prepared for how good of a day Wednesday was. In total, the network scored 93 Emmy nominations, breaking the basic cable network’s previous record of 56 nominations, which it set in 2016.
“I have to say part of what’s so gratifying to me about what we do is there are so many people in this group that are new, relatively new or brand new to American audiences,” John Landgraf, chairman of FX Content and FX Productions, told TheWrap following the news.
As an example, he pointed to the “unbelievably gifted” cast of Japanese actors in “Shōgun,” who were largely unknown stateside with the exception of star Hiroyuki Sanada. Even actors who have appeared in other critically acclaimed American projects, such as “The Bear” stars Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, have transformed into certified stars in recent years through their relationship with the network. Landgraf credited this year’s whirlwind success to partnering with a dedicated team who understands the TV landscape, investing in “genius” artists and Disney’s acquisition of FX.
I believe John believes with every fiber of his being in the talents of those he anoints to be worthy of his personal greenlight. I know full well he has little use other than transactional necessity for the opinions of those with Nielsen devices or any results they may spit out that don’t confirm his personal view of what should be popular. And, frankly, were I one of those creatives, he’s exactly who I’d want to be in bed with, at least figuratively.
As he continued to Cobb:
“Can you imagine what it’s like to decide you’re going to go ahead and try to make ‘Fargo’ into a television series with none of the characters from the Academy Award-winning movie? And you’re going to do it with somebody who has some experience but has never done anything like this before?” Landgraf asked. “That’s kind of where Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo were on ‘Shōgun.’ That’s where Christopher Storer was on ‘The Bear.’ That’s where Noah Hawley was when he came to work for us back in the day. Look, I worked with Ryan Murphy when his first true hit was ‘Nip/Tuck.’
“These people have such extraordinary talent and what happens when they find the right thing at the right time, when they get the right support and the right opportunity, when they can show people what they’re capable of doing — to see the voters at the Academy recognize that is really spectacular,” Landgraf said.
But I even more strongly believe the creative he believes in most is John Landgraf. He has placed himself among those who determined what qualified under what category for Emmy nominations, effectively helping to lay out a path for efforts to be designated limited series in one case and an almost identically constructed effort as a series. For a show that on the surface isn’t a comedy to be nominated as such when the competitive landscape wasn’t robust. Defending those moves both externally and internally with the determination of a prosecuting attorney and the detail of a political strategist. If only the Democratic National Committee has someone with his talents.
The always astute Alan Wolk picked up on some of these efforts in a blistering piece he authored on his TV REV site yesterday. Among his observations:
Hulu’s The Bear earned a record 23 nominations, the most ever for a comedy. The problem, if you’ve never seen the show, is that The Bear isn’t funny…Shogun, Hulu’s hit series, was a limited series last year. This year it’s a drama. It’s unclear why (other than some clever strategizing by the team at Hulu). The distinction between the two categories has become increasingly blurry, especially as streaming services tend not to release their series on any sort of regular schedule and because many of them (White Lotus) are more anthologies than series with a complete storyline…he business relationship between FX and Hulu is fairly complicated, but given that FX series run on Hulu, it’s not clear why either party thinks there is value in continuing to make that distinction a public-facing one. The aforementioned The Bear and Shogun, two FX series that run on Hulu, both won record numbers of nominations this year. And yet some publications are listing those shows as belonging to “Hulu” in their reporting, some as “FX” and some as both.
Bitch if you wish, Alan. You’ve just figured out why John Landgraf still not only has a job, indeed a powerful one, long after the majority of his original competitors have left the industry. And even the networks who have been in his crosshairs, in particular TNT and HBO, have deteriorated more than enough in the eyes of its new leader to have now reached collateral damage status, willing to be cast off into a separate division from the studio and streaming service in yet another Hail Mary from the ever-desperate Yosemite Zas, as THE STREAMABLE’s David Satin reported yesterday afternoon:
Are big changes on the way for Warner Bros. Discovery? It’s entirely possible; according to new details from the Financial Times, WBD has begun investigating the possibility of asset sales, as well as the idea of spinning off its streaming platform Max with its movie studio to form a new company while its TV channels stay put, siloing the more reliable parts of the business from its debt-ridden counterparts. Multiple options are on the table, as the company looks into the best ways to increase its value for shareholders.
Which is why I suspect the observations from THE LOS ANGELES TIMES’ venerable Mary McNamara that she authored yesterday have made it to the front page of his printouts, including these noteworthy insights:
For years, HBO dominated the Emmy arms race; in recent years only Netflix has mounted a viable challenge. But this year, FX came out on top in the major categories, with its shows leading among the drama and comedy contenders and second among limited series. (Netflix eked out a lead overall with 107 across all categories, followed by FX with 93 and HBO with 91.)
More important, this year’s Emmy list puts FX in its proper place in television history — as a crucial and still viable force in the art form’s 21st century revolution. Long before AMC’s “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” helped revitalize basic cable, FX was pushing the boundaries of not only the platform but also the medium itself with shows including “The Shield,” “Nip/Tuck” and “Rescue Me.”
Now, as HBO’s brand has been diluted so much that it isn’t even named on its own streaming service and the streamers discover that they actually need in-program ads to become profitable, FX is having, if not a last laugh, then perhaps a long-overdue one.
It serves as a blessed reminder that while those who consistently do great work are not always the ones who get the most attention, sometimes the clouds part and those who have long deserved it get their day in the sun.
Yes, it’s been a lengthy and quixotic pursuit on Landgraf’s part and, of course, there’s still the small little issue of actually winning more awards than HBO come September 15–a ceremony which will be telecast on his now corporate cousin ABC and his business partner Hulu.
So be prepared for a lot more publicity and even old-fashioned billboards and trade ads in the weeks ahead. It matters THAT much to John Landgraf, and not even his superiors who know darn well there is little actual impact that awards make on the profitability and viability of a struggling business will dare stand in his way.
See you at the Joh–er, Emmys.
Until next time…