HBO’s explosive ‘Watchmen’ was the belle of the ball when the Emmy Award nominations were announced yesterday. The miniseries scored 26 noms, the most of any program this year. Among the honorees was Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who, through most of the series, played the mild-mannered Calvin Abar, before shedding that façade to reveal his true form, that of the god-like Doctor Manhattan. He and the show’s creator, Damon Lindelof, reacted to the show’s success following the Emmy announcement.
Lindelof has declared that he is finished with ‘Watchmen’ after his entry. He would prefer that HBO continue the series by bringing in other writers, but so far, the network has not made an announcement of doing so.
As he told Variety:
“We wanted people to understand that even in the context of this piece of fiction that the show started with something that really happened. For me, I didn’t know about Tulsa until about two years before we made the show. I would hope that the show is an invitation to say that Tulsa is just the beginning. If you didn’t know about that, imagine what else you don’t know about. It shouldn’t have taken the death of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor and countless others for this reckoning to start, but I’m grateful that people are reevaluating history. I’m one of them. I’m not wagging my finger at the world. I’m pointing it firmly at myself. It’s cool when TV becomes part of a broader conversation on where we are culturally.”
Abdul-Mateen added:
“For ‘Watchmen’ to be recognized in the way that it has — to me, that means that the world has responded to our show, and that our show speaks to the world. The show speaks right back. I think our show was very inspirational to a lot of people. It was a history lesson. It was a call to action. It was a critique on racism and a critique on the institution of policing in America. And that’s a lot of what the world is dealing with right now, and I’m so excited that our show was a vehicle for a lot of people to have those discussions and that those discussions are still going on today.”
After being released on HBO last year, ‘Watchmen’ was also made available on HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, and was released to all to view for free following Floyd’s death.
It remains to be seen if Emmy voters will respond positively to the show itself, or to the many members of the cast and crew that are nominated this year.
The final round of Emmy voting takes place between August 21 and August 31. As of right now, the winners will be announced at a ceremony on September 20, which will air on ABC and be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
