The Emmys is an episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Joe Starr and Andy Signore. It parodies the 68th Primetime Emmy Award nominees for 'Outstanding Drama Series' (The Americans, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Mr. Robot, Downton Abbey, and House of Cards) and 'Outstanding Comedy Series' (Veep, Black-ish, Modern Family, Transparent, Master of None, Silicon Valley, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), as well as 'Outstanding Limited Series' nominee The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
The video was published on August 9, 2016, to celebrate Honest Trailers' first Primetime Emmy nomination for 'Outstanding Short Form Variety Series.' The video doubled as Screen Junkies' 'For your consideration' Emmys pitch and encouraged Emmys voters to vote for the series. The video is 6 minutes 40 seconds long, has been viewed over 2.3 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - The Emmys on YouTube
"The only way we knew how to build hype for our own Emmy nomination was to make fun of the TV shows the voters work on. Wait, wait, wait, go back. We got nominated for an Emmy?" ~ Honest Trailers - The Emmys
Script[]
In a world where every network spends millions to get the attention of Emmy voters, the only way we knew how to build hype for our own Emmy nomination was to make fun of the TV shows the voters work on.
Wait, wait, wait, go back. We got nominated for an Emmy? Like an Emmy Emmy?! That's awesome! Well, wait, then why are we making fun of all their shows? This is a terrible idea, you guys.
Honest Emmys
With more than 400 scripted shows on television, no voter on Earth has time to watch 'em all. So instead of just voting for your friends this year, here's an honest refresher of the nominees for Best Drama and Best Comedy, plus that O.J. show, 'cause it was awesome.
Nominations for Best Drama Series[]
The Americans[]
Honest title for The Americans - Ruskie Business.
Get ready for an action-packed thrill ride about two Russian spies who take down America by any wigs necessary, in this winning combination of great acting, historical drama, and Felicity's (Keri Russell) butt.
Ruskie Business
Better Call Saul[]
Honest title for Better Call Saul - Better Not Call Him Saul, Because We're Two Seasons in and His Name is Still Jimmy.
You loved watching the rise and fall of Walter White's meth empire. Now, strap in for the prequel about the time his lawyer brought a class-action lawsuit against an assisted living facility. (Schweikart: Some of your clients have, in fact, been overbilled.) It's way better than it sounds.
Better Not Call Him Saul, Because We're Two Seasons In and His Name is Still Jimmy.
Game of Thrones[]
Honest title for Game of Thrones - Downers and Dragons.
The epic fantasy returns for a season that outdid even its own high standards, with massive casts, epic set pieces, and some of the good guys...actually winning for once? Oh, man, next season is gonna be brutal.
Downers & Dragons
Homeland[]
Honest title for Homeland - Spy So-Called Life.
Prepare for another intense season of political intrigue in this smarter version of 24, where one woman will do whatever it takes to -- (shows clips of Carrie crying) aw, great, she's off her meds again. Look, I love Claire Danes, and I know she can cry on demand and all, but it doesn't mean you have to do it in every season. Let Mandy Patinkin have a breakdown. He went to Juilliard!
Spy So-Called Life.
Downton Abbey[]
Honest title for Downton Abbey - Fancy Hats. Title design by Robert Holtby.
The beautifully-crafted upstairs-downstairs drama returns for even more British people (Isobel: Won't you stay and have some tea?) being (Cora: But you'll stay for luncheon?) British (Shrimpie: Invite him to dinner tomorrow night.). I really don't know what happened this season. I kinda checked out after Cousin Matthew died.
Fancy Hats
Mr. Robot[]
Honest title for Mr. Robot - Byte Club.
Jack in to the mind-bending cyberdrama that's the most realistic depiction of hacking on television, although the bar for that has been set pretty low (shows clips of hacking from Chuck, NCIS, and Castle).
Byte Club
House of Cards[]
Honest title for House of Cards - The Wolf of D.C. Title design by Robert Holtby.
Netflix changed the game, and they're still going strong with the prestige drama that mixes The West Wing with Deadpool (Deadpool: Oh, hello./Frank Underwood: Did you think I'd forgotten you?), in this twisted nightmare version of American politics that keeps getting one-upped by reality (Donald Trump: Actually, I was only kidding. You can get the baby outta here.).
The Wolf of D.C.
Nominations for Best Comedy Series[]
Veep[]
Honest title for Veep - I'm Not With Her.
Get ready for the reigning champion of political satire in the prestige comedy that mixes The West Wing with The Office, in this twisted nightmare version of American politics that also keeps getting one-upped by reality (Donald Trump: Aaaah, I don't know what I said! Aaaah, I don't remember!).
I'm Not With Her
Transparent[]
Honest title for Transparent - Hey Now, I'm a Woman Now. Title design by Robert Holtby.
Streaming live on Amazon, once you figure out how to actually log in and find it, comes the messy family dramedy that proves you can be gay, trans, or straight, and still be a dick.
Ali: Okay? So there we go. It's settled, done.
Josh: No!
Sarah: Shut up!
Josh: I'm not!
Maura: You cannot do anything!
Hey Now, I'm a Woman Now.
Silicon Valley[]
Honest title for Silicon Valley - .Comtourage.
Mike Judge brings a satirical genius to the world of Internet start-ups, where the egotistical, antisocial billionaires get taken down a peg (Gavin: I just got humiliated by a f*** teenager, and you give me this tampon ad?!) by a team of egotistical, antisocial wannabe billionaires (Richard: And if you don't fund us, you're a f*** slut.).
.Comtourage
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt[]
Honest title for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - Wacky Room.
(sad music plays in the background) She was kidnapped by a sexually abusive cult leader. She was trapped in a bunker for years. Now she's out, and she's looking for (music turns upbeat) a job and a boyfriend!
Wacky Room
Modern Family[]
Honest title for Modern Family - Not as Modern as Transparent's Family.
Curl up with America's favorite comfort show that, after seven seasons, still hasn't told us who's filming them. (Cameron: So, I took a vegan cooking class, and my new thing is Facon!) Seriously, who are they talking to?!
Not As Modern As Transparent's Family
Master of None[]
Honest title for Master of None - Everyone Loves Aziz.
Enjoy the latest and greatest New York City show about nothing in the rom-com everyone loves about the problems that only Aziz Ansari has. (Dev: This is supposed to be the best taco! What am I supposed to do now, go eat the second-best taco like some kind of a**hole?!)
Everybody Loves Aziz
Black-ish[]
Honest title for Blackish - Black Family Matters. Title design by Robert Holtby.
From the creator of America's Next Top Model?...comes the hilarious sitcom in the tradition of The Cosby Show, Good Times, and Fresh Prince, that gives a fresh, funny new take on the same old racist bullsh** the Jeffersons had to deal with!
Jeffersons News Anchor: Rioting broke out in some forty U.S. cities last night.
Black-ish News Anchor: And it looks like we're getting word now of protests across the country becoming violent.
Come on, society!
Black Family Matters
Nominations for Best Limited Series[]
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story[]
Honest title for The People v. O.J. Simpson - The People v. O.J. Simpson v. Fargo. Title design by Robert Holtby.
You already lived through the endless news coverage, the unlikable cast of characters, and the shocking twist ending. Now, O.J. is back on television, and...it's amazing? Wow, I did not see that coming.
The People v. O.J. Simpson v. Fargo
Seriously, that's a really tough category.
And those are your nominees. So when you're filling out your ballot, don't forget to vote for the Short Form Variety Series that's honest enough to pander directly to you, while hopefully not pissing you off too much. I mean, we're cool...right? Well, this is gonna be awkward.
Trivia[]
- Honest Trailers didn't end up winning the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Short Form Variety Series.' The winner was Park Bench with Steve Buscemi. However, Honest Trailers has been nominated more times for this award than any other show. It the only series to have been nominated every single year since the award was created. Honest Trailers has won a Streamy Award and an International Academy of Web Television Award.
- Only one of the Emmy nominees has received its own dedicated Honest Trailer: Game of Thrones Vol 1 and Vol. 2.
- To celebrate their nomination at the 2017 Emmys, Honest Trailers and Michael Bolton created Honest Retro TV Themes! for several nominees.
- Honest Trailers also regularly put out Honest Trailers for award nominees, for example Oscars 2016, Oscars 2017, Oscars 2018 and Oscars 2019.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - The Emmys has a 97.2% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Slate described the video as "an exercise in punning" and said the alternate titles were "clever" but "obvious." Slate also noted that the Honest Trailer "closes with some self-promotion that’s 'honest enough to pander directly to you,' though really, the whole thing could easily be construed as some strange, reverse-engineered For Your Consideration reel." The Daily Dot said the video exemplified Screen Junkies' "typically biting commentary" and also remarked that "of course, the whole thing is really an ad for Honest Trailers‘ own Emmy campaign."
The Verge called the video a "spot-on spoof," and remarked this is perhaps "the first time a nominee has poked fun at other nominees through the very medium it was nominated for." In the same article, The Verge also praised the Honest Trailers series more generally, writing "Honest Trailers is a consistently hilarious YouTube series that nails all the clichés in today's movie trailers, complete with the perfect growly narrations of the typical Movie Trailer Voiceover Guy."
Deadline wrote that the series' Emmy nomination was a "crowning achievement for the team." The site lauded the series, writing "ScreenJunkies platform has emerged in recent years as a significant force in popular culture, in no small part due to the massive success of the 'Honest Trailers' web series." In the same article, Deadline called Honest Trailers "elaborate, hilarious spoofs of the industry’s most prominent films and television series" and said the series' success "can be measured in terms of growing recognition of the series by major industry players—and the participation of these artists in its creation."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - The Emmys
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Joe Starr, and Andy Signore
Edited by TJ Nordaker, Bruce Guido, & Dan Murrell
External links []
- The Honest Trailer for the 2016 Emmy Nominees Gives All Your Favorite Shows New Titles - Slate article
- The 2016 Emmy Awards Honest Trailer Takes Down Game of Thrones and Veep - Time article
- Honest Trailers Presents The 2016 Emmy Awards - Geeks of Doom article
- ‘Honest Trailers’ roasts fellow nominees with Emmys edition - The Daily Dot article
- Web series gets nominated for Emmy, makes fun of other Emmy nominees - The Verge article
- Check out Emmy-nominated 'Honest Trailers' give the Emmys the trailer treatment - Mashable article
- ScreenJunkies’ ‘Honest Trailers’ Takes On 2016 Emmy Nominees — Exclusive Video - Deadline article