My First Emmy Nominations : Regina and Melissa of Nine Perfect Strangers

LOVE LOVE LOVE these two.

A week ago I watched the Emmys, as I always do, from the beginning of the red carpet until the last award is given and the credits roll. 

I love television, I always have. Television has been my devoted bestie through surgeries, two children, many days of chronic illness hell, and has been an amazing bonding tool for my family and I. Do most people think I watch “an insane amount” of television? Sure. Do I care? No. 

Years ago Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote an article, let’s say for the New York Times. I loosely quote this article all the time, yet I can’t manage to find it anywhere online so it’s possible I made the whole thing up. That said, here is the basic idea :

If you grew up in the 1980’s, like my imaginary best friend Lin-Manuel and I did, you probably lived in a house where the television was always on. The day began with The Today Show and ended with some news show or late night talk show, and in between you had soap operas and Oprah. Now, everyone wants to micromanage “screen time,” claiming we are going to fry our children’s brains. Well, as a child of the 70’s and 80’s, no one paid attention to anything anyone did, so it’s a miracle any of us made it out in one piece. 

Plus, look at Lin-Manuel! He’s doing much better than OK. If anyone is a poster child for how you can grow into a fabulous person while watching “an insane amount” of television, my bestie is. 

The notorious article basically says that television is often a companion, and source of inspiration, and at the end of the day the things that destroy us are probably not the HBO shows we watched late at night a friend’s house that were definitely NOT appropriate. Since Lin-Manuel seems to be a very reasonable adult human I tend to believe that if he thinks TV isn’t the downfall of the planet, that’s good enough for me. 

Now, all that said, I’d like to cast my first two nominations for next year’s Emmys. I have several I’d like to lobby for, but the first two are Regina Hall and Melissa McCarthy from Nine Perfect Strangers. 

I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical about the show, but tuned in because I adore Melissa McCarthy and will watch anything she touches. As the famous saying goes, “You show up for the Melissas and stay for the Reginas.”

It goes without saying that Melissa’s character, Frances, is portrayed brilliantly. I don’t need to spend hours fawning over her, we all agree she’s a bright, shiny star. 

Side note : a lifetime ago I cut Melissa’s hair and she was as kind and delightful as you would imagine her to be. She’d never remember me, but she always stood out as a favorite, and I was not at all surprised to see her rise to fame. 

Now Regina Hall, however, blew my mind. I know her as the gorgeous and sexy woman from Girls Trip, and when she appeared on screen in Nine Perfect Strangers as a frumpy housewife I chuckled to myself. Was it possible to dim the radiance of this woman enough to convince an audience she was a lonely divorcée? I was skeptical. 

The answer is OH MY GOODNESS yes! By the end of the pilot I was locked in and had to finish the entire series. Regina is absolutely breathtaking as Carmel, a surprising character I don’t want to tell you much about. The vulnerability Regina brings to Carmel is lovely, building on a complex and fascinating character with raw talent. I wish I could say more, but you have to witness her in action to truly embrace the magnitude. 

As someone who has zero pull in Hollywood, and writes blog posts no one reads, I would like to nominate both of these women for awards. Honestly you can probably just stick some trophies in the mail now, that’s how great they are. I’m clearly an expert. 

Go watch Nine Perfect Strangers and let me know if you agree (you will). If you need an excuse to binge another show, or if you have any guilt about there being other things that are “more important,” just remember that Lin-Manuel says it’s ok and he’s the boss of the universe. Yay!