Emmys

The Emmys’ writing and directing categories sometimes offer a window into the eventual winners, as when “The Studio” swept through the ceremony last year. Other times, voters decide to go their own way. “Slow Horses” has never won the drama series Emmy, but it has won awards for writing and directing the past two years. Noodles for everyone!

The episode submissions this year are a little baffling, often not reflecting the series’ best work. But what do I know? Maybe those “Pitt” submissions primed the waterworks. Perhaps it’s politics.

What I do know are my own personal preferences. So here are my rankings of the writing and directing nominees for drama, comedy and limited series, ordered from least to best.

Comedy series directing

6. “The Ms. Pat Show,” “Give It Arrest”
Directed by Mary Lou Belli

If you haven’t watched Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams’ unfiltered show, it’s been on BET+ for five seasons and this is Belli’s third nomination for directing. The fan base is nothing if not loyal.

5. “The Chair Company,” “Life Goes By Too F— Fast, It Really Does”
Directed by Andrew DeYoung

Cathartic cringe comedy for people who thought “Severance” was too lighthearted.

4. “Abbott Elementary,” “Ballgame”
Directed by Randall Einhorn

No small feat to shoot during a live baseball game, and the episode is so good (Kyle Schwarber blasts four home runs!) that, even as a Dodgers fan, I can’t say boo about the Philly-ness of it.

3. “Widow’s Bay,” “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!”
Directed by Hiro Murai

As the episode title suggests, it’s the table-setter. There were better episodes, but the last three aired past the eligibility deadline, so this will do.

2. “The Bear,” “Bears”
Directed by Christopher Storer

Tiff and Frank’s wedding, proof that Season 4 of “The Bear” had more than its share of high points. Another showcase for Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s acting and contains a powerful scene between Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Uncle Lee (Bob Odenkirk) that sets the stage for the show’s final season.

1. “Hacks,” “Hacks (Finale)”
Directed by Lucia Aniello

Who doesn’t like a fairy-tale ending?

Drama series directing

6. “The Gilded Age,” “My Mind Is Made Up”
Directed by Salli Richardson–Whitfield

Soapy, opulently costumed piffle with a beating heart.

5. “Paradise,” “Exodus”
Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper

In which the show either jumps the shark or executes an intriguing reset.

4. “The Pitt,” “12 P.M.”
Directed by Noah Wyle

RIP Louie.

3. “Task,” “Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River”
Directed by Salli Richardson–Whitfield

Shootouts don’t come more chaotic — or devastating — than the 20-minute melee that opens this hour.

2. “Slow Horses,” “Scars”
Directed by Saul Metzstein

Could repeat the Emmy in this category just for that last shot of Lamb’s feet.

1. “Pluribus,” “We Is Us”
Directed by Vince Gilligan

The strange, unsettling series premiere was the best hour of television this year.

Limited series directing

4. “Black Rabbit,” “The Black Rabbits”
Directed by Jason Bateman

Do you even remember what happened in this series?

3. “Beef,” “It Will Stay This Way and You Will Obey”
Directed by Jake Schreier

Is it OK to become our parents if it’s the only way to pay the mortgage?

2. “Beef,” “Oh, the Comfort, the Inexpressible Comfort”
Directed by Lee Sung Jin

Basically “The Pitt,” but with an ethical dilemma involving Gatorade.

1. “DTF St. Louis”
Directed by Steven Conrad

Immaculately composed wide shots and an imaginative use of shallow depth of field are used to highlight the suburban weirdness hiding in plain sight.

Comedy series writing

6. “Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat,” “Mergers and Acquisitions”
Written by Anthony King

In which Anthony (Norman, not King, the episode’s writer) becomes the hero of the television season.

5. “The Chair Company,” “Life Goes By Too F— Fast, It Really Does”
Written by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin

Season premiere goes straight into goblin mode.

4. “Abbott Elementary,” “Team Building”
Written by Quinta Brunson

The only instance where the words “team building” don’t make me shudder.

3. “Hacks,” “Hacks (Finale)”
Written by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky

Too melodramatic with the whole Deborah death scare? Have you been watching “Hacks” for the last five seasons?

2. “Widow’s Bay,” “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!”
Written by Katie Dippold

A fine introduction to the cursed New England island as well as the show’s juxtaposition of comedy and horror.

1. “The Comeback,” “Valerie Does It All”
Written by Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow

Can we laugh about AI being the death of us? For one brilliant episode, yes!

Drama series writing

6. “The Diplomat,” “Amagansett”
Written by Peter Ackerman and Debora Cahn

Come for the “West Wing” vibes, stay for the blindside reveal.

5. “The Pitt,” 12 P.M.”
Written by Valerie Chu

You can’t fault a show that hauls in 25 nominations, including two for writing. These are solid episodes, but they pale in comparison with the last four of the season, which offered an intense, emotionally charged run that culminated hours of careful, patient storytelling.

4. “Task,” “A Still Small Voice”
Written by Brad Ingelsby

Forgiveness brings relief.

3. “The Pitt,” “1 P.M.”
Written by Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R. Scott Gemmill

See earlier comment about “12 P.M.”

2. “Slow Horses,” “Scars”
Written by Will Smith

The best moment didn’t come from the book.

1. “Pluribus,” “We Is Us”
Written by Vince Gilligan

“Hello, Carol.”

Limited series writing

5. “All Her Fault,” “Episode 8”
Written by Megan Gallagher

If you like deaths in a series finale, this is the show for you!

4. “The Beast in Me,” “Sick Puppy”
Story by Gabe Rotter; teleplay by Gabe Rotter and Daniel Pearle

I was worried for the schnoodle more than any of the characters in the series.

3. “Beef,” “All the Things We’re Never Going to Have”
Written by Lee Sung Jin

Like healthcare, a home, peace of mind, bees that live when you try to save them …

2. “Death by Lightning,”
Written by Mike Makowsky

We could really use a James Garfield right about now.

1. “DTF St. Louis,”
Written by Steven Conrad

“No one’s normal. It just looks that way from across the street.”

It’s no secret that Hollywood has dealt with a significant production downturn since the end of the streaming content boom three years ago. But the programs that have stuck to the Southland have reaped the benefits. And that goes for a slew of major-category Emmy nominees such as “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which has filmed on stages all over L.A. County since its inception.

“First and foremost, it’s the people. I love the local people, but the people that come to Hollywood with a dream, with a drive, and their dreams sometimes get all twisted and turned, but they still have that ambition,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” executive producer Tom Campbell says. “That’s why I love working with L.A. crews, and I love L.A. We’ve got 19 seasons in the can right now, and we’re about to start our 20th in not too long. To be with people that get to go home to their pets, or wives, or husbands, or children, makes for a different vibe on set. That’s kind of an incredible [bonus]. It’s a quality-of-life thing.”

Other iterations of the franchise have filmed all over the globe, from Colombia to Portugal to the Philippines, but Campbell doesn’t see how a hub in South America would allow guest judges such as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Teyana Taylor or Cardi B to appear in person. He notes, “The celebrities don’t make or break the show, but the stars have to align that they have a day off when we’re shooting. And I think that kind of access and availability could only happen in L.A. I don’t think we’d get Cardi B for a day if she had to leave L.A.”

For “Drag Race” production designer Jen Chu, the ability to acquire raw materials in a short period of time is game-changing. She bluntly observes, “Sometimes you just need the assurance that you can go down the street and get that unusual prop or get that super-specific acrylic Plexi or anything that we could possibly need. It is somewhere in the city.”

Michelle Visage, left, RuPaul, Jamal Sims and Carson Kressley in “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

(Jordin Althaus / World of Wonder)

Chu’s 15-person team also has an encyclopedic knowledge about where to get what they need and whom to ask at a moment’s notice. “It’s very, very common for somebody to be like, ‘Can you make a giant six-foot-tall pill bottle by tomorrow?’” she adds. “I think in those situations, we’re definitely calling on our resources and our friends and colleagues that we’ve known for so long. So, it could be anything from calling your laminate dealer that you’ve had in your phone for 20 years, or it’s literally like calling another dresser because you know that they have a life-size teapot in their backyard for some weird reason. It’s not uncommon for somebody to be like, ‘I know a guy that has a giant pickle or a huge frying pan’ or something like that.”

Veteran “Abbott Elementary” producer Patrick Schumacker is about to shoot a new Netflix series in L.A. and says it’s where to find the “most skilled, most experienced and best of the best” in all aspects of production. A lot of the onscreen talent happen to be pretty darn funny too.

“Honestly, so many hysterical actors are based out of here, and it makes it so much easier with regard to guest cast in a comedy,” Schumacker admits. “Casting becomes infinitely easier versus trying to get people to fly in from L.A. to a production elsewhere.”

Quinta Brunson’s landmark series is set in Philadelphia, but Schumacker credits location manager David Lyons for finding “outstanding places” that double for the city. He recalls, “We had a whole mall arc when the school had to relocate, and that was based on Franklin Mills, which is a real mall in Philadelphia that has the giant Ben Franklin head in it. The other part of the two-pronged attack is Michael Whetstone, Suzan Wexler and our entire art department, who have transformed the back lot at Warner Brothers into West Philly. They keep building out more and more of it every year.”

Sheryl Lee Ralph, right, in “Abbott Elementary.”

(Gilles Mingasson / Disney)

It’s also incredibly difficult to fake another city for Los Angeles. Can you imagine the L.A. romance “Nobody Wants This” trying to duplicate Silver Lake, Los Feliz or Koreatown in Atlanta?

“A real location helps the dialogue sound better. It looks better. It helps the actors know they’re in a real place. It helps the audience feel like they’re watching a real scene,” series creator and executive producer Erin Foster says. “When you think about ‘Sex and the City’ in its heyday, you would recognize the places that they’re at. You would recognize that they are actually authentic, real places that are cool. And it mattered. It made you take the characters seriously.”

Executive producer Jenni Konner adds, “And it sometimes informs story. We shot at Max & Helen’s, a notoriously difficult-to-get-into restaurant, and we had a story point where they weren’t able to get in because they didn’t realize how competitive it was. That was really fun to be able to highlight that truth of L.A.”

And not to take shots at Hollywood’s East Coast rival, but after the Netflix show recently shot scenes in New York for its upcoming third season, executive producer Bruce Eric Kaplan observed that the Big Apple presents drawbacks L.A. doesn’t. “It feels like the Los Angeles crew is a lot more concerned about our safety,” says the onetime “Girls” producer, lightheartedly. “I don’t remember ever having this many safety conversations, but you could shoot in the middle of anything in New York, and no one’s telling you to be safe.”

“Might be a sign of the times,” Foster wonders.

“Erin, I think you’re right,” Konner replies. “At first, I was like, ‘Oh, but it’s 10 or 15 years later, so safety rules have changed.’ But the truth is we shot in New York, and it did feel scary again. We were in the middle of the street in SoHo …”

Foster adds, laughing, “And they were just like, ‘We’ll just figure it out.’”