Steve Pond's Awards Beat: Bo Burnham Crashes the Emmy Race With Netflix Special 'Inside'

ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=347001;uid=June112021;click=template_awards_beat June 11, 2021 Bo Burnham Crashes the Emmy Race With Netflix Special 'Inside' But his one-man show will be going up against "Hamilton," Beyoncé and the "Friends" reunion in a very crowded and competitive category By Steve Pond Netflix On May 30, actor, writer and director Bo Burnham launched a surprise sneak attack on a category that’s already one of the most competitive at this year’s Emmy Awards. That day, Netflix dropped “Bo Burnham Inside,” a comedy and music special that dissected life during the pandemic, [won rave reviews]( and seemingly became a major player in the Emmys’ Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category. In a year of shows that surveyed our troubled existence in the face of COVID, “Inside” might well be the COVID-iest of all. Written, shot and performed by Burnham over the course of a year from inside a single room, it’s a twisted musical-comedy meditation on isolation, social media and the sociopolitical currents of our time. It pretends to be a soul-baring examination of Burnham’s mental turmoil during lockdown, but it also mocks all that soul-baring; it’s supposed to be a record of what he did to get through the pandemic, but it also makes fun of what people like him (privileged white people in showbiz) do to get through the pandemic. “Inside” a piece of utter self-absorption that wins points for being so aware of that self-absorption, and then piles on by relentlessly analyzing its own awareness of its self-absorption. Eventually, it’s like being in a fun house of mirrors where you see so many reflections and refractions that you have no idea where the real Bo Burnham is. (The answer, I suppose, is that the real Bo Burnham is everywhere, and so is the fake Bo Burnham he's created for "Inside.") ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=284833;uid=June112021;click=template_awards_beat Anyway, it’s thrilling and exhausting, engaging and annoying. (If you're in the right mood, very thrilling; if not, very annoying.) Plus it’s got a beat and you can dance to it, assuming you’re up for dancing to Burnham's synth-pop songs about sexting and white women’s Instagram accounts. But is it a slam-dunk Emmy contender -- or even, as some have suggested, a sure winner? Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dave Chappelle, Beyoncé and a whole lot of other people might have something to say about that. The bottom line is that this was a slow year in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category, because live shows were difficult to pull off during the pandemic, but a very strong year in the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category. For starters, “Inside” will be competing against the long-awaited filmed version of “Hamilton,” certainly one of the highlights of pandemic-year TV. And against “8:46,” the new comedy special from Chappelle, who’s won two of the last three awards in the category. And against the “Friends” reunion special, the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reunion special, the “West Wing” reunion special and the “30 Rock” reunion special. Read the rest of [Steve Pond's column here](. Read Steve Pond's recent Awards Beat coverage [HERE](. Browse TheWrap's collection of Awards Season 2021 premium magazines TheWrap 2260 S. Centinela Ave. Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90064 [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](