Michael Ordoña

North Hollywood

Covering film, TV & pop culture for The LA Times, SF Chron and others. Corruptly biased towards Bay Area sports teams. @lafilmcritics @criticschoice he/him

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Articles

An oral history of 'What We Do in the Shadows' with cast, showrunner

1 week ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

“What We Do in the Shadows” was an unlikely success story. Rising from the coffin of a hilarious but obscure mockumentary feature about four sort-of loser vampire housemates in suburban New Zealand, the FX sitcom shifted the action to Staten Island and cast its undead ensemble as blithely murderous, petty, pansexual and often dim-witted. The result: critical acclaim and three Emmy nominations for comedy series.
2025 Emmy predictions: supporting actor and actress

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

This year’s Emmy BuzzMeter balloting is underway, and our panel of six television experts is here to help you sift through who’s in, who’s out and who’s on the bubble. Below, check out the Round 1 results in four crowded races for supporting actor and actress. More predictions: Drama actor | drama actress | comedy actor | comedy actress Drama supporting actressThe supporting categories always have the most contenders, but … 23 for supporting actress in a drama?
2025 Emmy predictions: best limited series

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

This race is widely seen as a runaway for the two top contenders, and the panel agrees: “Adolescence” and “The Penguin” are the only two to appear on all ballots.
2025 Emmy predictions: best actress, limited series or TV movie

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

Cristin Milioti is way out in front, the only actress named on all ballots for limited series/TV movie actress and the only unanimous No. 1 pick in Round 1 across all major categories. Michelle Williams is a solid second, receiving some keen support from the panel, but Milioti’s rising crime boss with a brutal origin story has stolen the BuzzMeter’s heart.
2025 Emmy predictions: best actor, limited series/TV movie

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

As expected, Colin Farrell waddles apart for his nigh-unrecognizable turn as the reimagined Bat-nemesis in “The Penguin.” Farrell has collected many honors for the role, including the SAG Award, and is in front in Round 1 of the BuzzMeter — though not uncatchably so.
2025 Emmy predictions: best comedy actress

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

Reigning champ and winner for each of “Hacks’” previous three seasons, Jean Smart is the favorite here, with Natasha Lyonne, star, executive producer and occasional writer and director of “Poker Face,” joining her as the only other performer named on every ballot in Round 1. “I’d love to see if Natasha Lyonne can really compete this year with Smart and [Quinta] Brunson,” says Trey Mangum.
2025 Emmy predictions: best comedy actor

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

Seth Rogen is the only comedy lead actor to appear on all of the BuzzMeter panel’s ballots. Yet he’s in a fairly distant second place to reigning Screen Actors Guild Award winner Martin Short, whose partner in crime, Steve Martin, barely makes the bottom rung of the first-round ladder. The wait has been long for Short, who has 18 nominations but last won in 2014, as the host of an AFI Mel Brooks tribute special.
2025 Emmy predictions: best comedy series

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

No fewer than 20 shows received votes in this category in Round 1. And in something of a surprise, “The Studio” landed ahead of reigning champ “Hacks” in a battle of inside-baseball Hollywood comedies. “Two brilliant showbiz satires, ‘Hacks’ and ‘The Studio,’ will likely be battling it out,” predicts Matt Roush.
2025 Emmys predictions: best drama series

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

Drama series is this year’s glamour category, with perhaps the five most talked-about shows of the season. Initial polling finds a near-dead heat at the top between “Severance” and “The Pitt,” with “The Last of Us,” “The White Lotus” and “Andor” all very much in the mix. Only two points separate “Severance” and “The Pitt,” shows that couldn’t be more different.
2025 Emmys predictions: best drama actress

2 weeks ago | latimes.com | Michael OrdoÃ±a |Michael Ordoña

The panel was flabbergasted when Britt Lower wasn’t nominated for her work in the first season of “Severance”; they have her near the top of the Round 1 list this time. But she may be in for misery as Kathy Bates barely edged her out for the No. 1 spot for her unique spin on “Matlock.” “Fun fact: It’s been a full decade since an actress on a broadcast TV show won in this category (Viola Davis, for ABC’s ‘How to Get Away With Murder’),” says Kristen Baldwin.