Exhausting immersion in the kitchens of a fantastic restaurant, where each chef has as many talents as neuroses, “The Bear: eat in or take away” wrote a page in the history of the Emmy Awards on Wednesday, collecting the largest number of nominations for a comedy .
The series is nominated in 23 categories and marks a record year for this equivalent of the TV Oscars.
A show all the more remarkable for its nature as a “comedy” is highly debated because the soap opera tackles difficult themes, ranging from death to betrayal and emotional abuse.
“We find laughter in sadness,” says Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the actor who plays the restaurant manager.
“I think one of the strengths of the show, and one of the reasons it touched so many people, is that grief is something that goes through all of us,” he added during a recent press conference .
The second season of “The Bear” confirmed the success of the series broadcast by the Disney-owned FX channel.
The series traces the stress generated by the opening of a bold and experimental new gastronomic restaurant, born from the ashes of a messy family sandwich shop.
But the culinary intrigue is fueled by tragic events: the characters must confront the suicide of a loved one, struggle with alcoholism, care for dying parents and sometimes tear each other apart.
Amidst all this drama, the series “also has very light, very beautiful moments,” insists Ayo Edebiri.
– “pieces of fun” –
Enough to make “The Bear” a comedy? The question is important – and still debated – in Hollywood. Because the Emmys divide their awards into three main types of categories: drama, comedy, and miniseries — limited to one season.
The inclusion of “The Bear” in the comedy category is sometimes portrayed as an avoidance strategy on the part of the producers, because it allows them not to face the heavyweights in the dramatic categories such as “Succession”, and therefore win more awards.
But comedies in general have “taken a more serious turn,” notes Clayton Davis, a columnist for Variety magazine.
According to him, the era of “frank laughs”, at its height with the soap opera “Seinfeld” in the 90s, is now over.
Comedies like “Barry”, a scathing chronicle of a sociopathic killer who wants to become an actor, or “Fleabag”, a portrait of a young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown and with a ravenous sexuality, explored the dark corners of humanity. soul, he recalls.
However, “The Bear” can also be seen as a genuine comedy that deals with dark humor. Like when a character explains that he doesn’t know his late mother very well, because of “the whole death thing,” or when someone else is accidentally stabbed during a game.
“More comedies should embrace the fact that we can still find humor in times of great distress,” says screenwriter Sarah John in The Daily Beast.
– Fourth season? –
In any case, these debates do not prevent “The Bear” from harboring big pretensions. Its actors Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were all nominated for Emmy Awards on Wednesday, having already been honored last year.
The third season of the series was also released on Wednesday in France. And there might even be another one in the pipeline.
Rumors claim that a fourth season would have been filmed at the same time as the third, and the actors have not sought to deny them. “We did something like that,” they admitted.
“The pressure is very real,” continued Jeremy Allen White, who remains the favorite this year to win the Emmy for Best Actor. “But after a few weeks back to these people and our amazing team (…) we are having fun again and everything seems to be possible again.”
published on July 17 at 20:29, AFP
