A version of this story about TV cinematographers first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap magazine.
There were more than 550 television shows in contention this Emmy season, a daunting task for voters to parse and the driving engine for the “Is There Too Much TV?” chatter mill. But in the case of the Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) category, the nominations were an impressive overlay of the evolution of the half-hour series. All six nominees, drawn from 86 eligible contenders, are technically comedy series — but more urgently, they’re a bold representation of how that genre has blended into popular entertainments that are not afraid to go to darker, more diverse places while delivering the laughs.