The BEST episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter
Every episode of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter!
The Hollywood Reporter looks at the awards seasons through the eyes of the nominees. Oscar and Emmy nominees discuss their experiences and process with each other during round-table discussions that include the actors, actresses and producers whose work has been noticed by the academies.
#2 - Reality
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/13/2015
Mark Burnett (Survivor, Shark Tank, The Voice) Julie Chen (Big Brother) Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance) Nigel Lythgoe (So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol) Craig Piligian (The Ultimate Fighter) Bertram Van Munster (The Amazing Race)
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Drama Showrunners
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/30/2015
Lee Daniels (Empire: Fox) Alex Gansa (Homeland: Showtime) Michelle King (The Good Wife: CBS) Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers: HBO) Sarah Treem (The Affair: Showtime) Beau Willimon (House of Cards: Netflix)
#5 - Drama Actresses
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/15/2018
Angela Bassett - "9-1-1" (FOX) Claire Foy - "The Crown" (Netflix) Maggie Gyllenhaal - "The Deuce" (HBO) Elisabeth Moss - "Top of the Lake: China Girl" (SundanceTV) / "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu) Thandie Newton - "Westworld" (HBO) Sandra Oh - "Killing Eve" (BBC America)
Watch Now:Amazon
#6 - Comedy Actresses
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/10/2016
TV's leading funny ladies – Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Allison Janney (Mom), Niecy Nash (Getting On), Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie), Ilana Glazer (Broad City) – disclose the best advice they ever got, the moment they knew they wanted to become actors and their funniest fan interactions.
Watch Now:Amazon
#7 - Comedy Actors
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/17/2016
Comedy masters, Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent), Aziz Ansari (Master of None), Anthony Anderson (Black-ish), Tony Hale (Veep), Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show), Rob Lowe (The Grinder), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), divulge their most embarrassing moments, who inspires them and the challenges of taking a comedic look at serious topics.
Watch Now:Amazon
#8 - Actresses
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/29/2017
Amy Adams (Arrival), Annette Bening (20th Century Women), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures), Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Emma Stone (La La Land) talk about what inspired them to go into acting, having stage fright and what it's like working with Hollywood's best directors.
Watch Now:Amazon
#9 - Drama Showrunners
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/5/2018
Dan Futterman - "The Looming Tower" (Hulu) Bruce Miller - "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu) Peter Morgan - "The Crown" (Netflix) David Shore - "The Good Doctor" (ABC) Lena Waithe - "The Chi" (Showtime) Courtney Kemp - "Power" (Starz)
#10 - Drama Actresses
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/2/2015
Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex: Showtime) Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder: ABC) Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman: SundanceTV) Taraji P. Henson (Empire: FOX) Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: FX) Ruth Wilson (The Affair: Showtime)
Watch Now:Amazon
#11 - Drama Showrunners
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/24/2016
Six of television's top drama series bosses- Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey), Nina Jacobson (American Crime Story), Marti Noxon (UnREAL, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce), Melissa Rosenberg (Jessica Jones) and John Ridley (American Crime)- open up about the stories that made them genuinely nervous, diversity in Hollywood and what it takes to cast their shows.
#12 - Actors
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/22/2017
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Andrew Garfield (Silence, Hacksaw Ridge), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Snowden) and Dev Patel (Lion) discuss how they go about researching roles, being typecast and what it's like working with celebrated directors.
Watch Now:Amazon
#14 - Drama Actresses
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/26/2016
Six of the year's most sought after drama actresses engage in a candid conversation about sex scenes and nudity as they get older. Sarah Paulson (The People vs O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story/ American Horror Story: Hotel), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), Kerry Washington (Confirmation/ Scandal), Constance Zimmer (UnREAL), Kirsten Dunst (Fargo), Regina King (American Crime/ The Leftovers), and Jennifer Lopez (Shades of Blue) discuss the advantages of working with female directors, the new landscape of television, and what their first big splurge was.
Watch Now:Amazon#15 - Documentarians
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/24/2016
Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine) Michael Moore (Where to Invade Next) Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Blue, Prophet's Prey) Kirby Dick (The Hunting Ground) Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone) Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Meru)
#16 - Comedy Showrunners
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/31/2016
Comedy TV writer-producers including Kenya Barris (Black-ish), Marta Kauffman (Grace and Frankie), Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Alan Yang (Master of None), Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat) and David Mandel (Veep) talk condoms, stunt guests and what they have (and haven't) been able to get away with showing and talking about on the small screen.
#17 - Comedy Actresses
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/16/2015
Lena Dunham (Girls: HBO) Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Netflix) Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live: NBC) Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin: CW) Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish: ABC) Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer: Comedy Central)
Watch Now:Amazon
#18 - Directors
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/15/2017
The directors of this year's most acclaimed films, Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe), Oliver Stone (Snowden), Denzel Washington (Fences), talk about the filmmaking process.
Watch Now:Amazon
#24 - Drama Actors
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/8/2018
Jason Bateman - "Ozark" (Netflix) Darren Criss - "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" (FX) Jeff Daniels - "The Looming Tower" (Hulu) / "Godless" (Netflix) Matthew Rhys - "The Americans" (FX) J.K. Simmons - "Counterpart" (Starz) Michael B. Jordan - "Fahrenheit 451" (HBO)
Watch Now:Amazon
#25 - Comedy Actresses
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/1/2018
Alison Brie - "GLOW" (Netflix) Rachel Brosnahan - "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (Amazon) Debra Messing - "Will & Grace" (NBC) Tracee Ellis Ross - "black-ish" (ABC) Frankie Shaw - "SMILF" (Showtime) Drew Barrymore - "Santa Clarita Diet" (Netflix) Molly Shannon - "Divorce" (HBO)
Watch Now:Amazon