When the Emmy nominations were announced earlier this month, it’s the acting and series nods that got all the attention. But never forget that without witty/ smart/ engaging/ hilarious/ gut-wrenching dialogue, all our favorite actors would just be sitting around looking at each other. Great writing begets great TV shows.
Once again, we’ve polled our trusty TV team for their favorite quotes. And remember, if you hear a great quottation, tweet me at @AmyTVGal or email me at [email protected], and you might see it here next month! One note: As we do with our weekly power list, streaming shows that debut all at once are eligible for six weeks, so we were able to get in a few great ones from streaming shows that premiered late last month.
The Bold Type
“He’s Christian, not a character on Handmaid’s Tale.” —Jane (Katie Stevens) about her boyfriend in “Plan B” (Episode 2.8)
The Handmaid’s Tale
“We can try for a boy this time.” —Fred (Joseph Fiennes) to June (Elisabeth Moss)
“Go fuck yourself, Fred.” —June’s response in “The Word” (Episode 2.13)
Younger
“Reese is in pieces” —Reese Witherspoon’s associate upon learning that Liza (Sutton Foster) is 41 in “Big Little Liza” (Episode 5.5)
Anne with an E
“Love doesn’t look the same for everyone. It can come in so many forms. How can anything be wrong with spending your life with the person you love?” —Anne (Amybeth McNulty) in “The Growing Good of the World” (Episode 2.10)
Trial and Error: Lady, Killer
“I had to give everyone a take home. I’m not on trial for murdering etiquette.” —Lavinia Peck-Foster (Kristen Chenoweth) in “The Timeline” (Episode 2.2)
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
“There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself.” —Hannah Gadsby
Pose
“Daddies are in.” —Pray Tell (Billy Porter) to Blanca (Mj Rodriguez), finally accepting her advice to get back on the dating market after the death of his boyfriend and his own diagnosis with HIV, in “Mother of the Year” (Episode 1.08)
The Break with Michelle Wolf
“George Clooney is so good-looking that the windshield he hit was like, ‘I’ll break. You stay whole, pumpkin.’” Michelle Wolf in “Sincere and Angry” (Episode 2.8)
The ESPY Awards
“If we choose to listen and we choose to act with empathy, we can draw strength from each other. We may suffer alone but we survive together.” —Aly Raisman, accepting the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage with 140 fellow sexual abuse survivors.
GLOW
“I asked you if you wanted eggs. You said, ‘I fucking hate eggs. That was fun.’ And then you made the Black Power fist and you left.” Rosalie (Annabella Sciorra) to Sam (Marc Maron) about the morning after their one-night stand in “Rosalie” (Episode 2.9)
Sharp Objects
“In Wind Gap, every woman gets a nasty label if they don’t conform to the rules of engagement.” —Camille (Amy Adams) in “Ripe” (Episode 1.4)
Claws
“A skort is the hysterectomy of casual separates” —Juanda’s ghost (Dale Dickey) to her widowed husband Clay (Dean Norris) in “Vaginalologist” (Episode 2.5)
Succession
“I’ve got a feeling it’s liable to get a little disgusting.” —Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) on the phone to his fiancée, Siobhan (Sarah Snook), before his bachelor party in “Prague” (Episode 1.08)
Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance writer, a member of the Television Critics Association and the Assistant TV Editor for Paste. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on Twitter (@AmyTVGal) or her blog .