Regardless of whether she inspired you to start folding your underwear, you cannot deny the impact Marie Kondo had on almost everyone this year. Now, in addition to having her name become a verb, the home organization expert, author, and Tidying Up host can add Emmy nominee to her list of accomplishments.
With her soft-spoken manner, Kondo is quite the contrast to the other nominees for Outstanding Host for a Reality Show or Competition Emmy. She'll be up against four larger than life TV personalities: Ellen DeGeneres (for Ellen's Game of Games), Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman (for Making It), RuPaul (for RuPaul's Drag Race), and James Corden (for The World's Best). From where we're standing, only Drag Race has had more influence on people's lives.
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It's hard to believe it's only been a little over seven months since Tidying Up With Marie Kondo magically appeared on our TV screens with an eight-episode run on Netflix. The show was perfectly timed to coincide with people's New Years' resolutions and slow time for TV programming.
"What has surprised me the most is the speed at which people have responded," Kondo told Variety in early January. "It’s only been a week, but viewers are putting the KonMari Method into action immediately — folding their clothes and joy-checking their belongings! I’m still a little bit in shock — and overwhelmed with gratitude."
Those of us who had bought her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, when it first hit the zeitgeist in 2014 (the year the English translation hit shelves), were not at all surprised that people reacted so strongly to her methods with memes, reaction essays, overflowing bags of donations, and even the occasional career change. But her TV show has something the book never could: Marie Kondo in action.
"She is a radical presence on television for her gentleness, approaching each of her subjects with equal enthusiasm, whether they are struggling with grief or less heavy issues like those awkward, post-college years of maintaining a space that projects adulthood," Chris Feil wrote in Primetimer.com last month, making a case for why Kondo deserves this Emmy nod. "It's like if Fred Rogers taught you a lesson in gratitude while sliding you a gift card to The Container Store."
The show itself, of which Kondo is an executive producer, is also nominated for Outstanding Structured Reality Program. It's up against Antiques Roadshow, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Queer Eye, Shark Tank, and Who Do You Think You Are? Regardless of whether it wins, we can't imagine Netflix not wanting to bring back Tidying Up for season 2 and more. But the streaming service has yet to announce an official renewal or update.
That may be because Kondo is a little busy these days spreading her magic in other ways. As of March, we knew she was considering many options, including an app, a KonMari summit, and products. Maybe she's also making space for a little joy-sparking statuette in her living room?