Emmy season has arrived. Are you ready?

I’m digging into The Times’ 101 Best California Experiences list, and while I might quibble with the rankings — Tahoe over Big Sur? Nah — it has provided me with inspiration for some summer road trips, provided gas prices don’t double in price between now and July.

If that happens, I guess I’ll just stay home and watch the million and one new and returning TV shows that seem to have debuted in the last month. Yes, Emmy season is upon us, and the landscape is more scattered and confusing than ever.

I’m Glenn Whipp, awards columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope’s Friday newsletter, which is returning after a brief hiatus, during which I recovered from all the fun of this year’s Oscar ceremony by taking a self-defense class because ... well ... you never know who might take exception to something I write.

How many streaming services do you need for this year’s Emmys?

“Atlanta” is back after a four-year break. “Barry” has returned too — after a mere three years. “Stranger Things” will unveil a new season this month after being away since 2019. Comparatively, the two-year gap between “Better Call Saul” seasons feels forgiving. I can kind of, sort of remember where we left off.

If you’re a fan — and you should be, as these are four of the best shows on TV (let’s give “Stranger Things” a pass for its uneven third season) — you’re not going to need to be reminded to tune in to these established hits.

But perhaps a moment of silence is in order for any of the other several dozen series that have landed in the last few weeks (or will soon premiere), just in time to meet the May 31 Emmy eligibility deadline and not long after Netflix revealed it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the most recent quarter and (gulp) projected it would lose an additional 2 million in the current one.

As Emmy season lurches back to normalcy after a couple of virtual years, it would seem that there are too many shows, too many platforms, not enough subscribers ... and, frankly, not much in the way of buzzy offerings that might prod people to even sign up for a free trial. I love a horrific detective story about a ritualistic double murder in fundamentalist Mormon country as much as the next guy, but the reviews for Hulu’s “Under the Banner of Heaven” aren’t all that great. Maybe I can just content myself with the warm memories of cannibalism in “Yellowjackets” and sleep easy tonight.

Where do your favorite TV shows stand? I took an early survey of the primary categories, and as one reader pointed out, I probably did not give enough love to ABC’s terrific new comedy, “Abbott Elementary,” which has single-handedly restored my faith in broadcast television. Of course, I watch it on Hulu, so there’s that. Find it wherever you can.

Jenelle James is one of the standout award contenders in ABC’s breakout hit, “Abbott Elementary.”

(Temma Hankin / ABC)

Bob Odenkirk had better win an Emmy before ‘Better Call Saul’ ends

Bob Odenkirk doesn’t remember anything about his heart attack last summer — not the CPR, not the three defibrillator zaps that brought him back to life and nothing from the eight days he spent recuperating at Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital. Even the week after he went home is sketchy. He vaguely recalls his wife, Naomi, and adult kids, Nate and Erin, being with him and time spent with his “Better Call Saul” co-stars (and Albuquerque roommates) Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian.

But that’s it. No white light moment? I ask him. No encounters with St. Peter or a dearly departed pet?

“No,” Odenkirk answers. It’s a hot day, the Santa Ana winds are blowing and we’re sitting indoors at a poolside restaurant at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, sipping mojitos, far removed from the day Odenkirk collapsed on the set of “Better Call Saul.” I express a little disappointment that Odenkirk cannot offer me reassurance about an afterlife.

“You’re disappointed? I’m disappointed,” Odenkirk says. “I wanted to have that tale to tell. I wanted to tell you which of my relatives was first in line to greet me. I wanted to see Abraham Lincoln playing chess with Elvis Presley and get in on that game. I think Lincoln’s probably going to win. But only after Presley throws the board across the room and knocks Lincoln’s hat off.”

Odenkirk and I spoke about late-life epiphanies, comedy and, yes, the final batch of episodes of his great TV series, “Better Call Saul,” which will end the first half of its final season Monday night. (Why did Kim turn the car around and head back to Albuquerque? Why????)

“I can’t tell you where [Saul] ends up, but it’s not like he has some revelation of humanity. I think he gets to …” Odenkirk pauses. “I think I’ve said all I can say. But I like where his journey ends. And I think you’ll like it too.”

Bob Odenkirk, star of the stellar AMC drama “Better Call Saul.”

(Michelle Groskopf / For The Times)

11 under-the-radar series you should be watching

I sort of take exception to the whole premise of this story as I barely have enough time to watch the shows that are on everyone’s radar. But this is a pretty good list of underrated shows, including the silly Apple TV+ comedy “Schmigadoon!,” a clever musical theater sendup that unfailingly delivered doses of joy. As for the rest ... I’ve already added many of them to my already overburdened watchlists. I’ll be viewing them from, hopefully, Lake Tahoe later this summer.

Ariana DeBose is a singing, dancing schoolteacher in the Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon.”

(Apple TV+)