10 Highlights of the 73rd Emmy Nominations
This morning at 8:30am PDT/11:30am EDT, Emmy-winning father-daughter duo Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) and Jasmine Cephas Jones (Hamilton) announced the nominations in the top categories for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in a presentation that was streamed live. Yesterday, I posted my predictions in all 16 top categories and reviewed what the Emmys are and how they work. (Click here to read that article.)
Given an unprecedented amount of turnover in eligible series, some recent rule changes, and the ongoing impact of the pandemic on virtually every aspect of show business, this year was bound to be full of surprises. And it certainly was.
Below I highlight some of the most notable trends and themes of this year’s Emmy nominations. Given the gigantic number of categories, I have certainly missed a few interesting tidbits and I opted not to list out all of the major nominations. (I recommend finding the nominations here on the Emmys website, where there are tons of different options to sort through them.)
In two months I will be back take a deep dive into who will and should win and review the telecast, which will air on September 19th on CBS and Paramount+.
10 Highlights of the 73rd Emmy Nominations
#1) The expected series dominated in the Drama, Comedy, and Limited Series categories. As I predicted, the drama categories were dominated by the brilliant fourth seasons of The Crown and The Handmaid’s Tale, whose total of 24 and 21 nominations (respectively) marked their best showings ever. The second season of The Mandalorian also did exceptionally well with 24 nominations, although the majority were in technical categories. One thing I did not see coming was the major embrace of HBO’s period horror series Lovecraft Country. I expected it to do well, but I did not expect 18 nominations, with numerous in major categories. Over in the Comedy categories, AppleTV’s breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso dominated as expected with a whopping 20 nominations. Also as expected, HBOMax’s Hacks and The Flight Attendant had terrific showings with a combined total of 24 nominations (most in major categories). Over in the Limited Series category, Disney+’s Marvel superhero series WandaVision scored 23 nominations, Netflix’s chess prodigy drama The Queen’s Gambit scored 18 nominations, and HBO’s Kate Winslet-led murder mystery Mare of Easttown scored 16 nominations. Of course, Saturday Night Live also dominated as it does almost every year with an absurd 21 nominations (it now has a record 308 nominations and a record 78 wins). But, I won’t get started on how I feel about that.
#2) Unprecedented turnover in the major categories was a boon for new series and returning series that had fallen out of favor with the Academy. Of last year’s 16 nominees for Outstanding and Comedy Drama Series, only 4 were eligible this year. Some of the 12 were ineligible because they wrapped their runs (e.g., Schitt’s Creek, The Good Place) and several saw their follow-up seasons delayed by COVID (e.g., Succession, Ozark). All 4 of the series that were eligible to repeat — The Kominsky Method in Comedy and The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mandalorian in Drama — did so. The 12 remaining spots were spread out as follows: three series that had previously received nominations in the top categories but missed out for their most recent seasons returned (black-ish in Comedy and Pose and This Is Us in Drama), three series that were not nominated in the top categories for previously eligible seasons managed to break in (PEN15 and Cobra Kai in Comedy and The Boys in Drama), and six series that were eligible for the first time scored nominations (Emily in Paris, The Flight Attendant, Hacks, and Ted Lasso in Comedy and Bridgerton and Lovecraft Country in Drama).
#3) Streaming dominates, but HBO remains a force and the networks keep holding on by a thread. As has been the case the last few years, streaming service Netflix and premium cable outlet HBO (which now has a high-profile streaming service of its own, HBOMax) dominated the nominations scoring 129 and 130 nominations, respectively. Disney+ made a very strong showing with 71 nominations, up from 19 during its first year of eligibility last year. Fueled by Saturday Night Live, NBC scored a respectable 46 nominations and was easily the top among the broadcast networks. Of the 26 nominees across the four top categories (Outstanding Comedy, Drama, Limited Series, and Made-for-Television Movie), 18 nominations went to streaming services, 6 went to cable networks, and 2 went to broadcast networks. Streaming clearly dominates, but it wasn’t a banner year for all streaming services. Peacock (the NBC/Universal streaming service) and Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) combined only scored 8 nominations, none in major categories. (And, yes, that means Peacock’s wickedly clever Girls5Eva and Saved by the Bell reboots were largely snubbed.)
#4) The Emmys showed unprecedented love to individual members of large ensembles. A handful of shows dominated the acting categories in unprecedented ways, as several series saw a stunning number of individual members of their ensembles get nominations. Perhaps the most impressive is The Handmaid’s Tale, which scored 10 individual acting nominations for its ensemble — 1 in lead (Elisabeth Moss), 7 in supporting (Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, O-T Fagbenle, and Max Minghella), and 2 in guest (Alexis Bledel and McKenna Grace). Nearly matching that tally was The Crown, which scored 9 acting nominations — 3 in lead (Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin, and Josh O’Connor), 4 in supporting (Gillian Anderson, Helena Bonham Carter, Emerald Fennell, and Tobias Menzies), and 2 in guest (Claire Foy and Charles Dance). There was also a dominant force in the Comedy categories with Ted Lasso scoring nominations for 7 of its actors — one in lead (Jason Sudeikis) and 6 in supporting (Juno Temple, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, and Jeremy Swift). And then there is the curious case of the Broadway musical Hamilton ensemble in the Limited Series/Movie categories. Although the recording of the stage musical that premiered on Disney+ was not deemed to be eligible as a Made-for-Television Movie but rather a Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), its actors were allowed to compete in the Limited Series/Movie categories. The result is that 7 (!) of them get nominated — 2 in lead (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr.) and 5 in supporting (Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, and Anthony Ramos). Expect there to be a lot of griping about all the actors who missed out on nominations in favor of a filmed Broadway performance.
#5) The Emmys continue to do an impressive job of embracing diversity. The big story of the morning in terms of diversity and inclusion was undoubtedly Mj Rodriguez’s nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Pose. The American actress, whose mother is African-American and whose father is Afro-Puerto Rican, broke barriers not because of her race or ethnicity but because she is the first openly transgender person ever nominated in a major acting category. (Laverne Cox paved the way by scoring 4 guest actress nominations for her recurring role on Orange Is the New Black). It is a long-overdue achievement and a richly deserved one. Her performance as a housemother, businesswoman, and performer with AIDS during the three season run of Pose was uniquely understated, profoundly impactful, and utterly extraordinary. I am so glad the Television Academy nominated her. And Rodriguez wasn’t alone — 44% of the nominees across all six lead acting categories were people of color. And as mentioned elsewhere in this article, the Emmys are increasingly embracing shows of different genres, shows led by women and people of color, and shows that air on lesser-known platforms.
#6) As always, there were numerous high profile snubs. There were numerous high-profile snubs, although a bit fewer than in recent years. Many snubs occurred in the Limited Series categories, where a near-record number of top notch series were competing and Hamilton’s cast showed up to dominate. Among the major snubs were HBO’s searing AIDS drama It’s a Sin and Amazon Prime’s critically revered anthology series Small Axe, which failed to score any major nominations. The A-list-powered The Undoing also had a weak showing with Hugh Grant scoring the only major nomination and co-stars Nicole Kidman and Donald Sutherland omitted. Other major Limited Series snubs included Thuso Mdebu and Joel Edgerton for headlining The Underground Railroad, Marielle Heller and Bill Camp for their work in The Queen’s Gambit (they were bizarrely snubbed in favor of lesser-known and lesser-acclaimed costars), Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird), Bryan Cranston (Your Honor), Brendan Gleeson (for playing Donald Trump in The Comey Rule), and everyone involved in the fourth installment of Fargo (the first three all were huge Emmy players). Among the high-profile snubs in the comedy and drama categories were nearly everyone involved with Peacock’s brilliant Girls5Eva, Kathleen Turner (who reunited with former big screen partner Michael Douglas for a heartbreaking arc on The Kominsky Method’s final season), Joseph Fiennes (the only major actor on The Handmaid’s Tale not nominated), Emmy favorite Sarah Paulson (Ratched), and The Mandalorian himself Pedro Pascal.
#7) The Emmys surprisingly embrace comfort viewing. Many people expected Netflix’s absurdly soapy Bridgerton to get some major Emmy love due to its breakout hit status and the weaker competition this year. And it did, scoring 12 nominations including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor for breaking Rege-Jean Page, and Outstanding Directing. (It also scored a nomination for Oscar-winning legend Julie Andrews’ superb narration, which is one nomination I can get behind!) Over in Comedy, Netflix’s uber-frothy Emily in Paris, a silly romantic comedy that shocked many in the industry when it scored some top Golden Globe nominations, was a shocking inclusion in Outstanding Comedy Series. This is especially strange since it only received one other nomination (for Outstanding Production Design). I don’t know what it says about the Television Academy that as they progressively embrace edgier and more diverse fare they reserved two spots for these trifles — and frankly I would rather not think about it too deeply.
#8) Disney-owned IP had a banner year. The Star Wars and Marvel Universes have always been cash cows and pop culture behemoths, but they have never been big awards magnets. Between the time the original Star Wars film scored a bevy of Oscar nominations in 1977 and the first live action Star Wars series (The Mandalorian) scored an Outstanding Drama Series nod at the Emmys last year, no Star Wars-related project scored a major award nomination. And with the exception of Black Panther’s Best Picture nomination, no Marvel film or television series has ever scored a major nomination from the Oscars or Emmys. This year, however, both Star Wars and Marvel scored big. The Mandalorian scored a whopping 24 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and three acting nominations, and tied The Crown for the most nominations among all drama series. Marvel’s limited series WandaVision scored a whopping 23 nominations and was the most nominated limited series in what was a banner year for the format. Their amazing showings provide irrefutable evidence that the Emmys are open to embracing big franchises and genre programs in a big way. Further supporting this point, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Marvel’s other eligible series) scored 5 nominations and Amazon Prime’s superhero drama The Boys was a surprise inclusion in Outstanding Drama Series.
#9) Several of the top races will be real nail-biters all the way up until the Emmys are held on September 19th. Of all the major races, only two seem to have undeniable frontrunners. I find it hard to imagine that anyone other than Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart will pick up the trophies for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively. However, I think all of the other races are real nail-biters. Ted Lasso and Hacks will likely be neck-and-neck for Outstanding Comedy Series, with the former being more of a crowdpleaser but the latter being more critically acclaimed. The Outstanding Drama Series category seemed locked up by The Crown, but the better-than-expected showings by The Handmaid’s Tale and The Mandalorian mean it might not be a slam dunk. I suspect that Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin are currently the frontrunners for the lead drama acting categories for their work as Prince Charles and Princess Diana, respectively, but they have some strong competition. And over in Limited Series, conventional wisdom says The Queen’s Gambit will triumph given its huge buzz and dominant performance at awards shows earlier this year. However, it never had to compete at any of those awards against Mare of Easttown or WandaVision, which have tremendously passionate support. It’s always exciting when the Emmys have some real competition!
#10) My predictions were quite good this year, with the exception of the Hamilton love. Last year, I hit an all-time low in terms of accuracy. I only predicted 67% of the nominees in the Top 16 categories. This year, I was up a bit to 73%. I did exceptionally well in the key Drama categories (successfully predicting 81% of the nominees) and the Comedy categories (successfully predicting 78% of the nominees). Where I struggled the most was the Limited Series/Movie categories, where I only scored 59%. This is almost entirely due to the fact that I didn’t expect the Emmys to give Hamilton any major love, let alone 7 acting nominations. (Click here to see you for yourself with my final predictions that were posted yesterday.)
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