Another year, another mostly expected slate of Emmy nominations. The Television Academy simply loves to celebrate a few chosen (read: relatively popular) shows. This time, those honors went to Severance, The Penguin, The Studio, Adolescence, and Hacks, to name a few. But that doesn’t mean the voters didn’t have a few surprises up their sleeve.
Harvey Guillén (What We Do In The Shadows) and Brenda Song (Running Point) took the stage to announce the lineup in Los Angeles, with Academy chair Cris Abrego offering his remarks before and after. There were a few snubs overall, like Poker Face‘s Natasha Lyonne for Outstanding Comedy Actress. Instead, her Orange Is The New Black co-star Uzo Aduba made it in, despite The Residence‘s recent cancellation. Read on for our major takeaways from this year’s list. The 76th Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, take place September 14.
1. HBO Max reigns supreme, but everything’s also coming up Apple TV+
HBO Max earned bragging rights with its 142 total nominations for shows like The Penguin, The White Lotus, The Last Of Us, Hacks, and The Pitt. (Its former record was 140 in 2020.) Netflix did well with its 127 noms, though those are distributed primarily among limited-series categories for Adolescence, Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story, and Black Mirror.
Instead, HBO Max’s top drama and comedy competitors emerge out of Apple TV+. Severance racked up the most nominations of all TV shows this year with a whopping 27 nods (the same number as Succession‘s final season earned). Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Hollywood sendup The Studio scored big with 23 total shoutouts (breaking Ted Lasso‘s record for most nominations for a freshman comedy). And Shrinking and Slow Horses made their marks as well. Who would’ve thought Harrison Ford would get this sort of recognition in his eighties? The veteran star didn’t earn a nod for the debut season of Shrinking, but he got one now for his turn as a curmudgeonly therapist in season two. As for The Studio, big names like Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard have scored noms for their guest appearances. And that’s not even mentioning Presumed Innocent making it into the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series race.
2. A bunch of former favorites were snubbed
The Handmaid’s Tale‘s final season failed to land on the Outstanding Drama list. In 2017, the show made history as the first one on a streaming service to win in this category—and it went on to earn three more nominations over years. Elisabeth Moss won for Outstanding Actress in 2017 as well and got two more nominations. But this time, her predicted slot went to Bad Sisters‘ Sharon Horgan. Even other previously nominated performers/winners like Bradley Whitford, Ann Dowd, and Yvonne Strahovski were shut out. Not even Game Of Thrones spin-off House Of The Dragon, which was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in 2024 for season one, could pull a repeat for season two.
Which brings us to Squid Game, which was all over the Emmys when it debuted in 2022. The three-year wait for more episodes clearly did not work out in the South Korean hit’s favor. The second season, which aired last December, earned zero noms. At least the third and final round will get another shot next year. What’s more, Peacock’s Poker Face did well when it debuted, but Rian Johnson’s quirky murder mystery secured only two noms this time around: Outstanding Stunt Coordination and Outstanding Guest Actress for Cynthia Erivo, who played five different characters in the season-two premiere. (Judith Light won this category for PF season one in 2023.)
3. Voters continue to have tunnel vision
Today’s nomination list makes it clear that the sweep is here to stay. It’s not a new complaint to say voters regularly skip over some of the most exciting programming in favor of shows that have sparked the most conversations, which leads to homogenized lists instead of an accurate reflection of what aired on TV during the past year. (Look no further than how Severance and TWL dominate the supporting categories or The Studio‘s takeover of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series—save for The Bear‘s Jon Bernthal getting a spot.) It’s a bummer to see shows like HBO’s Industry and The Righteous Gemstones, AMC’s Interview With The Vampire and Dark Winds, Netflix’s Mo, ABC’s High Potential, and CBS’s Evil and Elsbeth, among others, receive next to nothing.
4. Shout-out to the unexpected nominees, including, yes, The Roku Channel
That’s right: The Roku Channel has secured an Emmy nominations with Die Hart 3: Hart To Kill. Initially debuting on Quibi in 2020, the series has already earned a few Emmy nods in the past, and moving to Roku is apparently not slowing it down. It’s the little wins, right? That’s what Jeff Hiller can say, too, now that he’s earned a well-deserved nod for Somebody Somewhere. The other cool surprises include Aduba, Horgan, and Sirens‘ Meghann Fahy, who grabbed a Lead Actress in a Limited Series nomination after previously being nominated in the Supporting category for The White Lotus. And Hulu’s Paradise not only did well as a Drama Series and for Sterling K. Brown, but landed surprising nominations for supporting actors James Marsden and Julianne Nicholson. (The latter is a double nominee who also picked up a spot for her delirious Hacks guest role.) Finally, Colman Domingo was rightfully (if surprisingly) recognized for his turn in Netflix’s The Four Seasons.
5. #EmmysSoWhite
However, one look at the whole list is enough to drive home that, disappointingly, the nominations predominantly belong to white talent. It’s nice to see Aduba, The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri, and Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson lead the pack in Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, but some of the other big categories are not representative of the diversity we see onscreen. (Check out the lineups for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, etc.) Asian talent, in particular, is absent with the omission of Squid Game and no recognition of shows like Hulu’s Deli Boys (whose star Poorna Jagannathan won a Gotham Award last month). And despite Severance‘s dominance, Dichen Lachman was shut out (though “Chikhai Bardo” earned technical nods). Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang does set a record for the most nominated Asian male performer with his fourth nom. However, much like the voters going for a chosen few shows, this is an issue that seems to persist in the industry year after year.
