Nominations for the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
Earlier this morning, the nominations for the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced, where HBO's "Watchmen" surprisingly led the way with 26 nominations, easily topping the Limited Series by more than double its closest competitor ("Mrs. America" with 10). "Succession" and "Ozark" lead the way for Drama Series with 18 each, while "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" dominated the Comedies with 20.
As far as surprises go, I'd have to say the biggest was probably seeing both Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks snubbed for "Better Call Saul," where they both usually nab a spot in their respective categories. I would say that perhaps the Television Academy is cooling towards the show, but seeing as how they've yet to award it a single Emmy over its entire run, and only gave it seven nods for the latest season, it's hard to say why they were both suddenly dropped.
It was rather unfortunate to see "The Great" left out of a number of Comedy categories, including Series, Actress (Elle Fanning), and Supporting Actor (Nicholas Hoult). It's particularly strange because the show earned two major nods for Writing and Directing, so they clearly like the show, which only makes it more puzzling as to how it got left out of the other major categories.
The biggest surprise in the Drama section is obviously the inclusion of "The Mandalorian," the outstanding "Star Wars"-based show on Disney+. It racked up an impressive 15 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Guest Actor for Giancarlo Espisito (who also got a nod for "Better Call Saul").
Meanwhile, in the Comedies, it's rather interesting to note that "Schitt's Creek," which made a great showing with 15 nods, was the only program to get all of the major nominations (Series, Directing, Writing, and Acting), so it would appear to be the one to beat. Drama appears to be between "Succession" and "Ozark," though with the former having already won several major awards for its most recent season, it would appear to have the edge. Both shows have all of the major nods, but it's worth noting that the excellent "The Crown" does as well, so it shouldn't be counted out. As for Limited Series, the nominations would appear to say that "Watchmen" is by far the most popular pick.
We'll just have to wait until the night of the ceremony (whatever form it may take) on Sunday, September 20th to find out.
In the meantime, please see below for a partial list of the major nominations. You can also find a complete list of the nominations as a PDF here.
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid's Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt's Creek
What We Do in the Shadows
Lead Actor in a Drama
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
Lead Actress in a Drama
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria
Supporting Actor in a Drama
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Billy Curdup, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Giancarlo Espisito, Better Call Saul
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid's Tale
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Supporting Actress in a Drama
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Julia Garner, Ozark
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Sarah Snook, Succession
Merly Streep, Big Little Lies
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid's Tale
Lead Actor in a Comedy
Anthony Andrson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Lead Actress in a Comedy
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
Yvonne Orki, Insecure
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live
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