Emmy Ballot Reactions
Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 10:55PM 
John Cena in Peacemaker
Emmy ballots are here now that voting is officially open, and it’s a lot to process. I hastily flipped through nearly 400 pages of submitted performers while running between Tribeca screenings and made some notes about placements that seemed noteworthy. Some of them may have been announced before or expected, but still pique the interest. Please add your own in the comments since I'm sure we all watch different shows. I didn’t take the time to count the number of performers submitted in each category, but fortunatelyGoldDerby always does a great job of that. The short of it is that every single acting category is way up in submissions, though the typically largest category, Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, only has 434, which is not as high as the 455 from 2020. Here are some observations…
CATEGORIES
Abby McEnany in Work in Progress
I’m quite pleased to see Peacemaker placed in the comedy categories and would be thrilled if it managed some nominations. Hawkeye is also there, which is a mild surprise, while Loki is in drama and Moon Knight is classified as a limited/anthology series. It’s nice to see a handful of cancelled series on the lists, like Mr. Corman and season two of the tragically underrated Work in Progress. Julia is also competing as a comedy series, which makes sense though I’m not sure how far it will go.
The matter of which international shows will compete is always confusing and usually involves something about the producers or American companies being involved. So it’s nice to see a handful of British shows on the list as well as Squid Game, Tehran, and a personal favorite of mine that should win all the awards but won’t, Trying from Apple TV+. Other eyebrow-raising classifications are Nine Perfect Strangers, Dexter: New Blood, and Pieces of Her in drama rather than limited series, while season two of Love Life somehow made the jump to the limited race? Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail, the third season of the anthology series, is also in those categories, as is The White Lotus, even though it's already been announced for a second season. Categorizations are an imperfect science with loopholes and vague enforcements.
ACTING PLACEMENTS
Merritt Wever and Justin Kirk in Roar
Let’s start with the good. Nicholas Hoult is properly in lead after being shut out from the supporting race for season one of The Great, and let’s hope that results in a nomination for one of the best performances on television. Because Hawkeye is competing as a comedy series, that means Florence Pugh is in the supporting race there, which should be interesting and will hopefully lead to her getting recognized over the handful of SNL cast members who dominate the category each year. Steve Carell is in supporting for season two of The Morning Show, which makes more sense than his previous lead billing. I could not be more excited to see Justin Kirk on the limited supporting actor list for voicing Larry the Duck on Roar, and I would be elated if he and Merritt Wever got nominated for those phenomenal performances. Speaking of Roar, the anthology series boasts eight (!) lead actress contenders since they submitted each episode’s star with that billing.
Hailee Steinfeld in Dickinson
On to the interesting but questionable categorizations:, Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector are the only leads from The Gilded Age, which is a bit of a surprise since Louisa Jacobson absolutely belongs there and Denée Benton arguably, too. I was startled to see Topher Grace submitted in the supporting category for Home Economics since he’s literally the narrator, but then disappointed that he was one of only three performers from the show on the ballots at all (though Sasheer Zamata and Karla Souza are the two MVPs). Hannah Einbinder and Sarah Snook remain in the supporting categories for Hacks and Succession even though they're obviously leads, so that guarantees them repeat nominations.
Not that it will matter, but Diedrich Bader is definitely not a lead on Better Things and I’m not sure about Tiffany Hadish as a lead for The Afterparty either, while I would definitely argue that the great Jay Duplass is not a supporting player on The Chair, which is competing in comedy. Billing Juliette Lewis as a lead on Yellowjackets is a curious move, and I just hope it doesn’t impact Melanie Lynskey’s chances. And it’s tough to see two Hailee Steinfeld performances up against each other, though maybe Dickinson getting honored with a bid for her like Shrill did last year with Aidy Bryant was probably wishful thinking anyway. Hawkeye may actually give her a better shot, but all these categories are so damn crowded.
TELEVISION MOVIE
Jenna Ortega in The Fallout
Here, I have almost entirely good things to report! There are some seriously good films, a handful of which I saw first at film festivals, in contention. Crush (Hulu), The Fallout (HBO Max), Fresh (Hulu), I Want You Back (Prime), and The Survivor (HBO Max) are all solid choices that I feel like represent a quality we haven’t seen for years in this category. I’m not so sure about Jolt (Prime) and The Voyeurs (Prime), but those being here at least makes sense because they premiered exclusively on streaming when theaters were back open. I’m also excited that Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas is here and would be so happy if it got some recognition so we could get more of that show.
SIZE OF CATEGORIES
The number of nominations in each category is largely determined by how many submissions there (though there are exceptions) so we're looking at the following size for the key categories:
DRAMA SERIES -8 nominees
COMEDY SERIES -8 nominees
LIMITED or ANTHOLOGY SERIES -5 nominees
TV MOVIE -5 nominees
VARIETY TALK - 4 nominees (this number keeps dropping!)
VARIETY SKETCH SERIES - 2 nominees
VARIETY SPECIAL, PRECORDED - 5 nominees
VARIETY SPECIAL, LIVE - 5 nominees
SHORT FORM, FICTION - 5 nominees
SHORT FORM, REALITY/NON-FICTION - 5 nominees
Acting
LEAD, COMEDY -6 nominees (up one from last year!)
SUPPORTING, COMEDY -8 nominees
GUEST, COMEDY -6 nominees
LEAD, DRAMA - 6 nominees
SUPPORTING, DRAMA - 8 nominees
GUEST, DRAMA - 6 nominees
LEAD, LIMITED - 6 nominees
SUPPORTING, LIMITED - 7 nominees
If you're curious, skim the ballots for yourself here. There’s so much more to analyze with directing, writing, and other races. We’ll be doing that soon here at TFE, but for now, leave a comment with your first reactions to these lists!
Reader Comments (11)
My first reaction was surprise that HEARTSTOPPER wasn't submitted. It turns out there is this other show altogether (the Emmys are even crazier than the Grammys in terms of massive numbers of categories and different actual shows) which is the" Children & Family Emmys (never heard of it until now!) " where it will compete for the Best Young Adult Series.
I'm still combing through the ballots though. I always find the "Guest" categories particularly interesting AND galling for who is and who isn't submitted.
The Children & Family Emmys are new, split off from the Daytime Emmys.
People complain annually that the same people are nominated every year at the Emmys and it's easy to see why. With 400 choices in some categories, inevitably votes will be split all over the place and the familiar will rise to the top!
My wishful thinking choices: Nicole Kidman and Judy Davis for their stunning mother-daughter duet in Roar. I felt like it was the best work I've seen either of them do recently.
I agree the Guest categories are always fun. I like the Narrator category too, where David Attenborough, Barack Obama, Ewan McGregor, Jessica Chastain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could find themselves facing off!
I have to admit that I would just LOVE John Cena getting the nom for Peacemaker - and that Eagle alone would already deserve some VFX award, by the way.
It'd be really interesting a face off between Peacemaker and The Boys... both are great shows, full of dark humor, and I am a bit torn between both to think which one is better... The Boys is more complex and with better developed characters, but abuses gore and shock value in some unncessary ways... Peacemaker works better overall, without the need of going truly over the top.
OMG! As one who has invested years following the various Websites for film prizes, I cannot help but feel a little twinge of excitement to see Awards Daily blogger Sasha Stone on the first round Emmy ballot for Outstanding Narrator for her work on the Netflix series Voir. Stone is listed for her vocal chops on the 17 minute episode entitled The Summer of the Shark. Stone is competing against a list of media heavyweights including Oscar winners Jessica Chastain (Reframed: Marilyn Monroe), Julianne Moore (The Mind, Explained), and Lupita Nyong’o (Serengeti II).
I was surprised to see Toni Collette submitted as Lead Actress for The Staircase. That role could be classified either way, but she seems secondary to Colin Firth. I hope she makes it in; that is such a starry category this year, but HBO is good at getting nominations.
If you're a big tv watcher, it's fascinating to read through the submissions and try to narrow down your ballot. It's not an easy task. The drama supporting actor and actress categories in particular are stacked.
I vote in music categories. By my quick count, there are over 160 submissions listed in the Series Original Score category. How can anyone possibly sample all of those scores to judge honestly? And that's just one category of many. (Anyone have suggestions for unexpectedly great scores I should sample? Some are obvious big name players.)
Finbar -- that is exciting. that episode of VOIR is amazing, too.
There's some seriously interesting and exciting stuff in Television Movie, primarily from the festival acquisitions. Excited to sift through the titles!
Hannah Einbinder's category placement really annoys me, as she's the lead of Hacks, even more so than Jean Smart. What's more aggravating is that, with the show's popularity she would probably be nominated in lead if she was placed there.
How is Sarah Snook definitely a lead on Succession? Then EVERYBODY'S a lead. Her screen time is no different than Culkin's or Macfadyen's. Strong and Cox get lead billing only because of the focus on the power struggles. That cast is a true ensemble and she's fine where she is. Kelly Reilly should have stayed there too but this past season makes sense for her.
I, too, hope Peacemaker makes an Emmy nominee out of John Cena.
Doublemint gum post.