Four shows entirely dominated the Emmy nominations. Worthy or excessive?
Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 11:00PM 
Melanie Lynskey in The Last of Us
As Chris reported, Emmy nominations were announced yesterday and four shows absolutely dominated. I want to take a look at what happened in comparison to my predictions, which shows faltered, and most importantly, grapple with the notion that those four shows are indeed terrific yet them being omnipresent so that other shows barely registered is still disappointing. I also want to share the nominations I saw that got me particularly excited...
Becky Ann Baker and Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso
I made some guesses that didn’t pan out, while some others did. I bet on four women from Ted Lasso to be nominated for guest actress and three of them got in (not Jodi Balfour). I picked the wrong foreign male guest to represent that show (it was fake Ghanaian Sam Richardson, not real Dutchman Matteo Van Der Grijn). I overestimated Saturday Night Live, which I always save to watch following the nominations announcement, which this year netted bids only for triple nominees Pedro Pascal and Quinta Brunson. I saw Obi-Wan Kenobi coming in the right place, choosing Hayden Christensen rather than the show as an unexpected addition to the Best Limited or Anthology Series lineup.
Elisabeth Moss, last woman standing from The Handmaid's Tale
What did surprise me, and not in a good way, was the near absence of past and presumed Emmy favorites. The Crown, which for season four won every televised prize, merited just one acting nomination (for Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana) and no mentions for writing or directing. The Handmaid’s Tale, which got nine acting nominations for season four, fell off almost entirely, earning a single bid, for lead actress Elisabeth Moss. Some may say that those two shows aren’t as good as they used to be (I think they’re still very good), but these seem like cruel demotions, especially considering the caliber of cast doing work on them, like Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, and Yvonne Strahovski. They’ll both have one more chance to roar back for their sixth and final seasons.
Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul
Then there’s Better Call Saul, a show that’s now concluded and has yet to win a single Emmy, unlike its predecessor, Breaking Bad, which had already taken home Best Drama Series for its penultimate season and multiple prizes for its actors. It performed almost exactly the same as it has every year, fortunately not dismissing the only recently-recognized Rhea Seehorn, not snubbing Bob Odenkirk like happened before, but not really making a splash with just seven bids. Its most prominent category was Best Writing for a Drama Series, where it earned two mentions and where it’s only ever been left off once in its run. Can Odenkirk or Seehorn finally win this year? Those are its best shots and they’re still longshots sadly.
Paddy Considine in House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon also didn’t register in a big way at all, landing exactly one major nomination – for Best Drama Series. I’d like to think that my predicted acting nominees of Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, and Matt Smith, as well as the three deserving supporting actresses I didn’t think would make the cut, all just missed, but no directing or writing nominations hurts too. This is hardly the show that should feel like a tack-on inclusion, and its seven other technical mentions also don’t feel as enthusiastic as perhaps they should given the overall impressive visual nature of the show.
Hungry teenagers chasing their next meal in Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets fans also have reason to be sad given that the show, which netted a directing nomination and two writing bids last year, got reduced from seven nominations in season one to just three this time, retaining star Melanie Lynskey, its casting team, and its Best Drama Series slot. Four eligible women in the lead actress category didn’t lead to anything more there, and none of the teen cast got recognized. It’s a shame given how clear the energy was for the show last year and how an increase in visibility felt likely for season two, not this. Juliette Lewis did get a nomination for Welcome to Chippendales, though, so she’ll presumably be at the Emmys rooting for the show!
Jessica Williams in Shrinking
I have yet to finish Poker Face but I was expecting it to do very well. Instead it scored just two acting nominations – for lead Natasha Lyonne and guest Judith Light – plus two technical bids. I was also sad to see Shrinking miss for Best Comedy Series and for the brilliant Harrison Ford, but at least Jason Segel and Jessica Williams got in! I’m continually perplexed by the lack of love for The Great. Emmy voters have clearly seen the show given its top mentions last year and I thought season three was spectacular. Its lone mention for Best Period Costumes hardly seems right.
Eve Hewson, Sarah Greene, Eva Birthistle and Sharon Horgan in Bad Sisters
The one moment where I cheered during the televised portion of the nominations was when Sharon Horgan was announced for Bad Sisters. I’m so glad that happened, even if I would have given the show an additional seven acting nominations and certainly a spot in Best Drama Series too. Directing, writing, and casting are fine places for the show to be recognized, and I can only hope it has a shot at winning any of those (I doubt it, unfortunately). But it would make me very happy! We’ll get to predictions later this summer once submissions have been made official and when we’ve had time to process the unexpected inclusion of Keri Russell in the lineup! I’m also glad to see that The Bear did about as well as it could have, with guest acting bids for Jon Bernthal, who made a memorable impression in just one big scene, and the always-great Oliver Platt, in addition to the expected (though hardly guaranteed) recognition for its three main stars.
Brett Goldstein and Phil Dunster in Ted Lasso
Now, on to those four shows that, together, scored a staggering 95 nominations. I am very pleased to see that The Last of Us did so well since it managed to be such a terrific series that could have been another zombie apocalypse show, and it’s rare to see seven guest performers acknowledged like this. One I had predicted didn’t get nominated – Ashley Johnson – but how good were Melanie Lynskey, Nick Offerman, and Murray Bartlett? I’m also overjoyed that two young actors, Keivonn Montreal Woodard and Storm Reid, made the cut since that shows that voters are actually watching the show and not just checking off names. Another instance of that is the recognition of Phil Dunster for the first time for Ted Lasso. Jamie Tartt has always been a crucial part of the show but Dunster has done phenomenal work in the (still not confirmed to be) final season of the show.
Hiam Abbass in Succession
It doesn’t feel great, however, to see three categories dominated entirely by two shows (Succession in all three, with The White Lotus filling in the rest of Supporting Actor and The Last of Us sharing both guest fields). To a degree, it feels excessive, no matter how strong the acting. Even the ones that didn’t need to be recognized, like Arian Moayed and Cherry Jones, were still good, they just didn’t have much to do in the final season and could have made way for other contenders. James Cromwell had one very memorable scene, while Hiam Abbass, previously considered supporting, shone in that same episode and another earlier hour relating to the same catalytic plot development. It’s also hard to argue that Alan Ruck isn’t deserving of some recognition for playing Connor all these years and especially as he took a dark political turn with his Conheads speech, while Alexander Skarsgård managed to make Lukas Matsson the most detestable character on a show filled with horrible people.
Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, and Will Sharpe in The White Lotus
I’ll end on a positive note by echoing that same sentiment in regard to The White Lotus. Jennifer Coolidge was always going to be nominated, and she is quite funny, and both F. Murray Abraham and Michael Imperioli did great work as men not entirely sure of their place in a modern world. The core foursome – Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe, Theo James, and Meghann Fahy – played marvelously together, making for some equally uncomfortable and watchable scenes. What made me happiest was the inclusion of two of the actresses who made this season so delightfully Italian: Simona Tabasco as Lucia and Sabrina Impaccatiore as Valentina. Though that left Beatrice Grannò, Haley Lu Richardson, Jack Woodall, and Tom Hollander out in the cold (plus Jon Gries, who was eligible as a guest), this large ensemble was indeed terrific.
Where do you stand on these shows crushing the competition, and what other bits of happiness did you extract from the list?
Emmys, Punditry, Succession, Ted Lasso, The Last of Us, The White Lotus
Reader Comments (8)
I loved Succession, The White Lotus et al, but ugh too much. I think these Hollywood Reporter TV critics said it best and I feel like I ghost-wrote this column.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/emmy-nominees-2023-critics-analysis-1235534497/
THANK YOU for the Yvonne Strahovski shout-out.
This Emmy noms, I can't.
Worthy and historic. Don't expect shows to be as good as Succession or White Lotus every season.
Spread the wealth but I have to be honest i've never seen any of the many shows you mentioned.
Like you, one of the nominations I'm happiest about is Simona Tabasco - which probably wouldn't have happened if they weren't loading up the category with Lotus actresses, so...
I say, go for it - it's not like there's THAT much high-quality TV being produced.
People are way too hard on the Emmys.
The nature of TV is that certain shows are hot (massively popular, critically adored, artistically meritorious) year after year. So that's why the Emmys are repetitive.
The nature of TV is that a really great show usually contains *lots* of really great elements, performances, etc. So that's why those shows get a lot of nominations.
And then the shows end, the deck gets reshuffled, the game changes. I honestly don't see the problem.
Cherry Jones, for instance, is a perfect Guest Actress nominee this year. She had a handful of really entertaining scenes (which she nailed, and carried) in a single episode. There was a time Uzo Aduba won the guest category for her obvious main cast role on OITNB, would we prefer more of that? Actors who had "more to do?"
Emmy voters have a long tradition of giving a big embrace to shows that they really love on nomination more (the Mary Tyler Moore show in 1977, The West Wing in 2002, Mad Men in 2009, etc.). I think what feels different here is that rather than it being one show, it feels like there are about 4 that they really loved.
What's difficult is that in a TV landscape with so many options, emmy voters really are watching a few buzzy shows. And those shows have really large cast or are structured around guest stars (like the Last of Us). I don't think it's such a big deal.
I also think, with Succession going away and the White Lotus possibly taking a season off, we're likely to see a lot of newer blood next year. I suspect the Diplomat, with Keri Russell poised to do well at the Winter awards, may be able to be a Killing Eve like hit next year. We'll also get other shows as well.
It feels very excessive.
The White Lotus - I can understand the heat for the women, but to me none of the men deserved their nominations. To me Adam DiMarco, who played Albie, ended up being more memorable but being young and an unknown ended doesn't help you get nominated.
Succession - love Arian Moayed and J Smith Cameron, but it's not like they did anything this season. The rest of the cast is very good and the show is familiar and popular, it's understandable what happened (they could've found a spot for Willa there)