It’s Emmy Nomination Day in America, which means it’s time to obsess over potential winners, losers, and first-timers — and, of course, to tally the snubs, line up the grudges, and consider what the nominees say about what the television industry values right now. The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held on September 17th.
The biggest news: Netflix continues to cement its domination of the television landscape, racking up an eye-popping 117 nominations this year, and breaking HBO’s 17-year streak of having the most Emmy nods. While that’s great news for the streaming giant — and yet another sign that Reed Hastings’ merry band of studio executives is redefining television — it’s not great for HBO. In a massive merger, telecom giant AT&T just acquired Time Warner, and HBO is the crown jewel in its portfolio. John Stankey, the AT&T executive assigned dominion over the HBO brand, promptly said a number of troubling things regarding HBO’s future. (In short: They want to make it bigger, better, and more like Netflix. That may not be such a great idea.) HBO is in wait-and-see territory, which means in 2019, as the channel’s star Emmy vacuum, Game of Thrones, premieres its eighth and final season, we’ll probably have a better idea of HBO’s future prospects under AT&T. There’s no reason to worry… yet.
Next up: Sandra Oh, who plays lead in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Killing Eve — a fantastic hour-long drama following a serial killer and the government agent out to stop her — became the first Asian woman nominated for an Emmy in the lead dramatic actress category. That’s big news; it’s also ridiculous that it took TV this long to put an Asian woman in the running for its most prestigious award. What’s more frustrating is that Oh has been a significant television presence for more than a decade. She got her start in the mid-‘90s, and in the early ‘00s on Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes’ breakout ABC hit, Oh became a known quantity around Hollywood. Come September, she’ll be up against fellow nominees Elisabeth Moss, Keri Russell, Evan Rachel Wood, Claire Foy, and Tatiana Maslany, in what looks like a tough race.
In lighter Emmy news, American Vandal got a nod in Outstanding Writing For A Limited Series. The Netflix show was conceived by Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda as a mocking take on the wave of Serial-like shows that Americans have been craving since, well, Serial. The show, set in a high school, follows two intrepid student journalists trying to uncover who vandalized a parking lot full of cars by spray-painting crude penises on them. The prank got a kid expelled, but American Vandal considers whether he’s the guilty party, wrapping its twisty story around the animating question “Who drew the dicks?” For fans of the true-crime genre, it’s absolutely worth a watch — and the Television Academy seems to think so, too.
The year’s Emmy highs wouldn’t be complete without some corresponding lows. This year’s snubs: Jodie Comer, Oh’s co-star in Killing Eve, walked away empty-handed; Viceland’s hilarious late-night show Desus & Mero didn’t get any noms at all; NBC’s The Good Place, Mike Schur’s existentialist take on the afterlife, didn’t get any comedy nominations (although Ted Danson nabbed a nod for Outstanding Comedy Actor); and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return wasn’t nominated for any of the major categories — although it did snag two nods for cinematography and directing.
Here’s an abbreviated list of the nominees in the major categories. (The Television Academy has a PDF of the full list, but be warned: It’s a full 65 pages long.)
Outstanding Comedy Series
- Barry
- GLOW
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Atlanta
- black-ish
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Silicon Valley
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Outstanding Drama Series
- The Americans
- Game Of Thrones
- The Crown
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Stranger Things
- This Is Us
- Westworld
Outstanding Limited Series
- The Alienist
- The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Genius: Picasso • National Geographic
- Godless
- Patrick Melrose
Variety Talk Series
- The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
- Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
- The Late Late Show With James Corden
- The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- Bill Hader, Barry
- Ted Danson, The Good Place
- Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Anthony Anderson, black-ish
- Donald Glover, Atlanta
- William H. Macy, Shameless
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Brian Tyree Henry, Atlanta
- Henry Winkler, Barry
- Louie Anderson, Baskets
- Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
- Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
- Tituss Burgess, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
- Pamela Adlon, Better Things
- Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
- Allison Janney, Mom
- Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
- Issa Rae, Insecure
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Zazie Beetz, Atlanta
- Betty Gilpin, Glow
- Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Laurie Metcalf, Roseanne
- Aidy Bryant, Saturday Night Live
- Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
- Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
- Megan Mullally, Will & Grace
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- Jason Bateman, Ozark
- Ed Harris, Westworld
- Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
- Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
- Matthew Rhys, The Americans
- Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
- Matt Smith, The Crown
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game Of Thrones
- Peter Dinklage, Game Of Thrones
- Joseph Fiennes, The Handmaid’s Tale
- Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
- David Harbour, Stranger Things
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
- Keri Russell, The Americans
- Claire Foy, The Crown
- Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
- Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
- Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
- Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Vanessa Kirby, The Crown
- Lena Headey, Game Of Thrones
- Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
- Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
- Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale
- Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
- Thandie Newton, Westworld
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
- Darren Criss, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Antonio Banderas, Genius: Picasso
- John Legend, Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert
- Jeff Daniels, The Looming Tower
- Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Melrose
- Jesse Plemons, Black Mirror
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
- Ricky Martin, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Edgar Ramírez, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Finn Wittrock, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Jeff Daniels, Godless
- Brandon Victor Dixon, Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert
- Michael Stuhlbarg, The Looming Tower
- John Leguizamo, Waco
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
- Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Cult
- Michelle Dockery, Godless
- Edie Falco, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
- Regina King, Seven Seconds
- Jessica Biel, The Sinner
- Laura Dern, The Tale
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
- Adina Porter, American Horror Story: Cult
- Penélope Cruz, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Judith Light, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Letitia Wright, Black Mirror
- Merritt Wever, Godless
- Sara Bareilles, Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert