Emmy voting is officially open which means that we, the general TV-loving public, also get to see who and what was officially submitted in each category. I highly recommend that, if you have a few hours, you spend some time scrolling through the pictures of the staggering 2,652 performers on the ballot (all of them are available here) – that’s always fun. Many placements we already knew were confirmed, and there were still a few surprises. For some of the biggest takeaways, read on…
Number of nominees
The new rules for how many nominees will be selected in each acting category in proportion to the number of submissions was covered in our last Emmy post. Though I tried to do my own counting, we’ll rely once again on the official totals compiled by Paul Sheehan at GoldDerby. The results actually make some sense: for comedy and drama series, the leading races will have six nominees and the supporting ones will have eight. For limited series and TV movie, lead will have five and supporting will have six. The most overstuffed category? Drama Supporting Actor, with an unbelievable 455 contenders (up from a previous high two years ago of 406). For the main program categories, we already knew that Drama Series and Comedy Series would have eight nominees (regardless of their lower submission numbers), while Limited Series and TV Movie will each stick with five.
Category placements
As most suspected, both Aaron Paul (Westworld) and Steve Carell (The Morning Show) have been submitted as lead actors. Josh O’Connor (The Crown) is in supporting, not guest. Dulé Hill (Black Monday), who was listed by Showtime as a supporting actor contender before his show’s run got cut short by unfinished postproduction, is not, in fact, on the ballot since he only appeared in one aired episode. I don’t understand how Stephan James (Homecoming) is considered a lead in his show’s second season, but the shut-out last year by voters means his chances are grim anyway. Justin Hartley (This Is Us) remains the only Pearson sibling not to be nominated, and submitting as a lead for the first time isn’t likely to bolster his chances. I was pleasantly surprised to see the fantastic Aisling Bea (Living with Yourself) submitted as a lead since I expected Netflix to consider the show firmly Paul Rudd’s. Why Women Kill went ahead and submitted all six (!) members of its main featured couples in the leading categories. I was curious to see one of my favorites, The Great, contending in the Comedy Series races when Hulu hadn’t yet renewed it (and with only one season sometimes a series is considered a "limited series"), but they went and took care of that today, officially ordering a second season. Huzzah!
Maya Rudolph in "The Good Place"
Potential double nominees
There are always a number of contenders who are submitted for multiple roles in the same category (though not for playing the same character anymore), and this year, it feels like there are a few that have a real shot – all in the guest races. Maya Rudolph has been nominated previously for both The Good Place and Saturday Night Live, and could be again this year. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, an Emmy superstar last year, hosted Saturday Night Live and guest-starred on Run. Cherry Jones won for mere seconds of The Handmaid’s Tale last year, and could repeat again for that show and Succession. And the late Fred Willard might be nominated for both Modern Family and Space Force.
Directing and writing
There are different approaches shows take to try to get nominated here. Better Call Saul submitted a whopping eight episodes for directing and six for writing, while series like Run and Better Things each submitted exactly one. Hollywood has five of its seven episodes in the running for directing – and just one for writing. Will & Grace chose only its I Love Lucy episode, which voters might love, for directing, and the series finales of Schitt’s Creek and The Good Place could be just the ticket for those shows to make the cut. New transplants to the drama series race like Black Mirror, Luther, and The Sinner could also have more of a shot here. And hey, maybe the many episodes listed of The Bold Type, Party of Five, and 68 Whiskey will convince voters that quantity means quality even they would never ordinarily be considered?
Watch out for:
There isn’t much buzz for it, but Mad About You shows up a lot on these ballots and could be a threat, especially in the guest races. Look for Brad Pitt to follow in Robert De Niro’s footsteps to earn a guest bid not for hosting Saturday Night Live but for delivering a well-received impersonation of a public figure, in this case the omnipresent Dr. Fauci. Sex Education officially made the switch to comedy for season two after opting for drama in season one, which could give it a much better shot. Modern Love and Black Mirror are still complicated since some of their performers are in guest and others are in supporting, but those series have fans. A Parks and Recreation Special has a handful of performers competing in the limited series/TV movie acting races (it’s considered a pre-recorded variety special), which could be a chance to honor some of the beloved cast, even though, puzzlingly, Nick Offerman isn’t on the ballot.
We’ll be back with more Emmy coverage soon. Nominations drop July 28th.