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!