Emmy Ballots Are Here!
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 6:00PM 
The Roy siblings, all now leads for Succession
Emmy voting is officially open with the release of this year’s ballots. As usual, it’s an exhausting list to process, in part because it’s harder to notice who’s missing than to raise an eyebrow at the surprise inclusions. As always, Supporting Actor in a Drama Series boasts the most contenders, though that number is only 345 this time around, down almost 100 from last year. Is there less TV on? Because it certainly doesn’t feel way. Coincidentally, 345 is also the number of pages you need to scroll through in order to see all the acting submissions...
Erik over at AwardsWatch has done a masterful job of tabulating the number of nominees in each category based on the number of people on the ballot – you can read all about that here. The only categories that will have eight nominees this year are Drama Series, Comedy Series, Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. There are surely many other takeaways that you’ll notice that I and others haven’t, but let’s start with some significant notes and a few interesting observations.
INTERNAL COMPETITION
Sophie Nélisse, one of four lead actresses from Yellowjackets
It will surprise no one that Succession is almost guaranteed to sweep this year’s awards. But it’s not as certain who will be part of any presumed sweep. Despite vastly varied screen time, two-time supporting actor nominee Kieran Culkin has been bumped up to the lead actor race, where he will compete against Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox (Strong beat Cox for season two, while both lost to Lee Jung-Jae last year). Sarah Snook also got promoted from the supporting race. Among her possible competition are not one but four actresses from Yellowjackets: last year’s nominee Melanie Lynskey, plus Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, and a newly-upped Sophie Nélisse, who plays the young Shauna. A different kind of internal competition might come from an actor who could get votes for two different roles in the same category: Pedro Pascal, who’s on the ballot for both The Mandalorian and The Last of Us. He’s hardly the only actor with multiple performances in consideration in one category, but he has the best shot of any of them (for the latter series).
CATEGORY CONFUSION
Bad Sisters
There are sometimes surprises about where people or shows end up, both genre-wise and in lead vs. supporting. Bad Sisters (the best show of the season, no matter what genre) and The White Lotus, which won the Limited Series prize last year, are both considered drama for Emmy purposes. Hello Tomorrow! and Tulsa King are comedy series. Two of Disney+’s latest franchise shows, Ms. Marvel and Obi-Wan Kenobi, are on the limited series ballot, while She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law and Andor are in comedy and drama series, respectively, despite the former not being renewed yet.
Salim Daw in The Crown
From an Emmy-friendly show, The Crown, it’s worth pointing out that Dominic West is a lead and Salim Daw is supporting, not guest, despite appearing in only two episodes. A nominee last year in the guest category, James Lance, as the reporter Trent Crimm, has been promoted to supporting for Ted Lasso due to his season-long presence. Morfydd Clark is in the supporting race for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which has no actors classified as leads though Galadriel is the closest thing the series has to a protagonists. Finally Katee Sackhoff is deservedly a lead this season opposite Pascal for The Mandalorian while Jennifer Coolidge remains in the supporting category, along with all her costars, for The White Lotus.
Marisa Abela in Industry
While not nearly as relevant, there are a few other oddities I noticed (and you’ll surely find many more). Lucas Bravo is on the ballot as a lead for Emily in Paris. So is Johnny Knoxville for Reboot. Despite his reduced role in season two, Al Pacino is still considered a lead for Hunters. Murray Bartlett is in supporting for Physical rather than guest since he appeared in five out of ten of this season’s episodes. Ken Marino is also in supporting for Party Down, even though you could argue he's the show’s lead (according to Emmy ballots the lead is the equally great Adam Scott). Marisa Abela received a promotion from supporting to lead for season two of Industry, an under-the-radar show that’s very much worth checking out on HBO/Max. Most puzzlingly, Home Economics went from submitting its five adult actors in season one to just three in season two and now, only two minor supporting players appear on the ballot at all.
STILL IN THE RUNNING
Suzy Nakamura, who is Emmy-worthy for Avenue 5 but isn't even on the ballot
It used to be that a series that didn’t earn a second season renewal ended up classified as limited series (or miniseries before that), but I didn’t spot any this time around. I did, however, note the presence of The Company You Keep and True Lies in the drama series list despite both of them being unceremoniously terminated, while Reboot also shows up in comedy series. Other prematurely ended shows that remain on the ballot include The L Word: Generation Q, The Mosquito Coast, Perry Mason, and my personal favorite, Avenue 5, though Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad are the only cast members submitted.
Don't Make Me Go, streaming on Prime Video
The TV movie category is also a fun place to notice projects you might have forgotten all about. I’m particularly excited to see one of my top ten films of last year, which I screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, Don’t Make Me Go, in the running. I’m not going to get my hopes up for it to earn any nominations, but it so deserves them. Rosaline, starring an Emmy nominee last year, Kaitlyn Dever, is another phenomenal choice, and Not Okay is also on the list, though no performers are submitted from it (including breakout Mia Isaac, who is on the ballot for Don’t Make Me Go).
Stranger Things
Lastly, there’s occasionally the case of a show that didn’t actually air enough episodes to qualify in the series and acting races but is on the ballot elsewhere, like The Handmaid’s Tale and Euphoria in past years. This time around, it’s Stranger Things for episodes eight and nine of season four. I noticed it on the directing, writing, and guest acting ballots, and I’m sure it’s on many technical lists as well, which I didn’t even start to check out.
If you have some time on your hands, peruse the ballots here yourself and let us know what you find or who you’re rooting for. Emmy nominations will be announced on July 12th and we’ll have plenty more coverage in the run-up to that date.
Reader Comments (1)
I am surprised that the producers of Call Me Kat aren't promoting the late Leslie Jordan for an Emmy.