2024 Emmy Nominations - Comedy
Friday, July 19, 2024 at 3:26PM
NATHANIEL R in Abbott Elementary, Carol Burnett, Emmys, Hacks, Palm Royale, The Bear, comedy

by Nathaniel R

PALM ROYALE secured 11 Emmy nominations including Comedy Series and acting nods for Carol Burnett and Kristen Wiig

Hey people out there in the dark! The strike threw off the timeline and we have not one but two Emmy award ceremonies this year. The first was for the 2022/2023 season and the upcoming 76th Emmys are for programs that aired between June 1st, 2023 and May 31st of 2024. That means some shows that people are discussing heavily right now, like House of Dragons, The Acolyte, or The Bear, are either ineligible (the first two) or are being honored for their previous seasons (like the latter).  Shogun led for Drama with an enormous 25 nominations but  The Bear was close behind with 23 nominations in the comedy categories (whether or not it belongs there is another conversation). 

You can see an exhaustive list of all 2,000,001 categories at the Emmy official site but let’s discuss the main nominations across the three chief ‘sections’ starting with Comedy. We have to break this into three posts since there's so much to discuss... 

 

COMEDY SERIES

 

 

The Bear won last season. None of the others have ever won the top prize and there is certainly a lot of goodwill to go around but it takes a lot for the Emmys to change course; we expect The Bear to repeat. With its 11th nomination in this category, Curb Your Enthusiasm has tied the all time record (previously shared by two classics: Cheers & M*A*S*H) . Most shows don’t last that long so it will be fascinating to see how many decades it will take for that record to be broken, if ever. Hacks or Abbott Elementary (the two still-running shows with the most nominations) would have to last nine more seasons and be nominated each time.

 

Notably missing from the list is the return of previous absolute Emmy obsession Frasier. Less surprising is that they ignored shows they've always ignored like Righteous Gemstones, Girls 5eva, Ghosts, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Resident Alien. Newer series that didn't land included: I’m A Virgo, Loot, Gen V (what was that doing in Comedy?), and The Gentlemen.


LEAD ACTRESS COMEDY

 

 

Jean Smart has won twice for Hacks while Quinta Brunson won last year for Abbott when Smart didn’t have a season eligible. Ayo Edebiri is also a previous winner (albeit in supporting) for her role in The Bear. So, in short, half of this group has already triumphed for these roles.The big story here is surely that Maya and Kristen, both SNL alums, were nominated for the first time in this category and Selena Gomez finally landed in the shortlist after being passed over for the first two seasons of her hit show.

 

Other contenders that someone somewhere was surely rooting for included Sarah Lanchashire (Julia), Devery Jacobs (reservation Dogs), Natasha Demetriou (What We Do in the Shadows), Renee Elise Goldsberry (Girls5Eva), and previous category regular  Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That)

 

LEAD ACTOR COMEDY

 

Jeremy Allen White won last year for The Bear’s first season, otherwise none of these men have won for these particular roles. Larry David, Martin Short (who had a very good season), and Steve Martin are all back joined by first time nominees Matt Berry and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai who have been working their characters for years without any Emmy notices so huzzah to them. 

 

Other contenders Emmy voters didn't rally around in sufficient numbers included Jharrel Jerome (I’m a Virgo), Kelsey Grammar (Frasier), Theo James (The Gentlemen), Kayvan Novak (What We Do in the Shadows), anyone from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The eternal mystery (apart from that Emmy voters don't watch SyFy shows) is why Alan Tudyk can't get arrested for his utter brilliance on Resident Alien. 

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS COMEDY

 

 

It’s hard to quibble with this lineup apart from the fact that Hannah Einbinder is inarguably a leading lady in Hacks and should be competing in that category instead. Sheryl Lee Ralph won two years ago for Abbott. Is it someone else’s turn or will she get an encore trip to the stage? 

 

Fun Trivia: Carol Burnett is now the oldest woman ever nominated for comedy acting at 91. She’s won 9 Emmys during her career though she’s never been nominated in this particular category. Her most recent Emmy was just last season for the Variety special “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter & Love”.

Some unlucky contenders that didn't muster enough voters included: Abby Elliott (The Bear), Megan Stalter (Hacks), Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary), Molly Gordon (The Bear), Paulina Alexis (Reservation Dogs), Judith Light (Julia), and Busy Philipps (Girls5eva)

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR COMEDY

 

 

Moss-Bachrach won last year while Tyler James Williams and Bowen Yang return but the rest are newbies.  It’s wonderful to see Paul W Downs singled out for his exasperated manager in Hacks… especially since he’s also a writer on the increasingly brilliant show.

Trivia: Paul Rudd received not just his first Emmy nod but his second, too, this season. He’s also up for “Oustanding Narrator” for the doc series Secrets of the Octopus. 

 

Notably absent: Chris Perfetti AGAIN sigh (Abbott Elementary), previous nominee Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Hacks), Matty Matheson (The Bear), Harvey Guillen AGAIN (What We Do in the Shadows), and Walton Goggins (I’m a Virgo)

 

GUEST ACTRESS, COMEDY

 

 

Fun Trivia: 50% of this list are Oscar winners with Jamie Lee Curtis, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Olivia Colman all competing. We suspect that Jamie Lee will take it.

 

Notably absent: J Smith Cameron, Christina Hendricks, and Helen Hunt (Hacks), Caroline Aaron (Ghosts), Gilian Jacobs, Sarah Paulson (The Bear), Peri Gilpin and Bebe Neuwirth (Frasier), Lily Gladstone (Reservation Dogs), Sienna Miller (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Ayo Edebiri (SNL), and Vanessa Bayer AGAIN who is utterly brilliant as the energy vampire in What We Do in the Shadows.

GUEST ACTOR, COMEDY

 

Love the nominations for Ryan Gosling (wonderful SNL host) and Matthew Broderick who was clearly having a ball playing an impossibly maddening version of himself. Jon Bernthal is the only nominee reprising a previously nominated character.

 

Some standouts who weren't lucky enough to snag a nod (the guest categories DESPERATELY need juries rather than regular balloting given the infrequency of the contenders): Keegan Michael-Key (Abbott Elementary), Nate Bargatze, Adam Driver, Timothee CHalamet  (SNL), Tony Goldwin (Hacks), Andrew Lopez, Robert Townsend (The Bear), Simu Liu (The Other Two), Elijah Wood (I’m a Virgo), Ethan Hawke (Reservation Dogs)

 

DIRECTING, COMEDY

 

WRITING, COMEDY

 

 

Another stellar lineup. Very happy to see The Other Two included.

 

Up next: DRAMA


 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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