2024 Emmy Nominations - Drama & Limited Series
Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 4:57PM
NATHANIEL R in Emmys, Fellow Travelers, Feud, TV, The Gilded Age, Under the Bridge

by Nathaniel R

Yesterday we tackled the comedy series nominations. Today, Drama and Limited Series. Which have you watched and which shows do you wish would win more awards recognition? Okay, let's talk Drama (with Shogun as the nomination leader) and Limited Series (where True Detective: Night Country led the nominations) after the jump... 

DRAMA SERIES

 

In an extremely rare occurrence at the Emmys, this is *almost* an entirely different lineup than last year’s roster. That’s because seven of last year’s nominated shows are either off the air now or did not air a new season in time for this year’s Emmys. That made room for a lot of new shows to be honored whether they were in their debut seasons or season two or even season three. The Crown is the only returning nominee; it has won this prize just once (for Season 4). Can it win again for its final season or is Shogun, which led the nominations by a strong margin, the frontrunner. 

Some notable shows that missed this list include Showtime’s The Curse, Disney+'s popular Loki, and Star wars spinoff Ahsoka. Other shows that might have had some heat included Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Tokyo Vice, Elsbeth, and Sugar.

  Of eligible shows that didn't have a shot (genre is still least-likely-to unless its a massive hit), I personally loved Dead Boys Detective, Wheel of Time, and Halo. I was also a huge fan of The Woman in the Wall  but I don't understand for the life of me why it was eligible here instead of in limited series. Do you have any recommendations for what everyone should be watching?  

 

LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA


Here we have a list with no previous Emmy winners in this particular category, though Jennifer won many years ago in Comedy for Friends while her Morning co-star Reese Witherspoon won as a producer for Big Little Lies. 

 

Other people that might have placed here but didn’t secure enough votes: Danielle McDonald (The Tourist), Emma Stone (The Curse), Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka), Carrie Preston (Elsbeth), Ella Purnell (Fallout), Juliette Binoche (The New Look), Rosamund Pike (The Wheel of Time), and the brilliant Ruth Wilson (Woman in the Wall).

 

LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA

 

NONE of last year’s nominees were eligible this year, so it's an all new list. What do you think of it?

Some unlucky fellows that might conceivably have had a shot were: Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Colin Farrel (Sugar), Nathan Fielder (The Curse), Ben Mendelsohn (The New Look), Morgan Spector (Gilded Age), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Adrien Brody and John C Reilly (Winning Time), and Zahn McClarnon (Dark Winds).

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA

 

With only three shows honored, it feels like an uneccessarily dull shortlist. I do watch The Gilded Age but don't understand the acclaim for Baranski who could do this in her sleep -- it's easy to imagine her napping between takes since her character barely moves from chairs. 

Some players who didn't land in the shortlist were: Fumi Nikaldo and Moeka Hoshi (Shogun), Audra McDonald and Cynthia Nixon (The Gilded Age), Celia Rose Gooding (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), Leslie Uggams (Fallout), Amy Ryan (Sugar), and Kristin Scott Thomas (Slow Horses).

My personal favourite eligible candidate (though I can't imagine she got many votes) was Ruth Connell ("Night Nurse" in Dead Boy Detectives). And why wasn't the utterly genius Jenn Lyon ("Esther" in Dead Boy Detectives)  submitted? I haven't seen an actress have that much fun playing a villain in years; if I were a casting director  I'd consider for everything immediately. 

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA

 

Only four shows honored in this category. We hate that the supporting categories have just become reveals about which three-ish shows Emmy voters are actually watching en masse. The silver lining is that with today’s erratic tv schedules no nominees from last year (which was ALL Succession and White Lotus) were eligible so it feels like a complete overhaul. It’s not quite though since this is Billy Crudup’s third time up as “Cory Ellison” on The Morning Show; he won for the first season back in 2020. 

 

Missing the list so we wonder how far off they were: Benny Safdie (the Curse), Ken Watanabe (Tokyo Vice), Chris Bauer (Heels), Khalid Abdalla and Salim Daw (The Crown), Nathan Lane (The Gilded Age), Benedict Wong (3 Body Problem).

 

GUEST ACTRESS, DRAMA

 

Some other women they might have chosen: Glenn Close (The New Look), Lindsay Duncan (The Morning Show), Laura Benanti (The Gilded Age), Jane Krakowski & Gina Gershon (Elsbeth), Anna Gunn (Sugar), and Sharon Horgan (Mr & Mrs Smith)

 

GUEST ACTOR, DRAMA

 

Mr & Mrs Smith is apparently the new Succession in terms of dominating the "Guest" categories. 

Some others that were eligible but didn't land here: Ron Perlman, Paul Dano, Wagner Moura (Mr & Mrs Smith), Kyle Maclachlan & Michael Emerson (Fallout), James Cromwell (Sugar), Gary Farmer (The Curse), Blair Underwood & Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Elsbeth)

 

DIRECTING, DRAMA SERIES

 

WRITING, DRAMA SERIES

 

And we wrap up with Limited Series about which we have slightly more to say...

 

LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES

 

Baby Reindeer is likely to win this and we salute its utter brilliance. Also a fan of True Detective: Night Country - so nice to see Jodie Foster back in front of cameras where she belongs this past year plus. I personally  couldn't make it through Ripley which was so glacially paced and strangely cast that I literally became angry by the end of the first episode. Suffice it to say I don't understand how any one could prefer it to the moving and superbly acted Fellow Travellers,  or the nasty and intricate Mary & George. Other shows that you can imagine had at least some voters were Netflix’s Eric, Griselda, or All The Light We Cannot See, Hulu’s We Were the Lucky Ones, and HBO’s strange and political curiousity The Regime, Apple TV's Masters of the Air, and FX's Feud: Capote Vs the Swans. As to the latter, though it wasn't glacially paced like Ripley, it was so repetitive that despite strong moments, it felt like it would have been appreciably stronger as a two hour film. 

 

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE

 

ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES

 

Naomi Watts hasn't been as good as she was in Feud in years, so we're happy to see her nominated. Otherwise, I was personally rooting for non-nominees Julianne Moore (Mary & George) and Kate Winslet (The Regime). Other people they passed over included Awkwafina (Quiz Lady), Aria Mia Loberti (All the Light We Cannot See), and Joey King (We Were the Lucky Ones)

 

ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

 

 

Stellar actors, all, but I'm rooting for Matt Bomer doing his best work to date with abrasive depth and cool passion.

Contenders who didn't get enough votes included former Emmy obsession Tony Shalhoub (Mr Monks Last Case), Louis Hoffman (All the Light We Cannot See), Michael Douglas (Franklin), David Oyelowo (Lawmen: Bass Reeves), Tobiaz Menzies (Manhunt), Hoa Xuande (The Sympathizer), Benedict Cumberbatch (Eric), Nicholas Galtazine (Mary & George), and Austin Butler (Masters of the Air)


SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES

 

 

Rooting for Jessica Gunning here though Nava Mau and Kali Reis were also wonderful.

It's a shame that both leads of Under the Bridge (Lily and Riley Keough) campaigned as supporting given the fine young actresses playing the four teenagers at the heart of the murder case who could have used some campaign attention for the same show: Aiyana Goodfellow (not submitted but wonderful), Vritika Gupta, Chloe Guidry, and Izzy G.

Notably absent but one assumes they mustered at least some votes: Calista Flockhart, Jessica Lange, Demi Moore, and Chloe Sevigny (Feud), Andrea Riseborough (The Regime), Sandra Oh (The Sympathizer), Sarayu Blue (Expats), Archie Panjabi, Riley Keough (Under the Bridge)

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES

 

Delicious sex god Jonathan Bailey is NOT a supporting actor in Fellow Travellers but we're used to category fraud shenanigans everywhere now. It's still sad though since Emmy voting structures are actually helpful to multiple performers being nominated for the same show, so there's really no reason to do it!

Some other players who didn't get enough votes to land here: Tony Curran (Mary & George), Barry Keoghan (Masters of the Air), Dave Foley and Joe Keery (Fargo) Christopher Eccleston and Finn Bennett (True Detective), Hugh Grant (The Regime)

 

DIRECTING, LIMITED SERIES

 

WRITING, LIMITED SERIES

 

Who are you rooting for and what's the very first thing you would change about Emmy voting if you controlled the TV universe? 

 

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