The Emmy Nominations came out this morning for the previous TV season, which doesn’t go from January to December of any given year like the Oscars, but June of one year to May of the following year. This Emmy season will only focus on programs airing in their majority or entirety between the time period of June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023.
Several of these categories only have three or four nominations from me because 1) unfortunately there’s too much shit out there for me to see everything and 2) I was let down by a lot of buzzy shows this season, especially in the Drama Series category.
Finally, please let me know your thoughts/opinions in the comments section as well as what you thought I left off or was too generous towards.
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary; ABC
The Bear; FX/Hulu
Jury Duty; FreeVee
***The Rehearsal; HBO***
Reservation Dogs; FX/Hulu
Somebody Somewhere; HBO
There’s a lot missing from this category because I decided to cap off my nominations at 6. “Comedy” or half hour funny dramas clearly dominated this past television season as I was increasingly disappointed with most new and returning one-hour “drama” series. While there’s a strong case to made for any of these shows taking my dumb non-prize, nothing impressed me more than Nathan Fielder‘s elaborate social experiment, The Rehearsal. Nothing made me laugh harder and more painfully either.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul; AMC
Industry; HBOMax
Interview with the Vampire; AMC
***Succession; HBO***
Yellowjackets Season 2 was a big drop in quality from Season 1, and From is far too flawed a show to earn a mention here. Tried watching The Crown and got so bored I went into cardiac arrest, and if I never see anything else with dragons in it it, it may still be too soon. This was a tough one between Better Call Saul and Succession, both shows were the two best programs of the entire television season, but ultimately Succession inched forward in a very very narrow victory. It may have been the Loony Cake I had for breakfast…
BEST LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
***Beef; Netflix***
This Is Going to Hurt; AMC
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story; RokuTV
My real blindspot this television season was limited series and TV movies but I did see far more than just three, but only three I felt were worthy of this nomination. While Weird and This Is Going to Hurt are both really good, Beef is in a completely different league of excellence. This win is by a very large margin. Like fucking huge.
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary; ABC
***Bridgett Everett for Somebody Somewhere; HBO***
Selena Gomez for Only Murders in the Building; Hulu
K. Devery Jacobs for Reservation Dogs; FX/Hulu
Natasha Lyonne for Poker Face; Peacock
Charlotte Nicdao for Mythic Quest; AppleTV+
Another not-so-tight race, despite the fantastic talent on display. Everett is just so fucking good here, a real powerhouse performance in a half-hour funny drama. And she also sings, take that Selena Gomez!
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
***Bill Hader for Barry; HBO***
Nathan Fielder for The Rehearsal; HBO
Nicholas Hoult for The Great; Hulu
Steve Martin for Only Murders in the Building; Hulu
Martin Short for Only Murders in the Building; Hulu
Jeremy Allen White for The Bear; FX/Hulu
Lot of great talent here, and while I may have given this to Jeremy Allen White on another day, Hader delivers the most haunting and subtle work in the category, even if Season 4 of Barry was a slight disappointment in this dude’s eyes.
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Tawny Cypress for Yellowjackets; Showtime
Brandee Evans for P-Valley; Starz
Melanie Lynskey for Yellowjackets; Showtime
Sophie Nélisse for Yellowjackets; Showtime
Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us; HBO
***Sarah Snook for Succession; HBO***
Let’s pour one out for P-Valley (Pussy Valley), a once great show that struggled in it’s sophomore season despite fantastic acting turns by Nicco Annan and Brandee Evans, who came damn close to taking this category. However, there was absolutely no denying Sarah Snook‘s work this season on Succession. Her scenes with Tom were among the best marital despite scenes since Tony and Carmela.
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Nicco Annan for P-Valley; Starz
Kieran Culkin for Succession; HBO
Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul; AMC
Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us; HBO
Sam Reid for Interview with the Vampire; AMC
***Jeremy Strong for Succession; HBO***
An outrageously tight category, maybe the tightest, but ultimately weird-ass method actor Jeremy Strong delivered the most impressive work from where I’m sitting. Of course, Kieran really plumbed new depths as an actor this season, but Strong‘s ability to carry an entire scene with shifting facial expressions puts him right at #1 for me. Also, for four years Kendall Roy was the single most tragic character on television. Shakespeare would have came.
BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
***Dominique Fishback for Swarm; Amazon Prime***
Amber Midthunder for Prey; Hulu
Ali Wong for Beef; Netflix
Amber Midthunder was really good in Prey, but she was the clear third place in this limited category, behind Fishback and Wong‘s truly incredible work in Swarm and Beef. As much as I loved the first five episodes of Swarm, I’ve never seen a show sabotage itself so hard in its final two episodes, but that doesn’t effect how affecting Fishback‘s portrayal of THE worst-case-scenario fan ends up being. It may be the breakthrough performance of the season, establishing her as a top-tier actor person.
BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Daniel Radcliffe for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story; RokuTV
***Ben Whishaw for This Is Going to Hurt; AMC***
Steven Yeun for Beef; Netflix
Love Harry Potter, but this was a real tight one between Ben and Steve. Ultimately I gave it to Whishaw because he was able to really ride the fine line between sympathetic broken man and entitled, know-it-all prick.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Carrigan for Barry; HBO
***Brian Tyree Henry for Atlanta; FX***
Ebon Moss-Bacharach for The Bear; FX/Hulu
James Marsden for Jury Duty; FreeVee
Chris Perfetti for Abbott Elementary; ABC
Stephen Root for Barry; HBO
Henry Winkler for Barry; HBO
Bowen Yang for Saturday Night Live; NBC
If this Emmy season was looking at Season 2 of The Bear rather than Season 1, it would probably be Ebon Moss-Bachrach by a good margin, who managed to completely hold his own against Oscar winner Olivia Colman like it was nothing. This season however I’d say he’s slightly behind Brian Tyree Henry, who remained the single best part of Donald Glover‘s Atlanta for all four seasons the show lasted. Season 4’s “Andrew Wyeth. Alfred’s World” may have given him his best showcase on the show as he went up to country to grow some weed and ended up battling a feral hog to the death.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Paulina Alexis for Reservation Dogs; FX/Hulu
Zazie Beetz for Atlanta; FX
Ayo Edebiri for The Bear; FX/Hulu
Sarah Goldberg for Barry; HBO
***Janelle James for Abbott Elementary; ABC***
Sheryl Lee Ralph for Abbott Elementary; ABC
Cecily Strong for Saturday Night Live; NBC
Lisa Ann Walter for Abbott Elementary; ABC
Perhaps the single funniest performance on television, Janelle James is actual fucking magic as Principal Ava on the leanest and meanest sitcom joke machine, Abbott Elementary. She should have won for Season 1, even with how good her co-star Sheryl Lee ralph was, but I have a feeling she’ll win for realz this time. Everyone else in this category was great but a special runner-up mention goes to the amazing Sarah Goldberg for being this season’s and last season’s Barry acting MVP.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Brian Cox for Succession; HBO
Peter Friedman for Succession; HBO
Tom Hollander for The White Lotus; HBO
Ken Leung for Industry; HBOMax
***Matthew Macfadyen for Succession; HBO***
David Rasche for Succession; HBO
Alan Ruck for Succession; HBO
Alexander Skarsgård for Succession; HBO
I know The Emmys are putting up Brian Cox in the leading actor category, but come on, we all know why that shouldn’t be the case. Still in supporting, he and the several other brilliant supporting dudes of Succession take a backseat to Matthew Macfadyen‘s Tom who for all four seasons was the show’s most complex, riveting and funny character. Mr. Darcy done good.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Bailey Bass for Interview with the Vampire; AMC
Jasmin Savoy Brown for Yellowjackets; Showtime
Jennifer Coolidge for The White Lotus; HBO
Meghann Fahy for The White Lotus; HBO
Samantha Hanratty for Yellowjackets; Showtime
Christina Ricci for Yellowjackets; Showtime
***Rhea Seehorn for Better Call Saul; AMC***
J. Smith Cameron for Succession; HBO
There’s an argument to be made that Rhea Seehorn was a co-lead of the show, but going off of the final six episodes eligible for nomination, she was only in half of the episodes. She was incredible, whichever category you think she belongs, the MVP of a show full of fantastically rich performances.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
David Choe for Beef; Netflix
***Paul Walter Hauser for Black Bird; AppleTV+***
Toby Huss for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Joseph Lee for Beef; Netflix
Ray Liotta for Black Bird; AppleTV+
Bowen Yang for Fire Island; Hulu
His Twitter meltdown over Japanese movies getting Oscar nominations aside, Paul Walter “Richard Jewell” Hauser is a deeply skilled character actor who completely disappears into a completely unnerving child killer in Black Bird.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
***Claire Danes for Fleishman Is in Trouble; FX***
Ashley McGuire for This Is Going to Hurt; AMC
Ambika Mod for This Is Going to Hurt; AMC
Julianne Nicholson for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story; RokuTV
Ashley Park for Beef; Netflix
Evan Rachel Wood for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story; RokuTV
As much as i didn’t love Fleishman Is in Trouble, I thought it was one of the more nauseatingly pretentious and WASPy offerings this past television season, Claire Danes is absolutely fantastic in it as Mark Zuckerberg‘s ex. Far. andaway, the best part of the show, almost seems wasted on the show.
BEST WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary – Quinta Brunson for episode “Development Day”
***Abbott Elementary – Brian Rubenstein for episode “Wrong Delivery”***
Atlanta – Stefani Robinson for episode “Light Skinned-ed”
Atlanta – Francesca Sloane & Karen Joseph Adcock for episode “The Goof Who Sat By the Door
Poker Face – Wyatt Cain for episode “The Stall”
Reservation Dogs – Tazbah Rose Chavez for episode “Wide Net”
Abbott Elementary offers maybe the funniest, laugh for laugh, show on television and “Wrong Delivery” prominently features its funniest character – Principal Ava.
BEST WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul – Vince Gilligan for episode “Waterworks”
***Better Call Saul – Peter Gould for episode “Saul Gone”***
Better Call Saul – Gordon Smith for episode “Point and Shoot”
The Last of Us – Craig Mazin for episode “Long, Long Time”
Succession – Jesse Armstrong for episode “Connor’s Wedding”
Succession – Jesse Armstrong for episode “With Open Eyes”
Six brilliantly written episodes were hard to choose from, but since I gave Succession the win for Drama Series, I’ll give Best Writing to Better Call Saul‘s absolutely perfect finale.
BEST WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
***Beef – Jake Rosen and Lee Sung Jin for episode “I Am a Cage”***
Beef – Lee Sung Jin for episode “The Great Fabricator”
Swarm – Ibra Ake and Stephen Glover for episode “Running Scared”
Swarm – Janine Nabers, Malia Ann and Ibra Ake for episode “Girl, Bye”
This is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – Eric Appel and Al Yankovic
The best executed time-jump of the television season.
BEST DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta – Donald Glover for episode “Work Ethic!”
Atlanta – Hiro Murai for episode “Andrew Wyeth. Alfred’s World.”
***Barry – Bill Hader for episode “the wizard”***
Barry – Bill Hader for episode “wow”
The Bear – Christopher Storer for episode “Review”
Poker Face – Rian Johnson for episode “Dead Man’s Hand”
The home invasion scene was really something else.
BEST DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul – Vince Gilligan for episode “Point and Shoot”
Better Call Saul – Peter Gould for episode “Saul Gone”
The Last of Us – Peter Hoar for episode “Long, Long Time”
Succession – Mark Mylod for episode “Connor’s Wedding”
***Succession – Andrj Parekh for episode “America Decides”***
Succession – Lorene Scafaria for episode “Living+”
This is the best directed episode of television I’ve seen in a long time, yes even more impressive than “Connor’s Wedding”‘s extended boat take.
BEST DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Beef – Hikari for episode “The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech in Pain”
***Beef – Jake Schreier for episode “The Great Fabricator”***
Black Bird – Michaël R. Roskam for episode “Pilot”
Prey – Dan Tratchenberg
Swarm – Ibra Ake for episode “Running Scared”
Weird: The Yankovic Story – Eric Appel
The penultimate episode of Beef is an absolute thrill ride, especially everything that happens in Mario Bello‘s house.
BEST GUEST ACTRESS (COMEDY)
Ellen Barkin for Poker Face; Peacock
Hong Chau for Poker Face; Peacock
Lily Gladstone for Reservation Dogs; FX
Taraji P. Henson for Abbott Elementary; ABC
***Anna Lamadrid for The Rehearsal; HBO***
Judith Light for Poker Face; Peacock
If I expanded this category into eight, there would probably be two more Poker Face nominees. However, nobody flat-out impressed or surprised me more than Anna Lamadrid, a virtually unknown actress stepping into the role of deeply devout and deeply disturbed Angela to thoroughly chew out Nathan.
BEST GUEST ACTOR (COMEDY)
***Joshua James Bernard for The Rehearsal; HBO***
Benjamin Bratt for Poker Face; Peacock
Adrien Brody for Poker Face; Peacock
Zack Fox for Abbott Elementary; ABC
Dallas Goldtooth for Reservation Dogs; FX
Lil Rel Howrey for Poker Face; Peacock
So many great performances here but the one that made the biggest impact is young General Hospital actor Joshua James Bernard, brought into The Rehearsal‘s insane social experiment to play Nathan and Angela‘s drug-addled teen.
BEST GUEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
Murray Bartlett for The Last of Us; HBO
Bryan Cranston for Better Call Saul; AMC
James Cromwell for Succession; HBO
Justin Kirk for Succession; HBO
***Nick Offerman for The Last of Us; HBO***
Scott Shepherd for The Last of Us; HBO
This is probably the most “no shit” category of the bunch, Offerman‘s best performance? Unquestionably.
BEST GUEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Hiam Abbass for Succession; HBO
Carol Burnett for Better Call Saul; AMC
Betsy Brandt for Better Call Saul; AMC
Cherry Jones for Succession; HBO
***Ella Purnell for Yellowjackets; Showtime***
Harriet Walter for Succession; HBO
My vote for the best of the Yellowjackets teen actors, besides maybe Sophie Nélisse (young Shauna), is Ella Purnell as Jackie. Wished the show would have held onto her.
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