Did the Emmy voters get it ― dare I say ― right this time around?
The nominations for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced Wednesday, and I don't have too much to complain about when it comes to who's up for TV's biggest awards. "Reservation Dogs"? Hallelujah, I could shout with joy for this just-ended FX comedy! "Slow Horses"? Finally, this brilliant Apple TV+ spy drama got noticed! "The Morning Show"? Well, I guess that was on TV this year, too!
If you're thinking, "Wait, didn't we already do this in 2024?" you would be right! The 75th Primetime Emmys aired this January, a delayed ceremony pushed back from September 2023 by last year's dual actors' and writers' strikes. This time around, TV shows that aired or streamed between June 2023 and May 2024 qualify. This year's second Emmy ceremony will be held Sunday, September 15 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT on ABC (which hasn't named a host yet).
So now we're looking at the best of the best from the past year in TV, at least according to the Television Academy. There were snubs, there were surprises and there were some very big "finally!" moments too. Here is everything you need to know about the 2024 Emmy nominations.
It took three seasons and five nominations for her costars Steve Martin and Martin Short (three for Short and two for Martin), but the third member of the "Murder" trio finally has a shot at Emmy gold. Fans have decried Gomez's snub for two straight years and are joyous today. And there is an argument to be made that the cartoonish performances by Short and Martin wouldn't play half as funny without Gomez's straight-man reactions.
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Showtime's "The Curse" was so very weird and also so very wonderful. Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone led the offbeat (and very disturbing) dramedy about an HGTV-like couple and the potential curse laid upon them. Oscar winner Stone delivered her second best performance of the year (after "Poor Things," of course) and at least deserved a nomination for her superb acting.
One of the best series of the last decade, FX's "Reservation Dogs" was ignored by the Emmys for its first three seasons. But it finally broke through for its exquisite finale, with a nomination for best comedy and best lead actor for the phenomenal D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai. I would have loved to see more love (it didn't write and direct itself), but I will happily take what I can get.
Many of the nominees scream, "if it looks good, it must be good!" Amazon's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" was all slick and edgy and philosophical but it was also very, very boring. "The Morning Show" similarly is a trainwreck of a series that gets consistent Emmy love, mostly on the goodwill its performers have garnered over their long careers. That same kind of goodwill has catapulted Apple TV+'s terrible "Palm Royale" to 11 nominations, including best comedy series and best actress in a comedy for Kristen Wiig. Look, I love Wiig and the many talented people she got to do this series, including the legendary Carol Burnett (also nominated). But this series was a cacophony of dumb plots and screechy characters wrapped up in 1960s flair with one of the most dumbfounding finales I've ever seen. That slot could have been taken up by so many great comedies from this past year, such as Peacock's "We Are Lady Parts" (always under-the-radar and underrated).
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