‘Bad Sisters’: Sharon Horgan could follow in Emmy footsteps of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (‘Fleabag’)

Jacob Sarkisian
·7 min read
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Sharon Horgan could be set to follow in the footsteps of another acclaimed multi-hyphenate, Phoebe Waller-Bridge,  by earning Emmy bids for both writing and starring in a beloved show. While Waller-Bridge achieved that feat for her comedy “Fleabag,” Horgan could do it for her Apple TV+ drama “Bad Sisters.” Horgan co-created, starred in, and wrote several episodes of this hit show, which follows the five Garvey sisters who plot to murder John Paul (Claes Bang), the abusive husband of Anne-Marie Duff‘s Grace Garvey.

The show flashes between two timelines — one in which the sisters try to kill John Paul and one in which a pair of insurance investigators (Brian Gleeson‘s Thomas and Daryl McCormack‘s Matthew) try to prove the sisters’ involvement in John Paul’s death to save their own business.

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Horgan teamed up with “New Girl” scribes Brett Baer and Dave Finkel to adapt the hit Belgian show “Clan.” The trio wrote the pilot episode while Horgan also handled scripting for episode three, episode nine (alongside Ailbhe Keogan), and the 10th and final installment. Horgan’s style of writing — a mixture of family drama and pitch-black comedy — was on display in her previous show, “Catastrophe,” and her talent with words and stories is again obvious here. However, it’s not just her work behind the scenes that has been noticed — her performance in front of the camera is equally impressive.

As Eva, the protective eldest sibling of the Garvey sisters, Horgan is the show’s anchor, guiding the collective cast through each of the increasingly-dramatic episodes. Eva also clashes with John Paul on several occasions and her and Bang’s sparring matches are some of the show’s highlights. As writer and actress, Horgan proves what a brilliant teller and performer of great stories she is — and critics agree.

Olly Richards (Empire) wrote: “One of Horgan’s best, ‘Bad Sisters’ manages to be both a clever murder-mystery and a hilarious farcical comedy, played by an absolutely killer cast.” He continued: “There is a lot going on in the plot of this show, based on the Belgian series ‘Clan,’ but it’s written so tightly, and acted so exceptionally, it never feels bogged down in exposition.”

Caroline Framke (Variety) wrote: “If Sharon Horgan’s attached to a show, there’s a more than decent chance that it’ll be a spiky comedy tinged with the tragedy of everyday indignities.” She continued: “That the show also finds not just moments, but reasons to make its characters and viewers laugh is a testament to how well its writing team can balance a tone that many others would’ve muddled.”

Robert Lloyd (LA Times) wrote: “Horgan, her writers and her cast pull this off expertly, not just through the unrelieved awfulness of John Paul — a common enough trick, making the antagonist-victim less sympathetic than his protagonist-attackers — but by the portrayal of the sisters, who, though not without flaws, are well-rounded, recognizably human and coming ultimately from a place of love.”

Critics’ love is all well and good but in an Emmys race (or, ahem, a gold derby) it helps to have the cold hard support of awards to back up your credentials. And “Bad Sisters” has exactly that — last month, the Apple TV+ drama earned five BAFTA TV nominations. At the BAFTA TV Craft Awards on April 23rd, the show won Best Titles & Graphic Identity while it was also nominated for Best Scripted Casting (it lost to “This is Going to Hurt”) and Best Director Fiction for Dearbhla Walsh (she lost to William Stefan Smith for “Top Boy”). At BAFTA’s main TV Awards ceremony (which will take place on Sunday 14th May), “Bad Sisters” is nominated for Best Drama Series (which Horgan is nominated for as co-creator and producer) as well as Best Supporting Actress for Duff.

“Bad Sisters” and Horgan clearly have the ability to pull in awards support, so these BAFTA nominations could be a crystal ball for the Emmys, where Horgan has so far earned one nomination. She was nominated in 2016 for Best Comedy Writing alongside Rob Delaney for “Catastrophe.” They lost to Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, who won for “Master of None.” Horgan could potentially reap a further Emmy three nominations with “Bad Sisters,” though — one for writing, one for performing, and one for Best Drama Series (Horgan would be nominated as a creator/producer, as she is at the BAFTAs).

In particular, if Horgan scored wins for acting and writing, she could emulate the great Waller-Bridge, who pulled off this double act for her comedy series “Fleabag” in 2019. Waller-Bridge won Best Comedy Actress and Best Comedy Writing for that show (which also won Best Comedy Series) in 2019. Similarly, in 2022, Quinta Brunson won Best Comedy Writing for “Abbott Elementary” while she was also nominated for Best Comedy Actress (she lost to Jean Smart for “Hacks”). And Daniel Levy won Best Comedy Writing and Best Comedy Supporting Actor for “Schitt’s Creek” in 2020.

Horgan could very well join that list of well-respected creatives in the industry to receive that duo of nominations/wins — she has created several acclaimed shows including “Catastrophe” and “Motherland” while she has also bolstered her name as a star with supporting turns in major Hollywood productions such as “Game Night” and “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” Plus, she’s a nine-time BAFTA TV nominee, including two bids for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for “Catastrophe” (2016 and 2018), Best Comedy Writer for “Motherland” (2023), and three nods for Best Scripted Comedy — two nominations for “Catastrophe” (2018 and 2020) and one win for “Motherland” (2022).

Horgan has, therefore, proved that she is a respected storyteller while her turns in major productions and the fact that she is on the cusp of a nomination for Best Drama Actress (more on that below), means that she is very much on Emmy voters’ radars. Plus, her sole Emmy nomination so far came from the writers’ branch, indicating that she has a lot of admiration in that area — this could lead to another writing bid. As evidenced by her BAFTA nominations, Horgan has always received praise for both her writing and acting in her TV shows, and it’s no different with “Bad Sisters.” Expect Horgan to be a name you hear more and more of as Emmys season gets into full swing.

Our odds for writing categories aren’t up yet but “Bad Sisters” will be well-placed amongst the predicted nominees. Meanwhile, Horgan is currently on 18/1 odds in our Best Drama Actress odds chart — that means she is in seventh place, just outside of our predicted six nominees: Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Sarah Snook (“Succession”), Emma D’Arcy (“House of the Dragon”), Bella Ramsey (“The Last of Us”), Imelda Staunton (“The Crown”), and, in first place, Melanie Lynskey (“Yellowjackets”).

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