How Harrison Ford, Carol Burnett and More Could Make History With Emmy Nominations
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New voting methods will likely yield surprise Emmy nomination inclusions (and exclusions) this year. There could also be historic representation in several areas, with ethnicity, age and decades-old records shattered.
HBO is no stranger to setting Emmy records. The fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” currently holds multiple records, including the most overall nominations for a drama series at 161 across its eight seasons. The network is celebrating its 50th anniversary and a new Max branding — so naturally, it wants more. If the early projections are accurate and it lands four drama series noms — “House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” “The White Lotus” and last year’s winner, “Succession,” — HBO would tie the record for most series noms by a network in a single year, held by NBC since 1992.
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“Succession,” which broke the record for most acting noms in a year with 14 nods last year, could become the first series in history to garner three lead male acting noms in any genre. Despite (barely) appearing in only five episodes as Waystar Royco CEO Logan Roy, Brian Cox has opted to submit once again in the lead drama actor category alongside his costar Jeremy Strong as Kendall (a previous winner for the show’s sophomore season) and Kieran Culkin as the sarcastic Roman, now vying in the lead category rather than supporting.
Speaking of category switches, Culkin is among a few that have opted to move to lead. His co-star Sarah Snook, who plays the political fixer, Shiv, has joined her narrative family for a lead drama actress bid. The two stars have been fan favorites and would be the first nominees to successfully switch since “Game of Thrones” stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke in 2019. Noteworthy, Clarke and Harington switched for the penultimate season but were both snubbed.
The “Succession” actors can look to a few recent success stories. For Snook, Emmy darling Allison Janney won lead drama actress for “The West Wing” twice (in 2002 and 2004) after previously winning two statuettes in supporting drama actress for her performance as C.J. Cregg. Jennifer Aniston picked up the lead comedy actress trophy for “Friends” in 2002 after two previous supporting noms for playing Rachel Green. This came the same year the entire main cast opted for leading submissions moving forward, including the former supporting comedy actress winner Lisa Kudrow, similar to the “Succession” ensemble.
After winning supporting three years prior, Jon Cryer won lead comedy actor for “Two and a Half Men” in 2012. (His moment came after Charlie Sheen’s public “winning” meltdown.)
The list of those successful switcharoos is small, even when the show is an Emmy favorite. Highly prominent failed attempts include Elisabeth Moss for the third season of “Mad Men,” going from lead to supporting for only one year, and Lorraine Bracco, who went from lead to supporting for the final season of “The Sopranos.”
While the numbers regarding diversity and representation remain in question with this year’s nominees, there are some exciting potential trends. In supporting comedy actress, we could see the most Black women nominated in a single category, with four strong candidates — Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”), Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”) and Jessica Williams (“Shrinking”). There’s also a possibility for Ego Nwodim (“Saturday Night Live”).
Quinta Brunson, the first Black woman nominated in three comedy categories for the inaugural season of ABC’s “Abbott,” could become the first Black woman nominated twice for writing, the award she won last year. That also could be the case for FX’s “Atlanta” and “What We Do in the Shadows” scribe Stefani Robinson.
In addition, Brunson could be the most nominated Black woman in a single year with four, if she can add a guest comedy actress nom for hosting “Saturday Night Live.”
Two-time Emmy-winning director Paris Barclay, who helms the finale of Netflix’s limited series “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” is expected to pick up another nom, which would make him the first Black person to be nominated in all three directing series categories. His previous noms were for “NYPD Blue” and “The West Wing” in drama and “Glee” in comedy.
Latinos could have a big year with the second (and possibly third) ever nominated lead drama actor with Diego Luna from “Andor” and Pedro Pascal from “The Last of Us” in the mix. Meanwhile, Pascal’s costar Bella Ramsey, 19, could be the fourth youngest ever nominated in lead drama actress behind Kristy McNichol (17 in 1980 for “Family”), Claire Danes (16 in 1995 for “My So-Called Life”) and Melissa Sue Anderson (15 in 1978 for “Little House on the Prairie”).
We could see similar trends in lead comedy actresses, which may see its third (and fourth) Latinas recognized with Selena Gomez from Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” and Jenna Ortega from Netflix’s “Wednesday.” Ortega would be the second youngest in the category after Patty Duke, who was 17 in 1964 for “The Patty Duke Show.”
Netflix’s “Beef” could bring big Asian representation with its stars, particularly Ali Wong and Ashley Park, who would be the second Asians ever in their respective limited acting races.
Diversity is more than ethnicity, and we’re seeing a trending number of roles for older actors in the biz. As a result, veteran Carol Burnett, 90, could become the oldest woman nominated for acting if she picks up a supporting drama actress nom for the final season of AMC’s “Better Call Saul.” Shirley MacLaine, 89, would be the second oldest ever with her possible guest comedy actress mention for “Only Murders.”
Harrison Ford, 80, has never been nominated for an Emmy. Still, he could be the oldest recognized as lead drama actor for Paramount+’s “1923” and the second most senior supporting comedy actor for “Shrinking,” with theoretically Henry Winkler, 77, taking the third spot for “Barry.” Alan Arkin is currently the oldest when he was nominated at 86 for “The Kominsky Method” in 2019.
Ford’s “1923” co-star Helen Mirren, 77, could be the oldest nominee in the history of her category, surpassing Angela Lansbury, who was 70 when she received her final nom for “Murder She Wrote” in 1996.
Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” had a dark and gruesome year for Shauna, played exquisitely by Melanie Lynskey in as the adult version and Sophie Nélisse as the pregnant teenage version. With both submitted in lead drama actress, if both are nominated, it would be the first time for two actors who play the same character in the same category.
Depending on your definition of an animated feature, Paramount+’s “Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe” could be the second from the medium nominated for outstanding TV movie after last year’s winner “Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers,” which had live-action elements.
We see more women behind the camera this year, but there’s still much work to create a fair and equitable opportunity. There doesn’t seem to be an abundance of expected women nominees in the series directing races. In drama, faith rests on Lorene Scafaria (“Succession”), Liz Garbus and Karyn Kusama (“Yellowjackets”). At the same time, in comedy Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Jamie Babbit and Cherien Dabis (“Only Murders in the Building”) remain beacons of hope. If women are shut out from both categories, it would be the first time since 2007. This is a record we, and the Emmys, don’t want to see.
Prospects are better for limited series directing, with Valerie Faris (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”) and Lesli Linka Glatter (“Love & Death”) in the mix.
Finally, the late Ray Liotta could tack one more Emmy nom to his legacy for Apple+’s crime series “Black Bird.” He would be the 11th actor to be recognized posthumously and the first in 25 years after J.T. Walsh, who was nominated in the same supporting actor (limited) race for “Hope.”
Emmy Awards Predictions Categories
DRAMA SERIES | COMEDY SERIES | LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES | TV MOVIE | LEAD ACTOR (DRAMA) | LEAD ACTOR (COMEDY) | LEAD ACTOR (LIMITED/TV MOVIE) | LEAD ACTRESS (DRAMA) | LEAD ACTRESS (COMEDY) | LEAD ACTRESS (LIMITED/TV MOVIE) | SUPPORTING ACTOR (DRAMA) | SUPPORTING ACTOR (COMEDY) | SUPPORTING ACTOR (LIMITED/TV MOVIE) | SUPPORTING ACTRESS (DRAMA) | SUPPORTING ACTRESS (COMEDY) | SUPPORTING ACTRESS (LIMITED/TV MOVIE) | TALK SERIES | SCRIPTED VARIETY | GAME SHOW | DIRECTING (DRAMA, COMEDY, LIMITED/TV MOVIE) | WRITING (DRAMA, COMEDY, LIMITED/TV MOVIE) | REALITY (COMPETITION, STRUCTURED, UNSTRUCTURED, HOST)
Creative Arts and Other Emmy Categories
GUEST ACTOR (DRAMA) | GUEST ACTRESS (DRAMA) | GUEST ACTOR (COMEDY) | GUEST ACTRESS (COMEDY) | VOICE-OVER | SHORT FORM | DOCUMENTARY | MUSIC | ANIMATED | OTHER CATEGORIES
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