6 takeaways from the 2024 Emmy nominations

The oddest thing about this year’s Emmy nominations, is that it feels like we just got done talking about last year’s awards.

That’s even though voting stayed on schedule, the actors and writers strike pushed the 2023 ceremony got pushed back to January of this year.

“I know it may seems like we just celebrated the Emmys – because we did,” Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego cracked during the nominations announcement Wednesday.

Many of the nominations were expected — The Bear set a new record for a comedy in one year, earning a whopping 23 nominations (10 more than last year). And the drama Shogun landed the most nominations of all this year, with 25 nods total.

The one-two punch of those shows, both produced by FX, helped boost the company to its highest number of Emmy nominations in history, 93 total. They landed in second place among TV platforms overall, just behind Netflix, which had 107 nods.

Still, the Television Academy had a few surprises up its sleeve when the full list of nominations for the 76th Emmy awards was announced (winners won’t be revealed until the ceremony airs Sept. 15 on ABC). Here are a few important takeaways from the roster of contenders.

Despite dominance of The Bear and Shogun, competition has opened up a bit

A lot of shows which used to soak up the Emmy love from years past have either concluded or weren’t eligible this year — including Succession, The Last of Us, Ted Lasso and The White Lotus — leaving room for some fresh faces to pop up in nominations.

Seeing shows like Reservation Dogs, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 3 Body Problem, Fallout, Palm Royale, Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans and What We Do in the Shadows land major nominations in performer and series categories highlighted how much more room there was for additional recognition this time around.

There was also a surprising roster of 36 performers who were first-time nominees, including True Detective: Night Country co-star Kali Reis, film star Ryan Gosling (for hosting Saturday Night Live) and Reservation Dogs’ magnetic star D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai. I also loved seeing supporting actors on The Bear get more attention, including Liza Colon-Zayas and Lionel Boyce.

But the first time nominee who really floored me: The Crown’s Dominic West, an alum of A-list shows like The Wire, The Affair and the BBC's Les Misérables, who somehow managed to avoid an Emmy nod until now.

Emmy voters still have a tough time watching a wide range of shows

There’s been a bit of progress from past years. But Emmy voters still stacked nominations in supporting acting categories with a lot of people from the same shows — indicating that they might not have paid attention to the casts across a wider field of eligible shows.

Apple TV+’s The Morning Show nabbed four of the seven total nominations for best supporting actress in a drama and three of the seven nominations for supporting actor. Likewise, The Bear, Abbott Elementary, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building saw almost everyone from their core cast nominated for major awards.

That doesn’t leave a lot of slots for people from shows with a little less visibility, or those who gave great performances in not-so-great programs.

Lots of big, old school stars showed up in the nominations

This longtime TV fan felt a pang of joy seeing comedy legend Carol Burnett nominated as best supporting actress in a comedy for her work on Apple TV+’s Palm Royale, alongside CBS’ special Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic. But some big name contemporary stars showed up as well, including Gosling on SNL; Meryl Streep, who scored a supporting actress comedy nod for Only Murders in the Building; Jodie Foster, nominated for best actress in a drama for HBO’s True Detective: Night Country; and Robert Downey Jr., nominated for playing multiple roles on HBO’s limited series The Sympathizer.

The snubs this year kinda made sense

This observation raises the question: is it really a snub if you think someone shouldn’t have been nominated in the first place?

Tough to know. Still, some stars who were expected to get a nod walked away empty-handed, including Nicole Kidman from the Prime Video series Expats and Kate Winslet from the HBO series The Regime.

Comic John Mulaney, considered a strong contender in Talk Series for his Netflix program Everybody’s in L.A., didn’t make the cut (nor did CBS’ new late night show After Midnight, the new successor to James Corden). Ditto for Kelsey Grammer on Paramount+’s Frasier revival and Emma Stone in her limited series on Showtime, The Curse.

For me, all of these omissions make sense; interesting as some of this work was, a lot of it boiled down to compelling performances in mediocre series, which is always a tough sell to the TV academy.

However, one snub stung a bit: Hot Ones, the quirky interview show on YouTube that subjects celebrities to sharp questions while they eat hot wings, could have made history had it been nominated for an Emmy — it would have been the first YouTube show to get a nod.

But I guess Emmy voters thought it all was a bit too spicy (yes, that was corny; no, I still couldn't resist).

Diversity got more than a nod this time out

Kali Reis and Lily Gladstone (also nominated as best supporting actress in a limited series for Hulu’s Under the Bridge), made history as the first Indigenous actresses to be nominated for an Emmy — a wonderful surprise on a day when lots of actors from marginalized groups did well.

Seeing names like Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada from Shogun, Donald Glover from Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Idris Elba from the criminally underrated Apple TV+ series Hijack, Reservation Dogs’ D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai and a surprise nod for Selena Gomez from Only Murders in the Building were just a sample of the wide array of talent spotlighted this season.

Yes, Jamie Lee Curtis finally got her due

Because of the wacky deadlines for submissions, Curtis’ powerful turn as mother to Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy Berzatto on The Bear wasn’t actually eligible for am Emmy nomination until this edition of the contest. And she got one, nominated as best guest actress in a comedy.

So all you JLC fans can stop emailing now. Please.