What an utterly insane year for TV (and for life, but for some of us TV is life).
And that insanity is reflected in this year’s Emmy Awards, which rained down upon the casts of Hamilton and Ted Lasso to the tune of seven nominations in the performance categories each‚and also saw fit to include Hugh Grant for The Undoing (remember that?). But for all the delights (Mj Rodriguez becoming the first trans performer to be nominated as Best Actress in a Drama), the head-scratchers (Cobra Kai for Best Comedy?), and the surprises (that’s a lot of love for Lovecraft Country!) one thing is clear: TV is too vast now to ever be aptly represented by an awards show. So treat this like a carefully edited reality special and figure out who’ll get the villain edit when the awards air September 19 on CBS.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA
The Boys (Amazon Prime)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Lovecraft Country (HBO)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Pose (FX)
This Is Us (NBC)
LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Jonathan Majors, Lovecraft Country
Josh O’Connor, The Crown
Regé-Jean Page, Bridgerton
Billy Porter, Pose
Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason
LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Uzo Aduba, In Treatment
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Emma Corrin, The Crown
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Mj Rodriguez, Pose
Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Aunjanue Ellis, Lovecraft Country
Gillian Anderson, The Crown
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Emerald Fennell, The Crown
Madeline Brewer, The Handmaid’s Tale
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Michael K. Williams, Lovecraft Country
John Lithgow, Perry Mason
Tobias Menzies, The Crown
O-T Fagbenle, The Handmaid’s Tale
Max Minghella, The Handmaid’s Tale
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale
Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian
Chris Sullivan, This Is Us
GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
Claire Foy, The Crown
Mckenna Grace, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sophie Okonedo, Ratched
Phylicia Rashad, This Is Us
GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Don Cheadle, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Charles Dance, The Crown
Timothy Olyphant, The Mandalorian
Courtney B. Vance, Lovecraft Country
Carl Weathers, The Mandalorian
OUTSTANDING COMEDY
black-ish (ABC)
Cobra Kai (Netflix)
Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Hacks (HBO Max)
The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
PEN15 (Hulu)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Aidy Bryant, Shrill
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Allison Janney, Mom
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Jean Smart, Hacks
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Kenan Thompson, Kenan
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Aidy Bryant, SNL
Kate McKinnon, SNL
Cecily Strong, SNL
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Rosie Perez, The Flight Attendant
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Hacks
Kenan Thompson, SNL
Bowen Yang, SNL
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Brendan Hunt, Ted Lasso
Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso
Jeremy Swift, Ted Lasso
Paul Reiser, The Kominsky Method
GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jane Adams, Hacks
Yvette Nicole Brown, A Black Lady Sketch Show
Bernadette Peters, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
Issa Rae, A Black Lady Sketch Show
Maya Rudolph, SNL
Kristen Wiig, SNL
GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, SNL
Dave Chappelle, SNL
Morgan Freeman, The Kominsky Method
Daniel Kaluuya, SNL
Daniel Levy, SNL
LIMITED SERIES
I May Destroy You (HBO)
Mare of Easttown (HBO)
The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime)
WandaVision (Disney+)
MADE-FOR-TELEVISION MOVIE
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (Netflix)
Oslo (HBO)
Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Lifetime)
Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Prime)
Uncle Frank (Amazon Prime)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You
Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha
Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit
Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown
LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Paul Bettany, WandaVision
Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Ewan McGregor, Halston
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Phillipa Soo, Hamilton
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown
Julianne Nicholson, Mare of Easttown
Moses Ingram, The Queen’s Gambit
Kathryn Hahn, WandaVision
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
Jonathan Groff, Hamilton
Anthony Ramos, Hamilton
Paapa Essiedu, I May Destroy You
Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown
Thomas Brodie-Sangster, The Queen’s Gambit
REALITY SHOW HOST
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye
RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race
Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, Top Chef
COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
Becoming (Disney+)
Below Deck (Bravo)
Indian Matchmaking (Netflix)
RuPaul’s Drag Race Untucked (VH1)
Selling Sunset (Netflix)
VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
VARIETY TALK SERIES
Conan
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert