Severance separated itself from the field with 27 Emmy nominations Tuesday, while The Studio led comedy nominees with a record-tying 23 in a dominant year for Apple TV+.
No other dramas came close to the dystopian workplace series Severance, which achieved a convergence of acclaim and audience buzz for its second season that brought an expected Emmy bounty.
“It’s been the best kind of morning,” Apple TV+ head of programming Matt Cherniss said.
Photo: Apple TV+ via AP
‘INNIE’ AND ‘OUTIE’
Lead acting nominations came for Severance stars Adam Scott and Britt Lower for what amounted to dual roles as their characters’ “innie” work selves and “outie” home selves. Tramell Tillman got a supporting nod for playing their tone-shifting, pineapple-wielding supervisor. Patricia Arquette was nominated for supporting actress for playing an ousted outcast from the sinister family business at the center of the show. And Ben Stiller got a nomination for directing the Season 2 finale.
Apple’s Hollywood satire The Studio was expected to make a significant showing for its first season, but it romped over more established shows like Hacks, which got 14, and The Bear, which got 13. It tied a comedy record set last year by The Bear with 23 nominations.
Photo: Apple TV+ via AP
Seth Rogen, who co-created the series with longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg, personally got three nominations — for acting, writing and directing.
Rogen said that “my ego is in shock” and called the raft of nominations “very validating in a way that I’m not used to being validated.”
His show’s A-list roster of guest stars brought in a bounty, with nominations for Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Dave Franco and Zoe Kravitz. The men made for five of the six nominees in the guest actor in a comedy category.
Photo: AP
The Penguin, HBO’s dark drama from the Batman universe, was surprisingly dominant in the limited series category with 24 nominations, including nods for leads Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti.
Netflix’s acclaimed Adolescence got 13 limited series nominations, including a supporting actor nod for 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who plays a 13-year-old suspected of a killing.
Many expect Cooper to become the youngest Emmy winner in more than 40 years, largely because of a breathtaking episode that is one long therapy session inside a juvenile jail. Like all Adolescence episodes, it’s done in one long shot.
His psychologist scene partner, Erin Doherty, was also nominated, for limited series supporting actress.
“If you just sit and listen, and let someone talk, that is such a gorgeous offering,” Doherty said. “I don’t think we do it that often. I’m trying to take that forward.”
The White Lotus, The Pitt and Matlock score in acting categories
HBO’s high-end soap The White Lotus got its usual flowering of drama acting nominations for its Thailand-set third season, with four cast members including Carrie Coon getting supporting actress nods, and three including Walton Goggins up for supporting actor. It pulled in 23 nominations overall.
The Pitt, HBO Max’s prestige medical procedural, got 13 nominations, including best drama and best actor for its star, ER veteran Noah Wyle. One of its nurses, Katherine LaNasa, was able to squeeze in among the women of The White Lotus for a supporting actress nod.
“I love telling stories about the human condition and I really love acting, and so to suddenly get recognized and sort of applauded for it is just a delightful surprise,” LaNasa said.
Wyle, who was nominated five times without a win for “ER,” could join Scott to make best actor in a drama a two-man race, with both seeking their first Emmy.
‘SEVERANCE’ DELIVERS BIG
Severance has become a signature show for Apple TV+. The streamer has gotten plenty of Emmy nominations for dramas including The Morning Show and Slow Horses, and Ted Lasso thrived the comedy side.
But Apple has lacked the kind of breakaway prestige drama that HBO seems to produce perennially. “Severance” became its most-nominated show ever and could easily become its biggest winner when the Emmys are handed out in September, reaching the upper echelons previously enjoyed by Succession and Shogun, which left room for others by taking this year off.
Cherniss said Apple TV+, which has been knocked as the streamer with big stars and big budgets for shows that go unnoticed, was rewarded for taking big swings.
“Severance is such an ambitious show,” he said, adding that “all of the shows that have been nominated took big risks.”
How streaming has changed TV and the Emmys
All the shows are living in the splintered world of the streaming era, and the like the Oscars its most acclaimed nominees rarely have the huge audience they once did. While an impressive average of 10 million people per episode watched Wyle on The Pitt on HBO Max, 30 years ago an average of 30 million watched him on ER on NBC.
The broadcast networks rotate on who airs the Emmys. This year is CBS’s turn. It will air the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 14. Nate Bargatze is slated to host.
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