Emmy Awards 2022: 'Stranger Things', 'Squid Game', 'Succession' to face off for best drama
Succession, the HBO series about a conniving media mogul and his feuding family, racked up 25 Emmy nominations on Tuesday, including one for the prestigious best drama prize.
It will square off against Netflix Inc's Squid Game, the first non-English language show to be nominated for an Emmy. The South Korea-set drama in which the poor are fodder for brutal games, earned a best drama nomination and 13 other bids for September’s Emmy Awards, including acting nods for Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo and Oh Yeong-soo.
Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said he appreciated that Squid Game was chosen as the “first milestone” for a Hollywood and US change of attitude. “Instead of just exporting the content around the world, it is now shifting to become a participant in the global content realm to facilitate exchanges of cultures around the world,” he told The Associated Press through a translator.
Netflix sci-fi hit Stranger Things, and HBO's Euphoria, about teens navigating sex, drugs and social media, also was nominated for the drama trophy at television's highest honours.
Feel-good series Ted Lasso will defend its title as best comedy, one of the show's 20 nominations. The fish-out-of-water story from Apple TV+ will compete against Hacks, Only Murders In The Building and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, among others.
Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, who won a supporting actress Emmy last year, said she was shocked by her second nomination because she thought, "I've had my minute."
"It's a bit of a magic moment for all of us," she said of the show's cast. Ted Lasso actors were nominated.
HBO's The White Lotus, about vacationers and staff at a ritzy oceanfront resort, secured 20 nominations and scored a slot in the best-limited series field. Winners of the Emmys will be announced on Sep 12.
Television Academy CEO Frank Scherma said the group received a record number of submissions this year, a sign that production was thriving after shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Streaming television shows dominated the nominations, continuing a trend as audiences flock to online viewing. HBO and HBO Max received 140 nominations overall. Netflix scored 105.
'Crying, shaking and throwing up'
Fourteen of the nominations for Succession, which won the best drama in 2020, came in acting categories. Brian Cox, who stars as patriarch Logan Roy, will compete for best actor against Jeremy Strong, who plays his troubled son Kendall.
Newcomer Severance, a psychological thriller about office workers, earned 14 nominations and will compete for best drama, leaving star and acting nominee Adam Scott at a loss for words. "It’s overwhelming. I was really deeply surprised and flattered and honoured," Scott said in an interview.
Abbott Elementary, a new series from Walt Disney Co's broadcaster ABC, made its way into the best comedy race.
"Crying shaking and throwing up has new meaning to me because I real life did all three," Quinta Brunson, who was nominated for writing and acting on the show, wrote on Twitter.
Steve Martin and Martin Short will compete for best comedy actor for Hulu's Only Murders In The Building, about true-crime podcasters, though voters passed over their co-star Selena Gomez in acting categories.
Contenders for best comedy actress include Rachel Brosnahan for her role as a 1950s housewife and comedian on Mrs Maisel, along with Issa Rae of Insecure and Hacks star Jean Smart.
Hacks, about a seasoned female comedian looking to extend her career, received a nomination for the second year in a row for best comedy series.
"I think it's a really important thing, especially at this moment in time in our country, to highlight women and to tell their stories," Jen Statsky, co-creator of Hacks, said in an interview.
For best drama actress, nominees included previous winner Zendaya for Euphoria, Laura Linney for drug-dealing drama Ozark, and Melanie Lynskey for new series Yellowjackets about high school girls forced to survive in the wilderness.
The final seasons of tear-jerker This is Us and comedy black-ish did not make the cut in major categories this year. Emmy voters also skipped over popular Western Yellowstone.
The following is a list of nominees in key categories.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul
Euphoria
Ozark
Severance
Squid Game
Stranger Things
Succession
Yellowjackets
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary
Barry
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Hacks
Ted Lasso
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Only Murders In The Building
What We Do In The Shadows
BEST LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES
Dopesick
The Dropout
Inventing Anna
Pam & Tommy
The White Lotus
BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Steve Martin, Only Murders In The Building
Martin Short, Only Murders In The Building
BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Elle Fanning, The Great
Issa Rae, Insecure
Jean Smart, Hacks
BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Brian Cox, Succession
Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Adam Scott, Severance
Jeremy Strong Succession
BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Zendaya, Euphoria
BEST ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Colin Firth, The Staircase
Andrew Garfield, Under The Banner Of Heaven
Oscar Isaac, Scenes From A Marriage
Michael Keaton, Dopesick
Himesh Patel, Station Eleven
Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy
BEST ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Toni Collette, The Staircase
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Lily James, Pam & Tommy
Sarah Paulson, Impeachment: American Crime Story
Margaret Qualley, Maid
Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout
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