How Great Actors Are Ruining the Emmys Race

One of the most common jokes that isn’t really a joke is that when it comes to various Hollywood film and television awards, people in the industry like to vote for people they’ve worked with before.

If it were true, the legendary Kevin Bacon would have all the titles. But among the nominations for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, the acting field is dominated by deep castings, and at the same time, other big ensembles seem like the biggest victims of the giants of the category.

In our world of 500+ shows, where six- to eight-episode limited series are all the rage and even most streaming shows no longer produce 22 (or more) episodes per season, Star might be the best. Sheet on one project and Day Player on another in the same year, providing some lucky shows with five or 10 supporting performances by actors who might not have the time or contractual availability for more than one TV role.

Instead of going through the entire gamut of the scenario, Emmy voters decided to get as many actors as possible from as few shows as possible. On the comedy side, that means seven acting nominees. ted’s bow and four for that Abbott Elementary. in terms of theater heritage received two leading roles, five supporting roles, and seven guest roles, placing him comfortably among well-represented actors. squid game s Release. Limited/anthological areas dominate white lotus s dopsik, which combined 14 supporting presentations with 13. The only highlight? Future trivia answers Seth Rogen pam and tom.

Imagine being the star of one of those shows that wasn’t nominated. Among them were Brittany O’Grady and Fred Hechinger. white lotus, though you could argue they have the fullest arc in Mike White’s intense comedy. for that heritageIt almost seems like a meta joke that underrated parts of the Waystar RoyCo family like Carl (David Rasche), Frank (Peter Friedman) and Connor (Alan Ruck) have been overlooked. ted’s bowMeanwhile, Coach Beard’s late-night odyssey in London has been given a full episode, only to see Brendan Hunt cut 2021 nominee Jeremy Swift, though Tohib Jimmo has secured a spot for Sam’s busy second season.

But for every set carefully watched by Emmy voters, there must be half a dozen sets that were not selected.

HBO and HBO Max had a lot to celebrate on the morning of the Emmy nomination, but it’s hard not to think it could have been a lot bigger that way. Focus on the Lakers time to win It featured a cast headlined by John S. Reilly, Adrien Brody, Tracy Letts and Sally Field, but despite its spring release, its only nomination was for cinematography. Julian Fellowes golden age Bringing together the elite Broadway cast, the number of Tony winners nearly outnumbers actors without a single Tony to their name, but their name was for production design only.

Stairs There were awards for stars Colin Firth and Toni Collette, but not for scene-stealer Parker Posey, the confident and ethereal Juliette Binoche, or a carefully selected group of young actors. Himesh Patel received the nomination station elevenBut that love may not extend to Mackenzie Davis and Matilda Lawler’s perfect dual roles or the series as a whole, which has been deemed less worthy than ana’s inventionwho saw only the underrated Julia Garner, so obviously supporting the character of Anna Chlumsky that the Television Academy had to step in, received an individual message.

Amanda Seyfried was the only active candidate abandonment, in which William H. Macy’s exaggerated latex forehead, Naveen Andrews’ haunting love, and Laurie Metcalf’s crass reasoning between Yoda and Ruki, the patron saint presence of this year’s low-key members, were all despised. Apple TV+ pachinko Discovered actors who can speak three languages ​​and several additional dialects. any. amazon how we see him broke down barriers of representation with its stars on the autism spectrum. any. Also see FX reserve dogs And its impeccable cast of indigenous stars. any.

None of the solutions seems correct to me. Limit the number of nominees or even nomination candidates for a given show? number of nominees heritage, ted’s bow s white lotus Extreme, but all worth it. Does this make previous winners ineligible for next year or forever? What if the person who wins every year, let’s say purely hypothetically, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actually deserved to win every year? Or should we just expand the number of nominees in each field? This is probably the easiest solution. If television is where the most desirable work is, the Emmy should be an honor, not a punishment, for this embarrassment of riches.

This story first appeared in the July 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.