2022 Emmy submissions: Do they matter and why did some shows dominate the nominations so thoroughly?

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The nominations for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards are in and now is the time for nominees to reveal the episodes they’ve submitted in hopes of securing gold in September.

For a series, a network/streamer (or producer/showrunners) will submit six episodes they feel best represent their nominated show. For performers, they or their network/streamer, select a single episode for voters to consider. Lead performers in the limited series or movie category do not submit, the entire movie or run of the limited series is their submission. Supporting performers, however, still do.

Lead and supporting nominees in drama and comedy submit one episode that they feel best represents their work for the season. Guest performers in the drama and comedy categories have already submitted their episodes in the initial balloting stage and were nominated based on those episodes.

But as we now often ask ourselves, do submissions matter? Did the Television Academy watch only Zendaya’s ’32 dicks’ episode alone when she won for HBO’s Euphoria two years ago or were they fans of the whole season? Are some voters really just watching a single episode of a show and voting inside that bubble? Some very well could be; there’s simply too much television to watch now. Well, there was until Emmy voters seemingly nominated the same five shows this season. HBO’s Succession, AppleTV+’s Ted Lasso, HBO Max’s Hacks, HBO’s The White Lotus and Hulu’s Dopesick comprise nearly 50% of all 104 acting nominations across drama, comedy and limited series categories and in some instances, like supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie, every slot. That category has five nominees from The White Lotus and two from Dopesick; no other series is represented there. Its supporting actor counterpart is comprised of six out of seven nominees coming from just those two shows. In the drama categories, of Succession‘s 25 nominations, a record-setting 14 of them are for acting, besting The West Wing‘s 3rd season haul of 12 back in 2002. Half of Ted Lasso‘s 20 nods come from acting nominations; 7/17 for Hacks.

Speaking of, no doubt the phrase ‘vote-splitting’ will be peppered everywhere throughout the Emmy conversation this season. Whether it’s the Succession fellas or the The White Lotus ladies, unless there’s a significant frontrunner at this stage, the right submission may just be the key to sussing out the eventual winner. Is SAG nominee Jennifer Coolidge the frontrunner in her category? All signs point to yes, but she certainly has more internal competition than she did before nominations were announced. Is Critics’ Choice winner Kieran Culkin going to beat out his Succession brethren or is there a place for Matthew Macfadyen or Nicholas Braun to come out on top? Head over to drama guest actor (Succession, again) and comedy guest actress (Hacks) and things start to get really sticky.

While the top freshman shows, ABC’s Abbott Elementary and AppleTV+’s Severance, also had very healthy acting nomination hauls, it was very tough to break in this year if you weren’t either a previous winner last year or brand new with undeniable buzz. This was something I mentioned during our podcasts and Emmy conversations; that there was so much television, and so much packed into late April and May, that there simply wasn’t time for everything that needed to be seen to get be seen. Voters went with the newer things they new and the new things that grabbed them, leaving several shows on the cutting room floor, like Hulu’s PEN15, Paramount Network’s Yellowstone, HBO Max’s Julia, Netflix’s Midnight Mass and so many more.

Winner voting begins August 12 and ends at 10pm PT on August 22. The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards are being held live and in person on Monday, September 12 in Los Angeles. The Television Academy will return to a two-night event for the Creative Arts Emmys, on September 3 and 4, where the awards for guest acting and competition host are traditionally given out. Those winners then go on to present on the main show.

Bookmark this page as it will be updated as new submissions come in. How do you think these submissions will help or hurt their chances? Will they even matter? Sound off in the comments.

Drama Series

• Better Call Saul (AMC) – “Carrot and Stick,” “Rock and Hard Place,” “Hit and Run,” “Black and Blue,” “Axe and Grind,” “Plan and Execution”
• Euphoria (HBO) – “Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door,” “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys,” “You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can,” “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” “The Theater and Its Double,” “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name”
• Ozark (Netflix) – “Santified,” “The Cousin of Death,” “Pick a God and Pray,” “You’re the Boss,” “Trouble the Water,” “A Hard Way to Go”
• Severance (Apple TV+) – “Good News About Hell,” “Half Loop,” “In Perpetuity,” “Defiant Jazz,” “What’s for Dinner?,” “The We We Are”
• Squid Game (Netflix) – “Red Light, Green Light,” “Hell,” “Gganbu,” “VIPS,” “Front Man,” “One Lucky Day”
• Stranger Things (Netflix) – “The Hellfire Club,” “Vecna’s Curse,” “The Monster and the Superhero,” “Dear Billy,” “The Dive,” “The Massacre at Hawkins Lab”
• Succession (HBO)  – “Secession,” “Retired Janitors of Idaho,” “What It Takes,” “Too Much Birthday,” “Chiantishire,” “All the Bells Say”
• Yellowjackets (Showtime) – “Pilot,” “F Sharp,” “Saints,” “Flight of the Bumblebee,” “Doomcoming,” “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi”

Comedy Series

• Abbott Elementary (ABC) – “Pilot,” “Light Bulb,” “Work Family,” “Step Class,” “Open House,” “Zoo Balloon”
• Barry (HBO) – “forgiving jeff,” “limonada,” “all the sauces,” “710N,” “candy asses,” “starting now”
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) – “The Five-Foot Fence,” “The Watermelon,” “IRASSHAIMASE!,” “What Have I Done?,” “Igor, Gregor & Timor,” “The Mormon Advantage”
• Hacks (HBO) – “There Will Be Blood,” “Quid Pro Quo,” “The Captain’s Wife,” “Retired,” “The Click,” “The One, The Only”
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video) – “Everything Is Bellmore,” “Interesting People on Christopher Street,” “How to Chew Quietly and Influence People,” “Maisel vs. Lennon: The Cut Contest,” “Ethan… Esther… Chaim,” “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?”
• Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) – “True Crime,” “How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors,” “The Boy From 6B,” “Fan Fiction,” “Double Time,” “Open & Shut”
• Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) – “Goodbye Earl,” “Do the Right-est Thing,” “Rainbow,” “Man City,” “No Weddings and a Funeral,” “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”
• What We Do in the Shadows (FX) – “The Prisoner,” “The Casino,” “The Escape,” “The Wellness Center,” “A Farewell,” “The Portrait”

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Jason Bateman (Ozark) – “Pound of Flesh and Still Kickin'”
• Brian Cox (Succession) – “All the Bells Say”
• Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game)  – “Gganbu”
• Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) – “Plan and Execution”
• Adam Scott (Severance) – “Good News About Hell”
• Jeremy Strong (Succession) – “Too Much Birthday”

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) – “Don’t Get Eaten”
• Laura Linney (Ozark) – “Pound of Flesh and Still Kickin'”
• Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) – “Doomcoming”
• Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) – “Making Dead Things Look Nice”
• Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show) – “Confirmations”
• Zendaya (Euphoria) – “Stand Still Like a Hummingbird”

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

• Donald Glover (Atlanta) – “Sinterklaas is Coming to Town”
• Bill Hader (Barry) – “starting now”
• Nicholas Hoult (The Great) – “Wedding”
• Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building) – “Open and Shut”
• Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building) – “How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors”
• Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) – “No Weddings and a Funeral”

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) – “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?”
• Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) – “Pilot”
• Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant) – “Drowning Woman”
• Elle Fanning (The Great) – “Alone at Last”
• Issa Rae (Insecure) – “Reunited, Okay?”
• Jean Smart (Hacks) – “The Click”

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

• Colin Firth (The Staircase) – Full series
• Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven) – Full series
• Oscar Isaac (Scenes From a Marriage) – Full series
• Michael Keaton (Dopesick) – Full series
• Himesh Patel (Station Eleven) – Full series
• Sebastian Stan (Pam and Tommy)  – Full series

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

• Toni Collette (The Staircase) – Full series
• Julia Garner (Inventing Anna) – Full series
• Lily James (Pam and Tommy) – Full series
• Sarah Paulson (Impeachment: American Crime Story) – Full series
• Margaret Qualley (Maid) – Full series
• Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) – Full series

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

• Patricia Arquette (Severance) – “What’s for Dinner?”
• Julia Garner (Ozark) – “Sanctified”
• Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game) – “Gganbu”
• Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets) – “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi”
• Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul) – “Hit and Run”
• J. Smith-Cameron (Succession) – “The Disruption”
• Sarah Snook (Succession) – “Chiantishire”
• Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) – “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys”

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

• Nicholas Braun (Succession) – “Retired Janitors of Idaho”
• Billy Crudup (The Morning Show) – “My Least Favorite Year”
• Kieran Culkin (Succession) – “Too Much Birthday”
• Park Hae-soo (Squid Game) – “One Lucky Day”
• Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) – “All the Bells Say”
• John Turturro (Severance) – “Defiant Jazz”
• Christopher Walken (Severance) – “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design”
• Oh Yeong-su (Squid Game) – “Gganbu”

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

• Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) – “Everything is Bellmore”
• Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) – “The Captain’s Wife”
• Janelle James (Abbott Elementary) – “Ava vs the Superintendent”
• Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) – “Host: Natasha Lyonne”
• Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso) – “Headspace”
• Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary) – “New Tech”
• Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) – “Midnight Train to Royston”
• Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) – “No Weddings and a Funeral”

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

• Anthony Carrigan (Barry) – “forgiving jeff”
• Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) – “Rainbow”
• Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) – “Do the Right-est Thing”
• Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso) – “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”
• Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) – “Everything Is Bellmore”
• Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary) – “Work Family”
• Henry Winkler (Barry) – “starting now”
• Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) – “Host: Rami Malek”

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

• Connie Britton (The White Lotus) – “The Lotus Eaters”
• Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) – “Mysterious Monkeys”
• Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) – “Departures”
• Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick) – “The Whistleblower”
• Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus) – “Departures”
• Sydney Sweeney (The White Lotus) – “Mysterious Monkeys”
• Mare Winningham (Dopesick) – “Black Box Warning”

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

• Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) – “Recentering”
• Jake Lacy (The White Lotus) – “New Day”
• Will Poulter (Dopesick) – “Black Box Warning”
• Seth Rogen (Pam & Tommy) – “Seattle”
• Peter Sarsgaard (Dopesick) – “The People vs. Purdue Pharma”
• Michael Stuhlbarg (Dopesick) – “The Whistleblower”
• Steve Zahn (The White Lotus) – “Mysterious Monkeys”

Guest Actress in a Drama Series

• Hope Davis (Succession) – “Retired Janitors Of Idaho”
• Marcia Gay Harden (The Morning Show) – “Testimony”
• Martha Kelly (Euphoria) – “Stand Still Like The Hummingbird”
• Sanaa Lathan (Succession) – “What It Takes”
• Harriet Walter (Succession) – “Chiantishire”
• Lee You-mi (Squid Game) – “Gganbu”

Guest Actor in a Drama Series

• Adrien Brody (Succession) – “Lion In The Meadow”
• James Cromwell (Succession) – “Retired Janitors Of Idaho”
• Colman Domingo (Euphoria) – “Ruminations: Big And Little Bullys”
• Arian Moayed (Succession) – “Retired Janitors Of Idaho”
• Tom Pelphrey (Ozark) – “You’re The Boss”
• Alexander Skarsgård (Succession) – “All The Bells Say”

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

• Jane Adams (Hacks) – “The Click”
• Harriet Sansom Harris (Hacks) – “Retired”
• Jane Lynch (Only Murders In The Building) – “Double Tim”
• Laurie Metcalf (Hacks) – “Trust the Process”
• Kaitlin Olson (Hacks) – “There Will Be Blood”
• Harriet Walter (Ted Lasso) – “The Signal”

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

• Jerrod Carmichael (Saturday Night Live) – “Host: Jerrod Carmichael”
• Bill Hader (Curb Your Enthusiasm) – “Igor, Gregor, & Timor”
• James Lance (Ted Lasso) – “Inverting The Pyramid Of Success”
• Nathan Lane (Only Murders In The Building) – “The Boy From 6B”
• Christopher McDonald (Hacks) – “The One, The Only”
• Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso) – “Midnight Train To Royston”

Variety Talk Series  

• The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) – “Jimmy Kimmel vs. Marjorie Taylor 4/7/22”
• Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO) – “Union Busting”
• Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC) – “David Letterman 2/1/22”
• The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS)

Competition Program

• The Amazing Race (CBS)
• Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (Amazon Prime Video) – “Naked”
• Nailed It! (Netflix) – “C’est Jacques!”
• RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)
• Top Chef (Bravo) – “Freedmen’s Town”
• The Voice (NBC) – “Episode 2101”

Variety Sketch Series

• A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO/HBO Max) – “Save My Edges, I’m a Donor!”
• Saturday Night Live (NBC) – “Host: Jerrod Carmichael”

Host for a Reality or Competition Program

• Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman (Making It) – “All the Holidays at Once”
• Nicole Byer (Nailed It!) – “Im Paw-sible Cakes”
• Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness (Queer Eye) – “Angel Gets Her Wings”
• Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary (Shark Tank)
• RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race)
• Padma Lakshmi (Top Chef) – “Primal Instincts”