76th Primetime Emmy Award Nominations: The Surprises, the Snubs, the Records and History Made

Awards nominations are nothing if not filled with surprise inclusions, shocking snubs and always come with some record-breaking history.

The Bear broke the all-time Emmy record for a comedy series with 23 and Shōgun led drama with a robust 25 yet each show missed out on a handful of acting nods that seemed like sure bets. On the other side, The Morning Show stacked supporting actress in a drama series with four of the six slots (one place where Shōgun didn’t show up), two in supporting actor and two in lead actress.

Let’s take a look at what unfolded today with the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.

Surprises

Idris Elba, Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Hijack

While he was definitely a contender and a previous nominee, his mention today still came as a shock to some despite Apple doing a good job promoting him and the show in the early stages of campaigning.

Reservation Dogs

After multiple seasons and earning just a single Emmy nomination (for sound editing), the now canceled FX show nabbed nods for comedy series and lead actor in a comedy series (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai).

Matt Berry

The wildly funny actor finally gets in for What We Do in the Shadows as Laszlo Cravensworth, the horny accent-prone vampire in Staten Island.

Slow Horses

After two seasons of not even being close on the Emmys radar, the third season of the spy series came storming in with nine nominations, mostly in the top categories. Drama series, lead actor for Gary Oldman (his first Emmy nom in 23 years), supporting actor for Jack Lowden, directing, writing and casting among others. The fourth season begins just after the Emmy Awards in September.

Snubs

The Curse

Was it the wrong category? Too weird for the TV Academy? Either way, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s tonally wild pseudo mock doc series did not connect with the Emmys in any way as the Showtime series was snubbed completely in all categories. Hot off her second Oscar win for Best Actress, Emma Stone couldn’t even find a nomination here.

Expats

Joins the complete snub group despite the power duo of Lulu Wang and Nicole Kidman with Prime Video.

Fellow Travelers

While the groundbreaking show earned nominations for Matt Bomer in lead actor, Jonathan Bailey in supporting actor and for writing, it missed out on everything else including the top category, directing, costumes, production design and more.

Masters of the Air

It earned three nominations (for sound mixing and editing and music) but nosedived in visual effects, acting and any above the line categories.

The Regime

Not even Emmy favorite Kate Winslet could crack the top five with her dictator satire. The HBO series earned just a single nomination, for costumes.

Hot Ones

The highly popular YouTube show hosted by Sean Evans, who asks his celebrities guests questions while they attempt to complete rounds of chicken wings coated in ever-increasing spicy hot sauce, was heavily predicted to make the cut after petitioning to be eligible in the Talk Series category. But that proved too difficult against more traditional talk shows.

John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA

Speaking of talk shows, John Mulaney’s live series exploring Los Angeles was even more predicted to get in here but even without stalwart Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (now over in Scripted Variety Series) still missed out in favor of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Daily Show (which saw the return of Jon Stewart), Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Records and History

Lily Gladstone (Under the Bridge) and Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country) are the first Indigenous women to receive acting Emmy nominations.

Nava Mau (Baby Reindeer) is the first trans performer nominated for a limited series or TV movie acting category in Emmy history.

Sofía Vergara (Griselda) is the first Latina to be nominated for Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

The Bear set a new record for nominations in a single year in the comedy category with 23 (previously held by 30 Rock with 22 nominations in 2009).

The final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm ties the series nomination record of 11, joining Cheers, Law & Order, and M*A*S*H.

Four of the five roles for Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie are gay characters played by three gay or bisexual-identifying men (Matt Bomer, Richard Gadd, Andrew Scott).

For the first time ever, all five Outstanding Television Movie nominees – Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie; Quiz Lady; Red, White & Royal Blue; Scoop and Unfrosted – each only earned a single Emmy nomination, only in this category.