The dystopian workplace drama “Severance” picked up 27 Emmy nominations on Tuesday, the most of any series.
“Severance” is the early favorite in a best drama race that could be unusually competitive this year. Also landing nominations was the surprise HBO Max hit, “The Pitt,” and another HBO favorite, “The White Lotus.” “Andor,” the Star Wars series that critics fawned over, also earned a nomination, as did “The Diplomat,” “The Last of Us,” “Slow Horses” and “Paradise.”
Noah Wyle, the former star of “ER” whose career is in full comeback mode after his performance in “The Pitt,” was nominated for best actor in a drama — it’s his first nomination in 26 years. He’ll face off against Adam Scott (“Severance”), Sterling K. Brown (“Paradise”), Gary Oldman (“Slow Horses”) and Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”).
Several actors were snubbed, including Diego Luna (“Andor”), Eddie Redmayne (“The Day of the Jackal”) and Lee Jung-jae (“Squid Game”) who won best actor in a drama just three years ago.
“The Studio,” the Seth Rogen-starring comedy had a strong showing with 23 nominations, and was nominated for best comedy. It will be up against last year’s winner, “Hacks,” as well as “The Bear,” “Abbott Elementary,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Nobody Wants This,” “Shrinking,” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”
Netflix’s out-of-nowhere hit, “Adolescence,” was nominated for best limited series, and forecasters believe it is the favorite in the category. But it will face competition from “The Penguin,” which had 24 nominations, the second most of any series. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” “Dying for Sex” and “Black Mirror” were also nominated.
Shows hosted by Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show”), Stephen Colbert (“The Late Show”) and Jimmy Kimmel (“Jimmy Kimmel Live”) will compete for best talk series. Only three series were nominated this year, leaving “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney” out in the cold.
Late-night TV talk series are struggling these days, with ratings, advertising revenue and even the number of shows dropping fast. In 2019, there were as many as six nominees for best talk show, but that’s back when there were many more series up for eligibility.
For best competition reality series, “The Traitors,” the Alan Cumming-hosted reality show on Peacock, was nominated once again. The show, which won last year, will face off against “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as well as “Survivor,” “Top Chef” and “The Amazing Race.”
Some of the scripted shows considered strong contenders for the biggest categories — like best drama, comedy and limited series, to be announced later — include “Severance,” “The Pitt,” “Adolescence” and “The Studio.”
TV series eligible for Emmy consideration had to premiere between June 2024 and May 2025. The prime-time Emmys ceremony will be held on Sept. 14.
The nominations are being announced at a moment when the entertainment industry is still locked in a contraction. Media companies are investing much less into new programming than they did during the so-called Peak TV era of a few years ago. The industry is also still recovering from a pair of strikes that effectively shut down the American entertainment world for much of 2023.
The number of programs that TV studios submitted for Emmy consideration in the best drama, comedy, limited series and TV movie categories declined modestly from last year — at 267 series overall, compared with 271. But that also represents a 33 percent decline from the number of shows submitted in 2022, when the Peak TV era was thriving.
Drama submissions showed signs of life during the latest eligibility period, increasing 17 percent compared with the period a year earlier. The number of comedies fell by 5 percent, and limited series submissions fell off a cliff, declining by a third.
Nearly 100 Emmys, many of them in technical categories, will be given out at a pair of ceremonies in early September. The biggest awards — including best drama, comedy and limited series, and all of the major acting categories — will be unveiled during the live prime-time ceremony on CBS in September. The ceremony will be hosted by the comedian Nate Bargatze.
John Koblin covers the television industry for The Times.
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