HBOs Success Dominates Emmy Nominations in an Uncertain Year

HBO’s ‘Success’ Dominates Emmy Nominations in an Uncertain Year

‘The Crown’, Netflix’s lavish chronicle of the British royal family and winner of Best Drama at the 2021 Emmys, was also nominated in that category this year – although some critics had a hard time getting to grips with the show’s fifth season, in which they were introduced to a new cast.

The moment of triumph for HBO comes at a time of transition for the network, which has been operated by debt-ridden parent company Warner Bros. Discovery since last year. The network is now part of a streaming service that has removed its callsigns (Bye HBO Max, hello Max). And for the first time, HBO is in the process of licensing popular older shows — “Insecure,” and soon, “Six Feet Under,” “Band of Brothers,” and “True Blood” — to its arch-rival Netflix, from Warner Bros. Discovery, to raise money .

HBO had the three most nominated shows: “Succession” (27), “The Last of Us” (24) and “The White Lotus” (23). The Best Actor in a Drama race evolves into another Roy family “Succession” competition, pitting one-time winner Jeremy Strong against two-time nominee Kieran Culkin and four-time nominee (and one-time winner for a miniseries from The Year 2000) Brian Cox. And HBO won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama category outright: eight out of eight, all split between cast members from “Succession” and “The White Lotus.”

Of course, the last time a single network received four nominations in the Best Drama category 31 years ago, it went away empty-handed. It was 1992 when NBC received nominations for I’ll Fly Away, LA Law, Law & Order, and Quantum Leap. All four series lost to this year’s winner, CBS’ “Northern Exposure.”

This year’s Best Actor in a Comedy category pits Jason Sudeikis, who has won two years in a row for the title role in Ted Lasso, against Jeremy Allen White, who plays an ambitious and concerned chef in The Bear. The other nominees in this category are Bill Hader for “Barry”, Jason Segel for “Shrinking” and Martin Short for “Only Murders in the Building”.

Price predictions suggest that Quinta Brunson could be on track to victory for Abbott Elementary. Brunson received the Emmys writer’s honor for her good-natured ABC work place comedy last year and would be the first black woman to win the award for best actress in a comedy since Isabel Sanford won for The Jeffersons in 1981. She meets Christina Applegate from Dead to Me, Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Natasha Lyonne from Poker Face and Jenna Ortega from Wednesday.