After a somewhat slow recovery last year, the 2024-2025 television awards season was jam-packed with contenders across the board. New shows like “The Studio” and “The Pitt” debuted to rapturous praise, while returning hits like “Severance” and “Hacks” didn’t miss a beat. With so many stellar shows in competition, there were bound to be shocking misses galore. And now, the nominations for the 77th annual Emmy Awards have arrived, with “Severance” and “The Penguin” as the nomination leaders, alongside incredible surprises and disappointing omissions. Let’s dive into the most notable moments among this year’s nominees.
“THE STUDIO” DOMINATES THE COMEDY CATEGORIES
While previous Comedy Series winners “Hacks” and “The Bear” had solid showings among this year’s nominations, undoubtedly, “The Studio” is the main headline for the Comedy Categories. With a whopping 23 nominations, including ten acting nominations, the show clearly connected with voters. Seth Rogen scored multiple nominations, including Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, Directing, and Writing. The show didn’t miss any category it was expected to pick up, and even overperformed in Guest Actor, picking up nominations for Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Ron Howard, Anthony Mackie, and Martin Scorsese. Without question, “The Studio” is the comedy to beat this year.
“SEVERANCE” OUTPERFORMS ITS FIRST SEASON NOMINATIONS
Another Apple TV+ show breaking through this year is “Severance.” While it scored a solid 13 nominations for its first season, it’s the nomination leader this time around, with 27 nominations. The entire Macrodata Refinement team (Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, and Zach Cherry) scored nominations, as did Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette, Jane Alexander, Gwendolyn Christie, and Meritt Weaver. Sadly, Dichen Lachman was left out this time around. Even so, this is a nearly flawless nomination haul, which bodes well in the challenging battle between “Severance” and “The Pitt” for Drama Series.
PAUL W. DOWNS MISSED A SUPPORTING NOMINATION
Reigning Comedy Series champion “Hacks” had a decent morning. Still, with a major miss along the way: Paul W. Downs missed out on a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. While Downs still received nominations for writing and producing the series, his omission in the Supporting Actor category is the biggest acting exclusion of this year’s nominations. While Jean Smart is almost certainly still winning yet again in Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, and Hannah Einbinder may finally win in Supporting Actress, does Downs’ miss show signs of weakness for the show overall? The race isn’t over yet, but “The Studio” certainly has an opening.
GAME OVER FOR “SQUID GAME”
After a dominant run for its first season, which included an Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series win for Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game” didn’t receive a single nomination for its second season. The show just wrapped up with its third and final season, but it’s unlikely to have a different fate next year—a disappointing end, despite a solid two-season finale.
THE LOVE FOR “PARADISE”
While “Paradise” only scored four nominations, they were four big ones. Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden, and Julianne Nicholson all received acting nominations, alongside an Outstanding Drama Series nomination. While none of these nominations is a shock per se, “Paradise” showed up stronger than anticipated. “The Last of Us” and “The Diplomat” received acting nominations and a Series nomination, but not directing or writing nominations.
“SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE” GETS SOME RECOGNITION
After flying mostly under the radar for its three-season run, “Somebody Somewhere” received its first two nominations for its final season. The Episode “AGG” scored a Writing nomination, while Jeff Hiller received a surprise nomination in Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. It’s always wonderful to see lesser-known shows finally get attention on such a big stage.
“THE REHEARSAL” RECEIVES WRITING AND DIRECTING NOMS
While it couldn’t break into Outstanding Comedy Series, Nathan Fielder scored two Emmy nominations for writing and directing “The Rehearsal.” It would’ve been nice to see it get even more love this year in the above-the-line categories, but to even see it land here is enough. This year, it’s the only Comedy Series to receive any Writing or Directing nominations without a Series nomination.
“THE BEAR” (YES, STILL A COMEDY) HAS HIGHS AND LOWS
After two strong seasons at the Emmys, love for “The Bear” seems to be fading, if only slightly. Previous winners Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Liza Colón-Zayas, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jon Bernthal all received nominations again. Still, only one other performer joined them this time around: Olivia Colman in Guest Actress, no Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliot, or anyone else in the Guest categories. The show was also excluded from the Writing categories altogether. Yet, Ayo Edebiri made some history: she’s the first woman nominated for both acting and directing a comedy series in the same year.
ACTING SURPRISES: FAHY & ADUBA ARE IN, STEVE MARTIN IS OUT
There are always a handful of acting nominations that come out of nowhere, and this year is no exception. In addition to Jeff Hiller for “Somebody Somewhere,” Uzo Aduba landed a nomination in Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her turn in “The Residence.” The Shondaland murder mystery didn’t receive any other love from the Academy, but Aduba, a three-time winner, certainly still has fans among the voters. Meghann Fahy also received a surprise nomination for the limited series “Sirens,” which also scored a directing nomination. Elsewhere, Steve Martin missed a nomination for “Only Murders in the Building.” This is his second time missing a nomination for the series, after also missing for season two.
HARRISON FORDS IT THIS TIME FOR “SHRINKING”
After missing a Comedy Series nomination for its first season, “Shrinking” finally made it in, as did Harrison Ford in Outstanding Supporting Actor, receiving his first Emmy nomination at 83 years old. Ford was mysteriously left out last time around, but looks in great shape to win. Jason Segel and Jessica Williams repeated their nominations from the first season, with Michael Urie joining Ford in Supporting Actor.
ACTING NOMINATIONS BUT NO LIMITED SERIES FOR “PRESUMED INNOCENT”
Perhaps the Academy intentionally overlooked “Presumed Innocent,” which is gearing up for a second season, from a nomination for Outstanding Limited Series out of protest. For whatever unthinkable reason, announcing a second season doesn’t seem to disqualify a series from the Limited Series categories. While the show missed the big nomination, it still received four acting nominations, for Jake Gyllenhaal, Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, and Peter Sarsgaard.
“SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE” HITS A SNAG IN ITS 50TH SEASON
While “Saturday Night Live,” of course, scored the obligatory Outstanding Scripted Variety Series nomination, alongside another nomination for Bowen Yang, it failed to score nominations in Guest Actor or Guest Actress for any of its hosts. This is the first time since 2008 that “Saturday Night Live” failed to score a single nomination in both Guest Actor and Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Also…
- ”Say Nothing” was almost entirely blanked in the Limited Series categories, but Joshua Zetumer at least received a writing nomination.
- ”Disclaimer” only received two nominations: Cate Blanchett for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series and Outstanding Cinematography for three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki. Director Alfonso Cuarón failed to receive any nominations.
- For the first time since 2012, ”The Voice” missed a nomination for “Outstanding Reality Competition Program.
We’re still two months away from the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, which means there’s plenty of time for these races to shift. Are “The Studio” and “Severance” inevitable for Series wins? Time will tell as these campaigns ramp up from the next phase of this race. What was the biggest miss of the morning? What nomination made you the happiest? Did these nominations change any of the races in your mind? Please let us know in the comments below or over on our X account. We will have our Emmy winner predictions updated shortly and a podcast recap is coming your way tomorrow. You can watch Matt Neglia, Giovanni Lago and I react to the Emmy Nominations live on our Patreon here.
