Streamers and HBO ruled the Emmy nominations Tuesday as Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian and Netflix’s The Crown scored 24 nominations each, Disney Plus’ WandaVision earned another 23 nominations, and Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale scored 21. Apple TV+’s new Ted Lasso earned 20 nominations.
HBO and its streaming service, HBO Max, had the most total nominations — 130 — just edging out Netflix with 129. (HBO had 96 nominations, and HBO Max had 36.)
The streaming domination continued a long trend of streamers co-opting and beating traditional television, the medium they are extending or replacing, depending on your perspective. The many streaming nominations felt particularly on point after a year of pandemic lockdowns that relegated tens of millions to streaming shows on our phones, laptops or TVs as the theatrical movie business largely shut down.
There were few records set — the most-nominated drama in a single year remains Game of Thrones, which scored 32 in 2019. 30 Rock set the record for a comedy by scoring 22 nominations in 2009.
But in one breakthrough, Mj Rodriguez, star of FX’s Pose, became the first trans woman to be nominated in a major acting category at the Emmys. She is up for best lead drama actress for her role as Blanca Rodriquez.
Pose will also compete in the drama series category alongside Amazon Prime’s The Boys, Netflix’s The Crown and Bridgerton, The Handmaid’s Tale, HBO’s Lovecraft Country, The Mandalorian, and NBC’s This Is Us, the only broadcast TV nominee.
The comedy nominees are Netflix’s Cobra Kai, Emily in Paris, and The Kominsky Method, HBO Max’s Hacks and The Flight Attendant, Hulu’s Pen15, and ABC’s Black-ish, the only broadcast TV nominee in the category.
The best-performing broadcast network series was NBC’s Saturday Night Live, which had 21 nominations. Other big hitters included HBO’s Lovecraft Country and Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, both of which earned 18 nominations, and HBO’s Mare of Easttown, which earned 16.
The Queen’s Gambit and Mare of Easttown will compete in the stacked limited series category alongside HBO’s I May Destroy You, Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad, and Disney Plus’ WandaVision.
The nominees for television movie are Dolly Parton’s Christmas On The Square, Oslo, Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, Sylvie’s Love and Uncle Frank.
The 73rd Emmy Awards will be held Sunday, September 19 and will be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer. The ceremony will air on CBS and Paramount+. Here is the full list of nominees.