Riz Ahmed lands Emmy nomination for Bait
British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed has landed an Emmy nomination for his new show Bait. He has been nominated in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
He’s up against some tough competition — Jason Bateman in Black Rabbit, Charlie Hunnam in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Oscar Isaac in Beef and Matthew Rhys in The Beast in Me.
Bait tells the story of a young, struggling British-Pakistani actor named Shahjehan Latif, whose name literally translates to ‘king of the world’. Despite the regality of his title, he is always ironically one step behind in his goal to play the famous James Bond 007.
HBO’s emergency room drama The Pitt returned to the Emmy Awards race with a leading 25 nominations on Wednesday, and the final season of HBO’s Hacks landed 24 nominations, a record-setting haul for a comedy in a single year.
HBO Max topped all networks with 122 nominations this year, followed by Netflix with 111.
The Pitt has a chance to repeat as best drama winner at the television industry’s highest honours, as does star Noah Wyle, who claimed the drama actor prize last year for his role as Dr “Robby” Robinavitch, a veteran physician at a Pittsburgh trauma centre. In total, The Pitt earned 13 acting nominations including four of the seven slots for supporting drama actress.
Hacks will compete for best comedy, a trophy it has claimed once in its four previous seasons. Jean Smart, who plays septuagenarian comedian Deborah Vance in the show about a comedy generation gap, has won best comedy actress for the role four times and could make it a sweep after her fifth nomination.
Her Hacks co-stars Hannah Einbinder and Meg Stalter were named in the supporting actress field and Paul W Downs, the show’s co-creator, in supporting actor.
“What can I say? Being recognised by my peers in this way is the cherry on top of the most creatively fulfilling experience of my life,” Einbinder said in a written statement.
Emmy winners will be announced at a red-carpet ceremony in Los Angeles and broadcast live on NBC and stream on Peacock on September 14.
A night of cheers, a future of questions
The show will give Hollywood a night to celebrate at a time when media companies are cutting back on the number of shows they produce, and anxiety is swirling about the rise of artificial intelligence and the pending Paramount Skydance acquisition of HBO owner Warner Bros Discovery.
Other dramas nominated alongside The Pitt included Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, spy thriller Slow Horses and Pluribus, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series.
In the best comedy race, Hacks will compete with previous winner The Bear as well as Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building and Shrinking, among others.
Up against Wyle for drama actor are Sterling K Brown for Paradise and Gary Oldman for Slow Horses. Other acting nominees included Harrison Ford for his supporting role as a gruff psychotherapist on Shrinking, one of six acting nominations for the Apple TV show.
“I’m so pleased to share this with so many of my cast members,” Ford said in a written statement “It makes the experience that much more significant.”
Bateman landed four Emmy nominations, two for acting and producing DTF St. Louis and two more for acting and directing limited series Black Rabbit.
Taylor Swift also showed up on the nominations list. The Eras Tour: The Final Show, which ran on Disney+, received five nods including best pre-recorded variety special.
Jimmy Kimmel Live, which was pulled off the air for six days last year after the host joked about reaction to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, received its 15th straight nomination for best variety series. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the long-running series that was canceled by CBS, also was nominated.
Among the notable snubs, voters left out two-time comedy actor winner Jeremy Allen White, who plays a stressed-out chef running a Chicago restaurant on The Bear. The final season of Netflix’s global hit Stranger Things failed to make the best drama field.
Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay will host the Emmys show and also was a nominee. Her documentary My Mom Jayne about her mother, the actress Jayne Mansfield, received three nominations including best documentary. Mansfield died in a car accident when Hargitay was three years old.
“I’m profoundly grateful to have this moment with her,” Hargitay said of the nominations.
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