Succession, Squid Game to face off for top Emmy award

Succession, the HBO series about a conniving media mogul and his feuding family, racked up 25 Emmy nominations on Tuesday, including one for the prestigious best drama prize.

It will square off against Netflix’s South Korean thriller Squid Game, the first non-English language show to be nominated for an Emmy.

Squid Game tells the story of cash-strapped contestants who compete for prize money, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Netflix sci-fi hit Stranger Things, and HBO’s Euphoria, about teens navigating sex, drugs and social media, also were nominated for the drama trophy at television’s highest honours.

Feel-good series Ted Lasso will defend its title as best comedy, one of the show’s 20 nominations. The fish-out-of-water story from Apple TV+ will compete against Hacks, Only Murders in the Building and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, among others.

Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, who won a supporting actor Emmy last year, said she was shocked by her second nomination because she thought, “I’ve had my minute.”

“It’s a bit of a magic moment for all of us,” she said of the show’s cast. Ten Lasso actors were nominated.

HBO’s The White Lotus, about vacationers and staff at a ritzy oceanfront resort, secured 20 nominations and scored a slot in the best limited series field.

Winners of the Emmys will be announced on September 12.

Television Academy CEO Frank Scherma said the group received a record number of submissions this year, a sign that production was thriving after shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Streaming television shows dominated the nominations, continuing a trend as audiences flock to online viewing. HBO and HBO Max received 140 nominations overall. Netflix scored 105.

“Crying, shaking and throwing up”

Fourteen of the nominations for Succession, which won best drama in 2020, came in acting categories. Brian Cox, who stars as patriarch Logan Roy, will compete for best actor against Jeremy Strong, who plays his troubled son Kendall.

Newcomer Severance, a psychological thriller about office workers, earned 14 nominations and will compete for best drama, leaving star and acting nominee Adam Scott at a loss for words.

“It’s overwhelming. I was really deeply surprised and flattered and honoured,” Scott said in an interview.

Abbott Elementary, a new series from Walt Disney’s broadcaster ABC, made its way into the best comedy race.

“Crying shaking and throwing up has new meaning to me because I real life did all three,” Quinta Brunson, who was nominated for writing and acting on the show, wrote on Twitter.

Steve Martin and Martin Short will compete for best comedy actor for Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, about true-crime podcasters, though voters passed over their costar Selena Gomez in acting categories.

Contenders for best comedy actor include Rachel Brosnahan for her role as a 1950s housewife and comedian on Mrs. Maisel, along with Issa Rae of Insecure and Hacks star Jean Smart.

Hacks, about a seasoned female comedian looking to extend her career, received a nomination for the second year in a row for best comedy series.

“I think it’s a really important thing, especially in this moment in time in our country, to highlight women and to tell their stories,” Jen Statsky, co-creator of Hacks, said in an interview.

For best drama actor, nominees included previous winner Zendaya for Euphoria, Laura Linney for drug-dealing drama Ozark, and Melanie Lynskey for new series Yellowjackets about high school girls forced to survive in the wilderness.

The final seasons of tear-jerker This is Us and comedy black-ish did not make the cut in major categories this year. Emmy voters also skipped over popular Western Yellowstone.

Below is a list of nominees in key categories. The awards will be handed out in a televised ceremony in Los Angeles.

Best drama series

Better Call Saul

Euphoria

Ozark

Severance

Squid Game

Stranger Things

Succession

Yellowjackets

Best comedy series

Abbott Elementary

Barry

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Hacks

Ted Lasso

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Only Murders In The Building

What We Do In The Shadows

Best limited or anthology series

Dopesick

The Dropout

Inventing Anna

Pam & Tommy

The White Lotus

Best comedy actor [male]

Donald Glover, Atlanta

Bill Hader, Barry

Nicholas Hoult, The Great

Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Best comedy actor [female]

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant

Elle Fanning, The Great

Issa Rae, Insecure

Jean Smart, Hacks

Best drama actor [male]

Jason Bateman, Ozark

Brian Cox, Succession

Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Adam Scott, Severance

Jeremy Strong Succession

Best drama actor [female]

Jodie Comer, Killing Eve

Laura Linney, Ozark

Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets

Sandra Oh, Killing Eve

Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show

Zendaya, Euphoria

Best actor [male], limited series or movie

Colin Firth, The Staircase

Andrew Garfield, Under The Banner Of Heaven

Oscar Isaac, Scenes From A Marriage

Michael Keaton, Dopesick

Himesh Patel, Station Eleven

Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy

Best actor [female], limited series or movie

Toni Collette, The Staircase

Julia Garner, Inventing Anna

Lily James, Pam & Tommy

Sarah Paulson, Impeachment: American Crime Story

Margaret Qualley, Maid

Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout