Emmy nominations: ‘Squid Game’ makes history, ‘Succession’ leads

Netflix’s South Korean survival drama “Squid Game” made history Tuesday as the first non-English-language series to be nominated for outstanding drama series, but HBO’s “Succession” led the way with 25 overall nominations for the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

Both shows were nominated in the best drama series category, along with AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” HBO’s “Euphoria,” Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” Apple TV+’s “Severance” and Netflix’s “Ozark” and “Stranger Things.”

Notably absent from the list was NBC’s “This Is Us,” which is the only series on a major broadcast network to have been nominated in the category since 2012, receiving nominations in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. A series from the major broadcast networks has not won since Fox’s “24” in 2006. That drought will continue this year, with no broadcast network shows landing in the category.

“Ozark” and “This Is Us” both completed their runs in 2022, “Ozark” after four seasons and 44 episodes, “This Is Us” after 106 episodes and six seasons. “Better Call Saul” will end its six-season run Aug. 15 with its 63rd episode. There were no new episodes released of last year’s winner, “The Crown,” during the eligibility period, June 1, 2021-May 31, 2022.

“Squid Game” earned a best drama series actor nomination for Lee Jung-jae, while “Succession’s” Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong also landed in the category. They’ll compete with Jason Bateman of “Ozark,” Bob Odenkirk for “Better Call Saul” and Adam Scott for “Severance.”

For drama actress, nominations went to Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh for “Killing Eve,” Laura Linney for “Ozark,” Reese Witherspoon for “The Morning Show” and Zendaya for “Euphoria.”

Nominated for best comedy series were ABC’s “Abbott Elementary”; HBO’s “Barry,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Hacks”; Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building”; Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.”

The most recent time a series from the major broadcast networks won in the comedy series category at the Emmys was 2014 when ABC’s “Modern Family” won for the fifth consecutive year. “Ted Lasso” won the prize last year.

Martin Short and Steve Martin were both nominated for best comedy actor for “Only Murders in the Building,” along with Jason Sudeikis of “Ted Lasso,” Donald Glover for “Atlanta,” Bill Hader for “Barry” and Nicholas Hoult for “The Great.”

Sudeikis won the award last year.

Hoult’s co-star in “The Great,” Elle Fanning, was nominated for best comedy series actress, along with last year’s winner Jean Smart for “Hacks,” Issa Rae for “Insecure,” Kaley Cuoco for “The Flight Attendant,” Quinta Brunson for “Abbott Elementary” and Rachel Brosnahan for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

Hulu scored three nominations for best limited or anthology series — “Dopesick,” “The Dropout” and “Pam & Tommy.” Rounding out the category were Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” and HBO’s “The White Lotus.”

Lily James and Sebastian Stan were both nominated for their leading roles in a limited or anthology series for “Pam & Tommy.”

James will compete for lead the lead actress prize with Toni Collette for HBO’s “The Staircase,” Julia Garner for “Inventing Anna,” Sarah Paulson for FX’s “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” Margaret Qualley for Netflix’s “Maid” and Amanda Seyfried for “The Dropout.”

Nominated along with Stan in the lead actor category were Colin Firth for HBO’s “The Staircase,” Andrew Garfield for FX’s “Under the Banner of Heaven,” Oscar Isaac for HBO’s “Scenes from a Marriage” and Himesh Patel for HBO’s “Station Eleven.”

VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the winner the past four years for outstanding competition series, was nominated again, its sixth consecutive nod. Bravo’s “Top Chef” was nominated for the 16th consecutive year and NBC’s “The Voice” for the 11th consecutive year.

CBS’ “The Amazing Race” was nominated for the 19th time in the 20 years the category has existed. It was nominated in each of the first 17 years, was not eligible in 2020 because CBS did not air a new season during the eligibility period, but nominated again last year. It is a 10-time winner, including each of the first seven.

The Netflix baking series “Nailed It!’ was nominated for the fourth consecutive year, while the sixth nomination went to the Amazon Prime Video dance competition “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.”

“Ted Lasso” and “The White Lotus” both earned 20 overall nominations, while “Hacks” and “Only Murders in the Building” each collected 17 and “Euphoria” gathered 16.

Melissa Fumero and JB Smoove announced the nominations during a virtual ceremony Tuesday morning, joined by Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma.

Fumero was a cast member of the 2013-20 Fox-NBC comedy “Brooklyn Nine- Nine” and will co-star in the upcoming Netflix comedy “Blockbuster,” in which Smoove has a recurring role. Smoove is best known for his portrayal of Larry David’s friend Leon Black on the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

The 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 12 at L.A. Live.

The bulk of the 118 awards will be presented at the Creative Arts Emmys Sept. 3-4, also at L.A. Live. Those awards are mainly in technical categories, such as picture editing, costuming, hairstyling, makeup and sound, but also include awards for guest acting.

More from The Industry