Emmy voters recognize « Reservation Dogs » and other great TV in a truly inclusive list of nominees. Why argue?
The ongoing quibbling over whether « The Bear » is a comedy or a drama received a new splash of accelerant when the FX series landed 23 Emmy Award nominations on Wednesday.
Ordinarily, this honor probably would pass without a thought beyond, « Yay. » The series already won the top comedy Emmy for its first season in January, and stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach took home some coveted hardware.
At the time, many pointed out that the second season was even better, which made this morning’s wealth of nominations all but a foregone conclusion.
What may get under some people’s skin, though, is knowing its 23 nods represent a new feat: the most in a single year for a comedy series. « 30 Rock » previously set that record, with 22 nominations in 2009. But « 30 Rock » was clearly a comedy, right?
Counterpoint: Who cares? Studio and network gamesmanship is always part of awards considerations. Besides, if the whole intent of this exercise is to honor the best TV, « The Bear » fits in smoothly with most of the nominees for the 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
The 25 Emmy nods for FX’s « Shōgun » represented the most out of all series, with « The Bear » coming in second place with 23. Traditional comedy fans may be pleased to know that Hulu’s « Only Murders in the Building » wasn’t too far behind, with 21 nominations. You’ll always have that, along with the notices for the other bright light of our TV viewing lives: « Abbott Elementary. »
« B-b-but ‘The Bear’ isn’t . . . » Pipe down, because you know what else isn’t an obvious classic TV ha-ha-half hour? « The Gentlemen », which is also in the running for best comedy. Do I think it should be in the same awards classification as « Hacks » and « What We Do in the Shadows »? No, but I’m less upset about this than I am pleased to see « Reservation Dogs » finally get the attention it deserves after being largely overlooked by Emmy voters in its first and second season seasons. Ditto for its star D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai.
I’m not even peeved about the best comedy nomination for « Curb Your Enthusiasm. » The final season was enjoyable, despite its nominated star Larry David’s assault on Elmo.
« The Bear’s » 23 nominations set a new record for the most nominations in a single year for a comedy series.
While this nominations slate isn’t an « I have no notes » situation, my list of gripes is a lot shorter than usual. Overall, this new list of Emmys contenders reflects the Television Academy’s increased openness to variety, albeit within limits.
In years past, we might have lamented the paucity of notice for Prime Video’s « Fallout. » This takes into consideration the awards season that recognized the excellence of HBO’s « The Last of Us. » Academy voters have long awarded HBO shows that would have otherwise been ignored if they played on other networks.
