‘Watchmen’ leads 2020 Emmy nominations; ‘Mrs. Maisel,’ ‘Ozark’ also score big
The wait is over! The nominations for the 2020 Emmys were announced Tuesday morning by actress Leslie Jones (alone on a stage representing a cosmic void), joined virtually by fellow presenters Laverne Cox, Josh Gad and Tatiana Maslany. How did your predictions do? Did you beat the experts? Did your favorite shows and performers get their due?
The 2020 Emmy nominations had plenty of unexpected choices in store. And our awards columnist is here to break it all down.
HBO’s “Watchmen” led all shows with 26 nominations. Netflix set a record with 160, smashing the previous mark (HBO with 137 last year, largely due to the final season of “Game of Thrones.” HBO had 107 this year). See the list of Emmy nominees announced live today below, along with several other categories. The complete list of all categories can be viewed at Emmys.com.
The 72nd Emmy ceremony is scheduled to air Sunday, Sept. 20, on ABC, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (his third time around).
The George Floyd protests led to a new round of soul-searching about diversity in Hollywood. Our analysis of recent Emmy nominees shows several problem areas.
Drama series
“Better Call Saul”
“The Crown”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Killing Eve”
“The Mandalorian”
“Ozark”
“Stranger Things”
“Succession”
Drama lead actress
Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”
Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Zendaya, “Euphoria”
Drama lead actor
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Steve Carell, “The Morning Show”
Brian Cox, “Succession”
Billy Porter, “Pose”
Jeremy Strong, “Succession”
Drama supporting actress
Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Thandie Newton, “Westworld”
Fiona Shaw, “Killing Eve”
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Meryl Streep, “Big Little Lies”
Samira Wiley, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Drama supporting actor
Nicholas Braun, “Succession”
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Kieran Culkin, “Succession”
Mark Duplass, “The Morning Show”
Giancarlo Esposito, “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Bradley Whitford, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld”
Drama guest actress
Alexis Bledel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Laverne Cox, “Orange Is the New Black”
Cherry Jones, “Succession”
Phylicia Rashad, “This Is Us”
Cicely Tyson, “how to Get Away with Murder”
Harriet Walter, “Succession”
Drama guest actor
Jason Bateman, “The Outsider”
Ron Cephas Jones, “This Is Us”
James Cromwell, “Succession”
Giancarlo Esposito, “The Mandalorian”
Andrew Scott, “Black Mirror”
Martin Short, “The Morning Show”
Emmys 2020: ‘Big Little Lies,’ but not ‘I May Destroy You’? The Emmys calendar means some nominations feel kind of dated.
Comedy series
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Dead to Me”
“The Good Place”
“Insecure”
“The Kominsky Method”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“What We Do in the Shadows”
Comedy lead actress
Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Linda Cardellini, “Dead to Me”
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”
‘Schitt’s Creek’ star and comedy veteran Catherine O’Hara finds the subtleties in the seemingly outrageous Moira Rose. That deserves an Emmy.
Comedy lead actor
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
Ted Danson, “The Good Place”
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”
Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”
“Ramy,” TV’s first Muslim American sitcom, has scored a 2020 Emmys nomination.
Comedy supporting actress
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
D’Arcy Carden, “The Good Place”
Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”
Marin Hinkle, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Yvonne Orji, “Insecure”
Cecily Strong, “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy supporting actor
Mahershala Ali, “Ramy”
Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”
Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
Sterling K. Brown, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
William Jackson Harper, “The Good Place”
Daniel Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy guest actress
Angela Bassett, “A Black Lady Sketch Show”
Bette Midler, “The Politician”
Maya Rudolph, “The Good Place”
Maya Rudolph, “Saturday Night Live”
Wanda Sykes, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy guest actor
Adam Driver, “Saturday Night Live”
Luke Kirby, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Eddie Murphy, “Saturday Night Live”
Dev Patel, “Modern Love”
Brad Pitt, “Saturday Night Live”
Fred Willard, “Modern Family”
What the Emmy-nominated miniseries gets wrong about feminism past and present.
Limited series
“Little Fires Everywhere”
“Mrs. America”
“Unbelievable”
“Unorthodox”
“Watchmen”
TV movie
“American Son”
“Bad Education”
“Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones”
“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend”
Limited/TV lead actress
Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Regina King, “Watchmen”
Octavia Spencer, “Self Made”
Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”
Limited/TV lead actor
Jeremy Irons, “Watchmen”
Hugh Jackman, “Bad Education”
Paul Mescal, “Normal People”
Jeremy Pope, “Hollywood”
Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”
Limited/TV supporting actress
Uzo Aduba, “Mrs. America”
Toni Collette, “Unbelievable”
Margo Martindale, “Mrs. America”
Jean Smart, “Watchmen”
Holland Taylor, “Hollywood”
Tracey Ullman, “Mrs. America”
Limited/TV supporting actor
Yahya Abdul-Mateen, “Watchmen”
Jovan Adepo, “Watchmen”
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend”
Louis Gossett Jr., “Watchmen”
Dylan McDermott, “Hollywood”
Jim Parsons, “Hollywood”
Variety talk series
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
Variety sketch series
“A Black Lady Sketch Show”
“Drunk History”
“Saturday Night Live”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “The Masked Singer” earn nominations in the reality competition program category, while “The Amazing Race” is shut out.
Competition program
“The Masked Singer”
“Nailed It!”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Top Chef”
“The Voice”
Structured reality program
“Antiques Roadshow”
“Love is Blind”
“Queer Eye”
“Shark Tank”
“A Very Brady Renovation”
Docuseries like “The Last Dance” and “Tiger King” are a hit with viewers and critics, but the Primetime Emmys haven’t caught up to the zeitgeist.
Be sure to check in with our Buzzmeter panel of experts tomorrow for their predictions on the winners.
The full list of Emmy nominees in every single primetime category is available at Emmys.com.
Five seasoned entertainment journalists predict the shows and performances the Television Academy will honor with Emmys; do you agree with their picks?
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