HBO's 'Succession,' 'Last of Us' lead nominees for TV's Emmy awards

[July 13, 2023]  By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -HBO drama "Succession," the story of a cutthroat fight for control of a family's media empire, led the nominees for television's Emmy awards on Wednesday with 27 nods for the show's final season.

Nominations for the highest honors in television were announced as Hollywood was in the throes of labor tensions that may delay the Emmys ceremony beyond its normal September date. Film and TV writers walked off the job two months ago, and actors may strike as soon as Wednesday evening.

When the Emmys do take place, two-time best drama winner "Succession" will vie for the trophy again alongside fellow HBO show "The Last of Us," a dystopian video-game adaptation that landed a second-best 24 Emmy nominations.

"Thank you to the Television Academy for sending us off in such style," said "Succession" supporting actor nominee Alan Ruck. The show about the dysfunctional Roy family ended its four-season run in May.

Others competing for best drama included HBO's "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon," vacation-gone-wrong story "The White Lotus and "Star Wars" series "Andor." Previous nominees "Better Call Saul," "Yellowjackets" and "The Crown" are also in the mix.

"Ted Lasso," another double Emmy winner for best series, will compete for best comedy against "Abbott Elementary," "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "The Bear, "Barry," "Jury Duty," "Only Murders in the Building" and "Wednesday."

"Lasso" was the most-nominated comedy with 21 nods.

For limited series, the list includes Netflix's "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" and "Beef" as well as "Obi-Wan Kenobi" on Disney+. "The White Lotus" won the category last year but this year was moved to the drama race.

HBO, a unit of Warner Bros Discovery, outpaced all networks with 127 total nominations. Netflix landed 103 nods.

In acting categories, "Succession" patriarch Brian Cox will compete with two of his warring TV sons - Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin - for best drama actor. Sarah Snook, another Roy sibling, is considered the favorite to win best drama actress.

Previous Emmy winner Jason Sudeikis, co-creator and star of "Ted Lasso," was nominated for best comedy actor for the third season of the fish-out-of-water story on Apple TV+.

Brian Cox poses while attending the premiere of the third season of "Succession" in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

First-time nominees Jeremy Allen White of "The Bear" and Jason Segel of "Shrinking" are also among those who will compete for best comedy actor.

In the comedy actress category, voters nominated "Mrs. Maisel" star Rachel Brosnahan, "Abbott Elementary" creator and star Quinta Brunson, "Dead to Me" actress Christina Applegate, Natasha Lyonne for her starring role in "Poker Face" and Jenna Ortega of "Wednesday."

"As a person who just wanted to make a TV show, this will never stop being amazing," Brunson said on Twitter.

The nominations featured some notable strides on diversity, said Clayton Davis, senior awards editor at Variety. "Last of Us" star Pedro Pascal became the second Latino in history nominated for best drama actor. The first was Jimmy Smits, who was nominated five times in the 1990s for his role on "NYPD Blue."

Black women received the most nominations ever in a single category, Davis said, with Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph of "Abbott Elementary," Ayo Edebiri of "The Bear" and Jessica Williams of "Shrinking" in the running for best supporting actress in a comedy.

Winners will be chosen by the roughly 20,000 members of the Television Academy.

Voters passed over the popular Western drama "Yellowstone" and spinoff "1923." They also left out Harrison Ford, who played acclaimed roles in "1923" and "Shrinking."

As of Wednesday, the Emmys ceremony was scheduled to take place on Sept. 18 and air live on the Fox broadcast network. Organizers will decide closer to that date on whether to reschedule, an academy spokesperson said.

"We hope the ongoing guild negotiations can come to an equitable and swift resolution," Frank Scherma, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, said at the start of the nominations announcement.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mark Porter and David Gregorio)

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