Delayed Emmys to spotlight best of television in 'Succession' sendoff

[January 13, 2024]  By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Emmy Awards, normally one of Hollywood's September red-carpet rituals, will take the stage on Monday in a strike-delayed ceremony to honor the best of television.

HBO's "Succession," about the wealthy but miserable Roy family, leads all nominees with 27 nods. It is widely expected to win its third best-drama trophy. Most shows on the list come from streaming services, which grabbed their highest share of nominations ever.

Some of the shows aired as far back as June 2022. Nominations were announced in July 2023, and voting took place a month later.

"If you are predicting Emmy winners, you have to remember what the vibe was like back in August," said Joyce Eng, senior editor at the Gold Derby awards website.

Organizers postponed the ceremony from its September date because Hollywood writers and actors were out on strike at the time. The labor disputes shut down production and promotion and forced broadcast TV networks to fill their fall schedules with re-runs and reality shows.

With the strikes over, the Emmys will give Hollywood a chance to spotlight TV and streaming series such as best comedy nominee "Abbott Elementary," which returns to Walt Disney's ABC with new episodes next month.

"Abbott," which runs on a broadcast network, is an outlier. Nearly two-thirds of shows nominated streamed on platforms such as Netflix and Apple TV+, data from Nielsen's Gracenote found. That is the highest proportion for streaming services ever.

Previously, Emmy wins would provide bragging rights to help build audiences for a cable or broadcast show. For streamers, "winning the Emmy is more about branding and increasing their subscriber counts," media consultant Brad Adgate said.

Comedian and "Black-ish" actor Anthony Anderson will host the Emmys gala, which will be broadcast live from downtown Los Angeles on the Fox TV network.

'SUCCESSION' SWEEP?

This year's Emmys telecast could feel like a re-run of the last Sunday's Golden Globes, which showered "Succession" with four awards.

The show wrapped up its fourth and final season last May, settling the question of who would take over the Roy family's global media empire. Fifteen experts polled by the Gold Derby website were unanimous in picking "Succession" to win the drama trophy again.

A general view shows the red carpet ahead of the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, U.S., September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Some awards watchers said "Succession" also could sweep the four drama acting categories.

Three "Succession" actors - Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong - are competing against each other for best actor. That could pave the way for an upset by Pedro Pascal, star of dystopian video-game adaptation "The Last of Us," said Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis.

"He could benefit from a 'Succession' vote split."

Pascal, who is Chilean-American, would be the first Latino actor to win best actor in a drama.

In comedy contests, two-time series winner "Ted Lasso," about the American coach of a plucky British football team, leads the pack again.

While the third season of the Apple TV+ show divided fans, "clearly Emmy voters still love it," Eng said, noting the show received 21 nominations, its most ever.

"Lasso" could be beaten, some prognosticators said, by Golden Globe winner "The Bear," the story of a haute cuisine chef trying to turn around his family's Chicago sandwich shop. Amazon Freevee's "Jury Duty," about a real person who unwittingly takes part in a fake trial, also is in the mix.

"Beef," Netflix's road rage drama that claimed three Globes, is the favorite to win best limited series.

Winners will be chosen by the roughly 20,000 performers, directors, producers and other members of the Television Academy.

While the night could be a party for "Succession," Davis cautioned that such a large group can make for unpredictable results.

"Anything can happen, and sometimes anarchy ensues, and we just get a crazy night," he said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mary Milliken and Richard Chang)

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