Watchmen, Maisel, Ozark lead diverse lineup for Emmys

HBO’s dystopian superhero drama Watchmen and the 1960s comedy The Marvelous Mrs Maisel led nominations on Tuesday for the Emmy Awards, in a list strong on diversity and on fresh contenders for the highest awards in United States television.

Watchmen scored 26 nods, including best limited series, while Amazon Studios’ The Marvelous Mrs Maisel got 20, including a best actress nod for star Rachel Brosnahan.

Netflix led all networks with a record 160 nominations for shows or stars that included Stranger Things, Tiger King, rape drama Unbelievable and Jewish saga Unorthodox. It was followed by HBO with 107, including a surprise nod for Zendaya, the 23-year-old star of teen drama Euphoria.

Succession, about a sparring media family, scored 18 nominations, including nine for its actors. Ozark, about a middle-class family that launders money for a drug cartel, also received 28 nods including for stars Laura Linney and Jason Bateman.

Half of the nominees for best comedy series were newcomers to the Emmys such as Dead To Me and Insecure, Issa Rae’s take on 20-something Black women in Los Angeles.

Schitt’s Creek, the sleeper hit comedy about a wealthy family forced to live in a rundown motel, scored 15 nods, including best comedy series and also nods for its four main cast members: Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy.

“For once, I am speechless,” Dan Levy, who is also the co-creator of Schitt’s Creek, wrote on Twitter.

At a time when Hollywood’s record on diversity is under scrutiny, multiple nominations went to actors of colour. They included Muslim American Ramy Youssef for his semiautobiographical comedy, Ramy; Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere and American Son); Don Cheadle (Black Monday); Regina King (Watchmen); Sandra Oh (Killing Eve); Uzo Aduba (Mrs America); Sterling K Brown (The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and This Is Us); and returning Emmy champion Billy Porter (Pose).

Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston landed her first Emmy nomination in a dramatic role for her performance as a tough TV anchor in the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show, which also brought nods for Steve Carell and supporting actors Billy Crudup and Mark Duplass.

Among the surprises was a best drama series nod and 14 other nominations for The Mandalorian, the popular Star Wars spinoff about a helmeted bounty hunter who protects Baby Yoda, on the Disney+ streaming platform.

But LGBTQ series Pose was overlooked in the drama series race while Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon failed to make the grade for acting in either The Morning Show or Little Fires Everywhere.

The Emmy Awards will be announced at a ceremony on September 20, although it is not clear if any of it will be live or in front of an audience because of the coronavirus pandemic.