Emmy Nominations 2020: The Front-Runners, the Surprises, the Snubs – Vogue

Two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett may get her first Emmy, Schitt’s Creek may go out in a well-deserved blaze of glory, and HBO’s adaption of the graphic novel Watchmen may have found its perfect moment. Those were the takeaways from today’s Emmy nominations, livestreamed on the Emmys website with host Leslie Jones joined virtually by Laverne Cox, Josh Gad, and Tatiana Maslany.

Here is a look at the key moments from Tuesday’s announcements.

The Front-Runners

With Game of Thrones finally out of the way (that HBO phenomenon won the Emmy for best drama four of the past five years, its streak interrupted only by The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017), this category looks like a race between Better Call Saul and Succession. Better Call Saul has been nominated each of its four seasons but has yet to win, while Succession, though only in its second season, has quickly become something of a cult favorite, with both its leads, Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong, up for best actor this year.

The path to the Emmy has been cleared by the surprise omission of Pose (and perhaps the less surprising omission of three-time nominee This Is Us), though the two leads for those shows, Billy Porter and Sterling K. Brown, were again nominated for best actor. The full list of nominees in this strong category are: Better Call Saul, The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Killing Eve, The Mandalorian, Ozark, Stranger Things, and Succession—with Ozark posing the threat of an upset win.

Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show) won the Screen Actors Guild award for best actress in a drama earlier this year. (Ex-husband Brad Pitt memorably watched her stride to the stage on a monitor behind the scenes.) Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) took that prize at last year’s Emmys, in a slight upset over her costar Sandra Oh. All three are up again this year, along with Laura Linney (Ozark) and surprise nominee Zendaya (Euphoria). But the betting favorite might be Olivia Colman, the latest actress to take on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, not only because of her fantastically steely performance but also because we want to see the Oscar winner give another of her memorable acceptance speeches.

In her first foray into American TV, two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator and Blue Jasmine) could not have picked a juicer role: Phyllis Schlafly, the noted anti-feminist and leading force in the successful drive to stop ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and ’80s, in the Hulu limited series Mrs. America. Though this is another strong category—Blanchett’s rivals are Shira Haas (Unorthodox), Regina King (Watchmen), Octavia Spencer (Self Made), and Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere)—the Australian actress seems well on her way to the halfway point of an EGOT. As the New York Times television critic James Poniewozik wrote of her performance, “she is regal and terrifying (to her allies above all). Her final scene, wordless and devastating, might as well end with Blanchett being handed an Emmy onscreen.”

All hail Schitt’s Creek. This quirky Canadian comedy, created by the father-and-son team of Eugene and Dan Levy, flew under the radar its first few seasons but last year finally became a much-deserved Emmy contender with four nominations, including its first for best comedy. This year, as the show closed out its final season, it hit Emmy gold with 15 nominations in the comedy category, including ones for all four members of the Rose family: Eugene Levy (best actor), Catherine O’Hara (best actress), Dan Levy (supporting actor, plus nods for writing and directing), and Annie Murphy (supporting actress). Its rivals include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Insecure, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. But one thing the pandemic has done is give people plenty of time to binge-watch, and Schitt’s Creek is nothing if not the binge-perfect series. It looks nearly certain to go out an Emmy winner.

The Surprises

That Watchmen was nominated for best limited series was not a surprise. That the HBO show landed 26 nominations, the most of any show this year, definitely was. But the show—which is based on the classic graphic novel by the team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins and explores racial trauma and white supremacy—became an unexpected player in the national discussion on race and Black Lives Matter this spring. When the show won a Peabody Award earlier this year, the judges’ citation described it as “a frank and provocative reflection on contemporary racialized violence, on the role of police, and on the consequences of a large-scale disaster on the way Americans understand their place in the world.” Among its nominations were acting nods for the two leads, Regina King and Jeremy Irons (both past Oscar winners), and supporting players Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jovan Adepo, Louis Gossett Jr., and Jean Smart.

Almost none of the Emmy prognosticators predicted that The Mandalorian, the Disney+ series set in the Star Wars universe, would end up in the best-drama category. It’s nominated 15 times, the most of any show from any of the new streaming services that launched this season, which is a huge win for Disney+. 

Issa Rae, the star and cocreator of the very funny HBO comedy Insecure, earned a best-actress nomination two years ago, but Emmy voters have largely ignored the show. This year, however, along with a nomination for Rae herself and for supporting actress Yvonne Orji, the show got a nod for best comedy.

Two actors who also broke through this year were Jeremy Pope, for best actor in a limited series for Hollywood, and, perhaps even more surprising, Zendaya, for best actress in a drama series for her role in Euphoria. The 23-year-old actress plays Rue, a recovering drug addict, on the series about high schoolers navigating the world of love, sex, and addiction. (That nomination brought out a shout of “Zendaya, Zendaya” from Jones during the Emmy stream.)

The Snubs

Better Call Saul may be a strong contender to take home the best-drama-series award finally, but its lead star—Bob Odenkirk, a four-time nominee for the show—will definitely be going home empty-handed. He was one of the most surprising omissions in the acting categories, joining past winners Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies), Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), and Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), as well as Reese Witherspoon (Little Fires Everywhere) and Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm). Witherspoon, ubiquitous as both an actress and a producer this past year, was treated particularly coldly by Emmy voters. Besides being snubbed for Little Fires Everywhere, she also missed out on an acting nod for The Morning Show or Big Little Lies, and those two shows were shut out of the drama race.

In terms of series, there was no love for either This is Us or Pose. (The latter omission definitely seemed to irritate Cox, who was spoken often about the importance of the show, even after Jones repeatedly told her she had been nominated for best guest actress in a drama series for her work on Orange Is the New Black.)

While Pope grabbed an acting nomination for Hollywood, as did three of his costars—Dylan McDermott, Holland Taylor, and Jim Parsons—the Ryan Murphy show did not get a nomination in the best-limited-series category. And shut out of the best-comedy category was the highly regarded Ramy. Star Ramy Youssef picked up an acting nomination, as did castmate Mahershala Ali. But the show itself didn’t make the final cut.

The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for Sunday, September 20 at 8 p.m. ET, with Jimmy Kimmel as host, and organizers still deciding whether it will be a live or virtual event, or—more likely—some combination of the two. You can see the full list of nominations below and here.

Drama Series

Better Call Saul (AMC)

The Crown (Netflix)

The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Killing Eve (BBC America/AMC)

The Mandalorian (Disney Plus)

Ozark (Netflix)

Stranger Things (Netflix)

Succession (HBO)

Comedy Series

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Dead to Me (Netflix)

The Good Place (NBC)

Insecure (HBO)

The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video)

Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)

What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Limited Series

Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)

Mrs. America (Hulu)

Unbelievable (Netflix)

Unorthodox (Netflix)

Watchmen (HBO)

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman (Ozark)

Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)

Steve Carell (The Morning Show)

Brian Cox (Succession)

Billy Porter (Pose)

Jeremy Strong (Succession)

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show)

Olivia Colman (The Crown)

Jodie Comer (Killing Eve)

Laura Linney (Ozark)

Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)

Zendaya (Euphoria)

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

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)

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

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)

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Jeremy Irons (Watchmen)

Hugh Jackman (Bad Education)

Paul Mescal (Normal People)

Jeremy Pope (Hollywood)

Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America)

Shira Haas (Unorthodox)

Regina King (Watchmen)

Octavia Spencer (Self Made)

Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere)

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul)

Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale)

Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)

Mark Duplass (The Morning Show)

Nicholas Braun (Succession)

Kieran Culkin (Succession)

Matthew Macfadyen (Succession)

Jeffrey Wright (Westworld)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Laura Dern (Big Little Lies)

Meryl Streep (Big Little Lies)

Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown)

Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale)

Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve)

Julia Garner (Ozark)

Sarah Snook (Succession)

Thandie Newton (Westworld)

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

William Jackson Harper (The Good Place)

Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method)

Sterling K. Brown (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Mahershala Ali (Ramy)

Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live)

Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek)

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Betty Gilpin (GLOW)

D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place)

Yvonne Orji (Insecure)

Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)

Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live)

Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek)

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Dylan McDermott (Hollywood)

Jim Parsons (Hollywood)

Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend)

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen)

Jovan Adepo (Watchmen)

Louis Gossett Jr. (Watchmen)

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Holland Taylor (Hollywood)

Uzo Aduba (Mrs. America)

Margo Martindale (Mrs. America)

Tracey Ullman (Mrs. America)

Toni Collette (Unbelievable)

Jean Smart (Watchmen)

Reality Competition

The Masked Singer (Fox)

Nailed It (Netflix)

RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)

Top Chef (Bravo)

The Voice (NBC)

Variety Sketch Series

A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)

Drunk History (Comedy Central)

Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Variety Talk Series

Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (TBS)

Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO)

Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS)