The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday the nominations for the 2020 Emmy Awards. The virtual event hosted by Leslie Jones offered its share of big moments, upsets, and some unexpected moments.
Like the many video meetings that people experience daily in quarantine, the nominations included technical hiccups, off-the-cuff remarks, and the endearing casualness of in-home broadcasts. Throughout it all, Jones and co-presenters Laverne Cox, Josh Gad, and Tatiana Maslany rolled with the unconventional broadcast.
The big winners: "Watchmen" earned 26 nominations, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” got 20 nods, while "Ozark" and "Succession" were nominated for 18 each. Netflix got 160 nominations, the most-ever for a network, while HBO snagged 107 noms.
This year, the old guard competed with the likes of Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Quibi, which launched in time to make the cut. New streaming services earned some first time nominations, including Apple TV+'s "The Morning Show," and Disney +'s "Star Wars" universe series, "The Mandalorian." Despite the coronavirus pandemic curbing film production, submissions for Emmy nominations were up 15% in 2020.
In a year of increased attention over diversity and representation in television, the Emmy nominations were under closer scrutiny. The Academy's recent record of inclusion lacked the power of their promises. According LA Times, 82% of the nominees in 19 prime-time Emmy categories from from 2015 to 2019 were white. Yet the 2020 Emmy nominations made some headway, including a nomination for "Ramy," the first Muslim American sitcom to get recognized. "Insecure" co-creator and actress Issa Rae was nominated for lead actress in a comedy, and the show was nominated for comedy series. The limited/TV supporting actor category also featured a majority of Black actors, including three from "The Watchmen."
The Academy made efforts to increase the diversity of submissions this year by creating a sliding scale ratio of submissions to nominations. Categories that received the most submissions were expanded to include more nominees. Both the Drama and Comedy Series categories were increased to eight nominees, a first for the Academy.
The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards show is scheduled to take place September 20 at LA’s Microsoft Theater. Jimmy Kimmel will host the show, but the format for the evening is still yet to be determined. The Emmy Awards are scheduled to air live on ABC at 5:00 p.m. PST.
*This post will be continuously updated.
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”
Keiran Culkin, “Succession”
Mark Duplass, “The Morning Show”
Giancarlo Esposito, “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Bradley Whitford, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld”
COMEDY SERIES
“Dead to Me”
“Insecure”
“The Kominsky Method”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“What We Do in the Shadows”
“The Good Place”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
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”
COMEDY ACTOR
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Ted Danson, “The Good Place”
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”
Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”
Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
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”
LIMITED SERIES
“Watchmen” (Hear showrunner Damon Lindelof on The Business)
“Mrs. America”
“Unbelievable” (Hear showrunner Susannah Grant on The Business)
“Little Fires Everywhere”
“Unorthodox”
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 SERIES/TV MOVIE ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Regina King, “Watchmen”
Octavia Spencer, “Self Made”
Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”
LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE ACTOR
Jeremy Irons, “Watchmen”
Hugh Jackman, “Bad Education”
Paul Mescal, “Normal People”
Jeremy Pope, “Hollywood”
Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”
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”
Competition Program
“The Masked Singer”
“Nailed It”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Top Chef”
“The Voice”
Variety sketch series
“A Black Lady Sketch Show”
“Drunk History”
“Saturday Night Live”