Dear Emmys: Stop Letting A Handful Of Shows Dominate The Acting Categories
This year's Emmy nominations are out, and I'm happy to see many of my favorite shows honored with nominations. But I just wish Emmy voters would find a way to honor more shows — especially in the acting categories.
In recent years, a troubling trend has emerged at the Emmys, with a select handful of shows hogging all of the nominations in the major acting categories. I love Severance as much as any Emmy voter, but I was still surprised when it landed nine (!) acting nominations, including three for best supporting actor in a drama. I also love spending a vacation at The White Lotus, but it managed to gobble up eight acting nods, including four for best supporting actress in a drama. (Lotus also tips the scales by submitting all of its main cast members in the supporting categories, leaving them to fight it out for a few slots.)
Let's look at the best supporting actor in a drama category as a prime example: Six of the seven nominees come from either Severance or The White Lotus, with Paradise's James Marsden as the lone outlier. Now I don't begrudge any of the nominees their honor — yay, Tramell Tillman! — but surely there were great performances on other dramas this year that could have used a smidge of recognition here. What about Andor? Industry? Squid Game? Interview With the Vampire? And don't even get me started on the guest acting categories, where The Studio somehow snagged five of the six nominations for best guest actor in a comedy. Should we just rename the category Outstanding Guest Actor on The Studio?
This, of course, is a huge disservice to television in general, with dozens of worthy shows left on the outside looking in while a few favored shows take all the glory. The Emmys are a golden opportunity for Hollywood to highlight great TV series that haven't gotten the buzz they deserve and let viewers know about all the hidden gems out there. (As we all know, there's way too much TV to keep track of these days.) But when Emmy voters get blinders on and zero in on just a few shows, plugging in multiple cast members for each on their ballots and calling it a day, it robs the industry of a powerful promotional tool. Millions of eyes are looking at the Emmy nominees today; wouldn't it be great to introduce a few of them to a show they didn't know about before but would absolutely love?
To solve this crisis, I'd like to propose a rule for future Emmy years: no more than two acting nominees from a single show in a single category. That would lead to some hard choices, yes, but it would spread the wealth in a way that I think would benefit everyone, opening the Emmys up to new blood and shaking up stale races. Because as much as I love Severance and The White Lotus? I love television in general even more.
Do you think the Emmys are relying too heavily on a few shows for acting nominations? Which shows were you hoping to see snag more nods this year? Hit the comments below and tell us!