'White Lotus' sweeps Emmy acting nominations. Does it really deserve it?

USA Today

4 days ago

'The White Lotus'? 'The Studio'? Nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards prove that Emmy voters are notoriously and aggravatingly lazy.
Every major award show has its Achilles' heel. The Academy Awards throw their golden statue at any studio willing to fork up the cash. The Grammys have terrible taste and seldom get it right. The Tonys are mostly fine, and who even cares about the Golden Globes? The Emmys, the awards body for the Television Academy, is no exception. Nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards, announced July 15, prove that Emmy voters are notoriously and aggravatingly lazy.
Apple TV+'s "Severance" received the most nominations (27), followed by HBO Max's "The Penguin" with 24. "The Studio" and "The White Lotus" got 23 nods. I liked this season of "Severance," and I'm glad a show with such a captivating concept and incredible performances is getting this praise. I haven't watched "The Penguin," and "The Studio" is … fine, but when looking through the acting categories, particularly the supporting categories, I noticed a common phenomenon: Most of the nominees are from the same two shows.
This isn't the first time, either. For the 75th Emmy Awards in 2023, every nominee in the supporting actor category was either from 'The White Lotus' or another HBO Max show, 'Succession' (come back, the kids miss you). This time, six of the seven supporting actor nominees and five out of seven supporting actress nominees are either from "The White Lotus" or "Severance."
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I like "Severance" and I genuinely think the nods are deserved, so they get a pass (for now). But in an era when there's so much quality television to watch and amazing performances to praise, the lack of diversity is unsettling and flat-out boring.
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Are Emmy voters so lazy that they must clog up the acting noms with undeserving "White Lotus" performances to circumvent doing their jobs – actually watching the bounty of available television and nominating worthy performances from an array of programs? Do Sam Rockwell, Walton Goggins and Jason Isaacs all need to be nominated? I can make a compelling case for Isaacs, but IDK about the other two.
The motivation, or lack thereof, behind Emmy voters' laziness remains unknown to us industry outsiders. Is their tunnel vision a result of artificially ushering certain shows into the TV Hall of Fame by drowning them in nominations? Do they just not have an eye for good performances? Is HBO lining their pockets? For us normal viewers, it doesn't matter, nor does it make this whole ordeal any less boring.
Maybe if Emmy voters got off their butts and actually did their jobs – how hard can watching TV truly be? I do it constantly – there wouldn't be so many egregious snubs. "Industry" and "Interview with the Vampire" continue to be Emmy-less despite arguably being two of the best shows on TV right now.
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"The Bear" is still getting away with category fraud, receiving comedy nominations when it's so clearly a drama (and no, I don't care for your pretentious explanations). Has anyone even watched season four? Perhaps if it were put in its rightful place, 'The Rehearsal' starring Nathan Fielder could have gotten some nods.
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Nevertheless, there are some, some (some) silver linings.
I was happy to see Janelle James and Michelle Williams get nods for their performances in "Abbott Elementary" and "Dying for Sex," respectively. Owen Cooper from Netflix's "Adolescence" became the youngest nominee ever for best supporting actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie.
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Beyoncé received two nominations for her Beyoncé Bowl special. She was previously nominated in Variety Special categories for "Lemonade" and "Homecoming" but lost to James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" both times. Yes, you read that right.
Despite all my complaining, I will be seated on Sept. 14 for the Emmys ceremony. The Emmys are usually good at picking the least bad out of their disappointing nominees.
Also, I'm a sucker for award shows; I love watching an actor's dreams come true. But if "The White Lotus" wins more than two Emmys, we will have a problem.
Kofi Mframa is a columnist and digital producer for USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network. Stream "Industry" on HBO Max, please. You won't regret it.
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