At Emmys, love for 'Shrinking,' but nothing for Ted Danson and chilly goodbye for 'Handmaid's Tale'

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

As expected, Emmy voters heaped love on the so-called 'Big Four' of comedy — 'Hacks,' 'The Bear,' 'Abbott Elementary' and 'Only Murders in the Building.' Many of those competing in the drama categories were likely just happy the Emmy-gobbling 'Shogun' is between seasons.
Emmy voters are creatures of habit but there were some happy differences this time around, like 'Matlock' star Kathy Bates becoming the oldest performer ever nominated in the lead drama actress category at age 77. And 'Severance,' which last year only won for dramatic score and title design, looks in better shape for its second season.
The growing love for 'Shrinking'
'Shrinking,' AppleTV+ comedy about a group of funny, complicated therapists, didn't get much Emmy attention last year during its debut season, only getting two nominations for stars Jason Segel, a co-creator, and Jessica Williams. This time, 'Shrinking,' well, expanded — with seven nods, including best comedy and nods for Segel, Williams, Michael Urie and Harrison Ford's first Emmy nomination.
Fallout from an act of violence
'Adolescence,' the Netflix four-part series which traces the emotional fallout after a U.K. teenage stabbing, became a sensation, a sort of 2025 version of 'Baby Reindeer,' and has earned a boatload of Emmy nominations, with 13. Owen Cooper, who plays the young attacker, became the youngest nominee in the history of his category — best supporting actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie. The series was co-created and co-written by Stephen Graham, who also stars as the accused attacker's father, and earned a nomination for his work. 'Adolescence' reached No. 2 in Netflix's Top 10 most popular English-language series.
Late night door is locked
'The Daily Show,' 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' and 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' filled up the outstanding talk series category, dashing hopes that newcomers might crash the party. Like John Mulaney's 'Everybody's Live With John Mulaney' on Netflix, which features a quirky mix of guests, the host doing odd things like fighting three 14-year-old-boys and an episode when Mulaney was completely in a blindfold. There's also the spicy wing YouTube interview series 'Hot Ones,' hosted by Sean Evans, which has attracted A-list talent and often pulls in an audience higher than the established network late night boys.
Green light, now red-light
The first season of 'Squid Game' became an international phenomenon after its release in 2021 and was embraced by the Television Academy the next year, racking up 14 Emmy nominations and winning six, including best actor for Lee Jung-jae. Three years later, the second season continued to captivate audiences, logging over 192 million views on Netflix. But not a single Emmy nomination went for its cutthroat look at life.
'The Handmaid's Tale' says goodbye, quietly
After six harrowing, powerful seasons, Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale' ended it's exploration of an alternative America taken over by a totalitarian theocracy with a meek showing. The dystopian drama had garnered 76 nominations and 15 wins over its lifetime going into Tuesday's announcement — including a historic outstanding drama series win in its first season, the first ever for a streaming platform. But the series got a sole nomination Tuesday, for guest actress. It's a hard way to say goodbye to a series that was ranked as the 25th and 38th best TV series of the 21st century by The Guardian and BBC, respectively.
TV voters love a good Hollywood satire
'The Studio" received 23 Emmy nominations — the most ever for a comedy series in its first season. Seth Rogen's critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series is about a Hollywood head struggling to balance his love of cinema with the mercenary demands of the market. Rogen got four individual nominations, including lead actor, writing and directing. The show mocks Hollywood's addiction to franchises and the explosive issue of diverse casting, with famous actors and filmmakers happily playing heightened versions of themselves. Five of the six guest actor nods went to the show, including to Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Ron Howard, Anthony Mackie and Martin Scorsese.
Coldness for 'The Four Seasons'
If Netflix thought combining Tina Fey and Steve Carell — two of the most Emmy-nominated comedic actors of the last 20 years — would lead to Emmy triumph, it thought wrong. Neither actor got a nod and the series only got one, for supporting actor Colman Domingo. The eight-episode relationship comedy is about three couples who are friends and meet up on four seasonal vacations throughout the year. Fey (45 career Emmy noms and nine wins as an actor, writer, and producer) and Carell (10 nominations) i
'Slow Horses' gathers speed
The momentum seems to have continued for Apple TV+'s 'Slow Horses,' a critical darling that gained traction in the U.S. only last year, in the fourth season. That's when the show about lovable loser spies was added for the first time in the best drama series category. (So far, its only win is for writing.) This season, it earned five nods, including best drama, directing, casting, writing and for Gary Oldman, who leads the underdogs.
Ga-ga for Goggins
Walton Goggins is having quite a moment, earning back-to-back Emmy nominations. Last year it was for playing a ghoul on 'Fallout' and this year it is for his 'White Lotus' portrayal of the troubled Rick Hatchett. The Alabama-born, Georgia-raised actor has been around for over three decades, with memorable turns in blockbusters like 'Django Unchained' and 'Lincoln,' playing a spray-tanned, silver-streaked televangelist in 'The Righteous Gemstones' and hosting stint on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." 'Thank You God for All This Goggins,' said a headline in Vulture.
Something off-pitch?
'The Voice' heard a sour note, missing a nomination in the reality competition category for the first time since 2012. The 26th season didn't have too many changes, with host Carson Daly returning, as well as judges Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani. The new faces were debut coaches Michael Bublé and Snoop Dogg. The season's winner was Sofronio Vasquez, the show's first foreign male winner and second winner of Asian descent. 'The Voice' has been nominated for an Emmy every year since its second season in 2012 with wins in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. But it will take a year off and watch one of the following shows take the crown: 'The Traitors,' 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' 'The Amazing Race,' 'Survivor' and 'Top Chef.'
Ring her bell
Kristen Bell has been a TV fixture for years — think 'Veronica Mars,' 'The Good Place' or 'Gossip Girl' — but has never gotten an Emmy nod — until now. In the Netflix romantic comedy series "Nobody Wants This," Bell plays an agnostic sex and dating podcaster who finds herself romantically drawn to a rabbi played by Adam Brody, who also earned a nod. Their on-screen chemistry and easy bantering has won over TV audiences and now Emmy voters.
Noah Wyle scrubs in for a nod
'The Pitt,' a throwback medical drama that's like a mashup of 'ER' and '24,' has been a ratings hit — among the top three most-watched HBO Max titles ever — and now 13 Emmy nods. 'The Pitt' throws us into the chaos of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center and takes viewers hour-by-hour through a single shift overseen by Noah Wyle's Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch. Wyle, who also a producer and writer, earned his first Emmy nod in 26 years, back when he was on 'ER.'
No cheers for Ted Danson
Ted Danson, surprisingly, will not be able to extend his record for the most nominations — 14 — in the best comedy actor category this year. He already received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance as Charles Nieuwendyk on the Netflix comedy 'A Man on the Inside.' Forbes called it 'one of the best shows of 2024' and Danson 'has never been better.' The Guardian said 'A Man on the Inside' was 'as good a vehicle as he has ever had.' It drew 12.4 million viewers, good enough for No. 14 on Nielsen's chart of most watched series that combines over-the-air, on demand or streaming.