Watching last year’s Emmys (which, thanks to the strikes, actually took place this year in January), you would have been able to follow along quite capably if you had simply watched three shows — “Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef.”
OK … you’d have felt really in the know if you had a penchant for limited series about serial killers (Paul Walter Hauser won for “Black Bird” and Niecy Nash-Betts for “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”) and kept up with Jennifer Coolidge’s nutty exploits in “The White Lotus.” John Oliver won a couple of Emmys too, as will happen, and Quinta Brunson took comedy lead actress for “Abbott Elementary.”
But, mostly, it was “Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef.” Rinse and repeat. September’s ceremony might sport a bit more variety. You may need to watch, oh, five series to feel in the loop. Two of them are comedies. (Well, they are competing in the comedy categories, at least.) Read on to find out what they are.
COMEDY SERIES
“Abbott Elementary”
“The Bear”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Hacks”
“Only Murders in the Building”
“Palm Royale”
“Reservation Dogs”
“What We Do in the Shadows”
Winner: “The Bear”
“The Bear” won 10 Emmys for its first season, including comedy series, writing, directing and prizes for actors Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Its second season, which premiered in June 2023, was even better, including two of the best episodes of television this decade — “Fishes” and “Forks.” Its third season dropped shortly after Emmy nominations voting ended this year and, as the first half of a two-part storyline (the third and upcoming fourth seasons were filmed together), it felt, at times, like the show was spinning its wheels just a bit. That led to an inevitable “‘The Bear’ isn’t all that” backlash, which won’t affect the show’s prospects this year at all. It’s going to win just about everything.
COMEDY ACTRESS
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”
Maya Rudolph, “Loot”
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Kristen Wiig, “Palm Royale”
Winner: Smart
Smart won this Emmy for the first two seasons of “Hacks.” The actors’ and writers’ strikes, as well as a heart procedure for Smart, delayed the show’s third season. But it came back strong with its best edition yet, burrowing into the ever-evolving, complicated relationship between Smart’s showbiz legend and Hannah Einbinder’s progressive, young writing partner. This is the toughest comedy category to predict, as the award could easily go to the deserving Edebiri in a big, Emmy-night “Bear” hug. I’m not quite ready to call it yet (check back in September), but I suspect Smart will win again. She brought new depths of vulnerability to Deborah Vance and has become as much of an icon as her character is.
COMEDY ACTOR
Matt Berry, “What We Do in the Shadows”
Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”
Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, “Reservation Dogs”
Winner: White
This category boasts three comedy legends (Short, Martin and David), two first-time nominees (Berry for the fifth season of “What We Do in the Shadows” and Woon-A-Tai for the third and final year of “Reservation Dogs”) and White, who won last year and will prevail again for the season that ended with Carmy melting down while locked inside the restaurant’s walk-in fridge. “No amount of good is worth how terrible this feels,” he says, a vibe that won’t ever be used as evidence that “The Bear” belongs in the comedy categories.
COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Carol Burnett, “Palm Royale”
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Meryl Streep, “Only Murders in the Building”
Winner: Einbinder
With the third season’s focus on the shifting power dynamics in the relationship between Ava and Deborah, “Hacks” gave Einbinder room to play a character growing as confident and ambitious as her mentor. You’d hardly recognize Ava if you went back and watched the first episode. Einbinder is really the co-lead of the series, particularly this year when the show stripped back the screen time of most of the supporting characters. But it’s also OK to see Einbinder in this category because “Hacks” is all about Deborah Vance. Don’t you dare try standing in her spotlight.
COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
Lionel Boyce, “The Bear”
Paul W. Downs, “Hacks”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Paul Rudd, “Only Murders in the Building”
Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary”
Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”
Winner: Moss-Bachrach
“I wear suits now.” How did this happen? How did Moss-Bachrach’s Richie go from being “always and forever, the f— worst,” as he was described in the series’ opening episode, to being a guy who has put aside his anger (except for toward Carmy) and aimlessness and embraced purpose and confidence. This transformation happened in the episode “Forks,” but Moss-Bachrach had been showing us Richie’s tenderness all along, so when everything clicks in at Chef Terry’s restaurant, it made us cry with joy. Have you ever been so invested in a television character’s success? Go Richie!
COMEDY GUEST ACTRESS
Olivia Colman, “The Bear”
Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Bear”
Kaitlin Olson, “Hacks”
Maya Rudolph, “Saturday Night Live”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “Only Murders in the Building”
Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live”
Winner: Curtis
Lead actress nominees Wiig and Rudolph are reunited again for their terrific work returning to their alma mater. It’s Rudolph’s 16th nomination and fourth for headlining “SNL.” Then there are the two Oscar winners — Colman and Curtis — nominated for “The Bear.” Colman was sublime as the soothing chef mentoring Richie in “Forks,” while Curtis blew in like a hurricane for the legendary Christmas Eve dinner episode “Fishes.” Curtis’ portrayal of the alcoholic mother inflicting (and enveloped in) trauma wins going away.
COMEDY GUEST ACTOR
Jon Bernthal, “The Bear”
Matthew Broderick, “Only Murders in the Building”
Ryan Gosling, “Saturday Night Live”
Christopher Lloyd, “Hacks”
Bob Odenkirk, “The Bear”
Will Poulter, “The Bear”
Winner: Bernthal
Bernthal and Odenkirk, adversaries in “Fishes,” are pitted against each another again. (Will they be packing forks in their tuxedo pockets?) Odenkirk was one of several perfectly cast actors in the episode, a force capable of matching Bernthal’s intensity and obstinacy. “You’re nothing!” his Uncle Lee screams at Bernthal’s Mikey. Bernthal wins for the anguished close-up response to that baiting, as well as the scene between the brothers. (Side note: No disrespect to Poulter, who made me want to drop everything, travel to Copenhagen and train to be a pastry chef. In fact, I still might.)