The Bear went on a tear at Wednesday morning’s Emmy nominations with a comedy-series record 23, and Shōgun led all nominees with 25 in a dominant year across categories for FX.
Nominations for the acclaimed culinary phenomenon The Bear included best comedy series and best actor in a comedy series for Jeremy Allen White — both awards it won at January’s strike-delayed ceremony, along with best actress for Ayo Edebiri, who won best supporting actress last time around.
It was also boosted by a bounty of guest acting nominations, including Jamie Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman, two of many Oscar winners who landed nominations.
Shōgun took full advantage of the absence of last year’s top three nominees — Succession, The White Lotus and The Last of Us — to dominate in drama and give FX, with a leading 93 overall nominations, the kind of strong year often reserved for HBO, which even in this “off” year managed second with 91.
Its nominations included best drama series, best actress in a drama series for Anna Sawai and best actor for Hiroyuki Sanada.
The show shook up the drama race when its makers said in May that despite reaching the end of the story of James Clavell’s historical novel about political machinations in early 17th-century Japan, they would explore making more than one season, shifting the critical darling from the limited series category to the more prestigious drama one.
True Detective: Night Country was a bright spot for HBO, which lost Succession to retirement and is between seasons on The White Lotus and The Last of Us.
The show, a semi-spinoff of the True Detective franchise, led all limited or anthology series nominees with 19, including a best actress nomination for Jodie Foster for playing a police chief investigating mysterious deaths in the darkness of a north Alaskan winter. It’s expected to vie for the best limited series Emmy with Fargo, which had 15 nominations and gives FX a shot at a triple crown if its favorites win drama and comedy series, and Baby Reindeer, a minor cultural phenomenon and Emmy upstart for Netflix in recent months.
Foster was another of the Academy Award winners to get Emmy nods, along with fellow multiple Oscar winner Meryl Streep, up for best supporting actress in a comedy for Only Murders in the Building; reigning best supporting actor winner Robert Downey Jr., up for best supporting actor in a limited series for playing several characters in The Sympathizer; and Gary Oldman, up for best actor in a drama series for Slow Horses.
Only Murders, a perennial Emmy nominee for Hulu with few wins, outdid itself this year with 21, behind only Shōgun and The Bear. Leads Steve Martin and Martin Short were nominated for best actor, and, in her first Emmy nomination as a performer, Selena Gomez got a nod for best actress.
Old Emmy favorites also returned. Jon Hamm, who had one Emmy from 16 previous nominations, most of them for Mad Men, got two nominations, one for actor in a limited or anthology series for Fargo and another for supporting actor in a drama for The Morning Show. His Morning Show castmate Jennifer Aniston is considered by many the favorite to win best actress in a drama Emmy to go with the comedy actress trophy she won for Friends.
And four-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub has a shot at his fifth for reprising his role as Adrian Monk in Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie.
Getting back to its traditional schedule, the show will be held Sept. 15 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and air on ABC.
