‘Succession’ tops Emmy nominations, ‘Squid Game’ also scores big

A satirical drama, ‘Succession’ captured the best drama trophy and eight other awards when it last vied for Emmys, in 2020

Succession’ received a leading 25 Emmy nominations, but the satirical drama about the rich and ruthless has a landmark rival in ‘Squid Game’, the first nonEnglish language series to vie for television’s top honour.

‘Squid Game’, a South Koreaset drama in which the poor are fodder for brutal games, earned a best drama nomination and 13 other bids for September’s Emmy Awards. ‘Succession’ captured the best drama trophy and eight other awards when it last vied for Emmys, in 2020.

“I’m in a grueling process of writing season two. These nominations add to the pressure but as much as the pressure increases, I would say that my motivation also increases, because I want to deliver on the expectations,” said Squid Game’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.

Besides these two shows, ‘Ted Lasso’ was the top comedy series nominee with 20 bids and has the chance to earn its second consecutive best comedy trophy, as academy voters proved undeterred by its sophomore season turn to the emotional dark side.

Other top nominees included the tropical resort-set anthology dramedy ‘The White Lotus’, which also received 20 nominations. The comedies ‘Hacks’ and ‘Only Murders in the Building’ got 17 bids each with teenage dysfunction drama ‘Euphoria’. Its star, Zendaya, who was crowned best actress in 2020, was nominated again.

Departing series that might have expected salutes were snubbed, including the beloved family drama ‘This Is Us’, which received one bid, for original music and lyrics. An equally beloved family comedy, ‘Black-ish’ earned costume and hairstyling nominations. ‘Ozark’, which wrapped its run last season, fared better, with 13 bids including best drama series.

The final season of ‘Insecure’ earned a lead comedy actress bid for its creator-star Issa Rae. At the same time, the return of ‘Atlanta’ brought its creator and lead Donald Glover a shot at the best actor trophy to bookend his 2017 award.

The crowd-pleasing and acclaimed ‘Abbott Elementary’ made a splashy debut in its first year, earning a best comedy nod and a lead acting bid for its creator, Quinta Brunson.

The other nominees for best comedy series are ‘Barry’; ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’; ‘The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’ and ‘What We Do in the Shadows’.

Best drama series nominees include ‘Better Call Saul’; ‘Euphoria’; ‘Severance’; ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Yellowjackets’.

‘What We Do in the Shadows’ and ‘Yellowjackets’, a combined thriller and coming-of-age saga that has created a major buzz, showed Emmy voters have both a sense of humour and adventure.

‘Only Murders in the Building’, a cheery crime romp headed by the charmingly unlikely trio of Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short, earned best comedy actor bids for its veteran stars but left Gomez off the list.

Netflix’s global sensation ‘Squid Game’ followed in the footsteps of the 2020 Oscar darling ‘Parasite’, also made in South Korea. But ‘Pachinko’, a sweeping and muchlauded South Korean family drama, failed to garner any Emmy nods.

The nominees for drama series actors are Jason Bateman (Ozark); Brian Cox (Succession); Lee Jungjae (Squid Game); Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul); Adam Scott (Severance) and Jeremy Strong (Succession).

The other nominees for the best drama series actress are Jodie Comer (Killing Eve); Laura Linney (Ozark); Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets); Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) and Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show).

“I came at this with so much passion and the desire to reveal myself and challenging behaviour in how women are treated. I greatly admire and desperately wanted to do justice to Pamela Anderson. I had no choice but to work harder than ever. I gave everything into it,” said Lily James, nominated for best actress in ‘Pam & Tommy’.

The Emmy ceremony is set for September 12 and will air on NBC.

‘These nominations add to the pressure but as much as the pressure increases, my motivation also increases,’ said Squid Game’s creator