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LOS ANGELES — “This Is Us.” And that is them.
When Emmy nominations were announced Thursday, one side of the TV coin hinted that broadcast’s cultural relevance might be staging a comeback. This was thanks largely to the 11 nods granted NBC’s “This Is Us,” which broke out last fall as something no one had seen in years: a hit mainstream family drama that had everybody talking (and sometimes choking up) while critics swooned.
The show’s hold on the nation’s hearts and eyeballs was further demonstrated by Emmy nominations that include those for best drama series, two for lead actor, and two more for best supporting actor and supporting actress.
NBC also scored mightily with its 22 nominations for “Saturday Night Live,” which, flourishing in the politically charged Age of Donald Trump, tied with HBO’s exotic thriller “Westworld” for most nominations.
In all, NBC landed 64 nominations, vaulting far ahead of fellow broadcast networks ABC with 34, CBS with 29 and Fox’s 21.
Even so, HBO, as usual, claimed first place with 110 nods, while streaming service Netflix had a robust 91.
That represents the other side of the coin, both in the TV universe overall, and, more specifically, for the Emmys, where broad-based,
popular programs must vie with niche and premium programming for Emmy love. (The awards-cast is scheduled to air Sept. 17 on CBS, with Stephen Colbert as host.)
Netflix big-shouldered the nominations’ best drama category with three contenders: “The Crown,” ”House of Cards” and “Stranger Things.” Rival streaming platform Hulu got its first-ever nods, totaling 18, and Amazon had 16.
“This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman says he initially had an instinct to pitch his prospective series not to a broadcast network, but to cable, “because cable can be considered cooler,” as he explained Thursday. “But the show didn’t feel like it needed to be on cable.”
“I think there is a place for television that is for everybody, art that is for everybody, that also hopefully can live in the conversation with the darker, edgier stuff,” he said.
This is the remarkable feat of “This Is Us.”
FX was the leader among cable, scoring 55 nominations and reinforcing its image of coolness with such edgy fare as “Feud: Bette and Joan,” about the epic clash of Hollywood divas Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, which reaped 18 nominations, and the third season of “Fargo,” which got 16 nods.
HBO’s “Veep,” the most-nominated comedy with 17 bids, is bucking for its third consecutive top comedy trophy. Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has the chance to build on her record of most wins for a lead comedy actress: She has five for “Veep” and one for “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”
But Emmy voters showed their willingness to recognize new comic voices. Donald Glover’s freshman FX series “Atlanta” earned a best comedy bid, as did Netflix’s “Master of None,” starring Aziz Ansari.
There was also room for “Modern Family,” an old favorite on broadcast network ABC, although it earned only a handful of bids besides best comedy.