Just four shows take up 37 of the acting Emmy nomination slots

The Hollywood Reporter

The Emmy voters' myopic decision to honor certain shows has crowded out other Peak TV options, says Robyn Bahr, noting that SNL has 11 acting nominations, Ted Lasso has seven, The Crown has nine and The Handmaid's Tale has 10. "Perhaps it is because single-show dominance ultimately belittles the spirit of Peak TV, which has elevated various tastes, viewpoints and artistic styles to both mainstream and cult audiences in the past decade," says Bahr. "This post-millennium golden age of television celebrates experimentalism in storytelling, which has led to new genres like 'the sadcom' and the rise of fresh-faced auteurs giving voice to communities that have been historically excluded from the television screen. Despite now including a relatively high number of honoree slots, the 73rd Primetime Emmy acting nominations still pointedly favor only a limited number of TV series. And these mostly benign series, while dripping in quality and prestige, still represent the sensitivities of mild palates...This is not to say that the casts of The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale or Ted Lasso don’t merit such recognition. (I won’t say the same for the cast of Saturday Night Live, as I’ve written extensively on why the unique skills of sketch performers should be honored in a separate category outside the supporting comedy actor races.) I do lament, however, that just four series took up 37 slots that could have been shared by other superlative TV performers, such as Rutherford Falls‘ snarky comedy duo Michael Greyeyes and Jana Schmieding, Girls5eva‘s deteriorating diva Renée Elise Goldsberry, It’s a Sin‘s doe-eyed naif Callum Scott Howells or P-Valley‘s Shakespearean leads Brandee Evans and Nicco Annan. Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that Emmy voters ignored multiple series that center on the complex lives of Native, Black and queer people. These bloated casts also crowded out performers from series like The Boys, Cobra Kai, Emily in Paris, PEN15 and The Underground Railroad — despite all earning a series nom in their respective categories. It’s a feat that previous winners Uzo Aduba, William H. Macy and Allison Janney were able to squeeze in."