“Shogun,” FX’s dramatic tale of 17th century Japan, and “The Bear,” FX’s comedy about a young chef’s efforts to turn a humble sandwich shop into a top-tier restaurant, dominated the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations announced Wednesday.
“Shogun” garnered a leading 25 nominations, including one for best drama series, while “The Bear” pulled in 23 nods, including for best comedy series.
The 23 nominations for “The Bear” marked a single-season record for a comedy series, topping the previous mark of 22 set by “30 Rock” in 2009.
In the major individual categories, “The Bear” also garnered nominations for Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri in the lead actor and actress categories — awards each of them captured last year.
The Hulu comedy “Only Murders in the Building” was next with 21 nominations, including one for best comedy, followed by “True Detective: Night Country” with 19 nods, “The Crown” with 18 including one for best drama, “Saturday Night Live” with 17, and “Fallout,” “Hacks,” “The Morning Show” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” with 16 apiece.
FX’s “Fargo,” meanwhile, picked up 15 nominations, including one for limited or anthology series as well as lead acting nods for Jon Hamm and Juno Temple.
Along with “Shogun” and “The Crown,” the nominees for best drama were “Fallout,” “The Gilded Age,” “The Morning Show,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Slow Horses” and “3 Body Problem.”
Nominated along with “The Bear” and “Only Murders” for best comedy series were “Abbott Elementary,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks,” “Palm Royale,” “Reservation Dogs” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”
Nominees for best limited or anthology series went to Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” and “Ripley,” FX’s “Fargo,” Apple TV+’s “Lessons in Chemistry” and HBO/Max’s “True Detective: Night Country.”
In the major individual categories, lead actor in a drama series nods went to Idris Elba in “Hijack,” Donald Glover in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” Walton Goggins in “Fallout,” Gary Oldman in “Slow Horses,” Hiroyuki Sanada in “Shogun” and Dominic West in “The Crown.”
Jennifer Aniston captured a nomination for lead actress in a drama series for her role in “The Morning Show,” along with castmate Reese Witherspoon. Joining them in that category were Carrie Coon in “The Guilded Age,” Maya Erskine in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” Anna Sawai in “Shogun” and Imelda Staunton in “The Crown.”
Competing against White for best actor in a comedy series are Matt Berry in “What We Do in the Shadows,” Larry David for the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Steve Martin and Martin Short for “Only Murders in the Building” and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai for “Reservation Dogs.”
Challenging Edebiri in the category of best actress in a comedy series will be Quinta Brunson in “Abbott Elementary,” Selena Gomez in “Only Murders in the Building,” Maya Rudolph in “Loot,” Jean Smart in “Hacks” and Kristen Wiig in “Palm Royale.”
Wednesday’s nominations reflected a changed Hollywood landscape, with last year’s actors’ and writers’ strikes contributing to a turnover in the nods.
Of last year’s eight nominees in the outstanding drama series category, only “The Crown” was eligible to be among this year’s eight nominees. The Netflix drama about the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II was nominated for the sixth time in its six-season run. Its final six episodes were released Dec. 14.
Meanwhile, only three of last year’s eight outstanding comedy series nominees were eligible for this year’s eight nominations — last year’s winner, “The Bear,” ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.”
The winner for the 2022-23 season, HBO’s “Succession,” and the AMC legal crime drama “Better Call Saul,” have both ended their runs.
HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” has now been nominated 11 times in the category during its intermittent 12-season run that began in 2000. The only time it failed to be nominated was during its first season.
HBO’s “Hacks” got back in the game after being nominated in each of its first two seasons but not releasing any new episodes during the eligibility period for last year’s nominations. FX’s comedy horror mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows” was nominated in 2020 and 2022 but failed to receive a nomination last year.
Emmy-winning actors Tony Hale (“Veep”) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary)” and Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego announced the nominations during a ceremony at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
Hale won outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series Emmys in 2013 and 2015 and was also nominated in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019 for his portrayal of the personal aide and body man to Vice President and President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in HBO’s “Veep.”
Ralph won the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series Emmy in 2022 and was again nominated in 2023 for her portrayal of kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard in ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.”
The 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 15 at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The bulk of the awards in 124 categories will be presented at the Creative Arts Emmys Sept. 7-8. Those awards are mainly in technical categories such as picture editing, costuming, hairstyling, makeup and sound, but also include awards for guest acting.