'Widow's Bay' wins 8 Emmys and could win up to 6 more

I closed 'PBS NewsHour' on 9/11 25 years later by telling my readers, "Stay tuned for more Emmy Awards coverage. Tragedy today, comedy tomorrow." I begin by sharing 78th Emmys Nominations: Comedy Series from the Television Academy.

The nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series are Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo's Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders In The Building, Shrinking and Widow's Bay.

Widow's Bay was the big winner Sunday night, taking home eight Emmys. It also has seven nominations at next Monday's Primetime Emmy Awards, tying it with Hacks, which only earned one Emmy on Sunday. Abbott Elementary follows with six pending nominations but no wins, then Shrinking with five nominations, Margo's Got Money Troubles with four nominations pending and three wins, The Bear with three nominations and one win, Only Murders in the Building with two nominations, and Nobody Wants This with only this one.

Gold Derby's prognosticators reacted to Widow's Bay's Creative Arts Emmy Awards eight wins the same way they did to DTF St. Louis winning six Emmy Awards, elevating it over the prior favorite, Hacks. The latest odds have improved 26% for Widow's Bay while they've dropped 24% for Hacks, as 87.0% of experts, 70.0% of editors, and 65.8% of users are now voting for Widow's Bay, while 13.0% of experts. 30.0% of editors, and 32.7% of users are sticking with Hacks. The remaining 1.5% of users have made long-shot bets on the rest of the nominees, 0.4% each for Abbott Elementary and The Bear (lo, how the mighty have fallen!), 0.3% each for Margo's Got Money Troubles and Only Murders in the Building, and 0.1% for Nobody Wants This. No one picked poor Shrinking.

The next category in Gold Derby order is 78th Emmys Nominations: Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

The nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series are Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Elle Fanning, Lisa Kudrow and Jean Smart.

Meanwhile, the Gold Derby odds have actually improved for Jean Smart by 2% this week as every editor, 91.7% of experts, and 92.1% of users expect she will repeat for her final turn at the role. Speaking of final turns, the remaining 8.3% of experts along with 5.6% chose Lisa Kudrow for her final season of The Comeback. The rest of the users distributed their picks among Saturn Award winner Elle Fanning with 1.4%, Quinta Brunson with 0.8%, and Ayo Edebiri with 0.2%.

The last category that the Television Academy uploaded a video for is 78th Emmys Nominations: Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

The nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series are Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Steve Carell, Matthew Rhys, Jason Segel, and Martin Short.

On the other hand, the odds for Matthew Rhys increased 2% this week as every editor and expert along with 95.5% of users expect he will walk away from the podium with his second Emmy (he's likely to get a third for the show as a producer). Martin Short is the users' second choice with 3.0%, followed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jason Segal tied at 0.6%, then Steve Carell with the final 0.3%.

The Gold Derby odds for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series had been close until Sunday, but that night's results caused Kate O'Flynn to fly high above Hannah Einbeinder, as O'Flynn's chances rose 16%, while Einbeinder's dropped 14% and Janelle James' odds sank 2% with hers. O'Flynn is now the choice of 83.3% of experts, 60.0% of editors and 74.3% of users, while Einbeinder retains 12.5% of experts, 30.0% of editors, and 21.7% of users. James has the remaining 4.2% of experts plus 2.5% of users. Professional and user opinion splits on the rest of the field, as the last 10.0% of experts but only 0.4% of users decided Dale Dickey deserves the Emmy, while 1.1% of users made Michelle Pfeiffer their choice. No one is picking Megan Stalter or Jessica Williams.

Harrison Ford's odds dropped 8% this week pulling Paul W. Downs 3% with him while Stephen Root's chances rose 11%. Even so, Ford still leads with the support of 58.3% of experts, 20.0% of editors, and 57.2% of users, while Root is gaining as the choice of 80.0% of editors, 25.0% of experts, and 33.9% of users. Gold Derby's editors really like Widow's Bay. Downs' chances depend on retaining 12.5% of experts and 4.7% of users. Professionals and amateurs diverge on fourth on the odds, as 4.2% of experts but only 0.4% of users count Colman Domingo in, while 3.1% of users opt for Nick Offerman. Tyler James Williams' chances also fell 1% this week as he now has the votes of 0.5% of users, while Michael Urie retains the support of 0.1% of users.

Those are all the nominees in front of the camera. Follow over the jump for all the nominees behind the camera and the winners on Sunday night.

Celebrating diversity in acting winners at the 2026 Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards for MLK Day weekend

I'm continuing my celebration of diversity in movies and television at awards shows with the acting winners in addition to those in Sinners with the relevant passage from the Golden Globes press release.

A Warner Bros. Discovery release, “One Battle [After Another]” was the leading contender going into the evening with nine total nominations. It won the most too; along with best motion picture – musical or comedy, the eerily contemporary action satire won the supporting actress prize for Teyana Taylor and scored trophies for both screenplay and director for filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.

Watch as Teyana Taylor Wins Best Supporting Female Actor – Motion Picture | 83rd Annual Golden Globes.

Teyana Taylor accepts the Best Supporting Female Actor – Motion Picture award for One Battle After Another at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes.

Taylor expressed her emotions and thoughts again in Teyana Taylor Interview | 83rd Annual Golden Globes.

Best Supporting Female Actor – Motion Picture winner Teyana Taylor is so grateful for her win for “One Battle After Another.” She discusses her character being a collaboration between herself and Paul Thomas Anderson, how she was approached for the role, and the moment she knew the project was a "yes."

Congratulations to Taylor for her surprising win — the prognosticators at Gold Derby had her in second behind Amy Madigan — and to Paul Thomas Anderson for his more expected wins for Best Director and Best Screenplay along with the producers for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.


I'm returning to the press release for the next winner I'm recognizing today: "Neon’s 'The Secret Agent,' a shaggy dog historical thriller set in the nooks and crannies of Brazil’s mid-2[0]th century dictatorship, also won two prizes: best non-English language motion picture and best actor in a motion picture – drama, for star Wagner Moura." Watch as Wagner Moura Wins Best Male Actor – Motion Picture – Drama | 83rd Annual Golden Globes.

Wagner Moura accepts the Best Male Actor – Motion Picture – Drama award at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes.

Congratulations to Moura for winning Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and to producers of The Secret Agent for winning Best Non-English Language Motion Picture. Gold Derby predicted both wins, although the latter contest was very close.

Those are the diverse acting winners at the Golden Globes. Follow over the jump for diverse acting winners at the Critics Choice Awards.

'Nobody Wants This' leads comedy nominees at the Critics Choice Awards, but could lose to 'The Studio'

As I promised yesterday, I'm returning with comedy series nominees at the Critics Choice Awards.

BEST COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Elsbeth (CBS)
Ghosts (CBS)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)
The Studio (Apple TV)

Nobody Wants This leads Best Comedy Series with five nominations, followed by Ghosts and Hacks with four, Abbott Elementary, The Righteous Gemstones, and The Studio with three, Elsbeth with two, and Only Murders in the Building with just this one. Based on The Studio winning a total of thirteen Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series, the Gold Derby odds should favor The Studio and they do. Every editor and expert plus 92.2% of the users selected The Studio to win. It's followed by Hacks with 3.1% user support, Abbott Elementary with 1.7%, Only Murders in the Building with 1.1%, and the rest with less than one percent.

The series earning acting nominations but which missed a program nomination are A Man on the Inside, St. Denis Medical, Murderbot, Poker Face, The Paper, Peacemaker, and Saturday Night Live with one each. Follow over the jump for those and the rest of the acting nominations.

The 2025 Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards nominees

This week's Sunday entertainment feature examines the nominees for the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards, a program I've been following since 2017.

I'm pleased that this year's nominees for feature film, Jurassic World Rebirth, Wicked, and The Wild Robot, are all speculative fiction, one each from science fiction, fantasy, and animation, although The Wild Robot earned two nominations as science fiction in this year's Critics Choice Super Awards. This demonstrates once again that genre entertainment can convey serious messages in the middle of all the escapism. Speaking of serious messages, a combination of environmental content and star power decides these awards and that makes me think that Jurassic World Rebirth is the favorite. Its theme of the importance of biodiversity as natural capital is as strong as the respect for nature in The Wild Robot and stronger as an environmental theme than the animal rights subplot in Wicked. Jurassic World Rebirth also has as much star power as Wicked, although previous host Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard of Oz, which might tip the balance, and more than The Wild Robot. Sorry, I don't think Lupita Nyong'o in a voice-acting role is enough.

I expect to vote on two of these nominees at the upcoming Saturn Awards, Jurassic World Rebirth, which is my co-favorite with Lilo & Stitch for Best Science Fiction Film and Wicked, which is my choice for Best Fantasy Film. The Wild Robot already won Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards, but lost to Flow at the Academy Awards. As I wrote in April, I now have Flow penciled in for Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards. I also now have Flow as a snub for the EMA Awards. I think it had the environmental content, but it was a foreign film with no dialog, so no Hollywood star power!


Now for the nominees I can recommend to my students as extra credit. My pick is Emmy winner Octopus! on the basis of environmental content and star power. I predicted I would see it nominated at the EMA Awards and I was right. The Last Rhinos: A New Hope and Yanuni have as stong environmental themes, but no other awards nominations and no Hollywood stars. However, Yanuni has a compelling personal story, which might be enough for it to upset Octopus!

Follow over the jump for the television nominees.

'The Studio' wins four more Emmy Awards for a total of thirteen

I closed 'Adolescence' sweeps its categories at the Emmy Awards with one win for 'The Penguin' with a program note.

The Penguin had such a headstart on awards that it ended up with nine, one more than Adolescence. Congratulations! Only The Studio beat it with a total of 13, including four major awards, the second most last night. I plan on examining The Studio, Hacks, and Somebody Somewhere on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

Here is a comparison between the Gold Derby odds I included in 'The Studio' wins 9 Emmy Awards and could win up to 6 more and the actual winners beginning with Outstanding Comedy Series.

The Gold Derby odds roughly follow this order, as The Studio leads with every expert, 80.0% of editors, and 89.1% of users picking it to win, while Hacks has the votes of the remaining 20.0% of editors and 7.8% of users. The rest of the field has 1.0% or less with no users supporting Nobody Wants This. I guess nobody does. On the other hand, it looks like Gold Derby expects the Emmy electorate to vote for one of the two nominees about the entertainment business. I agree. Electorates matter.

The prediction came true. Watch as The Studio accepts the Emmy for Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

The Studio accepts the Emmy for Comedy Series at the 77th Emmy Awards.

I've never mentioned Brad Garrett, one of the presenters, on this blog before. He was one year behind me in middle school and high school and I can attest that he was just as funny then. He even attended UCLA, my undergraduate alma mater, before dropping out to pursue his comedy career, so he and I were students there, too. That connection means I'm always glad to see him on TV.

Enough about the presenters. I haven't watched the show yet, but I'm genuinely happy for Seth Rogan and all the rest of the cast and crew of The Studio. As for the donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs, maybe the Television Academy should institute a swear jar next year.

Now for a category The Studio wasn't going to win.

Every editor, 92.3% of experts, and 95.1% of users at Gold Derby expect Jean Smart to repeat. One expert (7.7%) and 1.8% of users think Kristen Bell will upset Smart. Only 1.7% anticipate Ayo Edebiri winning, followed by 1.1% behind Quinta Brunson and 0.3% under Uzo Aduba. I became a fan of Bell's when she starred in The Good Place, but I think this is Smart's to lose.

And it was. Watch Smart win Lead Actress In A Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Jean Smart accepts the Emmy for Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for Hacks at the 77th Emmy Awards.

Jean Smart either had a good idea she was going to win or was fortuitously behind the scenes for another reason; she wasn't one of the presenters. Just the same, congratulations on her fourth win on four nominations for this role.

Now for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Every editor and expert plus 88.6% of users expect Seth Rogen to snag his first Emmy. Martin Short has the support of 7.3% of users, followed by two-time returning winner Jeremy Allen White with 3.7%, Adam Brody with 0.3%, and Jason Segal with 0.2%.

This also went as predicted, with Rogan winning Lead Actor In A Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Seth Rogen accepts the Emmy for Lead Actor In A Comedy Series for The Studio at the 77th Emmy Awards.

What a standing ovation for Stephen Colbert! CBS canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert may have been enough to drive me to drink, but it elicited an outpouring of support from Hollywood. Stephen deserved it.

I'll get to Stephen's awards later this month. Now for Seth Rogen, who obviously didn't read Gold Derby, or else he would have been prepared. He started off the evening with no Emmys and ended it with four, acting, directing, producing, and writing, all of The Studio's wins on Sunday. Congratulations!

Now for an award that Gold Derby called, barely, but which probably got away from The Studio because of vote splitting.

The prognosticators at Gold Derby think there is a three-way race for this contest. Since the users primarily set the odds, Hannah Einbinder leads with 58.3% of experts, 33.3% of editors, and 68.9% of users. I'm not convinced. Catherine O'Hara sits in second with 33.3% of experts, 60.0% of editors, and 20.5% of users. In cases like this, I tend to go with the editors. Returning winner Liza Colon-Zayas has an expert (8.3%) and 3.4% of users expecting her to return to the podium. Janelle James is close behind with 3.3% of users, followed by Kathryn Hahn at 2.8%, Jessica Williams at 0.7%, and Sheryl Lee Ralph at 0.3%.

The experts and users called it, as Hannah Einbinder won Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Hannah Einbinder accepts the Emmy for Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for Hacks at the 77th Emmy Awards.

That was a fun bit of nostalgia hearing Reba McEntire, Karen Fairchild, and Kimberly Schlapman sing the theme to The Golden Girls. The audience enjoyed it, too. Also, congratulations to Einbinder on finally winning an Emmy for this particular role, although her penultimate statement serves as another example that the Emmys need a swear jar.

After four successful calls, Gold Derby almost completely blew the next category.

Now to re-examine a category I covered in last month's 'Saturday Night Live' earned seven Emmy nominations for its 50th season.

Bowen Yang is the only acting nominee from SNL, but he's merely in the middle of the pack according to the odds-makers at Gold Derby. Ike Barinholtz from The Studio leads with 38.5% of the experts and 57.6% of the users, but no editors. I'm not convinced. I'm more confident in the second place nominee, Harrison Ford from Shrinking, who is the choice of 53.8% of experts, all editors, and 32.9% of users. The rest of the experts, 7.7%, and 3.1% of users think defending winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach from The Bear will repeat, which would be my default position in the absence of the odds. Yang is in fourth with 2.7% of users, followed by Colman Domingo from The Four Seasons at 1.7%, Jeff Hiller from Somebody Somewhere at 1.4%, and Michael Urie, the other nominee from Shrinking, in last at 0.6%. I will re-examine these odds when I look at the comedy series nominees next month. I expect the order of the top three to change by then.

I was wrong; the top three have remained the same as Ike Barinholtz still leads with 41.7% of the experts and 57.8% of the users, but no editors. Harrison Ford is the choice of 58.3% of experts, all editors, and 37.2% of users. The experts have abandoned defending winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach, although 2.1% of users still support him. The rest of the rankings haven't changed, either. I think the users are wrong in expecting what passes for a sweep by The Studio and Ford will give Shrinking its only Emmy.

Surprise, none of the top four choices won. Instead, the voters pulled the final fifth choice, Jeff Hiller from Somebody Somewhere, out of a hat like a magician's rabbit. Watch Hiller win Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Jeff Hiller accepts the Emmy for Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series for Somebody Somewhere at the 77th Emmy Awards.

If it makes James Marsden, Sterling K. Brown, and Julianne Nicholson feel better, I'll suggest Paradise to the Television Committee at the Saturn Awards as an action/thriller series. Who knows, the acting committee might even nominate one of them, most likely Marsden, for an acting award. As for Hiller, great speech and congratulations!

Now for the first of two awards Rogen won behind the camera.

On the other hand, a near-sweep for The Studio should catch this award in its broom, as every editor and expert plus 95.8% of users have selected The Studio to win Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. The rest of the nominees are not even close with The Bear a distant second at 2.4% of users, Hacks at 1.3%, The Rehearsal at 0.6%, and Mid-Century Modern with none.

Gold Derby returned to form, as Rogen won Directing For A Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg accept the Emmy for Directing For A Comedy Series for The Studio at the 77th Emmy Awards.

I'm glad someone from The White Lotus got on stage; the show was shut out at Sunday's ceremony and only won one Creative Arts Emmy Award. As for Rogen and Goldberg, congratulations!

I close with Rogen's fourth award, which Gold Derby nearly called.

On the other hand, Hacks is about comedy writing as much as performance, so it should be no surprise that most prognosticators at Gold Derby think it will successfully defend Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, as 66.7% of experts, 60.0% of editors, and 75.4% of users predict it will repeat. The Studio is close behind with 40.0% of editors, 25.0% of experts, and 19.5% of users thinking it will contribute to a near-sweep. One of the experts (8.3%) and 2.6% of users are picking The Rehearsal to upset. The rest of the field consists of Abbott Elementary, What We Do in the Shadows, and Somebody Somewhere with 1.2%, 0.8%, and 0.5% user support.

Writing For A Comedy Series: 77th Emmy Awards.

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez accept the Emmy for Writing For A Comedy Series for The Studio at the 77th Emmy Awards.

My wife and I are finishing up our series binge of E.R., and I can believe that it would mess up The Gilmore Girls's snow episode, even if it's just a joke. I also think this bit was better at showing the importance of writers than the goofy one for limited series. As for Rogen and the rest of the writers, they understood the assignment and kept their speeches short. Congratulations!

That's a wrap for today's installment. Stay tuned for the next episode on Friday, which will be on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's Emmy Awards, followed by the drama series winners on Saturday. In the meantime, I'm planning on celebrating Constitution Day a day late tomorrow with a sequel to PBS's 'Civics Made Easy' on political parties, Electoral College, and fundraising.

Previous posts about the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards

• No PSAs among nominees for Outstanding Commercial plus winners for Outstanding Promotional Announcement at the Emmy Awards
• 'I Am: Celine Dion,' 'Patrice: The Movie,' and 'The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,' Emmy nominees for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking
• 'Asia' and 'The Americas' lead nature documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Pee-wee as Himself' vs. 'Will & Harper' for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special on Tequila Day
• '100 Foot Wave' leads Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series in nominations, but could lose to 'SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night'
• 'The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
• Emmy nominee 'Desi Lydic Foxsplains the Epstein Files' plus the rest of the short form nominees at the Emmy Awards
• John Oliver examines 'Gang Databases' plus 'Last Week Tonight's six Emmy nominations
• Colbert, Lydic, and Meyers take closer looks at the EPA and Epstein and Kimmel goes down the rabbit hole on 'windmills'
• 'Jeopardy!' favored to win Game Show categories at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Welcome to Wrexham' vs. 'Love on the Spectrum' for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program at the Emmy Awards
• 'Shark Tank' vs. 'Queer Eye' for Outstanding Structured Reality Program at the Emmy Awards
• 'RuPaul's Drag Race' leads nominations for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, but 'The Traitors' will likely win again
• 'Arcane' leads Gold Derby odds to win Outstanding Animated Program at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'Rebel Ridge' leads Gold Derby odds to win Outstanding Television Movie at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• Nate Bargatze vs. Conan O'Brien for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) at the Emmys
• 'Saturday Night Live' earned seven Emmy nominations for its 50th season
• 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' leads nominees for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the Emmys
• 'Arcane,' 'Love, Death + Robots,' and 'Octopus!' already Emmy Award winners
• Gold Derby's predictions for guest actors and actresses at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• Gold Derby's predictions for title design and music at the Emmy Awards
• Gold Derby's predictions for casting at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
• 'The Penguin' has already won 8 Emmys, but could lose to 'Adolescence'
• 'The Studio' wins 9 Emmy Awards and could win up to 6 more
• 'Severance' already won six Emmy Awards and could win up to five more
• 'Jeopardy!' and Jimmy Kimmel win Game Show categories at the Emmy Awards
• 'Adolescence' sweeps its categories at the Emmy Awards with one win for 'The Penguin'
• 'Arcane' and 'Love, Death & Robots' both earn four Emmy Awards

'Shogun' and 'The Bear' win six 2024 Gold Derby TV Awards each

I'm sharing 2024 Gold Derby TV Awards ceremony: Watch many exciting acceptance speeches for 21st annual awards as the Sunday entertainment feature.

Watch the exciting 37-minute 2024 Gold Derby TV Awards winners ceremony featuring winner speeches for many of the 30 categories! Thousands of passionate TV fans worldwide voted on our winners. This year marks our 21st anniversary of handing out these awards (with all nominees and winners from the past 21 years featured on IMDb awards pages and at Gold Derby).

Nominees for Best Drama Series are The Crown, The Curse, Elsbeth, Fallout, The Gilded Age, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Morning Show and Shogun.

Nominees for Best Comedy Series are Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Girls5eva, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building, Our Flag Means Death, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows.

Nominees for Best Limited Series are Baby Reindeer, The Fall of the House of Usher, Fargo, Fellow Travelers, Lessons in Chemistry, Ripley, Sympathizer and True Detective: Night Country.

On the one hand, the Gold Derby voters nominated a handful of shows that the Emmy Awards ignored. The Curse and Elsbeth replaced 3 Body Problem and Slow Horses in drama series, Girls5eva and Our Flag Means Death replaced Curb Your Enthusiasm and Palm Royale, and expanded the limited series field to include The Fall of the House of Usher, Fellow Travelers, and The Sympathizer. On the other, they won't have much if any effect on the Television Academy, which started voting after Gold Derby announced because the winners of the series categories will almost certainly be the same at the Emmy Awards; Gold Derby has been predicting them for months. Still, the few differences in performing and the other show categories serve as examples of electorates mattering.

Speaking of which, the Gold Derby Awards and Emmy Awards only completely snubbed four or five shows on each others lists. The Emmys completely ignored The Curse, Elsbeth, Our Flag Means Death, and The Fall of the House of Usher, all nominated at the Gold Derby Awards. I might submit some of these to the Saturn Awards, although The Curse isn't their kind of show — too subtle and artistic instead of entertaining — and Elsbeth might be too conventional. On the other hand, they might like Our Flag Means Death and I expect The Fall of the House of Usher will earn a nomination or two without my help.

Follow over the jump for more discussion of the winners.

Gold Derby's predictions for Emmy-nominated shows

I closed Colbert, Meyers, and 'The Daily Show' take more closer looks at Project 2025 by writing "I might move up the Sunday entertainment feature to tomorrow because Sunday is Bastille Day." Since the Emmy nominations will be revealed next week, I'm sharing the Gold Derby editors' Emmy nomination predictions for series and TV movies.


Gold Derby's Emmy nomination predictions begin with comedy series, so that's were I begin as well. As of last night, the the top eight comedy series were The Bear, Hacks, Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, Curb Your Enthusiasm, What We Do in the Shadows, Palm Royale, and Reservation Dogs. The Gentlemen and Colin from Accounts effectively tie for ninth, while one editor each thinks Ghosts and Girls5Eva will earn nominations. The experts agree on the top eight, while the top 24 users think The Gentlemen will knock out Palm Royale. The former may be funnier, but the latter has more star power, which makes me think it has the advantage, at least among the actors.


Gold Derby's next category is drama series, the top eight among the editors consists of Shogun, The Crown, The Morning Show, The Gilded Age, Fallout, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Slow Horses, and The Curse. Shogun moved from limited series to drama series just in time to make the ballot in this category, unseating The Crown as the favorite and knocking 3 Body Problem out of the predicted top eight. The experts and top 24 users agree with the editors' top eight, although the users think Ahsoka will be the series knocked out by the addition of Shogun; they have 3 Body Problem in tenth and Loki in eleventh.


Moving Shogun out of limited series helped Baby Reindeer, which is now favored to win, and Ripley, which is now in fifth by a hair. The rest of the limited series field predicted by Gold Derby's editors, experts, and top 24 users are Fargo, Lessons in Chemistry, and True Detective: Night Country. The editors and experts think Fellow Travelers will be the show that just misses the cutoff, while the users think it will be Masters of the Air.


The Gold Derby editors have a statistical tie for the fifth Emmy nomination in television movies, giving both The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and Scoop five votes each. The last slot may be even more unsettled, as No One Will Save You has four editor votes. The editors' top four consists of Mr. Monk's Last Case, Red, White and Royal Blue, Quiz Lady, and The Great Lillian Hall. The experts and top 24 users disagree, thinking both The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and Scoop will make the top five while The Great Lillian Hall won't. This will be another category worth watching.

Follow over the jump for the remaining four show categories.

The '2023 Emmys Celebrates Diversity With Most Winning Actors of Color' for the week of MLK Day

I celebrated diversity in acting winners at the Golden Globes on Sunday, so it's time to do the same for the Emmy Awards winners, as I promised thrice. The Hollywood Reporter made it easy for me by uploading 2023 Emmys Celebrates Diversity With Most Winning Actors of Color.

The 2023 Emmy Awards were its most diverse yet! The Emmys celebrated its 75th anniversary on Monday night after being pushed 4 months due to the dual writers and actors strikes. Appropriately falling on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the show handed out five of the 12 acting Emmys during the telecast to performers of color.

In addition to Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Niecy Nash-Betts, Ali Wong, and Steven Yeun winning as actors, Lee Sung Jin won three Emmys for producing, writing, and directing Beef, the last of which he shared with Wong and Yeun, who IMDB lists as executive producers of the limited series, for five Primetime Emmys for the show. Added to the three Creative Arts Emmy Awards the show won, that's a total of eight, tying it with The Last of Us and only surpassed by The Bear with ten total Emmy Awards.

The Hollywood Reporter also noted that RuPaul won a 15th Emmy for RuPaul's Drag Race and Trevor Noah won for The Daily Show. IMDB shows the former is warranted, as it lists RuPaul as a producer. On the other hand, I'm not seeing Noah listed as a producer of The Daily Show, so he may have accepted the award, but I don't know if he gets to keep it. That may be an omission on the part of IMDB, not a mistake by The Hollywood Reporter. I found two errors in the IMDB page for the 51st Saturn Awards and the IMDB pages for the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards are complete messes. It's enough to make me want to volunteer for the EMA to fix them as a retirement project.

Follow over the jump for The Hollywood Reporter mentioning other dimensions of diversity recognized at Monday night's ceremony.

'Succession' vs. 'The Last of Us' split drama guest acting nominees at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards plus Gold Derby predictions

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be held — finally! — this Saturday, January 6, and Sunday, January 7, 2024. The latter is the same day as the Golden Globes, so it's time to write this season's edition of Guest acting nominations at the 2022 Emmy Awards — Gold Derby weighs in. Here are the acting nominees at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Murray Bartlett – The Last of Us: "Long, Long Time" as Frank (HBO)
James Cromwell – Succession: "Church and State" as Ewan Roy (HBO)
Lamar Johnson – The Last of Us: "Endure and Survive" as Henry (HBO)
Arian Moayed – Succession: "Honeymoon States" as Stewy Hosseini (HBO)
Nick Offerman – The Last of Us: "Long, Long Time" as Bill (HBO)
Keivonn Montreal Woodard – The Last of Us: "Endure and Survive" as Sam (HBO)

Four nominees from The Last of Us and two from Succession — no matter who wins, HBO does as well, which makes it an even more extreme case of HBO dramas and 'SNL' split the nominees for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series at the 2023 Emmy Awards, where only one nominee isn't from an HBO show. Despite the advent of streaming, the guest acting drama nominees reflect the pre-Netflix reality from 1996 to 2009, when "It's Not TV, It's HBO" was the slogan of the cable channel and people accepted it. Some things haven't changed, at least at the Television Academy. That won't be the case for comedy, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I voted for Nick Offerman at the Saturn Awards because he's the professional choice among the nominees, as he was the only one with an Emmy nomination. That made the choice easy. Even in a field with nothing but nominees from The Last of Us, he would still have had my vote. It helps that both the editors and experts at Gold Derby think he's the likely winner with ten of the former and all seven of the latter picking him to win on Saturday. Only one editor dissented, choosing James Cromwell from Succession to walk off with the Emmy.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Hiam Abbass – Succession: "Honeymoon States" as Marcia (HBO)
Cherry Jones – Succession: "The Munsters" as Nan Pierce (HBO)
Melanie Lynskey – The Last of Us: "Endure and Survive" as Kathleen (HBO)
Storm Reid – The Last of Us: "Left Behind" as Riley Abel (HBO)
Anna Torv – The Last of Us: "Infected" as Theresa "Tess" Servopoulos (HBO)
Harriet Walter – Succession: "Church and State" as Lady Caroline Collingwood (HBO)

Again, a field split between Succession and The Last of Us — no matter who wins, HBO does as well. None of these actresses earned a nomination at the Saturn Awards, which elicits two reactions from me. I'm recycling part of my response to Infidel753 in 'Barbie' vs. 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' for Best Fantasy Film at the Saturn Awards for the first.

They've been snubbing great performances, especially by women, for as long as I've been voting for the awards. I whined for years about how they would not nominate any of the Emmy-winning actresses in The Handmaid's Tale even though they nominated the show, while nominating the actresses in CW superhero shows.

That written, my second reaction is that I would still have voted for Nick Offerman; he was that good.

Both the editors and experts at Gold Derby think Harriet Walter will win for Succession with nine of eleven editors picking her and five of seven experts ranking her first. One editor each chose Melanie Lynskey and Storm Reid from The Last of Us, while one expert each picked Melanie Lynskey and Hiam Abbass from Succession. Previous winner Cherry Jones received no first place votes. On that note, I'm sharing Gold Derby interviewing Dame Harriet Walter ('Ted Lasso' and 'Succession'): 'I don’t want to play the same character twice'.

Dame Harriet Walter ('Ted Lasso' and 'Succession'): 'I don’t want to play the same character twice.' For Apple, she played Deborah Welton, the mother of Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham). For HBO, she played the mother of the three Roy siblings. Gold Derby editor Matt Noble hosts this webchat.

Dame Harriet also has another Emmy nomination, so follow over the jump for the comedy categories I examined in Pete Davidson hosts as 'Saturday Night Live' returns plus a bonus performing category I hadn't examined yet.

'Saturday Night Live' fools around with Trump's indictment

Last night's "Saturday Night Live" opened with an April Fools joke about The Former Guy being indicted, Trump Indictment Cold Open - SNL.

Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) promotes his new album.

This skit was as much about making fun of the January 6 Choir as the indictment itself; the music is much more transparent than the indictment, which hasn't been unsealed yet. We'll probably find out Tuesday, when TFG surrenders voluntarily. I'll leave it to any of my readers who are law enforcement or lawyers whether that counts as an arrest.

SNL continued with the subject as well as the April Fools pranks in Weekend Update: Donald Trump Indicted - SNL.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like President Biden calling for an assault weapons ban.

TFG's legal troubles, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Ron DeSantis all got the attention they deserved, but the biggest reaction was to the April Fools prank Michael Che played on Colin Jost. It helped make for a fast five minutes.

Weekend Update moved on to lighter news in Cup Noodles' Breakfast Flavor, 89-Year-Old Named Oldest Surfer - SNL.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a sperm donor being sued for increasing the risk of accidental incest.

I think Colin should pay less attention to Punxsutawney Phil and pay more attention to his local groundhog, Staten Island Chuck, who predicted an early spring. That prediction came closer to the truth for New York City.

Weekend Update moved on to a story at the intersection of education and art in the news as Michelangelo's David Defends Art - SNL.

Michelangelo's David (Michael Longfellow) stops by Weekend Update to address the recent controversy surrounding an image of him being included in a school curriculum.

I remember the days of "banned in Boston." Now it's "banned in Florida."

I'm concluding the highlights of last night's episode with Quinta Brunson Monologue - SNL, which continues the theme of education.

First-time host Quinta Brunson talks about working on Abbott Elementary and how poorly teachers are treated in the United States.

I agree, pay teachers more.

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts showcasing videos from SNL.

'Abbott Elementary' leads Golden Globes TV nominees with five nominations

Happy Norther! I'm celebrating the fake holiday by examining the Politics, government, and diversity in the 2023 Golden Globe Television nominees as the Sunday entertainment feature. Fortunately, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) made it easy for me by nominating "Abbott Elementary" for five awards, more than any other television show. Diversity and government galore!


As I wrote above "Abbott Elementary" has five nominations, Best Television Series - Comedy, Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Actress) for Quinta Brunson, Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama (Supporting Actor) for Tyler James Williams, and two nominations for Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama (Supporting Actor) for Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph. Based on the number of nominations alone, I'd pick "Abbott Elementary." The experts at Gold Derby support my intuition, as seven of the nine have "Abbott Elementary" in first. One picked "The Bear," which six other experts picked second, and one picked "Wednesday," a distinctly minority view as no one else ranks it higher than third and four rank fifth! Those same experts think the other nominated mystery "Only Murders in the Building" is better. I'm rooting for "Abbott Elementary," but I expect "Wednesday" will be a big hit at the next Saturn Awards, whenever they're held.


I begin by repeating what I wrote in 'Ted Lasso,' 'Barry,' 'Hacks,' and 'Only Murders in the Building' lead comedy series nominees at the 2022 Emmy Awards about Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, Actress.

As I wrote last year "Kaley Cuoco's Cassie Bowden is recruited as an undercover agent at the end of the first season," adding a lot more government content to the show. That turned out surprisingly well, although I think the finale stuck the landing and then tripped. That's not Cuoco's fault as an actress, but it's indirectly her fault as a producer...twelve of the thirteen Gold Derby editors along with the majority of uses think Jean Smart will repeat for "Hacks" with only [one] editor predicting Quinta Brunson for "Abbott Elementary."

Jean Smart did win the Emmy, again, but this is a different field, with Selina Gomez and Jenna Ortega joining Brunson, Cuoco, and Smart, making this a very diverse field, and a different set of voters. As I nearly always point out in my awards show coverage, electorates matter. While the experts at Gold Derby generally don't think much of "Wednesday" as a show, they seem to love Jenna Ortega, who plays the title character, as seven of the nine have picked her to win. Only one each ranked Jean Smart and Quinta Brunson first. While Ortega has been acting for years, "Wednesday" was definitely her breakthrough role. I expect to vote for Ortega at the Saturn Awards, whether for Best Actress on Television or Best Younger Performer on Television, whichever the acting nomination committee slots her in.


As the award name states, Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama, Supporting Actor lumps together supporting actors from both comedy and drama series. Usually, this favors performers in dramas. It also means that I'm recycling from both my comedy and drama nominee posts about the 2022 Emmy Awards. Only Tyler James Williams and Henry Winkler are appearing from the Emmy field for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and John Turtoro from "Severance" from the drama field for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and I wrote very little about them, so on to their chances. Six of the Gold Derby experts have Turturo as their top choice, while one each have John Lithgow, Jonathon Pryce, and Henry Winkler. I'd say Turturo, except that Joyce Eng picked Lithgow, which gives me pause. She has a knack for being right.


The experts at Gold Derby see Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama, Supporting Actress, as a very close contest. Five of them think Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph will win, while four of them picked Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana in the latest season of "The Crown" as the likely winner. Eng thinks it will be Ralph, so I'm using her pick as the tiebreaker. Good thing the two actresses will be competing in different categories at next year's Emmy Awards!

I'm rounding out comedy with Best Performance in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Actor).


Again, I begin by recycling.

"Atlanta" has a lot of social and political commentary in its comedy...This is a rich field with Donald Glover, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis having won this category for these same roles before and Steve Martin and Martin Short winning Emmy Awards for comedy writing. Nine of the Gold Derby editors think that Hader will win, including Eng, three have picked Sudeikis to repeat, and one thinks Steve Martin will win his first Emmy for acting. The readers think it will be a close win for Hader. I can see that.

Sudeikis won the Emmy, but he's not in this field because Season 3 of "Ted Lasso" hasn't streamed yet. Instead, Jeremy Allen White of "The Bear" joins Glover, Hader, Martin, and Short, making this a less diverse field than the comedy actresses. According to the experts at Gold Derby, White is the favorite with eight of them picking him over one lone expert ranking Hader first. Even that one vote of confidence is not enough to put Hader in second, as seven experts ranked Martin ahead of him and five think Short has a better chance of winning. Wow! It could be worse; eight of the nine have Glover in last.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the TV nominees.