'Ted Lasso,' 'Bridgerton' Among 10 Favorite Emmy Nominees

by Tyler Glover and Julian Spivey

Photo: AppleTV+

'Ted Lasso' for Basically Everything
The 20 total nominations for AppleTV+’s “Ted Lasso” are the most ever for a comedy’s first season and the show is certainly deserving as its freshman season was one of the funniest and most charming television seasons I’ve ever seen. Golden Globe-winner Jason Sudeikis was nominated for Lead Actor in a Comedy for his titular role and nearly the entire supporting cast of the series received nominations, as well, including a whopping four nominations in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy category with Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed and Jeremy Swift all being nomination. Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple were both nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Most importantly the series itself was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series and must be consider the favorite by far to win. JS 

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Photo: Netflix

'Bridgerton' for Drama Series

Dear reader,
The identity of the mysterious Lady Whistledown may still be unknown to the ton of London but what is known is that “Bridgerton” is one of the best television shows of 2020! “Bridgerton” made its debut on Christmas Day on Netflix and became an instant hit. Millions became intrigued at watching the budding romance of Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings as well as trying to figure out who was writing the letters revealing all the secrets of the ton. “Bridgerton” is Shonda Rhimes’ first Netflix entry after having enormous success with her ABC hit shows, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “How To Get Away With Murder” and “Private Practice.” If this is any indication of what we have to look forward to, there are tons of reasons to be excited. “Bridgerton” was a show that while it gained acclaim from viewers, I was worried it would be something the Emmys might look over and not “get” the buzz for but luckily, I was proven wrong. “Bridgerton” received a total of 12 Emmy nominations including Best Drama Series. I was also very excited for Rege-Jean Page for Best Lead Actor and for Julie Andrews to get nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for her performance of Lady Whistledown. I am on the edge of my seat like at the end of one of these episodes to see if it will win. Hopefully, it will! TG

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Photo: Netflix

'The Queen’s Gambit' for Limited Series and Lead Actress in a Limited Series
It was really a no-brainer that Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” and its lead Anya Taylor-Joy were going to receive Emmy nominations. I’m still thrilled by it anyway as “The Queen’s Gambit” is likely the greatest limited series I’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing. I am a bit concerned about its competition in this absolutely stacked category that features HBO’s “I May Destroy You,” HBO’s “Mare of Easttown,” Amazon Prime Video’s “The Underground Railroad” and Disney+’s “WandaVision.” Literally any of these five nominees could win. Taylor-Joy’s biggest competition will likely be Kate Winslet for “Mare of Easttown.” JS

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Photo: Netflix

'The Crown' for Best Drama Series
“The Crown” season four was the season that I was looking forward to the most when the show first premiered in 2016. Season four introduces Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, as well as Gillian Anderson as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Both actresses should win Lead Actress and Supporting Actress In A Drama Series in my opinion. Season four mostly covers Prince Charles meeting Diana, their marriage, and the beginning of the end of their relationship as well as all of Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister of Great Britain. This season was the most binge-worthy season of “The Crown” so far and season five, I’m sure will be just as brilliant. It was highly speculated that Olivia Colman, Corrin, Josh O'Connor, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anderson would reap bids, but it also excited me to learn of Emerald Fennell’s nomination for her portrayal of Camila Parker Boles. Fennell has had an incredible year. Earlier this year, Fennell won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for her film, “Promising Young Woman.” TG

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Photo: CBS

'Late Show with Stephen Colbert' for Variety Talk Series
“Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has been my go-to for variety talk show for a few years now as I believe it has the best mixture of comedy, politics (which is truly a must-have for the genre now) and interesting and informative interviews. I think it’s probably a long shot to win. HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” wins every single year and if it’s going to have its streak snapped many believe it could be by Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.” COVID-19 threw many of these variety talk shows a huge curveball and Colbert and his staff really knocked it out of the park. JS

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Photo: Disney+

'WandaVision' for Limited Series
“WandaVision” is the kind of limited series that gets me really excited to see where television will continue to take us. Upon watching the first episode, I really enjoyed it but was unsure of how this would fit into the Marvel universe and just exactly what was going on. Luckily, it intrigued me to continue to watch and I’m so glad that I did! As the episodes progress, we learn things are not as they appear, the secrets begin to unfold, and we become even more thrilled to learn that just because our lead characters think they know everything does not mean that they do. This is the best kind of television to watch! “WandaVision” successfully brings the superhero genre to a limited series in ways that I have not seen before. “WandaVision” was nominated for a whopping 23 nominations including for Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen and Kathryn Hahn. TG

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Photo: NBC

'This Is Us' for Best Drama Series
“This Is Us” is still the best drama on network television five seasons in and it’s the only network drama to continue to receive love from Emmy voters. As happy as I am for the show receiving Emmy love I feel the love went to many of the wrong people on the show. Phylicia Rashad received a nomination for Guest Actress (which she has no shot at winning after her disgusting pro-Bill Cosby being released from prison tweet recently – voting for nominations finished before her tweet). The performance on “This Is Us” by Jennifer C. Holmes was much more worthy of nomination anyway. I was shocked to see Chris Sullivan nominated for Supporting Actor when Justin Hartley (who I don’t understand why is consider a supporting actor on this series and not a lead like Sterling K. Brown) had maybe the best performance on the show in season five. Griffin Dunne also would’ve made for a better nominee in the category than Sullivan. But it’s great to see the show still getting love, especially in the Outstanding Drama category, where it’ll probably lose to “The Crown” from Netflix. JS

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Photo: HBO Max

Kaley Cuoco for Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for 'The Flight Attendant'
Kaley Cuoco has been an actress I have admired and enjoyed for many years. Her portrayal of Penny on “The Big Bang Theory” criminally went unrewarded and did not manage to get her an Emmy nomination. It is not like “The Big Bang Theory” was not on the Emmys’ radar either. Cuoco’s co-stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik were all nominated, and the series was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series several times. Luckily, the Emmys decided to make up for the past and nominated her for Lead Actress In A Comedy Series for HBO Max's “The Flight Attendant.” Cuoco also received a second nomination as an executive producer of the show for its’ nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. “The Flight Attendant” follows Cassie Bowden as she tries to solve the murder of a man, she spent the night with and found dead the next morning. The series is surprisingly very funny for a whodunit and Cuoco manages to balance the comedy and drama perfectly. Hopefully, she will win at least one of these bids but thankfully, Cuoco is at least an Emmy nominee now! TG

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Photo: ABC

'black-ish' for Outstanding Comedy, Lead Actor in a Comedy and Lead Actress in a Comedy
It’s amazing that ABC’s comedy “black-ish” is still so strong in its seventh season and it’s big Emmy nominations prove the voting body hasn’t given up this many years in. “black-ish” was the only network comedy show nominated in the Outstanding Comedy Series category out of eight total nominees (the other seven are all on streaming services). I was also thrilled to see Anthony Anderson nominated for his seventh consecutive Emmy for his performance, though at this point he’ll likely be one of the most nominated actors for a single role all-time to never win which is unfortunate. I also liked to see Tracee Ellis Ross nominated for the fifth time for her performance on the show. JS

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Photo: HBO Max

'Friends: The Reunion' for Variety Special
“Friends” is my favorite television show of all-time. I have watched the show so many times that there are episodes I can almost quote line for line. When I learned they were doing a reunion, I was so ecstatic to learn that the friends were going to be there for me one more time. The special turned out to be almost perfect and getting to see Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer back together was everything we could have wanted it to be. The main reason I am excited for this nomination is for Cox. During the initial run of "Friends," Aniston, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry and Schwimmer all reaped Emmy bids (with Aniston and Kudrow each winning once). However, Cox was the one cast member that never received an Emmy nomination during all 10 seasons. Cox, along with the rest of the cast, served as an executive producer of the special. Therefore, Cox finally received an Emmy bid for “Friends” after 17 years of being snubbed. I am so glad the Emmys were finally there for this friend! TG