After months of predictions, prognistication and heavy-duty FYC campaigning, the big day finally arrived Tuesday as the revelation of the 77th annual Emmy Award nominations crowned HBO Max, Netflix and Apple TV+ as the town’s top shops.
These stories are included in today’s installment of “Daily Variety,” a new podcast that features conversations with Variety journalists about news, trends and personalities making waves in media and entertainment.
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Apple TV+ drama “Severance” led the Emmy field among shows with a surprisingly strong tally of 27 nominations for the reality-bending drama’s long-awaited second season. HBO Max was atop the leaderboard overall with a platform record-best 142 noms. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ also claimed the year’s most-nommed comedy with buzzy freshman “The Studio.”
Michael Schneider, Variety‘s television editor, and Clayton Davis, chief awards editor, parse the signals sent by what Television Academy voters embraced — and what they didn’t. The lively conversation also touches on Emmy’s ongoing category conundrums, the serious work of diversity, equity and inclusion in kudos races and the real reason that platforms large and small invest in trying to win these winged gold statuettes.
Davis note that the total number of noms for actors from underrepresented backgrounds fell this year to the lowest level since 2020. But that was not a surprise given the nature of this year’s contenders.
“For this year, 24 out of 94 available [acting nomination] slots were occupied by people of color, about 25%,” Davis explains.
“2022 was a record year for [Emmy inclusion], with 42 nominees. I always come into these conversations to say, It’s easy to blame the TV Academy or the Film Academy for OscarsSoWhite. And there some responsibility on voters to watch as much as they can. However, [awards] are a reflection of the industry. And in this time where we see a 3% drop in [total Emmy] submissions from last year, which had a 6 % drop from the year before, and DEI is constantly under attack,” Davis says. “I thought we were going to be in the 19 range. So 24 actually was better than I anticipated.”
As Schneider observes, winning Emmys is truly good for business in the on-demand and direct-to-consumer streaming era.
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“These streamers are constantly dealing with churn. They really have to sell themselves to the public on their value proposition and what better value proposition than telling your customer that we have the best programming, we have quality programming and here’s proof — we are the most Emmy nominated,” Schneider says. “It really matters now as a business proposition for these companies in a way that it didn’t back in the broadcast days where you were more focused on advertising and ratings were a different kind of currency.”
The episode also features Owen Gleiberman, Variety‘s chief film critic, discussing the movie that changed the course of his life, Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” as the 1975 film marks its 50th anniversary. Gleiberman explains how the heady blend of Altman’s naturalistic filmmaking style and America’s post-Watergate malaise added up to a “religious experience” for him as a college freshman at the University of Michigan.
“I’d never seen a movie that mirrored life the way that ‘Nashville’ did. It seemed to be literally these 24 characters wandering around the country music capital, stars, fans, politicians, hangers-on. It seemed as rich and full as the life off screen. And the movie, as a result, possessed me. It kind of took over my imagination. I kind of thought about nothing else for six months. And it was almost like a religious experience — before and after ‘Nashville,’ ” Gleiberman enthuses.
Altman died nearly 20 years ago, but his influence as a helmer remains strong. To wit, “The Studio” has several big wink-and-nod moments that reference Altman’s last truly great film, 1992’s “The Player.” The tributes start with Griffin Mill, the name of the studio executive played by Seth Rogen in “Studio.” Tim Robbins played a venal, murderous executive of the same name in “The Player.”
“‘The Studio,’ which I love, is very much ‘Son of The Player,’ and knows it,” Gleiberman says. ” ‘The Player’ was just a visionary film about Hollywood.”
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(Pictured: “The Studio” stars Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz)
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