This image released by HBO shows Regina King in a scene from "Watchmen." The series was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding limited series on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. King was also nominated for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie. (Mark Hill/HBO via AP)
By Lynn Elber
Watchmen, cloaked in superhero mythology and grounded in real-world racism, received a leading 26 nominations Tuesday for the prime-time Emmy Awards.
The series, which captured America’s unease as it faces racial clashes, was nominated as best limited series and received bids for cast members including Regina King and Jeremy Irons.
King was part of a vanguard of actors of color who showed that TV academy voters took heed of the calls for change.
The Amazon comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the second most-nominated series with 20, followed by Netflix's Ozark with 18.
“This year, we are also bearing witness to one of the greatest fights for social justice in history. And it is our duty to use this medium for change,” Frank Scherma, chairman, and CEO of the Television Academy said at the outset of the presentation.
The nominations, typically unveiled with fanfare at the TV academy’s Los Angeles headquarters, were announced online Tuesday by Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live) and presenters Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black), Josh Gad (Frozen) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black). Cox, Gad, and Maslany appeared on by video feeds.
Among the honorees whose nomination collided with current events: Brad Pitt earned a nod for a guest appearance playing Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday Night Live.
The nominees for best comedy series are: Curb Your Enthusiasm; Dead to Me; The Good Place; Insecure; The Kominsky Method; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Schitt’s Creek; What We Do in the Shadows
The nominees for best drama series are: Better Call Saul; The Crown; Killing Eve; The Handmaid’s Tale; The Mandalorian; Ozark; Stranger Things; Succession.
In addition to Watchmen, the nominees for best limited series are: Little Fires Everywhere; Mrs. America; Unbelievable; Unorthodox.
The nominees for drama series actress are: Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show; Olivia Colman, The Crown; Jodie Comer, Killing Eve; Laura Linney, Ozark; Sandra Oh, Killing Eve; Zendaya, Euphoria.
The nominees for drama series actor are: Jason Bateman, Ozark; Sterling K. Brown, This is Us; Billy Porter, Pose; Jeremy Strong, Succession; Brian Cox, Succession; Steve Carell, The Morning Show.
The nominees for lead actor in a comedy series are: Anthony Anderson, black-ish; Don Cheadle, Black Monday; Ted Danson, The Good Place; Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method; Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek; Ramy Youssef, Ramy.
The nominees for lead actress in a comedy series are: Christina Applegate, Dead to Me; Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me; Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek; Issa Rae, Insecure; Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish.
The nominees for best TV movie are: American Son; Bad Education; Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones; El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend.
A high energy Jones kicked off the announcement Tuesday morning by appearing on a virtual set and joking that she was told there would be many others on set to announce the nominees and that she was locked in a studio with only a cameraman.
The Emmy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be presented on Sept. 20 on ABC.
This June marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous 1997 "Bite Fight”, the iconic boxing rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield when Tyson shockingly bit a piece of his opponent’s ear off. As a macabre tribute to the incident, the boxing legend’s line of cannabis products, Tyson 2.0, has released “Mike Bites", edibles in the shape of an ear complete with a bite mark. Tyson, the chief brand officer and co-founder, along with CEO Adam Wilks joined Cheddar News to talk about the unique gummies. "I just think this is just me owning what I did. I'm owning my responsibility. I've done that. That was pretty bad at the time, but I turned it over to make it pretty good," the former heavyweight champion said.
Donna Letier, CEO and Co-Founder of Gardenuity, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how gardening can improve your wellbeing, and why businesses are using this as a way to keep employees happy.
U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Famer and former Olympian Nancy Kerrigan spoke to Cheddar News about joining Ice Dreams, a national skating tour that connects legends of the sport with its next generation. Kerrigan spoke of the lessons she learned from the sport and how grateful she is for the opportunity to give something back. “I mean skating has taught me some of the greatest things in in my life," she said. "You know, you fall down, things get hard, but you get back up and you keep on trying. And if you're performing and doing something you love, I think you would actually do even better.”
Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports on the activations for the streaming wars between HBO Max, Prime Video, Disney+, and Paramount+ from South by Southwest 2022 — and returns with a souvenir.
The White House launches covid.gov, Meta is spreading rumors about TikTok, and Disney's got the hottest Easter drink - for adults only. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Thursday, March 31, 2022.
After two years of living in the pandemic, people are gearing up to travel for their summer vacations in 2022. Leigh Barnes, the chief customer officer for adventure tours company Intrepid Travel, joined Cheddar News to talk about the year’s top travel destinations and tips on how to prepare. Regarding COVID restrictions, Barnes discussed needing to do your own research to make sure you should be hitting a destination at all. "I think that the last thing is, making sure that where you're going is, the communities want you there. Because I think one of the things that we're seeing from possibly a Western lens is vaccine equity," he said. "We've got high vaccine rates across a lot of the Western nations. They may not have that same COVID normal that we're experiencing. So you've got to look for places that do want tourists to come in or ways that we can support vaccine equity."
If you have a minute, Protégé thinks it might be enough to get your talent noticed by stars and industry movers like DJ Khaled. Jackson Jhin, co-founder and CEO of the platform, talked to Cheddar about how the services might better democratize access to performing arts like music and acting. "You have 60 seconds to send a video to the best experts in each industry and send it to people who otherwise would have been inaccessible," he noted. For a wide-ranging fee, applicants can submit their work to garner feedback from folks like Jason Alexander or Scooter Braun — with a money-back guarantee, according to Jhin.
Jason Nichols, senior lecturer at the University of Maryland's African American Studies Department, joins Cheddar News to discuss the racial implications of Will Smith's slap at the Academy Awards.
