Emmy Nominations 2023: Succession, The Last of Us, and The White Lotus Lead

It is Emmys season once again, and in the midst of a writers’ strike, a potential SAG-AFTRA strike, and the collapse of streaming as we know it, this Emmys For Your Consideration season has been an odd one—to say the least.

As mentioned, the writers’ strike, which has been effecting the industry for months now, has played a crucial role in halting traditional FYC events and promotion, and that impact can be clearly seen in this year’s nominees. Without the opportunity for streamers and networks alike to parade the showrunners and writers of their contending series around Hollywood for FYC events, it seems that grass-roots and word-of-mouth movements have played a much larger role in the series that we see nominated this year.

For instance, Wednesday, Netflix’s take on the Addams Family, was nominated for both Outstanding Comedy Series, and star Jenna Ortega scored herself a nomination for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. While the series did hold a few FYC events prior to the strike, it’s likely that the series’ massive popularity (it now holds the record for Netflix’s third most-streamed series of all time) and online buzz catapulted it to the top of voters’ ballots, straight from their living room—and garnering it 12 nominations overall. (Seriously, guys, this is like Riverdale or Pretty Little Liars getting nominated, how did this happen?!) Similarly, Jury Duty scored a bid for Outstanding Comedy Series and a Supporting Actor nomination for James Marsden, another word-of-mouth hit from Prime Video’s sister channel Freevee.

Of course, with the surprises also comes the expected nominations, including numerous nominations for Succession in nearly all drama categories (with 27 nominations overall), as well as various nominations for The Last of Us (24 nominations overall), The White Lotus (23 nominations overall), and Ted Lasso (21 nominations overall). House of the Dragon was notably absent from the major acting categories, but scored a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.

While the nominations were announced today via a livestream hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown and Television Academy Chair Frank Scherma, it is unclear when the actual ceremony will air. With the writers’ strike still ongoing and the SAG strike impending, FOX is eyeing a January airdate as the Television Academy pushes for November instead of its usual September broadcast.

With so much currently up in the air, the Emmys attempt to celebrate the medium of television, those that make it, and the industry as a whole feels more hollow this year than ever before. However, it is still wonderful to see so much talent get their due recognition, especially all the underdogs who surprised us during the announcements this morning.

Check out the list of nominees below: 

LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)

Jenna Ortega (Wednesday)