Succession received a leading 25 Emmy nominations Tuesday, but the satirical drama about the rich and ruthless has a landmark rival in Squid Game, the first non-English language series to vie for television's top honour.
Squid Game, a South Korea-set drama where cash-strapped contestants risk their lives for a cash prize, earned a best drama and 13 other nominations for September's Emmy Awards. Succession captured the best drama trophy and eight other awards at the 2020 awards show.
Television Academy president Frank Scherma kicked off the nomination announcement by saying that a record number of shows had been submitted, which reflects that series production was at an all-time high after being drastically reduced during the pandemic. The Emmys used to be dominated by broadcast networks and then cable, but the rise of streaming services changed the balance of power — and perhaps the awards themselves. Netflix's Squid Game joining the Emmy mix is the result of streaming's global popularity.
The Crown, which dominated the 2021 drama awards, wasn't televised within the eligibility period and is sitting this year out. Martin Short, Sandra Oh and Seth Rogen are among the Canadians in the running at this year's Emmy Awards.
Hamilton-born Short picked up a nod for lead actor in a comedy series for Only Murders in the Building, where he'll compete against his co-star Steve Martin.
Nepean, Ont., native Oh is in the running for lead actress in a drama series for Killing Eve, her fourth time receiving a nomination for the show. And Vancouver-raised Rogen is nominated for supporting actor in a limited series for Pam & Tommy, a show that revolves around the leak of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's tape. Comedian Norm Macdonald, who died last year after a battle with cancer, received posthumous recognition in three Emmy categories for his final comedy special Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special.
The Netflix program picked up a nod in the pre-recorded variety special category, while Macdonald was among the nominated directors for a variety special, and outstanding writing in a variety special.
Montreal-born Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski shared a nomination with the other five hosts of the show for outstanding host for a reality or competition program. Montreal-based Cristobal Tapia de Veer's instantly recognizable work on the eerie tropical score for HBO's The White Lotus landed him among the nominees for outstanding music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special. Mychael Danna, a Toronto composer on the NASA and SpaceX documentary Return to Space, is nominated for the original score on a documentary series or special Toronto-raised Lorne Michaels earned two nominations — one for writing on NBC's Saturday Night Live and another for the behind-the-scenes web series Saturday Night Live Presents: Stories From The Show, which is up for outstanding short form non-fiction or reality series.
He'll be up against fellow Toronto native Samantha Bee whose interviews with her late-night show's crew about their experiences in the entertainment industry got her a nod for Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents: Once Upon A Time In Late Night.
Seven nominations were given to HBO series Station Eleven, based on a dystopian novel by Canadian writer Emily St. John Mandel and partly filmed in Ontario. They include nods for director Hiro Murai and lead actor Himesh Patel.
Drama series The Porter, a co-production of CBC and BET+, snagged a nomination for outstanding choreography for scripted programming. The choreographer was Windsor, Ont.'s Christian Vincent.
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