Emmy nominations 2024: shocks and surprises

It’s been an unusually good year on TV, and the Emmy nominations reflect a quality of both breadth and depth. The likes of Shogun, Slow Horses, Ripley and, of course, Baby Reindeer don’t come along very often, but for them all to be competing against one another is going to give Emmy voters quite the headache.

Obviously it’s all but impossible to compare many of these shows; the genre-bending black comic horrors of Baby Reindeer simply aren’t more or less deserving than the elegant noirish depravity of Ripley, both of which are up for Best Limited Series, but the nature of awards is that one has to be accounted the winner, and Richard Gadd’s none-more-hyped show is likely to walk away with several awards, and deservedly so.

Only the controversy that has surrounded both the show’s questionable “true story” branding and Gadd’s own off-screen antics is likely to stand in its way, but the striking decision not to nominate arguably its stand-out performer, Jessica Gunning, in the hugely difficult role of Gadd’s stalker Martha, as lead actress — she’s instead nominated in supporting — is a strange call. Still, I was pleased, if that’s the right word, to see the brilliant Tom Goodman-Hill recognized in the supporting actor category for his stunningly subtle work as Gadd’s abuser Darrien; a character more evil than anyone else on screen, who walks away at the end without punishment or censure. If he doesn’t win, there’s no justice in the world.

Shogun, which has a staggering twenty-three nominations, will almost certainly triumph in the Best Drama series, and several of the other shows nominated — including the dismal finale of The Crown and the past-their-peak likes of The Morning Show and The Gilded Age — shouldn’t be on the list at all. I’d love to see Slow Horses win, and Gary Oldman’s career-best work (I know, I know) as the seedy super-spy Jackson Lamb deserves every accolade going, but he’s up against Walton Goggins’s much-praised turn for Fallout and Hiroyuki Sanada’s remarkable performance in Shogun, as well, for light relief, as Dominic West’s dinner theater-level impersonation of Prince Charles in The Crown and Idris Elba being Big Idris in the silly Apple thriller Hijack.

Many of the more useless dramas nominated this year are in fact funnier than many of the comedies on the list. The multi-award-nominated The Bear will probably triumph once again, despite being an increasingly laugh-free zone — mainly intentionally — although the perennial popularity of Only Murders in the Building could see it rival it. And scattered about are lots of interesting, worthwhile nominations; I was thrilled to see Tom Hollander recognized for his sterling work as Truman Capote in Feud: Capote vs. the Swans and Lesley Manville’s final moment in The Crown was the only moment of that regrettable final series that made me tear up, so she more than deserves her nomination for playing the ailing Princess Margaret.

The Emmys like their big names, so step forward your Jodie Fosters and Robert Downey Jrs. — both of whom have a decent chance of winning in Lead Actress in a Limited Series and Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, respectively — although the nominations for Jerry Seinfeld’s dismal Unfrosted and the overblown Prince Andrew Netflix drama Scoop for outstanding television movie feel makeweight in the extreme. Still, we should salute the Emmys for not pandering to expectations and including Kelsey Grammer for the frankly dismal Frasier reboot, or anything for the dire Kate Winslet vehicle The Regime.

So, in other words, a few odd decisions, but largely a fair judgement on a considerable year for television, and who knows? perhaps the eventual winners will throw up some surprises on the night. Let’s hope that 2025 has as impressive a roster, too.