Emmys Hot List 2022

For the second year in a row, Jason Sudeikis’ Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso dominated the Emmy’s comedy categories with 20 nominations and seven wins. Among last year’s winners: Brett Goldstein, who unleashes the most expressive pair of eyebrows on TV to play the hilariously profane and angry Roy Kent. “I got this character,” he said.

Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building ended up with a considerable nomination haul on July 12, with 17 nods in total—and one of them quietly made history. With his sixth guest-acting nomination, three-time Tony winner Nathan Lane has passed Fred Willard to become the most-nominated person in the category’s history.

It’s impossible to overstate the talent of Quinta Brunson, creator, executive producer, writer and star of ABC’s hit comedy Abbott Elementary. But part of Brunson’s genius has been surrounding herself with gifted artists who are keen to tap into her creative vision—including nominated actors Janelle James, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tyler James Williams.

Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson made Emmy history this year by becoming the first Black woman nominated for acting, writing and producing in a single year. Plus, she’s the youngest Black woman ever nominated for comedy acting.

The comedy categories contain a number of performers who have been nominated in more than one category. Meet Bill Hader, Steve Martin, Jerrod Carmichael and (with an asterisk) Harriet Walter.

She was a standup comic and writer when Hacks came along, and now Hannah Einbinder’s world has changed. “I look at (creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky) once a week and tell them, ‘You have given me my entire life,’” she said.

This year was far from a landmark for female directors at the Emmys—but the biggest bright spot is in the comedy-series category, where five of the seven nominated directors are women.

In its second season, The Great found a new gear and Emmy voters noticed, lead actors Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult picking up nominations. “We show up ready to spar with each other and surprise each other,” Fanning said. “There’s really nothing that’s off-limits.”

It’s difficult to stay relevant on TV, but Henry Winkler has remained not only significant but hot—so hot, in fact, that he’s the epitome of cool. “I had a dream when I was 7 about being able to sustain a life doing what I dreamt of doing,” he said. “That I’m able to do it, I don’t even know what to say.”

Seth Meyers was not prepared for Late Night With Seth Meyers to finally break into the Emmys’ variety-talk category this year. In fact, he was bracing for disappointment. But when his show got the nom, he said, “It is deeply embarrassing how excited it made me.”

Throughout the first four seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Tony Shalhoub and Alex Borstein have joined series star Rachel Brosnahan in being nominated every year. This year’s nominations came in the middle of filming the series’ final season—of which Shalhoub said, “It’s painful. I can’t dwell on it.”

Music superstar Lizzo may have a shelf full of Grammys, a BET Award, a Billboard Award and countless other global honors, but getting six Emmy nominations for her Prime Video reality dance competition series, Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, was still a really, really “big” deal for the artist. “Are you f—ing kidding me?” she said. “I was absolutely blown away.”

Watching an actor play opposite themselves may make for fun television watching, but it also makes for some really difficult filming situations—at least, that’s how it was for Kaley Cuoco on Season 2 of The Flight Attendant. “I would not recommend it,” she said. “I mean, five of Kaley Cuoco? I don’t think so.”

They formed in the late 1950s, changed the world in 1964 and broke up in 1970. Two of them died, one in 1980 and one in 2001.And now, almost 60 years after the release of “Love Me Do,” can the Beatles really be the hottest thing in the nonfiction categories at this year’s Emmys? Yes, they can.

There’s no such thing as being overworked if you’re Nicole Byer. But don’t worry, the comedian, television host, podcaster, guest judge, actress, voice actress, writer and executive producer, who is up for three Emmys this year, can somehow juggle it all. “I can run on fumes,” she said.

Odds are you haven’t watched the best show on television. It’s possible you haven’t even heard of it. After all, in the world of peak TV, how could a small, short-form sketch comedy series possibly compare to the big names and bigger budgets?

When White Horse Pictures began working with director Amy Poehler on a documentary about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the idea was to explore the love story between these two very disparate icons without an abundance of surface gloss. But how to get up close and personal with these public figures who are both dead? Editor Robert A. Martinez explains.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has had the Outstanding Competition Program Emmy win on lock since 2018, but just hearing the show was nominated once again in 2022 left judge Michelle Visage awestruck. “It does not go unnoticed, unloved, unworshipped, unaccepted,” she said.

The vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows isn’t one of the more high-profile nominees in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, but it is a powerhouse in the writing category, where it joined Barry as the only shows with multiple nominations. “The show is just purely funny, and maybe that’s why writers are attracted to it,” nominated writer Stefani Robinson said.

Since debuting on Netflix in 2018, Queer Eye has won the Emmy for Outstanding Structured Reality Series four times in a row. Now the show could make Emmy history: If it wins this year for Season 6, it’ll set a new record for consecutive triumphs in the category, breaking a tie with Shark Tank.