Nominations for the 2017 (69th annual) Primetime Emmy Awards were announced by the Television Academy in a ceremony hosted by Shemar Moore from Criminal Minds and Anna Chlumsky from Veep.
Of note to Shadow & Act, given its stated focus:
In the Best Lead Actress In A Drama Series category, Viola Davis is nominated for How to Get Away With Murder. For every year that the series has been on the air, Davis has been nominated for an Emmy in this category, winning the first year (2015). She faces tough competition this year, notably from Elisabeth Moss who did an exceptional job in Hulu’s acclaimed dystopian drama series, The Handmaid’s Tale. Absent from this category this year is Taraji P. Henson (Empire), who was nominated in the last 2 years.
In the Best Lead Actor In A Drama Series category, Sterling K. Brown is nominated for This Is Us. He won in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category last year, for his performance as Christopher Darden in FX’s stellar The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. For This Is Us – a first-year surprise hit for NBC – Brown was nominated this year for a SAG award in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series category. He didn’t win. For this year’s Emmys, he faces stiff competition from the likes of Anthony Hopkins in Westworld, Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul, Liev Schreiber in Ray Donovan, Kevin Spacey in House of Cards, and his own This Is Us co-star Milo Ventimiglia.
In the Best Lead Actress In A Comedy Series category, Tracee Ellis Ross is nominated for black-ish. This is her second Emmy nomination for the ABC comedy series, in a category that has been dominated by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has won the award 5 years in a row for HBO’s Veep. Could 2017 be year number 6 for her? Or will Emmy voters dethrone her and give the trophy to a fresh face in this category, like Ross?
In the Best Lead Actor In A Comedy Series category, Anthony Anderson is nominated for black-ish and Donald Glover is nominated for Atlanta. This is Anderson’s 3rd nomination for black-ish (he’s never won) and Glover’s first for Atlanta (a new entry in this category this year, its first season).
In the Best Comedy Series category, Atlanta and black-ish are nominated; the first for freshman series Atlanta, and the second for black-ish.
In the Best Supporting Actress In A Drama Series category, Uzo Aduba and Samira Wiley are nominated for Orange is the New Black and The Handmaid’s Tale respectively; and Thandie Newton is nominated for Westworld. A strong category for these trio of actresses. Uzo has already won this award twice for OITNB. She just might win again this year, but Newton may have an edge with the performance she gave in Westworld.
In the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, Ron Cephas Jones is nominated for This Is Us. Long overdue recognition for a veteran actor who’s produced some stellar work over the years. This is his first Emmy nomination. Jeffrey Wright is also nominated for Westworld. It’s his second nomination after 2004’s Angels in America.
In the Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie category, Regina King is nominated for American Crime. Ms. King has ruled this category over the last 2 years, nominated and winning in 2015 and 2016. The series has been canceled by ABC, unfortunately. A 3rd and final (*goodbye*) win may be in the cards for the actress.
In the Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category, Michael K. Williams is nominated for The Night Of. This is his second Emmy nomination; previously he was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie for 2015’s Bessie – HBO’s Bessie Smith biopic directed by Dee Rees, starring Queen Latifah.
In the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category, Leslie Jones is nominated for Saturday Night Live. It’s her first Emmy nomination.
In the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category, Tituss Burgess is nominated for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. This is his 3rd nomination in this category for this series. He’s never won.
In the Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series category, Cicely Tyson is nominated for How to Get Away with Murder and Laverne Cox is nominated for Orange is the New Black. The veteran Tyson would probably be nominated for Emmys every year if she was given more opportunities. This is her second nomination for HTGAWM. Since winning twice in the same year in different categories for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), she’s been nominated for Emmys about 10 times in various categories. As for Cox, this is her second Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for OITNB.
In the Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category, Angela Bassett is nominated for Master of None and Wanda Sykes is nominated for black-ish. Maybe unbelievably, this is just Bassett’s 4th Primetime Emmy Awards nomination (she was previously nominated twice for American Horror Story and for The Rosa Parks Story, but she didn’t win any of these). Her brief appearance in just 1 episode of Master of None just happens to be the most-talked about and written about episode of the series’ second season, which just may help her stand out in this category. As for Sykes, it might surprise some that she has 7 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations on her resume; although 4 of them come from writing for The Chris Rock Show from 1997 to the year 2000.
View the full list of nominees here.
The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, September 17, 2017 at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California, and will be broadcast in the U.S. by CBS. Stephen Colbert is hosting.
