TV academy members’ out-with-the-old
approach created openings for a number of
buzzy comedy newcomers and their stars and
creators, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s
“Fleabag” and Natasha Lyonne’s “Russian Doll.”
Other best comedy contenders include “Barry,”
which won acting trophies last year for Bill
Hader and Henry Winkler, and sole network
entry “The Good Place.”
A surprising entry : the quirky “Schitt’s Creek,”
which received its first best comedy series
nomination for its penultimate season and bids
for stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara.
Other top nominees include the nuclear
disaster miniseries “Chernobyl” with 19
nominations and “Saturday Night Live,”
which drew on Robert De Niro’s talents to play
Robert Mueller last season, with 18. “When
They See Us,” the miniseries that dramatized
the Central Park Five case and its aftermath,
received 16 bids.
“Thank you to the real men for inviting me
to tell their story,” tweeted Ava DuVernay,
executive producer of “When They See Us.”
The leading miniseries nominee is “Fosse/
Verdon,” the biopic about dancer Gwen Verdon
and choreographer Bob Fosse that earned 17
bids, including the first Emmy nominations for
stars Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell.
There was a significant drop in diversity
among this year’s group of nominees
compared to 2018, when more than a third of
the 101 nominees in acting categories were
ethnic minorities. This year, the figure was less
than a quarter, with diversity especially absent
in comedy.