Japanese historical drama 'Shogun' leads Emmy nominations

Historical drama Shogun, the sweeping story of a struggle for power in feudal Japan, racked up 25 nominations on Wednesday to lead this year's contenders for television's Emmy Awards.

The first season of the FX network series will comPete for best drama, the top Emmy trophy, with the final instalment of Netflix's  British royal saga The Crown, The Morning Show from Apple TV+, among others.

Another FX show, nail-biting restaurant tale The Bear, earned 23 nominations, a record for a comedy. Its second season - which explores the quest to turn a Chicago sandwich shop into a world-class dining destination - will comPete again for best comedy, a category it won at the last Emmys. Other comedy nominees included ABC's Abbott Elementary, set in an underfunded Philadelphia school, and HBO's Hacks about a septuagenarian comedienne and a millennial writer.

Baby Reindeer, the Netflix series about a bartender stalked by a customer, was nominated for best limited series, one of its 11 nods. Creator and star Richard Gadd has said the tale reflects a true story, though a defamation lawsuit argues its portrayal of the stalker is exaggerated. Competitors for limited series include Netflix's psychological thriller Ripley, FX's Fargo and HBO's True Detective: Night Country. Netflix topped all networks with 107 nominations, including 18 for The Crown. FX followed with 93 nods, just ahead of the 91 for Warner Bros Discovery's HBO and streaming service Max.

Winners of the Emmys, the highest honours in television, will be announced at a red-carpet ceremony broadcast live on Walt Disney's ABC on September 15. The honourees will be chosen by the nearly 22,000 performers, directors, producers and other members of the Television Academy. The last Emmys were held just six months ago, in January, when strikes by Hollywood writers and actors prompted a delay in last year's ceremony.

Diversity among nominees

For the upcoming awards, 36 performers vying for trophies are first-time nominees. They include five Shogun actors, including Japanese stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai in the lead drama actor and actress categories. The series, a remake of a 1980 miniseries, is set in the year 1600 with dialogue in English and Japanese.

"We saw increases in representation across the board this year," said Angelique Jackson, senior Entertainment writer for Variety.

For the first time, women of colour dominate the comedy actress field, Jackson said. The nominees include Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Ayo Edebiri for The Bear, Selena Gomez for Only Murders in the Building and Maya Rudolph for Loot.

Indigenous actors Lily Gladstone, a supporting actress in Under the Bridge, and Kali Reis of True Detective also were nominated. Reservation Dogs, about four indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma, earned a best comedy nod.

Oscar winner Jodie Foster scored her first Emmy nomination as an actor for True Detective, a series set in Alaska and filmed in Iceland. Foster thanked her colleagues on the show. "We couldn’t love and trust one another more, after holding on for dear life through the snow, finding our way in the dark," she said in a statement.

Carrie Coon, star of best drama nominee The Gilded Age, praised the crew members who brought the period drama to life. "The industry's really been struggling since the strike," said Coon, a best drama actress nominee. "It was hard on everybody, I would say, especially our sort of utility players behind the scenes. The hours they work are so unbelievable.”

Other acting nominees include The Bear star Jeremy Allen White, Jean Smart for Hacks and Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon for The Morning Show.

Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David, who plays a curmudgeon who delivers blunt critiques of bothersome behaviour, was nominated for lead comedy actor and the series for best comedy. "It warms my heart to see that misanthropy is finally being recognised as an art form," David said in a statement.

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