The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2024 Emmy Nominations

Following a particularly slow year in television, the nominations for the 2024 Emmy Awards were announced this morning. The comparatively limited offerings between last June and this May were largely (though not entirely) the result of production delays during the dual actors’ and writers' strikes last summer and fall, which lasted for more than 100 days. Shows like Abbott Elementary, Euphoria, Hacks, The White Lotus, and many more had their new season premieres pushed back.

The television industry is finding its footing again following the strikes, which resulted in new contracts for the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. But as streamers continue to contract, with some folding into one another and others considering mergers, and as media conglomerates like Disney slash budgets and Netflix cuts shows left and right, it’s clear that any sense of stability is still a ways off.

Amid these ups and downs, the industry still knows how to pause for glitz and trophies: Actors Tony Hale and Sheryl Lee Ralph delivered the nominations from the Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood earlier this morning. Many shows walked away with multiple nominations, including critical darlings like FX’s Reservation Dogs, Shogun, and The Bear, which broke the record for the most Emmy nominations for a comedy, with 23 nods. And the category confusion that has come to be a regular part of these affairs continued, as some questioned why The Bear was nominated as a comedy or the Maya Erskine and Donald Glover-led Mr. & Mrs. Smith was nominated as a drama.

This year’s Emmy race still looks to be exciting. Here’s a round-up of the most glaring snubs, satisfying surprises, and historic nominations for this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, which are scheduled to take place on Sept. 15.

Surprise and Snub: Reservation Dogs

The third and final season of Sterlin Harjo and Taika Watiti’s beloved and excellent show Reservation Dogs finally nabbed a long overdue nomination for comedy series. This is the show’s first nomination in the category, despite being consistently critically acclaimed during its run. The series, which centers on a lively group of Native American teenagers living on a reservation in rural Oklahoma, also nabbed an acting nomination for D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, who plays the crew’s unofficial ringleader, Bear. While Woon-A-Tai’s nomination will come as no surprise to fans of the show, the absence of a nomination for his counterpart, Devery Jacobs, whose character Elora could reasonably be called the heart of the show, is bittersweet.

Snub: Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman nabbed two Emmys for her work on Big Little Lies in 2017, and has since become the queen of prestige television, bringing her acting chops and high profile in Hollywood to dramas like The Undoing and Nine Perfect Strangers. That’s why it comes as a surprise that she was not nominated for her role as Margaret in the Amazon drama Expats. The show, created by The Farewell director Lulu Wang, was critically acclaimed, cosmopolitan, and captivating—the epitome of prestige television.

Snub: The Curse

Nathan Fielder is known for his surreal and provocative comedies. His 2022 show The Rehearsal was a critical success, praised for its uncomfortable exploration of what it really takes to truly get to know another person. Fielder’s recent project, the Showtime series The Curse, a satirical dark comedy about a couple trying to bring their idea of environmentally friendly homes to a low-income neighborhood, was also well-received—but completely shut out of the Emmy nominations this year, and neither Fielder nor his co-star on the series, EMMA Stone, received nominations in the major categories.

Surprise: Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez received her first-ever acting nod, Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, for her role as Mabel in Only Murders in the Building. This makes her the fourth Latina actress to receive this honor. The recognition follows Gomez's win, at the Cannes Film Festival this spring, of the Best Actress Award, alongside her Emilia Perez co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Adriana Paz. She also set a record today in another category (more on that below).

Snub: John Mulaney

After releasing the standup special Baby J in 2023, in which he addressed the impact of abusing drugs on his life and career, John Mulaney’s most recent project saw the comedian create a dream talk show, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A, which aired on Netflix for six nights in April. The show was shut out of the Outstanding Talk Series at this year’s Emmy Awards, which was a surprise given the positive critical reception. As TIME’s TV critic Judy Berman wrote in her review, “He has everything it takes to be the best late-night personality of his generation, at a time when the format seems more desperate than ever for a savior."

Snub: Survivor

For the more than two decades it’s been on the air, Survivor has been one of the mainstays of reality television—making it a perennial nominee for the category. This year, however, the show was cast away from the Emmys without a nomination. Many were relieved, however, to see The Traitors recognized in this category after a strong second season.

Snub: Meg Stalter

Throughout the three seasons of the wildly popular Max series Hacks, comedian Meg Stalter has proven that she’s more than just a social media star—she’s a dang good actress and wickedly funny, too. Stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder were recognized this year, alongside a first nod for Stalter's on-screen partner Paul W. Downs and Christopher Lloyd's first nom in ages for his guest spot. But yet again, Stalter was left out of the Supporting Actress category, where she should have secured a nod for her undeniable talent.

Snub: The Limited Series Category

The Limited Series category at the Emmy Awards is always a tight race and this year is no different with shows like Baby Reindeer, Fargo, Lessons in Chemistry, True Detective: Night Country, and Ripley all securing a place in the running for this year’s race. However, there were a few other shows that deserved a chance at the Emmys, including Fellow Travelers, Expats, A Murder at the End of the World, and The Sympathizer—all of which were left out of the running this year.

Surprise: Matt Berry

Berry’s gentlemanly lothario of a vampire Laszlo has long been one of What We Do in the Shadow’s most charming characters, but has always been overlooked by the Emmys—until this year, when Berry picked up his first nomination (and the show’s only acting nod for the season).

Surprise: Maya Erskine and Donald Glover

While Mr. and Mrs. Smith was widely predicted to earn a Drama Series nod, neither of its lead actors was considered a lock. But it looks like the generous charm and undeniable chemistry that made Erskine and Glover one of the year’s most compelling on-screen couples also landed them nominations. While this is Glover’s fifth acting nomination (he’s a two-time Emmy winner for both acting and directing for Atlanta and a 13-time nominee), it’s Erskine’s first and long overdue nomination as an actor (she was previously nominated writing and producing for PEN15).

Surprise: Idris Elba

Idris Elba’s Hijack on Apple TV wasn’t necessarily a frontrunner for the Emmys race, but the English actor nabbed a nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Records

Selena Gomez (yes, again!)

Gomez’s third nomination as part of the producing team for Only Murders in the Building makes her the most-nominated Latina producer, per Variety.

Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis

Gladstone, nominated for Supporting Actress in a Drama for Under the Bridge, and Reis, nominated for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for True Detective: Night Country, became the first Indigenous actresses ever nominated for an Emmy. The last time an Indigenous actor was nominated was 17 years ago, when August Schellenberg got a nod for the HBO film Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.

The Bear

Step aside, 30 Rock: With a total of 23 nominations, The Bear became the most nominated comedy series (yes, the genre classification is debatable, but we don’t make the rules!).