These 10 Nominations Would Make the Emmys Awesome

Every year, we hope and pray that something we love–anything–will break through the gluttony of television and land on a list of nominees at the Primetime Emmy Awards. With a landscape so large and vast, it’s always delightful when a surprise breaks through.

Yellowjackets Dominance
Showtime has only been nominated for Outstanding Drama Series eight times–four nominations for Dexter and four mentions for Homeland (your dad’s favorite show, Ray Donovan, has mostly been nominated for acting). The cable network has a chance to score multiple acting nominations in addition to its first series nomination in years with the word-of-mouth sensation, Yellowjackets. The 90s nostalgia-fest keeps its cards close to its chest throughout the freshman season, and it reignites our love of actresses like Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis while introducing us to a strong, young ensemble. Tired of running up that hill? Try to survive the carnage of this incredible drama series.

Samantha Sloyan for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass is Mike Flanagan’s most personal limited series to date, and Samantha Sloyan’s performance is the perfect example of that electricity that sparks when a partnership is taken to the next level. Sloyan’s Bev Keane doesn’t rage or screech like other villains. She smiles…she suggests otherwise…and she expresses her disappointment in you. Her quietness is unsettling, because you know what she is telling you isn’t everything that she is thinking or planning. As this nation grapples with deep conservative ideals threatening the livelihood of its citizens, Bev Keane would be a woman leading the charge of several fights. Sloyan becomes an everyday terror, and she should be running away with this entire award season with an Emmy to cap it all off.

Jin Ha for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Pachinko
Apple TV+’s Pachinko is currently one of television’s richest offerings, and, this season, the Television Academy has the opportunity to honor quite a few Asian actors and creatives. Jin Ha has one of the toughest roles in the drama series contender as Solomon Baek, an ambitious financier who grapples with his identity and his family’s history. It’s a subtle performance, but Ha conveys the confusion and fire in a beautifully honest way. The moment where he races down the staircase after the housing deal goes south is one of the most memorable scenes of the year. The entire cast should be seriously considered.

Caroline Aaron for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The cast of Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of the most lauded on television, and for good reason. The snappy ensemble has been awarded Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Comedy Series twice from the Screen Actors Guild, and they have a lot of Emmy nominations across multiple categories. Season four of the Amy Sherman-Palladino comedy ups the ante like we haven’t seen before by infusing a lot of dramatic heft into the story and raising the stakes. Caroline Aaron has yet to be honored with a nomination for the show, and this would be a fabulous opportunity. Shirley Maisel must deal with the potential loss of her husband, Moishe (also Emmy-less Kevin Pollak), and Aaron shares an incredible scene with Tony Shalhoub’s Abe about where their relationship would go if a prominent member of the family died. Aaron is always such a dependable supporting player, and her throaty, yelling Shirley deserves her due.

Ghosts landing in Outstanding Comedy Series
Network comedies have struggled in the top comedic category for the last decade–ABC has held strong thanks to ensembles from black-ish and Modern Family–but a case needs to be made for the phenomenal ensemble of CBS’ Ghosts. On paper, I didn’t think the show could last, but the writing is so quick and the ensemble is so invested in their characters that Ghosts goes beyond a silly haunted manor comedy. In just one season, these characters–who are dead and cannot leave the property–have grown more than other living characters on other shows. It manages to be silly, absurd, touching, and marvelously paced all at once. And this cast–THIS CAST! Everything is balanced and no one matters more than another. It’s an ensemble in the purest sense, and it’s beautifully funny. Honor the dead, Television Academy!

Come From Away for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
Now I know how hypocritical this is after I spent the majority of last season griping about how Hamilton took seven acting slots from other performers in the limited series categories, but I am not calling for the original Broadway cast of this musical to do the same thing this year. Apple TV+’s recording of the 9/11 musical captures the intimacy of the stage production that should’ve taken Best Musical at the 2017 Tony Awards. It’s a patriotic musical that sucker punches you with emotion, and this recording is just as effective at the stage show. It has stiff competition, though. This category is known for nominated live musical performances and stand-up specials, and there are plenty of both in contention.

Gil Birmingham for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Under the Banner of Heaven
There is astonishing acting across the board throughout Dustin Lance Black’s searing and devastating limited series, Under the Banner of Heaven. Gil Birmingham is a dependable and underrecognized performer, and he serves as another gateway (along with Andrew Garfield) through this drama. I couldn’t help but be drawn to how Birmingham’s Detective Bill Taba watches events unfold as he and Garfield’s Jeb Pyre inch closer to the truth. Taba isn’t Mormon, so he is also learning about the faith’s history as more grisly details are revealed. His distance provides another fascinating layer to an unbelievably rich series.

Ben Foster for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Survivor
Foster actually has a really strong shot of being nominated for his portrayal of Harry Haft, but there are always so many strong performances in the limited series batch of nominations. Foster lost over sixty pounds to play a concentration camp survivor and boxer, but his psyche was clearly rocked by embodying Haft. He is one of our most emotionally complicated performers, and he has yet to be nominated for an Emmy or an Oscar. Foster holds the broken pieces of Haft’s past so gently in his scarred hands.

Paul Rudd for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Shrink Next Door
Paul Rudd is the nice guy–the charismatic boy next door that somehow avoided turning into an asshole when he grew up. That image is run through a Tom Ripley filter to embody Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, a psychologist who inserts himself into the life (and checkbook) of one of his patients. Will Ferrell plays the sad sack Marty Markowitz to perfection, but it’s Rudd that we can’t take our eyes off of. Every smile has a hidden intention and every good deed has an ulterior motive. Not only does Rudd know how to walk the tightrope between heavy drama and absurd humor in Shrink, but he impressively makes us question how nice those other characters truly were.

A Deserving Send-Off for Insecure
Last Emmy season, HBO’s Insecure nabbed seven nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, so why does it feel so muted for the final season? The Issa Rae-fronted series concluded on a huge high note for all of the characters, but it has only won one Emmy (for Single-Camera Picture Editing). Natasha Rothwell has always been a fan favorite, but she has never been nominated in Supporting Actress. How? With Rae solidified as a true creative force in the industry, she deserves at least a nomination in both Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and one for writing. She has never been nominated for a Writing for a Comedy Series. How? Insecure is a comedy that will stand the test of time, but it would be nice to have some Emmys to go along with it.