July 18, 2024

What's news: Well, now we know. Today's newsletter is heavy on Emmy noms coverage, with news, reaction and analysis. Elsewhere, reality TV filming in L.A. has plummeted, and the industry faces a gender disparity. Twisters is tracking to open between $40m and $50m. — Abid Rahman

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Emmys 2024 Nominees

►Dominance. Shōgun leads the pack for the 2024 Emmy nominations, which were unveiled Wednesday morning. The FX period drama landed 25 noms, including best drama series, setting several records in the process. Also among the top nominees are FX’s The Bear (with 23 noms), Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (21), HBO/Max's True Detective: Night Country (19) and Netflix’s The Crown (18). The nominees.  

—Big day for FX! In a TV awards cycle increasingly dominated by the HBO/Max-Netflix horse race, it was FX and its Hulu offerings that came out tops among individual program nominations. THR's Mikey O'Connell has a deep dive on the studio breakdown for Emmy noms, but overall, Netflix leads with a total of 107 noms, followed by FX with 93, HBO with 91 and Apple TV+ with 72. The breakdown.

—Snubs, surprises and shutouts. Despite a big awards push, Showtime’s The Curse failed to receive any Emmy noms, with star Emma Stone among the awards hopefuls not nominated. Similarly, the Nicole Kidman-fronted Expats for Amazon was also shutout. And HBO’s The Regime only earned one nod, for its costumes, leaving stars Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant snubbed. In terms of surprises, this year’s nominations marked a strong showing for the third seasons of long-running Apple series The Morning Show (16 noms) and Slow Horses (9 noms). The story. 

—Stiffer competition than anticipated. After all his diligent forecasting, THR's awards expert Scott Feinberg finally gets to dissect Wednesday morning's Emmy nominations announcement. Scott writes that the noms suggest that pundits, including himself, may have been overestimating the strength of the trio of shows leadings the way — Shōgun, The Bear and Baby Reindeer — and underestimating the strength of some of their competitors. The analysis. 

—"We're coming out of a hard time, but I think we're moving in the right direction." THR's Mikey O'Connell spoke to Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden about an above-average Emmy nominations morning for the company, with a total of 183 nominations across the various brands. Walden also discusses the future of Shōgun, Jimmy Kimmel and her optimistic take on Hollywood's future. The interview. 

Emmy Vacuum Enables Voters to Right Some Wrongs

►Some good things, some bad. THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg writes that this year’s Emmy nominations presented an opportunity for voters, freed from the velvet shackles of Succession, Ted Lasso, Better Call Saul, Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and other legacy juggernauts. Dan was pleased that Reservation Dogs, Shōgun, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Palm Royale led big nomination mornings for FX, Amazon and Apple TV+, despite category confusion continuing to reign. The critic's notebook. 

—All change. The 2024 Emmys will feature a best drama series field that’s almost entirely different from the nominees for the last awards. THR's Rick Porter writes that, rather than a wholesale changing of the guard, the nearly unprecedented turnover is more a function of the way TV works now. Only the final season of The Crown is a repeat nominee as most of last year's contenders weren't eligible. The story.

—FINALLY! Reservation Dogs finally got some Emmy love. The FX/Hulu comedy, co-created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, has long been a critical favorite, picking up recognition at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, Spirit Awards and Writers Guild Awards. Emmy nominations, though, have remained elusive — until Wednesday morning, when it was recognized in the best comedy series category. The story.

—Record breaker. THR's Patrick Brzeski writes that Shōgun's nominations amounted to a sweeping set of firsts, as all the honored Japanese castmembers are first-time nominees on an individual basis, and most are also the very first Japanese nominees in their respective categories in Emmys history. Previously, only Japanese actor Masi Oka, nominated for outstanding supporting actor for Heroes in 2007, had received a drama series nod from the Television Academy. The story. 

—New benchmark. The Bear has set a new Emmys record by landing the most nominations in a single year in the comedy category with 23. The record was previously held by 30 Rock with 22 nominations in 2009. The story. 

—Like he never left. The Daily Show and Jon Stewart found themselves in a familiar place Wednesday morning — among the nominees for best variety talk series at the Emmys. The category may be just as notable, however, for the shows that didn’t make the nominee list. The Daily Show — which won the talk series Emmy last year for Trevor Noah’s final season as host — will compete against Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night With Seth Meyers and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert for the award at the 2024 Emmys. The story.

More Emmy noms news... 

—Listen to 59 of 2024’s Emmy nominees on THR’s Awards Chatter podcast

—Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph nominated for multiple acting awards

—Paul Rudd and Ryan Gosling among first-time nominees

—Billy Joel, Lionel Richie, Usher, Jay-Z, Selena Gomez score nominations

—Robert Downey Jr., Da’Vine Joy Randolph land Emmy noms same year as Oscar wins

—Baby Reindeer star Nava Mau makes history with supporting actress nom

—Treat Williams receives posthumous nomination for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

—Carol Burnett becomes oldest female comedy acting nominee for Palm Royale

Reality TV Filming Plummets in L.A.

►Production slowdown. Filming for reality television in the L.A. area experienced another significant drop in the second quarter of 2024 after a rough start to the year, belying expectations that unscripted production would accelerate amid industry contraction and belt-tightening coming out of the dual strikes. That’s according to the latest production report from local film office FilmLA, which found that on-location filming of the format from April to June this year fell nearly 57 percent to 868 total shoot days compared to the same period in 2023. The story. 

—Big problem. American Idol. Dancing With the Stars. Shark Tank. Survivor. They’re all major unscripted formats — and they’re all created by men. According to a new study, which was commissioned by content behemoth Banijay Entertainment in concert with Everywoman Studios and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, three in four reality TV creators are men. The inequity is even more pronounced in the U.S., where more than 80 percent of those nonscripted creators are male. The study. 

—The saga continues. The Scandoval saga has taken an even uglier turn with Tom Sandoval filing a lawsuit this week against his former girlfriend, Ariana Madix, claiming that she violated his privacy when peeking at his phone to discover salacious videos of her friend and castmate Rachel Leviss. The cheating scandal that broke during the season 10 finale of Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules launched not only the biggest controversy of Bravo’s reality franchise yet, but is now heading to the courts. The story.

—"Artists who have made an extraordinary impact on the cultural life of our nation." The Kennedy Center has found the honorees for the 47th installment of The Kennedy Center Honors. Director Francis Ford Coppola, rock band The Grateful Dead, singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt and jazz composer, trumpeter and pianist Arturo Sandoval will be feted at this year’s event. The Apollo Theater in Harlem set to receive special honors "as an iconic American institution." The honors will be handed out on Dec. 8, and will be broadcast on CBS Dec. 23. The story.  

—Tragic death. J. Michael Cline, the finance executive who founded the ticketing company Fandango, died Tuesday after falling from a high-rise hotel in New York City. He was 64. The NYPD told THR on Wednesday that officers responded to an incident at The Kimberly Hotel on East 50th Street at 10:19 a.m. Tuesday following 911 calls. His cause of death wasn’t immediately available, though there are several reports that he died by suicide. The obituary.

—Saved! The pension plan for the American Federation of Musicians and Employers is set to receive a $1.5b cash influx to save the plan from becoming insolvent. The money comes as part of the American Rescue Plan, which was passed in 2021. The pension plan for the musicians’ union, which represents close to 50,000 members in New York who work on Broadway, in bands, in orchestras and in film and theater, is now set to receive the funding. Without the funding, the plan was set to run out of money in 2034. The story. 

Russo Bros. in Talks to Direct Next Two 'Avengers' Movies 

►Just when they thought they were out... THR's Borys Kit and Aaron Couch have the huge scoop on the Russo Bros. being in early talks to return to Marvel Studios to direct not just one, but the next two Avengers movies. Sources say the talks are in the early stages, but the potential hiring ends a months-long, high-stakes search by the studio for filmmakers to oversee the fifth and sixth Avengers movies. Multiple names were in contention, including Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, who was offered the gig. The story. 

—"It’s a long shoot… but we’re getting close!!" James Gunn provided yet another update on Superman. The DC film, which stars David Corenswet in the title role and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, is “getting close” to being done with filming after wrapping its six-week Cleveland shoot this week. The director and co-head of DC Studios has been sharing updates with his fans on Threads, where he posted a lengthy, er, thread on the social media platform, praising the city of Cleveland for its hospitality while they were in production. The story. 

—Storm brewing. Universal's Twisters hits theaters this weekend, nearly three decades after the original Twister blew away audiences with nearly $500m in global ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation. The studio has never tried to bill Twisters as a direct sequel to the first film, but rather as a new chapter in the story of obsessive storm chasers. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the Lee Isaac Chung-directed $155m movie could open anywhere from $40m to $50m domestically, according to tracking services. The box office report. 

Kerry Washington on Digging Deep in 'UnPrisoned' S2

►"Getting a season two is such a dream come true on any show." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to Kerry Washington about her Hulu/Onyx Collective dramedy UnPrisoned. Washington discusses John Stamos' guest role as the Alexanders’ family therapist, as they further explore generational trauma in the second season. The interview. 

—Almost there. FX's long-gestating Alien series, Alien: Earth, has finished principal filming, creator Noah Hawley says. "We are wrapped — just wrapped," Hawley told THR Wednesday, the same day his other FX series, Fargo, earned 15 Emmy nominations. "I’m in post, editing away, and obviously there’s a large visual effects component that takes time. But I couldn’t be happier with the show we shot. If people wanted a television series based on the world of Alien, I think I’m gonna give them something special," Hawley added. The story. 

—Another big get. Roy Wood Jr.'s next stand-up comedy special is headed to Hulu. The streamer said Wood’s fourth stand-up special, which will be taped at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. in September, will launch on Hulu and Disney+ internationally. His last special, Imperfect Messenger, streamed on Paramount+. The comedian’s TV appearance comes as Hulu leans into monthly stand-up specials under the banner “Hulu’s Laughing Now.” The story.