I’ve long had a love-hate relationship with the Emmy Awards. As someone who intersected and answered into both the business and creative sectors of television studios and networks I’ve been part of both liberally funded campaigns to cajole nominations out of industry peer groups and internal case studies that would inevitably come to the conclusion that there is rarely a material fiscal impact made by winning them. And I can say this much from those experiences–both constituencies will vehemently and passionately defend their actions as being essential to their existences and self-worth.
It’s extremely easy to see that when one looks at the level of spin and positioning in the wake of yesterday’s announcements for the 2026 nominations, which unlike their Oscar counterparts were held post-dawn. The bottom line scorecard that was reported as bullet point number one in this morning’s CYNOPSIS is stunningly simplistic in such illustration:
HBO Max nabbed the most nominations with 122, followed by Netflix’s 111 and Apple TV’s 87. Between ABC (40), FX (23), Hulu (22), Disney+ (14) and Nat Geo (12), Disney’s haul was 111.
I have zero doubt that last point came from a team of frazzled publicists doing their darndest to satisfy the egos and expectations of overly sensitive and motivated executives who have defined their careers and their standing amongst rank and file talent by these scorecards. I mused four years ago about what at the time was seen as a golden opportunity for populist content to gain traction, spearheaded by ABC’s relative breakout ABBOTT ELEMENTARY. Well, the show’s since won its share of awards and is still garnering enough attention and audience to remain in production, but it hasn’t broken any records for either and isn’t about to any time soon. It’s neither commanded voting zeitgeist nor yet reached the end of its line, so this year it’s the rejuventated DANCING WITH THE STARS that’s carrying the Disney banner.
And I suspect one can shed a few crocodile tears for the determined and frequently manipulative FX team that John Landgraf still commands that was forced to deal with the fact that perhaps his reign as the self-defined “mayor of Hollywood” is winding down. As a leading architect and member of committees that set the ground rules for nominees, he has long used the loose and oft-debated parameters of what qualifies for what to benefit his shows. But as CNN’s Dan Heching and David Mack obsered, even that tactic this year didn’t bear all that much fruit:
Despite growing increasingly stale among viewers and critics with each passing season, “The Bear” still managed to earn a nomination for outstanding comedy series. But while Ayo Edebiri and late Hollywood legend Rob Reiner received nominations for their work on the show, star Jeremy Allen White was snubbed despite previously winning his category twice.
You could host a night of panels and debates as to whether or not THE BEAR is a comedy or a drama, in much the same manner as one could debate whether the new flavor of the month is indeed a comedy or not. THE WRAP’s dynamic duo of Jose Alejandro Bastidas and Adam Chitwood made particular note of that:
“Widow’s Bay” was a late-breaking hit for Apple TV, but there was some concern that despite its critical acclaim and fervent word-of-mouth, Katie Dippold’s horror-comedy was simply released too late to notch enough Emmy nominations – its first episode premiered on April 29. Not so, it appears. The series scored a whopping 19 nominations including Best Comedy Series and acting noms for Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Stephen Root, Dale Dickey, Betty Gilpin and Hamish Linklater. And that’s with several of its best episodes not even being eligible for the Emmys because they aired outside the window. All hail “Widow’s Bay.”
It was a debate that its champion, Apple TV Head of Programming Matt Cherniss, was happy to engage DEADLINE’s Peter White during White’s victory lap interview with him yesterday:
DEADLINE: For years, the question has been asked, ‘Is The Bear a comedy?’. Is Widow’s Bay a comedy?
CHERNISS: For the purposes of these categories, I think that that’s a fair thing to do. I certainly laugh at the show. I guess at the end of the day, the audience will decide, or I should say the voters will decide, whether they feel like a show qualifies or not. They nominated this as a comedy, so I think that it is one of the scariest comedies I’ve seen, but, but I feel comfortable with the show in that category.
DEADLINE: To paraphrase Dale Dickey’s Rosemary, some people might have some qualms.
CHERNISS: Well, it’s fantastic people are quoting Dale.
One can’t help but note more than a touch of smugness and even arrogance in Cherniss’ response. I’ve seen those qualities first-hand as a colleague who was at one time a useful tool that obliged his presence while myself and the unlucky analyst who drew the short straw would trudge into the office pre-dawn to download the raw material needed to produce preliminary ratings–a process that Cherniss himself was responsible for at the outset of his career. As a rising executive under Landgraf we’d commisserate on how to best position our findings so that his seat at the table was secure–not that he had all that much to worry about in the first place. He’d already established himself quite well with Landgraf’s predecessor Peter Liguori, who eventually tapped him to try and make something out of nothing at the late lamented FX runback attempt that Tribune attempted with WGN America as well as the two-headed Sony hydra we adoringly referenced as ZJ–his current Apple superiors Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg. I’ve worked with all of them at one point myself, and I know how much Emmy awards mean to all of them. Cherniss’ inability to find successful complimentary content to his WGNA efforts was not germane to Apple TV’s mission, and he has more than benefitted from maximizing his true talents in their camp.
Which is why the attention being thrown at him yesterday by practically every industry observer for Apple’s haul is encouraging and heartwarming for several reasons. WIDOW’S BAY was hardly the only one of his rookies to break through with voters, as White’s colleague Pete Hammond observed:
Speaking of Apple, even though it comes in behind leader HBO and Netflix in overall totals it had its best year with a variety of shows and clearly knows how to program them to get maximum Emmy exposure if you look at what the late-breaking Widow’s Bay (19 total noms), Pluribus (18) and Margo‘s (eight) managed to do — not to mention the forward momentum of Shrinking, a show that was everywhere on the campaign trail this season. Even the terrific second season of Your Friends and Neighbors managed to shock pundits (who dismissed it) by nabbing a single nomination, but a big one for Best Drama Series (when was the last time a Drama series nominee had just that single nomination and nothing else?).
Add to that the fact that he’s got a cadre of other industry favorites that weren’t able to shoehorn in eligible episodes this year like SEVERANCE and TED LASSO awaiting new season launches, and it’s hard not to anoint Cherniss as the new sheriff, if not mayor, of Hollywood, and I suppose Cupertino as well.
Contrast that with the lot and immediate fate of HBO honcho Casey Bloys. While still the leader in the clubhouse his total was heavily buoyed by the swan song season of HACKS, which indeed broke the record for comedy noms previously held by THE BEAR (and tied by the STUDIO), as well as a buzzy career nod for Lisa Kudrow in the simultaneously comeback and coda season of THE COMEBACK and a few courtesy nominations for EUPHORIA’s leads Zendaya and Colton Domingo as it fades to black. And he’s facing a come-to-Jesus career moment with an imminent showdown ahead with his incoming boss David Ellison, who has a lot of other pressing priorities besides awards that his daddy has given him to handle and a fairly auspiced executive who orchestrated Netflix’s meteoric rise in Cindy Holland already on his payroll. Objectively, all of their best days might be behind them.
Mind you, none of this is to suggest that Cherniss, or for that matter Erlicht and Van Amburg, have yet figured out how to capture the size of audience even within their limited universe in the manner than Bloys and Landgraf have. Even if they have done so they’re reluctant to share those receipts with anyone in a position to objectively assess them, and until (if ever) Apple bites the bullet that their competitors have and embrace advertisers they don’t have to. So for them the Emmys are of outsized importance at a time when most everyone else needs to at least split their focus on ROI and reach.
Kudos and huzzahs, Matt. Enjoy the ride and sure hope you’re sleeping in more these days.
Until next time…