LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 2023 Emmy Awards are arriving in 2024. Hollywood’s two strikes meant a four-month delay for television’s annual celebration of itself. But both have now been resolved and the show will go on. Here’s a look at the telecast, the ceremony, and the series and stars up for awards.
WHEN ARE THE EMMY AWARDS AND WHO WILL APPEAR?
The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will be held on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Monday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Anthony Anderson will host. It will be telecast live on the Fox network starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, and available to stream the following day on Hulu
Fox is taking its turn this year in an annual rotation between the four networks. Anderson, who was nominated for lead actor in a comedy seven times for his work on ABC’s “ black-ish,” is a first-time Emmys host, although he’s hosted the NAACP Image Awards eight times.
He also has a fresh connection to Fox — his new game show “We Are Family” premiered in early January.
Now with a TV-themed name, downtown LA’s Peacock Theater, formerly the Microsoft Theater and the Nokia Theatre, has been the go-to home for the Emmys since 2008.
Others appearing on the show stage as presenters and in other roles include Quinta Brunson and Pedro Pascal, who are both also nominees for multiple Emmys, along with Jodie Foster, Jenna Ortega, Jason Bateman, Stephen Colbert, Jon Hamm, Ken Jeong and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
NOMINEES AND EARLY WINNERS
As is typical at the Emmys, HBO shows dominated the nominations when they were announced way back in July. The top three nominees — “Succession” with 27, “The Last of Us” with 24, and “The White Lotus” with 23 — were all from the gilded cable channel.
“The Last of Us” comes in with a big head start on the grand total after winning eight at the Creative Arts Emmys, which are held about a week before the main ceremony. The dystopian video-game adaption won best guest actor and guest actress in a drama for memorable one-episode performances from Nick Offerman and Storm Reid. And it dominated in the technical categories, winning best visual effects and best prosthetic makeup for its fungus-faced walking dead.
“White Lotus” took four trophies at the Creative Arts Emmys, winning for its music, its casting and its hairstyling.
“Succession” came up empty, but the fourth and final season of the show about a generationally dysfunctional family of one-percenters could still dominate in major categories on Monday. It’s probably still the favorite for best drama, which it has won at two of the past three Emmys, and the acting categories are overloaded with its ensemble cast. Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin are all up for best actor in a drama, four more men from the show are up for best supporting actor and Sarah Snook got a best actress nomination.
“The White Lotus” managed to get five nominees in the supporting actress category, including Jennifer Coolidge and Aubrey Plaza.
And if voters’ affection continues for “The Last of Us” it could also win best drama; its stars Pascal and Bella Ramsey are nominated in the lead acting categories.
“The Bear,” nominated in comedy categories despite being heavy on drama, won four Emmys at the Creative Arts ceremonies and is nominated for 13 overall. “Ted Lasso,” which won two, was tops among comedies with 21 overall nominations for its final season. The Emmys have loved the Apple TV+ soccer series since its kickoff. It won best comedy series and best actor for Jason Sudeikis in each of its first two seasons and is nominated to threepeat in both categories.
CELEBRATING 75 WITH REUNIONS, BIG MOMENTS
This is the 75th time the Emmys are being handed out, and the Television Academy is celebrating by marking big TV moments from the past and trying to make a few of their own.
Members of the academy and academics collaborated to create a list of the 75 Most Impactful Television Moments that was revealed Friday. The list is topped by the moon landing and includes King’s “I have a dream” speech, the Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and famous scenes from “Seinfeld,” “The Sopranos” and “Sesame Street.”
And during Monday night’s show, producers will present a series of cast reunions and scene recreations from beloved shows including “Cheers,” “I Love Lucy,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Martin.”
WHY WERE THE AWARDS POSTPONED?
Hollywood’s historic work stoppage among writers and actors, both essential to the Emmys, meant the show had a rare delay for an unprecedented four months.
Leaders of the Television Academy were among those breathing a sigh of relief when actors voted to approve their new strike-ending contract on Dec. 5 and put a period on the entire stoppage.
With an autumn show date based around the traditional broadcast TV season, the Emmys have for years had some quirks based on the far more scattered schedule of cable and streaming. The delay makes those oddities even odder.
To give one example, the nominations for “The Bear” are for its first season, even though the awards will be handed out six months after its second season dropped. (last Sunday’s Golden Globes heaped awards on “The Bear” — for its standout second season.)
In another anomaly, by the time of the ceremony, all the winners will have been established, the metaphorical envelopes sitting unopened for more than four months. That’s because the Television Academy wanted at least the voting to be the same as always, so its approximately 20,000 members had to cast their ballots by Aug. 28.
The January date puts the Emmys within the rest of Hollywood’s awards season, a week after the Golden Globes and about six weeks before the Screen Actors Guild Awards — both ceremonies that honor television along with movies.
The delay is the first time the Emmys have been postponed since 2001, when the 9/11 attacks came just five days before the planned ceremony. That ceremony would end up being held in November.
___
This story first moved on Dec. 20 and was updated on Jan. 9, 10 and 12.
