Severance leads Emmy nominations with 27

LOS ANGELES – Apple TV+’s dark sci-fi office drama Severance on July 15 led the contenders for the Emmy Awards, television’s version of the Oscars, with a whopping 27 nominations.

The Penguin, HBO Max’s Batman villain spin-off series, came in second with 24.

HBO Max’s The White Lotus and Apple TV+’s The Studio tied for third, with 23 nominations each.

In the comedies, behind The Studio were Hacks at 14 and The Bear at 13.

The announcement from the Television Academy was the official start of the race to the 77th Emmy Awards, set for Sept 14 in Los Angeles.

After 2024’s record-breaking 18 Emmy Awards for Japan-set historical epic Shogun, 2025’s drama competition looks to be more nuanced.

Severance, in which employees of biotech company Lumon have their memories surgically separated between their “innie” work lives and their “outie” personal lives, is clearly the early favourite, with star Adam Scott a nominee for best actor.

But he will compete with ER (1994 to 2009) veteran Noah Wyle, who leads The Pitt – HBO Max’s take on the travails of a Pittsburgh emergency room team during one 15-hour shift, covered effectively in real time.

“It’s ER on steroids!” Deadline awards expert Pete Hammond said of The Pitt, which earned 13 nods.

Those two shows will battle for best drama honours with Disney+’s Star Wars offshoot Andor, Netflix’s The Diplomat, HBO Max’s apocalyptic video-game adaptation The Last Of Us, Hulu political thriller Paradise, Apple TV+’s spy drama Slow Horses and The White Lotus.

Scott and Wyle have stiff competition for best actor: Oscar winner Gary Oldman in Slow Horses, Pedro Pascal in The Last Of Us and Sterling K. Brown in Paradise.

The Penguin is competing for best limited series honours against Dying For Sex (FX) and three Netflix efforts: buzzy teen murder saga Adolescence, Black Mirror and true-crime saga Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.

In the comedy categories, The Studio, a satire starring Seth Rogen that eviscerates the film industry, emerged as a clear favourite alongside perennial nominees Hacks and The Bear.

Hacks – starring Jean Smart as a stand-up comedienne who locks horns with her dysfunctional millennial assistant – won for best comedy and best actress at the 2024 Emmys.

The Bear, a dark satire set in the Chicago restaurant world, took the top prize at the 2023 Emmys (held in January 2024 due to Hollywood strikes), and its star Jeremy Allen White has two trophies for best actor.

Other nominees for best comedy series are perennial ABC nominee Abbott Elementary, romcom Nobody Wants This (Netflix), Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building, Apple TV+’s Shrinking and The Studio, and FX’s vampire laugh-fest What We Do In The Shadows.

Harvey Guillen (What We Do In The Shadows) and Brenda Song (Running Point) unveiled the key nominations in a live-streamed ceremony.

Voting members of the US-based Television Academy will then have a month to catch up on their viewing before final-round voting begins in mid-August.

The Sept 14 gala will be hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze. AFP