David Farnor | On 13, Jul 2021

The nominations for the 2021 Emmy awards have been announced, and The Crown and The Mandalorian are leading the way.

The Netflix and Disney+ series are tied with 24 nominations apiece, with WandaVision in a close second with 23 nominations. On 21 each are The Handmaid’s Tale and Saturday Night Live, just ahead of Ted Lasso (20 nominations), Lovecraft Country and The Queen’s Gambit (both 18) and Mare of Easttown (HBO).

Mare of Easttown’s prominence is an indicator of just how dominate HBO remains on the small screen, with HBO and HBO Max leading the nominations by platform 130 in total – just ahead of Netflix’s total of 129 (down from 160 last year). However, while Disney+ has racked up 71 nods, Disney’s market share is more apparent when taking into account ABC, FX Networks and Disney’s other properties, which gives the House of Mouse a total of 146 nods across its portfolio. Also doing well is Apple TV+, which has 34 nominations, which is far behind the other streamers but approximately double its nominations last year – and also ahead of Amazon Prime Video’s 18 (down from 31 last year).

Bridgerton, Lovecraft Country and The Boys are newcomers to the Outstanding Drama Series category, joining returning nominees Pose, The Crown, The Mandalorian, This Is Us and previous category winner The Handmaid’s Tale. Seventy-five percent of this year’s nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series are new to the category, including Cobra Kai, Emily in Paris, Hacks, Pen15, Ted Lasso and The Flight Attendant. Returning favorites include black-ishand The Kominsky Method.

In total, there are 44 first-time performer nominations across the Lead, Supporting, Guest and Short Form categories this season. Jonathan Majors, Josh O’Connor and Regé-Jean Page received their first Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, joining previous Emmy winners in this category Sterling K Brown, Billy Porter and Matthew Rhys. Emma Corrin, Jurnee Smollett and Mj Rodriguez received their first nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, while previous Emmy winner Uzo Aduba was nominated for the first time in this category. They are joined by returning nominee Olivia Colman and previous Emmy winner in this category Elisabeth Moss.

Kaley Cuoco received her first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, while previous Emmy winner Jean Smart and previous Emmy nominee Aidy Bryant were nominated for the first time in this category. They join previous Emmy nominee Tracee Ellis Ross and Emmy winner Allison Janney.

Jason Sudeikis received his first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, while previous Emmy winner Kenan Thompson was nominated for the first time in this category. They join six-time nominee in the category Anthony Anderson, along with previous Emmy winners Michael Douglas and William H Macy.

Individuals with multiple nominations this year include David Attenborough, Sterling K Brown, Aidy Bryant, Bo Burnham, Steven Canals, Dave Chapelle, Michaela Coel, Jon Favreau, Derek Hough, Brendan Hunt, Maya Rudolph, Jean Smart, Jason Sudeikis and Kenan Thompson.

Musical documentaries dominate the Documentary special category, which includes The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Framing Britney Spears, Tina, The Social Dilemma and Boys State. Competing for the Documentary series prize are Allen v Farrow, American Masters, Pretend It’s a City and Secrets of the Whales.

Snubs include The Underground Railroad, which has received a nod for Directing, Cinematography and Casting, as well Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, but didn’t receive any cast nominations. Also nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series are WandaVision, I May Destroy You, Mare of Easttown and The Queen’s Gambit. Not nominated, however, was Steve McQueen’s Small Axe. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the line-up, though, is Don Cheadle’s nod for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a role that lasted a couple of minutes.

The winners will be unveiled on 19th September, with the Creative Arts awards announced the night before.

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