‘Succession’ tops Emmy nominations with 25 as ‘Squid Game’ makes history

LOS ANGELES — HBO’s “Succession” topped this year’s Emmy nominations, earning 25 nods on Tuesday, as “Squid Game” became the first non-English-language drama series shortlisted for glory for television’s equivalent of the Oscars.

“Succession”, which follows a rich, powerful family vying to inherit a media empire, led the drama nominees, while “Ted Lasso” and “The White Lotus” topped the comedy and limited series categories with 20 nominations each.

Two other comedies — HBO’s “Hacks” and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” — each racked up 17 nominations for the 74th Emmy Awards, to be handed out at a glitzy ceremony in Los Angeles on September 12.

“With production at a historic high, the Academy has received a record number of Emmy submissions this season,” said Television Academy CEO Frank Scherma, praising “this platinum age of television”.

Television productions have ramped back up, after being shuttered or scaled back in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Succession” will compete for best drama with “Squid Game”, a violent South Korean satire in which society’s marginalised compete for cash in fatal versions of children’s games — and Netflix’s most-watched series ever.

“Squid Game” also picked up multiple acting nominations, including best lead actor for Lee Jung-jae, to earn 14 nods in total.

The groundbreaking show is hoping to follow in the footsteps of South Korean film “Parasite,” which rocked Hollywood in 2020 by becoming the first non-English-language film to win best picture at the Oscars.

Others in the running for the best drama Emmy include “Euphoria”, “Ozark”, “Better Call Saul” and “Stranger Things”.

“Succession” stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong will compete with Lee for best actor in a drama series, while former Oscar winner Adrien Brody earned a guest actor nomination.

“I am a huge fan of ‘Succession’ and am beyond thrilled to have been included in such an extraordinary show,” said Brody of the series, which already won best drama in 2020 with its second season.

“Euphoria” star and past winner Zendaya, 25, became the youngest acting nominee to be shortlisted twice, for best actress in a drama — a category in which “The Morning Show” actress Jennifer Aniston missed out to co-star Reese Witherspoon.

‘Emmy nominated, baby!’

HBO — and its streaming platform HBO Max — won the network nominations battle, earning a combined 140 compared to Netflix’s 105.

In the comedy categories, past winners Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”), Bill Hader (“Barry”) and Donald Glover (“Atlanta”) will battle it out for best actor, as will Jean Smart (“Hacks”) and Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”) for best actress.

Selena Gomez missed out on an acting nomination for “Only Murders in the Building” — even though her male co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short earned nods.

But she still made history as the second ever Latina nominated as a producer in the category.

“Abbott Elementary”, ABC’s school-based mockumentary, earned seven nods including acting, writing and comedy series nominations for creator Quinta Brunson.

“Crying shaking and throwing up has new meaning to me because I real life did all three,” Brunson tweeted.

“Still speechless... Emmy nominated, baby!

A-list flocks to limited series

In the limited series categories, “The White Lotus” — a satirical look at hypocrisy and wealth among the visitors to a luxury Hawaii hotel — scored eight acting nominations for an ensemble cast including Jennifer Coolidge and Murray Bartlett.

Elsewhere, A-listers including Colin Firth (“The Staircase”), Andrew Garfield (“Under the Banner of Heaven”), Oscar Isaac (“Scenes From a Marriage”) and Michael Keaton (“Dopesick”) will vie for best actor in a limited series.

But there were notable big-name omissions on the short list for best actress in a limited series, including Julia Roberts (“Gaslit”) and Jessica Chastain (“Scenes from a Marriage”).

Instead, the category will feature Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”), Julia Garner (“Inventing Anna”) and Sarah Paulson (“Impeachment: American Crime Story”) among others.