The only thing consistent about the Emmy nominations is its inconsistency. Part of the fun of nomination morning is combing through the ballot to find the quirks that give the 25,000 voting membership its unique charm.
Here are a few fun facts we found:
1
The number of acting nominations for titles like Bait (lead actor Riz Ahmed), The Four Seasons (supporting actor Colman Domingo), Half Man (supporting actor Richard Gadd), The Morning Show (supporting actor Billy Crudup), Rooster (lead actor Steve Carell), The Testaments (lead actress Chase Infiniti), Wonder Man (lead actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). The acting branch clearly had its favorites, and wanted to spread the wealth.
2
Leave it to the aforementioned Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to bring the Marvel and DC television universes together. Six years ago, the actor won Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actor for playing Dr. Manhattan in HBO’s version of Watchmen, a sequel series to Alan Moore’s seminal superhero saga that DC published in 1986. And now he’s in Best Comedy Actor contention for Wonder Man based on the Marvel Comics hero and wannabe actor. Clearly, his next step is headlining a Spawn TV series so he can add Image Comics to his Emmy pull list.
2
The number of nominees for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. There are only two contenders in the category, for the first time since the category was introduced in 2005 (last year three titles vied for the prize). PBS’ The Librarians is up against National Geographic’s The Tale of Silyan, which failed to make the shortlist for the Academy Awards.
2
The number of Best Drama Directing nominations for Salli Richardson-Whitfield, the first Black woman to earn double nods in the category. Richardson-Whitfield is recognized for her work on The Gilded Age and Task; she’s up against Hanelle Culpepper (Paradise), Noah Wyle (The Pitt), Vince Gilligan (Pluribus), and Saul Metzstein (Slow Horses). She’s also nominated as an executive producer for The Gilded Age, which is contending for Best Drama Series.
3
Chester A. Arthur will never win anyone’s award for Best Commander in Chief, but America’s 21st president may have an Emmy coming to his presidential library. Death by Lightning scene-stealer Nick Offerman is only the third actor in history to portray Arthur in either film or television, preceded by Emmett Corrigan in 1932’s Silver Dollar and Larry Gates in 1963’s Cattle King. And Offerman’s Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actor nomination makes him the only one of that trio to receive any awards attention. Now we know who to cast in the President John Tyler biopic.
4
The number of times Jason Bateman is on the ballot. The multihyphenate is not only nominated for his performance as lead actor in Black Rabbit and supporting actor in DTF St. Louis, but also for directing Black Rabbit and as an executive producer for DTF St. Louis, which earned a nod for Best Limited Series.
6
The number of nominations for Wicked: One Wonderful Night — that’s six more nominations than the film that inspired it. The variety special scored with Emmy voters, earning recognition for a multitude of crafts, including choreography, hairstyling, lighting design, music direction, and technical direction — but the movie (Wicked: For Good) was famously shut out at the Academy Awards.
18
The number of nominations for Pluribus, the most for the debut season of a Vince Gilligan show, more than double Better Call Saul‘s freshman haul (seven) and well ahead of Breaking Bad‘s (four).
27
The number of years since David E. Kelley was last nominated for Best Comedy Series. Ally McBeal was nominated in 1999 and won the top prize; now his latest project, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, will be competing against front-runner Hacks.
40
That’s the number of years between James Cameron’s Aliens lighting up the summertime box office and scoring an Oscar for Stan Winston’s still-impressive visual effects — one of two wins among its seven overall nominations — and the franchise’s first TV series, Alien: Earth, getting a nod for the corresponding Emmy. Here’s hoping those statuettes are acid-proof.
100
The age of the oldest Emmy nominee, David Attenborough. He’ll be competing against himself for lending his voice as narrator to two separate projects — A Gorilla Story (Netflix) and Ocean With David Attenborough (National Geographic) — not to mention Jodie Foster (Breakdown), Werner Herzog (Ghost Elephants) and Octavia Spencer (Lost Women of Alaska).
