HBO still had reason to celebrate, however, as limited series `Watchmen` scored 26 nods, the most of any program. On the comedy side, Amazon Prime Video's `The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel` maintained its, well, marvelous showing at the Emmys, garnering 20 nominations - the same as last year. The leading dramas were Netflix's `Ozark` and HBO's `Succession,` both of which pulled 18 nods.
Without events to attend (and free shrimp to scarf) every night, Television Academy voters found themselves at home - and with more time, presumably, on their hands to watch more contenders. That, combined with the lack of physical screeners, might have leveled the playing field - particularly for those outlets that don't have the budget of a Netflix or an Amazon (in other words, nearly everyone else).
But that telecast also remains shrouded in mystery, although the Academy made history recently by tapping Reginald Hudlin, the first-ever Black executive producer of the Emmys, to work along side Kimmel and Done+Dusted's Guy Carrington, David Jammy and Ian Stewart. With it very unlikely that the show will look anything close to a normal Microsoft Theatre Emmy telecast, the producers have an opportunity to reinvent the show and lean in to the unconventional nature of all of this.
