73rd Emmy Awards Nominations; Showtime Orders Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon Comedy

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

73rd Emmy Awards Nominations; Showtime Orders Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon Comedy

Nominations for the 73rd Emmy® Awards were announced recognizing a wealth of innovative storytelling, exceptional new programs, and a robust and diverse group of talent nominees. The live virtual ceremony was hosted by father-daughter duo Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) from Los Angeles and Jasmine Cephas Jones (Blindspotting) from New York along with Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma. The Crown and The Mandalorian have tied for the top spot for program nominations with 24 followed by WandaVision (23), The Handmaid's Tale (21), Saturday Night Live (21), Ted Lasso (20), Lovecraft Country (18), The Queen's Gambit (18) and Mare of Easttown (16). HBO/HBO Max leads the nominations in totals by platform with 130. Netflix has the second-most nominations with 129, and rounding out the top four are Disney+ with 71 and NBC with 46.

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-ish and The Kominsky Method. The Emmys will be broadcast on Sunday, Sept. 19 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/5:00-8:00 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. The 2021 Creative Arts Awards will be broadcast on Saturday, Sept. 18 (8:00 PM ET/PT) on FXX.

In total, there were 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-ever 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.

Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon

SHOWTIME has picked up the half-hour comedy series I Love This For You, starring and executive produced by Emmy(R) nominee Vanessa Bayer (Saturday Night Live), along with fellow nominee Molly Shannon (The White Lotus, The Other Two) also leading the cast. Bayer co-created the series with Emmy nominee and two-time Peabody winner Jeremy Beiler (Saturday Night Live, Inside Amy Schumer, I Think You Should Leave), who will executive produce. Emmy and Peabody winner Jessi Klein (Inside Amy Schumer, Dead to Me, Transparent) will serve as showrunner and executive produce along with Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Wet Hot American Summer).

Inspired by Bayer's own story of overcoming childhood leukemia, I Love This For You centers on Joanna Gold (Bayer) who dreams of becoming a host at a home-shopping channel. Working to shed her life-long label as "that cancer girl," she moves away from her parents, starts a budding romance for the first time in her adult life and forms a meaningful friendship with her idol Jackie, all against the backdrop of a highly competitive workplace run by an unstable billionaire, where people play dirty to succeed. Shannon appears as Jackie, the charismatic star of the network; Paul James (Soundtrack) as Jordan, a charming but dry stage manager; Ayden Mayeri (Homecoming) as Beth Ann, an ambitious insecure host; Matthew Rogers (Haute Dog) as Darcy, the ingratiating right-hand man to the CEO; and Emmy nominee Punam Patel (Special) as Beena, an offbeat backstage producer.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 17

Abbott Elementary - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

Abbott Elementary - "Work Family" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn’t know the other teachers as well as she thought. Meanwhile, as Gregory’s stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform, Barbara and Melissa teach him how to relax and make his lessons more fun.

Abbott Elementary - "Step Class" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Janine is thrilled when Ava asks to help her teach the after-school step class, but the two don’t see eye to eye on how to run the program. Later, when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan an “eat-off” to decide who makes the best pizza in Philadelphia, Gregory is forced to reveal a secret.

Abbott Elementary - "Desking" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; and later, the teachers finally meet Jacob’s boyfriend, Zach, who joins in to help stop the students “desking”.

Wellington Paranormal - "Mobots" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Officer Minogue meets Officer O'Leary's mom when they use her house for a stakeout to investigate why a mass quantity of obsolete electronics goes missing.

Wellington Paranormal - "The Invisible Fiend" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Minogue and O'Leary investigate a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry, managing to arrest an invisible creature and bring it back to the station for questioning.

grown-ish - "You Don't Know Me" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The girls enlist Junior's help to find their shady roommate, Lauryn, who has a habit of mysteriously disappearing; Junior wonders if Annika is starting to catch feelings for him; Aaron suspects that Doug isn't being honest with him.

Everything's Trash - "Rom-Coms Are Mostly Trash" (Freeform, 10:30PM ET/PT)
After Phoebe suddenly sees Michael in a new light, she attempts to set him up with Malika, who already has her eye on an old flame; Jayden worries that he and Jessie have lost their spark, so they decide to spice things up.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)

Wednesday, August 17

Alison Brie (GLOW/Community) - Watch Alison Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke) - Sasheer appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi co-hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Susan Walters (Dear John/The War Next Door) - Susan is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Blair Underwood (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - Kel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Josh Peck (Grandfathered/Drake & Josh) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers/Pearl/Kirstie) - Josh and Rhea talk about Netflix's 13: The Musical on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murry talks about White Lotus on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.