The 2021 Emmy nominations were announced Tuesday, July 13 and amidst all of the predictable fare were many jaw-dropping surprises. Of the eight shows nominated for Best Comedy Series, our odds-makers didn’t see two of them coming: “Cobra Kai” and “Emily in Paris.” The other six nominees are “Ted Lasso,” “The Flight Attendant,” “Hacks,” “The Kominsky Method,” “PEN15” and “Black-ish.” As for Best Drama Series, our predictors correctly pegged eight out of eight: “The Crown,” “The Mandalorian,” “Bridgerton,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Pose,” “Lovecraft Country,” “This Is Us” and “The Boys.” Then there’s Aidy Bryant, who shocked us by nabbing two nominations for “Shrill” and “Saturday Night Live.” Scroll down to see all 37 surprises at Emmys 2021.
For the comedy lead races, we failed to foresee bids for Allison Janney (“Mom”), Bryant (“Shrill”) and William H. Macy (“Shameless”). While all of our drama lead predictions were present and accounted for, there was one movie/mini lead contender that we missed. Leslie Odom Jr. might have been overlooked because our pundits only made room for one “Hamilton” nominee: its celebrated lead star and creator Lin Manuel-Miranda. But everybody needs to remember that, when Manuel-Miranda (as Alexander Hamilton) squared off against costar Odom (as Aaron Burr) at the Tony Awards in 2016, Odom prevailed.
As for the various supporting categories, congrats to all of these folks who weren’t expected to reap nominations this morning: Bryant (“Saturday Night Live”), Paul Reiser (“The Kominsky Method”), Jeremy Swift (“Ted Lasso”), Carl Clemons-Hopkins (“Hacks”), Aunjanue Ellis (“Lovecraft Country”), Madeline Brewer (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Chris Sullivan (“This Is Us”), O-T Fagbenle (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Max Minghella (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Renee Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton”), Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit”), Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”), Paapa Essiedu (“I May Destroy You”), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (“The Queen’s Gambit”), Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton”) and Anthony Ramos (“Hamilton”).
Below, see the Top 37 biggest jaw-dropping nominees that weren’t expected to show up according to Gold Derby’s odds. Did we leave anyone out? Let us know by sounding off down in the comments section.
COMEDY SURPRISES
BEST COMEDY SERIES
“Cobra Kai”
“Emily in Paris”
BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Allison Janney (“Mom”)
Aidy Bryant (“Shrill”)
BEST COMEDY ACTOR
William H. Macy (“Shameless”)
BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Aidy Bryant (“Saturday Night Live”)
BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Reiser (“The Kominsky Method”)
Jeremy Swift (“Ted Lasso”)
Carl Clemons-Hopkins (“Hacks”)
BEST COMEDY GUEST ACTRESS
Jane Adams (“Hacks”)
Bernadette Peters (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”)
Yvette Nicole Brown (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”)
BEST COMEDY GUEST ACTOR
Morgan Freeman (“The Kominsky Method”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Saturday Night Live”)
Alec Baldwin (“Saturday Night Live”)
DRAMA SURPRISES
BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Aunjanue Ellis (“Lovecraft Country”)
Madeline Brewer (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Sullivan (“This Is Us”)
O-T Fagbenle (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Max Minghella (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
BEST DRAMA GUEST ACTRESS
Sophie Okonedo (“Ratched”)
BEST DRAMA GUEST ACTOR
Don Cheadle (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”)
Carl Weathers (“The Mandalorian”)
OTHER SURPRISES
BEST MOVIE/LIMITED ACTOR
Leslie Odom, Jr. (“Hamilton”)
BEST MOVIE/LIMITED SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Renee Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton”)
Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit”)
Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”)
BEST MOVIE/LIMITED SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paapa Essiedu (“I May Destroy You”)
Thomas Brodie-Sangster (“The Queen’s Gambit”)
Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton”)
Anthony Ramos (“Hamilton”)
BEST ANIMATED PROGRAM
“South Park: The Pandemic Special”
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”
BEST COMPETITION PROGRAM
“Top Chef”
BEST VARIETY TALK SERIES
“Conan”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live”
BEST REALITY HOST
Shark Tank Hosts (“Shark Tank”)
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