"Shogun" and "The Bear" are expected to earn big wins at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, in a ceremony producers have said will lean heavily on nostalgia and celebrate television's history, much like the postponed Emmys ceremony held in January.
With a leading 25 nominations, FX's drama series set in 17th-century Japan, "Shogun," is poised to win big on Sunday. Many publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, are expecting it to take home the Outstanding Drama Series prize, with Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai also predicted by these publications to win the lead actor and actress categories. Similarly, awards pundits are predicting "The Bear" -- which earned 23 nominations this year, the most ever in a single year for a comedy series -- to dominate, with possible wins in the Outstanding Comedy Series and lead actor categories for Jeremy Allen-White. "Baby Reindeer," which was a big ratings hit for Netflix, is also projected by many publications to win the Outstanding Limited Series category.
Many Emmy awards in the technical and guest acting categories were handed out last weekend at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony. "Shogun" dominated the competition, winning a record-shattering 14 awards, the most ever for a single season of any show -- and the main Emmys ceremony hasn't even happened yet. The series won a guest actor award for Néstor Carbonell, alongside wins in cinematography, stunts, editing and more. "The Bear" won seven awards last weekend, including a guest-actress win for Jamie Lee Curtis, marking her first-ever win at the Emmys.
Some Emmy nominees are among the highest-paid showrunners of the past year, according to a Forbes analysis. "The Simpsons" showrunners James L. Brooks and Matt Groening were the joint third-highest paid showrunners of the past year with $135 million in earnings, though they lost the animated series Emmy last weekend to "Blue Eye Samurai." Larry David ranks as the eight highest-earning showrunner of the past year with $48 million in earnings, and he's up for two awards on Sunday: Outstanding Comedy Series and Lead Actor in a Comedy for "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which wrapped up a 24-year run in April. Greg Berlanti, the 10th-highest paid showrunner with $40 million in earnings, known for writing and producing series like "Dawson's Creek" and various DC Comics series, is nominated for Outstanding Television Movie as a producer of "Red, White & Royal Blue." Six-time Emmy-winning "Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who made $34 million over the past year, are up for Outstanding Drama Series once again, this time for Netflix's "3 Body Problem."
This will be the second Primetime Emmys ceremony held this year, because the ceremony originally scheduled to air in 2023 was pushed to January amid the Hollywood labor strikes. Though the ceremony date changed, the eligibility periods for both ceremonies remained the same. The upcoming Emmys will honor shows released between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024.
Emmy Nominations: 'Shogun' Leads With 25, 'The Bear' Earns Record 23 For Comedy Series (Forbes)
The Highest-Paid TV Showrunners 2024 (Forbes)