Emmy Watch Phase 2 Continued: My Reactions to the 2025 SAG Awards Nominations for TV

 

I didn’t mention it yesterday but it is worth noting the SAG awards themselves have always been a pleasing ceremony for me to watch. It may be the only awards show I’ve ever seen where the nominees, at least in the introductions, show some humility as well as respect for their profession. For this awards show they don’t pretend to be anything but what they are: actors.

And as a result the presentations of the awards go out of their way to remind us of television’s storied passed. One year – probably in the late 2000s  the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore show assembled onstage to present Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. (Steve Carell, accepting for The Office, admitted it made the award extra special.) Larry Hagman and Linda Gray came out to present Best Drama series just weeks before they would officially reunite in the TNT continuation of Dallas. And Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow three years ago presented Best Comic Ensemble leading everyone to wonder of the possibility that Romy and Michelle would get together onscreen.

Those who accept awards for TV have sometimes given incredible speeches: few who witnessed it will forget David Harbour’s acceptance speech for Stranger Things when he shouted out “We will punch bullies in the face.” (Yes, it was in 2017.) Two years ago in accepting the Ensemble Award for Succession Brian Cox (wearing a scarf that included ‘Team Logan’ and F---Off prominently on it) went out of his way to shout out to Zelensky (‘He is one of us, after all,” he said.) And sometimes they’re just fun: last year when Pedro Pascal accepted for The Last of Us he was so shocked he admitted he was drunk and took another occasion to add to the ‘feud’ he had all season with Kieran Culkin.

All of which is to say, even when the nominations show little surprise from the major awards that we get, the ceremony itself is always enjoyable. It ‘s now streaming on Netflix and I have every intention of watching it this year. Now let’s deal with the nominated series and actors for TV.

 

BEST COMEDIC ENSEMBLE

Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building were all expected to be here. (It’s looking like the guilds have no problem with the third season of The Bear even if the audience does.) The biggest surprise is that Shrinking is the fifth nominee instead of Nobody Wants This which has made the lists of every other show so far. And as you will see it hasn’t exactly been neglected.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Jeremy Allen White and Martin Short have been here the last three years. Adam Brody is here as well and Ted Danson, nominated by the Golden Globes for A Man on the Inside is also here. Once again the fact there is no differing between lead and supporting explains the presence of Harrison Ford for Shrinking. I’m not complaining of course, just reminding the SAG of their biggest flaw.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Jean Smart, Quinta Brunson and Ayo Edebiri are among the expected. I think its safe to say Smart is the favorite. I expected Kristen Bell to be here for Nobody Wants This. Lisa Colon-Zayas is here for The Bear for the same reason that Ford in the male category for Shrinking. The likelihood is this will split the vote between the two nominees from The Bear.

 

OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC ENSEMBLE

For the first time we see an awards show more focused on the season to come. The Diplomat, Slow Horses, and The Day of the Jackal are here, along with Shogun. I am shocked to see Bridgerton here instead of, say, Squid Game; this series has been shutout of every other major awards show to this point. HBO has no presence in Drama this year but that will change this fall.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA

No real notes. Gary Oldman, Hiroyuki Sanada and Eddie Redmayne have been making the rounds lately and I’m glad to see Jeff Bridges here for what will be the final season of The Gold Man. Tadanobu Asano’s presence is hardly shocking for Shogun – though it may syphon votes from Sanada.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA

Keri Russel and Alison Janney firm up their Emmy credentials with their nominations for The Diplomat as does Kathy Bates for Matlock. Anna Sawai is here as well. It is very odd to see Nicola Coughlan here for Bridgerton, perhaps most impressively over Keira Knightley who has been nominated by the Globes and the Critics Choice for her work in Black Doves. Lady Whistledown is clearly a major force among the SAG members.

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY  A MALE ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES

Very few surprises here. Richard Gadd and Andrew Scott are here for the season just past and Colin Farrell and Kevin Kline (nominated yet again for Disclaimer) is here for the future. Javier Bardem looks very much like he will be nominated for Monsters even if the series itself is not. (Yes I will be getting to that show down the road.)

 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES

And here we see something I haven’t seen in a very long time. The nominees in every category have been capped at five and seem unwilling to shift. But this year in this category six performers have been honored.

Four make perfect sense: Jodie Foster, Cate Blanchett and Cristin Milioti will be facing off for the third straight awards show and this time they’re up against Jessica Gunning. Lily Gladstone, absent from other major awards shows, is here for Under the Bridge. But Kathy Bates – not Jessica Lange – is nominated for the brilliant HBO TV Movie The Great Lillian Hall. This seems rather odd to be, though perhaps this is out of admiration for Bates (who was superb in the film.)

 

STUNT ENSEMBLE

Few surprises though it’s worth noting all of these series either have been or will be Emmy nominees: Fallout and Shogun from this past year; House of The Dragon from two years period; The Boys from three years prior and The Penguin for this year. I’m honestly not sure who will prevail this time.

 

As the Critics Choice Awards have been postponed until January 26^th due to the wildfires in LA I will be waiting for two weeks to make my prediction for those awards. I’ll be back to deal with the final part of Phase 2 – the nominees for the People’s Choice Awards for television –  next week. Stay tuned.