As the new year begins many of the major
film and TV groups will be giving their nominations for film and TV for 2025.
Before we say hello to that group there's one last bit of business from 2025 to
deal with: the Spirit Awards.
It is always tricky to know how seriously
to take the Spirit Awards for TV for multiple reasons. First they only deal
with performers from shows that have debuted in the past year. Second,
they are one of those groups that doesn't divide its acting awards by gender, a
trend that they were the first – and to date, only major group – to start
doing. And lastly they don't divide between comedy, drama and limited series,
which honestly is a far more unforgivable sin.
That being said they have been on the nose
in recent years both when it came to recognizing shows and actors that the
Emmys either have or will recognize – and more importantly some that the Emmys
absolutely should have. And since I have been covering every awards show that
does so for the sake of completeness its worth doing. So here are the nominees
from the Spirits for television
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Adolescence has been very prominent when it comes to
awards show and we've seen a bit of Forever in the Critics Choice Awards
and Gotham TV awards in the past year. Common Side Effects is an
animated show. North of North was nominated for outstanding new program
by the TCA last year and Mr. Loverman did get a very amount of
recognition from the BAFTA TV Awards. (You'll see some of that below.)
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED
SERIES
First all three winners of Emmys for acting
are here: Seth Rogen for The Studio, Noah Wyle for The Pitt and
Stephen Graham for Adolescence. Michelle Williams is here for Dying for Sex
and Lola Petticrew got a fair amount of award chatter for Say Nothing (I
may get to that down the road.) For new series we see Sydney Chandler for Alien:
Earth and Ethan Hawke earning recognition for The Lowdown.
Lennie James was recognized for Mr.
Loverman (he took a BAFTA prize for it this year) Lovie Simone was
nominated for Forever and Anna Lambe was nominated for North of
North.
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW
SCRIPTED SERIES
Erin Doherty is here for Adolescence and
Jenny Slate is here for Dying For Sex. The rest of the list is
intriguing.
Taylor Dearden is nominated for her work in
The Pitt. Ben Whishaw got some early award talk for Black Doves but
that faded. There was talk of nominations for Netflix's A Man on The Inside and
I am a fan of Stephen McKinley Henderson in anything he does. Ariyon Bakare and
Sharon D. Clarke were both nominated for BAFTAs for Mr. Loverman (Bakare
won) The other two nominees were for Deli Boys and Forever. Babou
Cessay was nominated for Alien: Earth and with the nomination for Best
Drama from the Critics Choice that show may be in awards contention later this
year.
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW
SCRIPTED SERIES
Owen Cooper will almost certainly win for Adolescence.
The other nominees represent such shows as Deli Boys, Forever,
Overcompensating (which got some awards discussion) and Washington
Black.
I should also mention the award for Best
Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series will be given to Jason Momoa's Chief
of War. That show was nominated for Best Drama by the Critics Choice Awards
in Best Limited Series and it may loom as a dark horse in the new year,
particularly given its nominations from the Makeup and Costume Designer Guilds
late last year. We all know how the Emmys love period pieces.
Now let's look at the Actor Nominations
which were announced today
BEST ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA
The Pitt, Severance, The White Lotus and The Diplomat are far from
surprises. The biggest surprise the presence of Landsman over Slow
Horses or Pluribus. Or maybe not. Taylor Sheridan series have actually
done better at the SAG Awards over the years; such shows as Yellowstone and
1923 have gotten multiple nominations.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN
A DRAMA
Sterling K. Brown and Noah Wyle are here.
That's not a shock. Neither is Gary Oldman for Slow Horses. Walton
Goggins being here for The White Lotus isn't either. I have no doubt
some people will be surprised that Billy Crudup is here for The Morning Show
and Adam Scott isn't here for Severance. Crudup has been nominated
every year The Morning Show has been eligible so its not as much as
you'd think
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR
IN A DRAM
Keri Russell, Britt Lower and Rhea Seehorn
present and accounted for. Perhaps we shouldn't be shocked at how well The
White Lotus did, though I'm surprised to see that Carrie Coon isn't one of
the nominees. Still Aimee Lou Wood and Parker Posey were nominated for Emmys so
no real shocks.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN
A COMEDY
And here's a real shock. Jeremy Allan White
is absent for the first time in The Bear's run. It wasn't ignored as you'll
see but this is an even bigger sign as to how much The Beat is dropping
in opinions.
Seth Rogen, Adam Brody and Martin Short are
here, which makes sense. Ike Barinholtz was also nominated and Ted Danson was
nominated for the second consecutive year for A Man on The Inside. Will
the Emmys get onboard this year?
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR
Jean Smart is the only common thread between
all three major awards show this year in this category. However Jenna Ortega
has been nominated by the Golden Globes for her work in Wednesday and is
likely to return to the Emmy hunt this year. Kathryn Hahn and Catherine O'Hara
were both nominated for Emmys for The Studio and I was actually
surprised neither got nominated for Critics Choice Awards. (O'Hara was nominated for a Golden Globe.)
The big shock may be that rather than
Quinta Brunson or Selena Gomez the Actors nominated Kristin Wiig for Season 2
of Palm Royale. But again Wiig was nominated for an Emmy in this
category for Season One and considering that The Studio will not be
eligible for Emmys in 2026 Palm Royale may fill in more than its share
of gaps left by its absence. (I'll be checking on Season 2 later this year.)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A
COMEDY
Abbott Elementary and The Bear were nominated even
though they have no acting nominees. The other nominees are as you might expect
Hacks, Only Murders in the Building and The Studio. Only Hacks
and The Studio haven't won in this category to this point in all the
shows run.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A
LIMITED SERIES
No surprise that Stephen Graham and Owen
Cooper are here for Adolescence or that Charlie Hunnam, who has already
been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award is here for his
portrayal of Ed Gein. Matthew Rhys was nominated already twice for his work in The
Beast in Me.
The new face is Jason Bateman for Black
Rabbit. Jude Law was nominated for that show by the Golden Globes. Will it be
a factor?
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN A FEMALE ACTOR
IN A LIMITED SERIES
Four of the faces are familiar ones: Erin
Doherty and Christine Tremarco for Adolescence, Michelle Williams for Dying for Sex and
Sarah Snook for All Her Fault.
The new face IS Claire Danes for The
Beast in Me. At this point the
limited series is starting to look like it will be a contender for Emmys down
the road.
OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT
ENSEMBLE
It is in this category that mostly genre
shows get there due: here we see The Last of Us, Squid Game, Andor and
the final season of Stranger Things. Landsman received its only other
nomination in this category.
The biggest takeaway from this observer
from the SAGs is that The Bear is becoming yesterday's news in the minds
of most groups. Regardless of whether it’s a drama or a comedy both the SAGs
and the Critics Choice Awards don't think its worthy of recognition in either
regard.
We'll look at the trends in the Emmys later
on this year but I'll be back on Friday to give my predictions for the Golden
Globes as Emmy Watch 2026 Phase One continues.
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