Will “Squid Game” make history? Or will HBO powerhouse Succession once again scoop best drama statuette at TV’s Oscars?
And will Hulu break through on a larger scale?
Here are five things you should know about the 74th annual Emmy Awards, taking place in Los Angeles on Monday night.
– Is Hollywood Ready to Crown the K-Drama? –
K-pop sensation BTS is so popular that news of the boy band taking a hiatus sparked a global social media meltdown. “Parasite” broke all the rules on its way to Oscar glory in 2020. Is Hollywood Now Ready to Honor a TV Series in Korean?
“Squid Game” – the Netflix blockbuster series about downtrodden people who compete in children’s games to the death for money – became a global phenomenon after launching just about a year ago.
Now it could win the Emmy for Best Drama, which would be a first for a non-English language series. It’s already a front runner just because it received a nomination in the category, one of 14 overall.
The series has already had an Emmy win, with Lee Yoo-mi taking home the award for Best Guest Actress in a Drama at the Creative Emmys, the pre-gala that awards many statuettes in smaller categories.
Lee plays Ji-yeong, one of the 456 desperate competitors hoping to win money in the brutal competition.
– Double nomination –
A host of performers are lining up for multiple awards Monday, many in both the acting and off-camera categories.
Julia Garner (“Ozark” and “Inventing Anna”) and Sydney Sweeney (“Euphoria” and “The White Lotus”) are among the nominees for multiple acting roles, with Garner winning a head-to-head battle for best supporting actress .
Best Comedy Actor nominee Bill Hader (“Barry”) is also nominated for directing, writing and producing the show about a hitman who moves to Los Angeles and gets involved in the acting scene.
Seth Rogen is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series and for producing Pam and Tommy — the story of how an infamous sex tape starring actress Pamela Anderson and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was released.
– Bring on the gala –
For the first time in the Covid-19 era, the Television Academy is hosting a full-throttle show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, following a largely virtual event in 2020 and a scaled-down event at a partially outdoor venue last year.
Saturday Night Live veteran Kenan Thompson, himself a former Emmy winner, will make his debut as a presenter. The celebrations begin at 17:00 on Monday (0000 GMT on Tuesday).
The show is taking place on a Monday night this year because NBC, which has the rotating network rights to air it, also airs Sunday Night Football, and the Gridiron trumps Tinseltown, featuring Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
– Hulu has high hopes –
HBO and Netflix tend to dominate the Emmys, but 2022 could be a stellar year for Hulu, which is majority-owned by Disney.
The US-based streamer, which specializes in content more adult-centric than Disney+, creates originals like 2017 drama-winning The Handmaid’s Tale and has ramped up production.
This year, it has a handful of top contenders in the limited series categories.
Michael Keaton is the top contender for best actor in a limited series for his portrayal of a doctor involved in the US opioid epidemic in Dopesick, which garnered 14 nominations.
Amanda Seyfried is the front-runner for best actress fame in the same section for her role as disgraced biotech star Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout.
Pam and Tommy has 10 nominations, and comedy Only Murders in the Building – starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as an unlikely trio of true-crime podcasters – is also in.
– Posthumous Pre-Gala Emmy for Boseman –
“Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020 after battling colon cancer — a diagnosis he’s never spoken publicly about.
Last year he missed Anthony Hopkins’ posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor in the blues drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
But he did earn some final honors at the Creative Emmys, winning for voicing a version of his “Black Panther” character in Marvel’s animated series What If…?.
Other winners of the pre-gala event included former US President Barack Obama (now halfway to an EGOT with his two Grammys), pop star Adele, rapper Eminem and reality show host RuPaul.
