Asian representation was sparse among the on-screen nominees for the 73rd Primetime Emmys announced on July 13.
There were no performers of Asian descent among the nominees in lead acting categories, but Bowen Yang got a nomination for best supporting actor in a comedy series for “Saturday Night Live.” Yang is the show’s first Chinese American cast member. In 2019, he was among the nominees for outstanding writing on a variety series for his work on “SNL.”
The other best supporting actor nominees are Kenan Thompson for “SNL,” Carl Clemons Hopkins for “Hacks,” Paul Reiser for “The Kominsky Method,” and Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Rick Mohammed and Jeremy Swift, all of “Ted Lasso.”
Nominated for best actress in a limited series, movie or anthology is Phillipa Soo for “Hamilton,” a filmed version of the Broadway musical. Her performance as Eliza Hamilton earned her a Tony Award nomination for best actress in a leading role in a musical and a Grammy Award for best musical theater album.
Also nominated for the Emmy are Renee Elise Goldsberry for “Hamilton,” Jean Smart and Julianne Nicholson for “Mare of Easttown,” Moses Ingram for “The Queen’s Gambit,” and Kathryn Hahn for “WandaVision.”
Max Minghella, an English actor whose mother was born in Hong Kong, was nominated for best supporting actor in a drama for “The Handmaid’s Tale.” His castmates O.T. Fagbenle and Bradley Whitford were also nominated, along with Michael K. Williams of “Lovecraft Country,” John Lithgow of “Perry Mason,” Tobias Menzies of “The Crown,” Giancarlo Esposito of “The Mandalorian,” and Chris Sullivan of “This Is Us.”
Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons were nominated for best reality show host for “Top Chef.” Lakshmi, who is also an author, activist and model, was previously nominated for the same show in 2009. Tan France was also nominated along with co-hosts Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness for “Queer Eye.”
The other nominees are Nicole Byer for “Nailed It”; RuPaul for “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; Marc Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary for “Shark Tank.”
Nominees for best comedy series included “PEN15” (Hulu), which stars Maya Erskine (who is half Japanese) and Anna Konkle, who are also co-creators and executive producers. The pair, who are in their thirties, play versions of themselves as 13-year-old social outcasts in the year 2000, surrounded by actual 13-year-olds.
Also nominated — although it is as much a drama as it is a comedy — is “Cobra Kai” (Netflix), which continues the story of the “Karate Kid” movie characters and their children more than 30 years later. The cast includes Ralph Macchio as Daniel and William Zabka as Johnny; recent guest stars included Tamlyn Tomita as Kumiko and Yuji Okumoto as Chozen from “The Karate Kid Part II.”
The other nominees are “Black-ish” (ABC), “Emily in Paris” (Netflix), “Hacks” (HBO Max), “The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max), “The Kominsky Method” (Netflix), and “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+).
Erskine is also nominated for outstanding writing for a comedy series along with writers for “Hacks,” “Girls5eva,” “Ted Lasso,” and “The Flight Attendant.”
Yahlin Chang of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is nominated for outstanding writing for a drama series along with writers for “The Mandalorian,” “Lovecraft Country,” “The Crown,” “Pose,” and “The Boys.”
Helen Cho is one of the producers of “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” nominated for outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special. Also nominated were the producers of “Oprah with Meghan and Harry,” “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell,” and “Vice.”
Producers Hao Wu and Jean Tsien of “76 Days” were nominated for exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking along with the producers of “Dick Johnson Is Dead” and “Welcome to Chechnya.”
For outstanding unstructured reality series, San Heng was one of the executive producers nominated for “RuPaul’s Drag Race Untucked,” along with Smriti Mundhra and Hoo In Kim of “Indian Matchmaking.” Also nominated were executive producers for “Becoming,” “Below Deck,” and “Selling Sunset.”
For outstanding competition program, executive producer Padma Lakshmi and co-executive producers Tracy Tong and Thi Nguyen of “Top Chef” were among the nominees, along with producers of “The Amazing Race,” “Nailed It,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and “The Voice.”
Technical Categories
Nominees for outstanding production design for a narrative period or fantasy program include Nithya Shrinivasan, art director of “Halston,” and Doug Chiang, production designer of “The Mandalorian.” The nominees include production designers, art directors and set decorators for “Bridgerton,” “The Crown,” “Perry Mason,” and “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Akira Yoshimura, production designer for “SNL,” is among the nominees for outstanding production design for a variety, reality or competition series, along with production designers and art directors from “Last Week Tonight,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “The Masked Singer,” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Yoshimura has been with “SNL” since its inception in 1975 and is a five-time Emmy winner.
William Ng, assistant costume designer for “The Umbrella Academy,” was among the nominees for outstanding fantasy/sci-fi costumes. Also nominated were costume designers and costume supervisors from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Lovecraft Country,” “The Mandalorian,” and “WandaVision.”
For outstanding single-camera picture editing for a limited or anthology series or movie, editor Nona Khodai has nominations for two episodes of “WandaVision.” Also nominated are editors from “The Queen’s Gambit” and two episodes of “Mare of Easttown.”
Omega Hsu is one of the editors of “The Voice” nominated for outstanding picture editing for a structured reality or competition program, along with editors from “The Amazing Race,” “Queer Eye,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and “Top Chef.”
For outstanding sound mixing for a comedy or drama series (one hour), re-recording mixer Stephen Urata is one of the nominees for “The Mandalorian.” Also nominated are re-recording mixers and production mixers from “The Boys,” “The Crown,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Lovecraft Country.”
The awards program will be broadcast on Sept. 19 on CBS.