Emmys postponed to highlight Outstanding Television Program during 'Succession' farewell ceremony – January 13, 2024 at 12:00 p.m.

The Emmy Awards, usually a red carpet ritual in Hollywood in September, are scheduled to take place on Monday in a postponed gala to honor the best in television.

HBO's “Succession,” about the wealthy but miserable Roy family, leads all nominees with 27 nominations. It is widely expected to win a third Best Drama award. Most of the shows on the list come from streaming services, which received the most nominations ever.

Some shows were broadcast as early as June 2022. Nominations were announced in July 2023 and voting took place a month later.

“When predicting Emmy winners, you have to remember what the atmosphere was like in August,” said Joyce Ng, senior editor at Gold Derby Awards.com.

The organizers postponed the concert from its scheduled date last September due to a strike by Hollywood writers and actors at that time. The labor dispute halted production and promotion and forced television networks to fill fall schedules with reruns and reality shows.

Now that the strikes are over, the Emmy Awards give Hollywood a chance to highlight TV and streaming series like Walt Disney's best comedy nominee “Abbott Elementary,” which returns to ABC next month with new episodes.

“Abbott,” which airs on the streaming network, is a strange movie. Nearly two-thirds of the nominated shows have been streamed on platforms like Netflix and Apple TV+, according to data from Nielsen's Gracenote. This is the highest percentage for streaming services ever.

In the past, the Emmy Awards provided bragging rights to build an audience for a television or radio show. For streamers, “winning an Emmy is more about branding and growing subscribers,” said media consultant Brad Adgett.

“Black-ish” comedian and actor Anthony Anderson will host the Emmy Gala, which will be broadcast live from Los Angeles on Fox TV.

Sweep the succession?

This year's Emmys telecast could resemble a repeat of last Sunday's Golden Globes, where “Succession” took home four awards.

The series concluded its fourth and final season last May, in response to the question of who would take over the management of the Roy family's global media empire. Fifteen experts polled by the Gold Derby website voted unanimously that “Succession” would win the Drama Cup again.

Some awards watchers said “Succession” might also win in the four theatrical acting categories.

Three actors in “Succession” – Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong – are competing against each other for the Best Actor award. That could pave the way to a win for Pedro Pascal, star of the video game adaptation of “The Last of Us,” said Clayton Davis, Variety's senior awards editor.

“It could benefit from a split in votes over succession.”

Pascal, a Chilean-American, will be the first Latino actor to win best actor in a drama.

In comedy competition, two-time series winner Ted Lasso, about the American coach of a plucky British soccer team, takes the lead once again.

Although the third season of the Apple TV+ show has been divided among fans, “Emmy voters obviously still love it,” Ng said, noting that the show received 21 nominations, the most ever.

Some forecasters say “Lasso” could outperform the Golden Globe-winning “Bear,” the story of a gourmet chef trying to revamp his family's sandwich shop in Chicago. Also screening is Amazon Freevee's “Jury Duty,” about a real person who unwittingly becomes involved in a mock trial.

“Beef,” a Netflix drama series that has won three Globe Awards, is the favorite to win best limited series.

Winners are selected by approximately 20,000 artists, directors, producers and other members of the Television Academy.

While the evening could be a celebration of the “caliphate,” Davis warned that such a large group could lead to unexpected results.

“Anything can happen, and sometimes chaos ensues, and we have a crazy night,” he said. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mary Milliken and Richard Chang)