Originally posted Thursday, July 12, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
For two prestigious shows shot in Atlanta, the 2018 Emmy nominations were similar to the 2017 Emmy nominations.
Both FX’s “Atlanta” and Netflix’s “Stranger Things” were nominated as top comedy and top drama, respectively, for the second year in a row.
“Atlanta,” which lost to “Veep” last year, garnered a total of 16 nominations this year. “Stranger Things” pulled in 12.
“Atlanta” is up against ABC’s “Black-ish,” HBO’s”Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and three newcomers: ” Netflix’s “Glow,” Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and HBO’s “Barry.”
“Stranger Things” faces off against last year’s winner Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” as well as previous winner HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones.” The others in the running are NBC’s “This is Us,” Netflix’s “The Crown,” FX’s “The Americans” and HBO’s “Westworld.”
While “Stranger Things” is unlikely to win, “Atlanta” does have a shot in comedy with frequent winner “Veep” not airing during the eligibility period.
"It's a wide open category and 'Atlanta' is the buzziest and most acclaimed show in the category," said Daniel Fienberg, TV critic for The Hollywood Reporter. "And the huge number of additional nominations it received shows how much affection it has." Atlanta" garnered 12.
Eric Deggans, NPR's TV critic, agreed that "Atlanta" is in the mix though he thinks Amazon's "Mrs. Maisel" is the front runner right now. The competition is too rough for "Stranger Things" to win the drama category, he added.
Donald Glover, who plays Earn in "Atlanta," is nominated for best comedic actor a second time. (He won last year.) His competitors: Bill Hader ("Barry"), Anthony Anderson ("Black-ish"), William H. Macy ("Shameless"), Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Ted Danson ("The Good Place")
David Harbour, who plays police chief Jim Hopper in 'Stranger Things," is up for best supportive dramatic actor for the second year in a row. He lost last year. This time, he's up against Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ("Game of Thrones"), Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones"), Joseph Fiennes ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Mandy Patinkin ("Homeland") and Matt Smith ("The Crown")
And yet again, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven on "Stranger Things" is up for best supporting dramatic actress. Her rivals: Alexis Bledel ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Ann Dowd ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Lena Headey ("Game of Thrones"), Vanessa Kirby ("The Crown"), Thandie Newton ("Westworld") and Yvonne Strahovski ("The Handmaid's Tale"). Dowd won last year.
Brian Tyree Henry receives his first nomination as supporting comedic actor playing Paper Boi on "Atlanta." He is up against Athens native and repeat nominee Tituss Burgess ( "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), Atlanta native Kenan Thompson ( "Saturday Night Live"), Louis Anderson ( "Baskets"), Alec Baldwin ( "Saturday Night Live"), Tony Shalhoub ( "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel") and Henry Winkler ( "Barry"). Baldwin won in 2017.
Zazie Beetz, who plays Van on "Atlanta," gets her first nomination as supporting comedic actress. Her competition is Alex Borstein ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"), Aidy Bryant ("Saturday Night Live"), Betty Gilpin ("GLOW")m Leslie Jones ("Saturday Night Live"), Kate McKinnon ("Saturday Night Live"), Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne") and Megan Mullally ("Will & Grace") McKinnon took home the Emmy last year.
And 25-year-old Atlantan Stefani Robinson, the only female writer on "Atlanta," received an Emmy nomination for an episode she wrote called "Barbershop."
Comic Katt Williams, the former Gainesville resident (since forbidden to show up in Hall County) got an Emmy nomination for a guest role in "Atlanta." Glover, who grew up in Stone Mountain, also got a nod for his hosting duties on "Saturday Night Live" earlier this year.
Netflix’s revival of “Queer Eye,” which shot its first two seasons in metro Atlanta, is in the “structured reality program” category against “Fixer Upper” (HGTV), “Lip Sync Battle” (Paramount), “Shark Tank” (ABC) and “Who Do You Think You Are?” (TLC). “Shark Tank’ won last year.
"Ozark," another Netflix production shot in metro Atlanta, pulled in five nominations including best dramatic actor for Jason Bateman. He's up against Matthew Rhys ( "The Americans"), Sterling K. Brown ( "This is Us"), Milo Ventimiglia ( "This is Us"), Ed Harris ( "Westworld") and Jeffrey Wright ( "Westworld").
RuPaul Charles, who spent his formative drag years in Atlanta, was nominated again as best reality show host for "RuPaul's Drag Race." He won last year.
Atlanta-based casting agents Tara Feldstein Bennett and Paris Chase received Emmy nominations for casting for "Stranger Things" and "Atlanta" again. They won last year for "Stranger Things."
Atlanta-based CNN had two shows make the cut: six more nominations for “Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown” and three for “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell.”
Atlanta-based Adult Swim’s beloved “Rick and Morty” is up for best animated program. (Past winner and Atlanta-produced FX animated series “Archer was snubbed.)
For Atlanta-based TBS, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” pocketed seven nominations including best variety talk series.
AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” the most popular show shot in metro Atlanta, received just one minor Emmy nomination. Going back to 2000, the show has never received a major Emmy nomination and has won just two for prosthetic makeup.
This year's Emmy's will air on NBC Sept. 17 with Colin Jost and Michael Che of "Saturday Night Live" hosting.
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