When it comes to the comedy series category, a hypothetical question arises when imagining how Television Academy members may vote. Should the top prize go to the best show of the eventual eight nominees or the funniest show? Should a series’ humor — or in some cases, lack thereof — impact an Emmy pick?
Last season’s best comedy winner (and this year’s frontrunner) was certainly light on the humor, but that hasn’t stopped FX/Hulu’s The Bear from picking up a slew of comedy trophies at the Emmys and elsewhere. Its debut season, dropped in June 2022, led January’s strike-postponed Emmys, scoring trophies for stars Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Ayo Edebiri and creator Christopher Storer (who got two, for writing and directing). In addition to its sweep, the show’s second season (which aired summer 2023 and is eligible for this season’s Emmys) won three Golden Globes (including best comedy series), a PGA Award (for best comedy series) and three SAG Awards (including best ensemble in a comedy series).
Hollywood may have firmly decided that The Bear is a comedy, even if the show itself pushes that genre classification to its limits. Its second season only upped the ante on the stressful conditions of running a restaurant, and the standout episode — a bottle episode titled “Fishes” that sees White’s Carmy return home for Christmas — is a star-studded pressure cooker, with Jamie Lee Curtis leading the guest cast as Carmy’s alcoholic mother, Donna, who barely keeps it together while preparing a chaotic Feast of the Seven Fishes. The hourlong episode plays out like a suburban Chicago August: Osage County. Tensions and tempers run high, proving home kitchens are sometimes just as terrifying as professional ones.
The episode is a tour de force amid a critically acclaimed second season — one so beloved by audiences and awards voters alike that it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which The Bear doesn’t pick up more prizes in September. (The third season — which drops June 27, too late to affect nominations voting — could give it a valuable boost in the final-round voting that begins Aug. 15.) But the dramedy had comparably dark competition in the comedy race last season; fellow series nominees included HBO’s pitch-black hitman thriller Barry and Netflix’s supernatural hourlong Wednesday. This year, however, The Bear is not only the most dramatic of the bunch — it’s the one series that stands out amid a much funnier, joke-focused comedy landscape.
Several previously honored comedies return to the race this year. ABC’s Abbott Elementary, which has earned Emmys for creator-star Quinta Brunson (for writing and acting) and supporting actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, fast-tracked into production after the strikes for a 14-episode third season (down from last season’s 22) that launched in February. One of the best sitcoms on network television (and TV at large), the show is at its best when it follows the tried-and-true comedy formula — as seen in the season’s standout “Smoking” episode in which the staff at the eponymous school realize their own hypocrisy when instructing their students to “just say no.” (Even Brunson’s Janine enjoys the occasional edible.) Also perfecting the mockumentary sitcom structure is FX/Hulu’s vampire series What We Do in the Shadows, which blends the comedy and horror genres and has previously earned two series nominations — but its stellar cast has been consistently passed over for acting nods in favor of starrier ensembles.
If What We Do in the Shadows‘ improv-heavy performances have worked against its stars, the Academy has had no issue with HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. As the longest-running show among the contenders, the Larry David comedy has earned 51 Emmy nominations since its 2000 premiere. Its 12th and final season, which took a well-reviewed bow in April, will likely earn its 11th series nomination (plus an expected acting nomination for David and a guest nomination for Jerry Seinfeld). The similarly hard-edged showbiz comedy Hacks returned to Max with a series-best third season, with star Jean Smart a clear frontrunner — she has already won two Emmys for the show. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Hacks, which both cleverly satirize the industry in which TV Academy members work, might be The Bear‘s toughest competitors, with their pedigree and sharply funny writing.
Speaking of pedigree, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building added Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd as supporting players to its already stacked A-list ensemble — and, similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm and Hacks, skewers an element of showbiz in Broadway musical theater. Netflix’s Girls5eva, which the streamer saved from cancellation by Peacock after its first two seasons, brings a Tina Fey-influenced absurdist take on millennial nostalgia and the music industry (though the overlap between musicians and TV Academy voters may be smaller compared to Broadway veterans). While Only Murders in the Building has twice earned series nominations, Girls5eva has been ignored — and its new home has not given it the audience boost it may need to break through with voters.
Apple TV+ also boasts two social satires led (and produced) by beloved Saturday Night Live alumni. The ’60s-set Palm Royale stars Kristen Wiig alongside comedy legend Carol Burnett, with Wiig playing a mischievous outsider who strives to rise in the ranks at an elite country club; while Loot, which concluded its second season, features Maya Rudolph as a divorced billionaire turning her focus on philanthropy (with some hilariously myopic results).
The wealth of comedy doesn’t end there — also in contention are FX/Hulu’s Reservation Dogs and HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, both of which aired critically acclaimed seasons last year; CBS’ supernatural sitcom Ghosts, an ensemble-driven crowd-pleaser; and debut seasons of The Gentlemen and I’m a Virgo, from Netflix and Prime Video, respectively. However, the funniest jokes of the year might not be a match for great filmmaking on television, which is where The Bear continues to maintain its edge.
This story first appeared in a June standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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