The State of the 2025 Comedy Emmys Race

By Amy Kim

Three months ago, the 2024 Emmys ceremony took place with an abundance of surprises along the way. We had the fairly upsetting upset of Tadanobu Asano not winning for his masterclass in Shogun, the downright bizarre (but deserving!) win for Lamorne Morris in Fargo, and the euphoric surprise of Hacks taking Comedy Series to cap off the night! Yet awards season never ends, so I have taken it upon myself to recap the state of every Emmys race… about nine months before the 2025 Emmys air. Let's start with the Comedy category!

After the shock win of Hacks in comedy series and the disappointment that was The Bear Season 3, the frontrunner in this category seems fairly clear. Though we will have to wait until winter to see whether Hacks can be a juggernaut in its own right or if it won more so out of spite at The Bear’s blatant category fraud, it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. Hacks has gotten the basic nominations of Series, Jean Smart, and Hannah Einbinder at both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice, though I do wish Paul W. Downs had joined them as a Golden Globes nominee this year. It strangely continues to miss the ACE Eddie despite having won for its first season, but Hacks has gotten everything it needed to at every major precursor thus far. 

The Bear, however, had a baffling (though somewhat exhilarating) near-complete shutout at the Critics' Choice nominations before bouncing back less than a week later at the Golden Globes and nabbing 5 nods total — the highest for any TV series this year. While I now believe Critics Choice to be a fluke, I nonetheless find it hard to see The Bear winning for its weak 3rd season when it lost for its juggernaut 2nd season. I am still concerned about its dominance in the acting field, though, since it could absolutely repeat wins in Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress if no competitors emerge. It is impossible to begrudge the acting of The Bear, but it would be fairly boring if we got the same acting quartet in Comedy next year. 

Other shows that are clearly here to stay, even if they’re nowhere near winning conversation, are Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, and What We Do in the Shadows. Abbott Elementary’s fourth season has retained the rave critical and audience reception of its previous three seasons and should have no trouble getting a decent nomination package, but I do fear that its days of being a threat above-the-line are behind it. It has remained a beloved show, but I don’t think it will ever reach the heights of its first season in terms of buzz or freshness. It continues to do well at winter precursors thus far, but I do not believe it is competitive in any category. 

Only Murders in the Building, on the other hand, seems to have rebounded from its weaker second and third seasons and come back in full force. I will admit, I was previously not a fan of this show after finding its second and third installments lackluster. But the latest season captured everything that was great about the first season and fixed many of the repetitive story aspects of subsequent seasons. I strongly doubt its ability to win anything outside of Guest Actor or Guest Actress, but it should make a strong showing at winter precursors and at the Emmys. Critics' Choice has clearly moved on from the show, but if The Bear can miss Critics' Choice and still clearly be top 2, I’m not counting Only Murders in the Building’s continued snubs against it.

There are other sequel seasons in contention — namely Shrinking, which I think needs to do much better at winter precursors if it wants to get in Best Series as the second season to a show that only landed 2 Emmy nominations — but these are the five continuing shows I feel the best about having in my lineup. However, this season has been exciting for original shows, so I’d now like to focus on what the significant players are. 

English Teacher was a show I initially pegged as the breakout original show of the year with its excellent critical reception and online buzz. Yet after doing misleadingly well at the Indie Spirits and Critics Choice, it proceeded to miss the AFI top 10 and completely blank at the Golden Globes. I also would be remiss to not bring up the disturbing sexual assault allegations about its creator. I do not wish to discuss this in terms of something as trivial as awards punditry, but it is important to be aware of this. Ultimately, I cannot see English Teacher overcoming everything it has going against it.

I was also toying with Agatha All Along briefly, but not getting a Critics Choice nomination for Best Comedy Series when that group tends to be more favorable towards these IP-based shows (see: Loki’s second season getting 4 nominations) than the Emmys do feels like a bit of a death sentence. Kathryn Hahn and Patti LuPone can certainly show up at the Emmys, but I suspect it will largely do damage below-the-line.

It is now clear that it is not Hulu but Netflix that is home to the actual breakout comedy of the year. Netflix has released two new hit shows recently: Nobody Wants This and A Man on the Inside. Both are quite lovely, enjoyable shows with great casts and solid writing. But while I’m partial to A Man on the Inside, it is evident that Nobody Wants This is the strongest original show in contention with its incredible viewership and prominent presence at winter precursors. Nobody Wants This landed three nominations at Critics Choice and the Golden Globes for Series, Kristen Bell, and Adam Brody while also appearing on AFI’s top 10 shows of the year and even landing a nomination at the ACE Eddies! Even more excitingly, it has the potential to be win-competitive for Adam Brody, as he can easily win Critics Choice in a Jeremy Allen White-less field. Kristen Bell has the unfortunate luck of competing against Jean Smart everywhere, so I do not expect her to pick up any trophies. She is just as great as her costar, though! 

As much as I enjoyed Nobody Wants This, after watching A Man on the Inside, I am honestly surprised that the former emerged as the stronger awards contender. Nobody Wants This is a very sweet romcom that features excellent chemistry between Brody and Bell, but I did think it would be too slight for awards. A Man on the Inside initially seems just as fluffy, but its back half is some of the most compelling and heartfelt television I have seen all year. I know it blanked at Critics Choice and only got one Golden Globes nomination for Ted Danson — who should be running away with the Comedy Actor prize, for what it’s worth. However, with its recognition at AFI, a clear path to a SAG nomination for Danson, and the possibility of a PGA nomination, I choose to believe that A Man on the Inside can rebound and eke out a nomination in Best Comedy Series. Is this prediction 60% manifestation? Absolutely. Nonetheless, in Netflix, Michael Schur, and Ted Danson I trust. 

Though it has not come out yet, I am strongly considering The Studio after its excellent trailer, baity premise, and star-studded talent on and off-screen. The guest cast alone has a mind-boggling number of A-listers! Emmy-nominated producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are creators, while Emmy-nominated writer Alex Gregory of Veep fame is writing the majority of the episodes. These men have their fair share of flops on their hands — Gregory’s most recent work was White House Plumbers — but I feel confident that with this concept and this level of talent behind it, The Studio will not be one of them. Time will tell if this overtakes Shrinking as AppleTV+’s main priority in the Comedy field. Let’s just hope it doesn’t go the way of The Franchise! 

Ultimately, my Comedy Series lineup is as follows: