LOS ANGELES — The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which honors the best productions in television and streaming, will take place at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Monday.
The event will air live from coast to coast on NBC and stream on Peacock starting at 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific).
Here’s what you need to know going into tonight’s awards show.
Who’s hosting?
“Saturday Night Live” star and six-time Emmy nominee Kenan Thompson was announced as the host only one month before the ceremony.
Thompson takes over the often thankless gig from last year’s host, Cedric the Entertainer, who led the in-person 2021 telecast with a salute to television and a tribute to late musician Biz Markie. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” star and three-peat Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the ceremony in 2020 when the telecast was forced to go semi-virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel great,” Thompson recently told The Times. “There’s a great team that’s involved. I definitely don’t feel like I’m floating out there by myself. I’m really excited about it. There’s some great pieces coming together.”
The first-time Emmys host — who has emceed the 2021 People’s Choice Awards and the “Jonas Brothers Family Roast” TV special — said that his hosting style for the ceremony is “straightforward,” meaning he’ll lean on “a good monologue and keeping the energy up.”
Who and what’s nominated?
Last year’s champions, HBO’s drama “Succession” and Apple TV+'s comedy “Ted Lasso,” topped the July nominations announcement with 25 and 20 nominations apiece, respectively. Fourteen of Waystar-Royco’s power players were among the acting nominees, including “Succession’s” lead actors Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong and supporting stars J. Smith Cameron, Sarah Snook, Nicholas Braun, Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen.
In comedy, “Ted Lasso’s” nice-guy hero Jason Sudeikis scored another nod, along with supporting actors Sarah Niles, Juno Temple, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Toheeb Jimoh and Nick Mohammed.
HBO Max’s limited series “The White Lotus” scored 20 nominations, thanks to its mighty ensemble cast, including Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell and Sydney Sweeney. It was trailed by Hulu’s “Dopesick” with 14, with many of the nods going to its actors — Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever, Mare Winningham, Will Poulter, Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Newcomers such as Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” Apple TV+'s “Severance, Netflix’s “Squid Game” (the first non-English-language program to earn a major Emmy nomination), ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” are also among the top nominees this year.
Didn’t some awards already go out?
Yes, many! More than 90 categories comprise the annual Primetime Emmy Awards, so several prizes are handed out in advance at the Creative Arts Emmys, a two-night ceremony that took place last weekend. HBO and HBO Max’s “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus” emerged as the ceremony’s biggest winners, as well as Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” CBS’ “Adele: One Night Only” and Disney+’s “The Beatles: Get Back.”
An edited presentation of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards aired Saturday on FXX and will be available for streaming on Hulu through Sept. 27.
Want some predictions?
The Times’ resident awards expert, Glenn Whipp, breaks down his picks across the key categories here. Look for a showdown between “Succession” and “Squid Game” on the drama side, with possible trophies for “Squid Game’s” Lee Jung-jae or “Better Call Saul” star Bob Odenkirk, who concluded the “Breaking Bad” spinoff’s finale this year. And Zendaya is expected to take another prize for her rock-bottom portrayal in HBO’s teen drama “Euphoria.”
On the comedy side, expect more wins for “Ted Lasso” and possible prizes for"Hacks” star Jean Smart and “Barry’s” Bill Hader.
Who’s attending and presenting?
EGOT winner John Legend will be performing his new single during the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment. Emmys executive producer Reginald “Reggie” Hudlin and his fellow creatives announced Thursday that five-time Grammy-nominated producer Zedd will DJ the ceremony, and stand-up comic and “SNL” writer Sam Jay will serve as the show’s announcer.
The producers also announced past and current nominees among the Hollywood stars set to take the stage to present this year’s awards. Here’s who’s been revealed (so far):
Anthony Anderson
Will Arnett
Angela Bassett
Vanessa Bayer
Gael García Bernal
RuPaul Charles
Kelly Clarkson
Ismael Cruz Córdova
Rosario Dawson
Ariana DeBose
Taye Diggs
Ayo Edebiri
Taron Egerton
Hannah Einbinder
Selena Gomez
Regina Hall
Mariska Hargitay
Paul Walter Hauser
Freddie Highmore
Jung Ho-yeon
Lee Jung-jae
Mindy Kaling
Markella Kavenagh
Jimmy Kimmel
Jake Lacy
Juliette Lewis
Lizzo
Diego Luna
Steve Martin
Christopher Meloni
Seth Meyers
Shemar Moore
Kumail Nanjiani
B.J. Novak
Chris O’Donnell
Sarah Paulson
Amy Poehler
Shonda Rhimes
Molly Shannon
Martin Short
Jean Smart
Sofía Vergara
Kerry Washington
Jeremy Allen White
Chandra Wilson
Bowen Yang
Natalie Zea
———
