The 73rd Emmy Award nominations were presented virtually, via a livestream this morning. Television has been an essential touchstone for most of us, being stuck inside or on lockdown for a good chunk of the past year, so it makes the Emmy Awards all the more important. It should surprise no one that the industry is all but overrun with superhero and fantasy stories. This may frustrate the purists among us, but for us geeks, it’s heaven.

The nominees for the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, to be handed out in September on CBS, were announced via livestream Tuesday morning. Here are the nominations that move the needle in the geeking world:

Outstanding Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:

• Paul Bettany, WandaVision

Outstanding Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:

• Elizabeth Olson, WandaVision

Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:

• WandaVision

Actress, Drama Series:

• Elisabeth Moss, Handmaid’s Tale
• Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country

Actor, Drama Series:

• Jonathan Majors, Lovecraft Country

Best Drama Series:

• The Boys
• The Handmaid’s Tale
• Lovecraft Country
• The Mandalorian

There were a few more acting nominations for people of interest to the geeking world, who were not in SF series this time around, but who have played iconic roles:

Outstanding Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:

• Ewan McGregor [Star Wars] for “Halston”

Actress/Dramatic:

• Olivia Coleman [Doctor Who] for The Crown
• Uzo Aduba [Bismuth in Steven Universe] for In Treatment

The Crown and The Mandalorian have tied for the top spot for program nominations with 24 each, followed by WandaVision (23), The Handmaid’s Tale (21), Saturday Night Live (21), Ted Lasso (20), Lovecraft Country (18), The Queen’s Gambit (18) and Mare of Easttown (16).

HBO/HBO Max leads the nominations in totals by platform with 130. Netflix has the second-most nominations with 129, and rounding out the top four are Disney+ with 71 and NBC with 46.

Supporting Actress:

• Madeline Brewer The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• Ann Dowd The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• Aunjanue Ellis Lovecraft Country HBO
• Yvonne Strahovski The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• Samira Wiley The Handmaid’s Tale

Supporting Actor:

• Giancarlo Esposito The Mandalorian Disney+
• O-T Fagbenle The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• John Lithgow [Third Rock] Perry Mason HBO
• Tobias Menzies [Edmure Tully in GoT] The Crown Netflix 1
• Max Minghella The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• Chris Sullivan This Is Us NBC
• Bradley Whitford [Rocket Raccoon] The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• Michael K. Williams Lovecraft Country HBO

Supporting Actress:

1. Kathryn Hahn, WandaVision

Guess Actress in a Drama Series:

• Alexis Bledel The Handmaid’s Tale Hulu
• Claire Foy [Adora Belle Dearheart in Going Postal] The Crown Netflix
• Mckenna Grace The Handmaid’s Tale

We Love the Costumes!

One of the things geeks get geeky about are the costumes, and Shawna Trpcic is high on our list of hopefuls for an Emmy for Best Costume Design this year, for her nomination for The Mandalorian. Her previous credits include Firefly, Cabin in the Woods, Dr. Horrible, and even The Power Rangers. She’s a massive, massive geek herself, and we can’t think of anybody more deserving of this award than Shawna.

The nominations for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes this year are:

• Christopher Hargadon The Umbrella Academy
• Dayna Pink Lovecraft Country
• Debra Hanson The Handmade’s Tale
• Shawna Trpcic The Mandalorian
• Mayes C. Rubeo WandaVision

-30-