‘Atlanta’ Tops the Comedy Emmy Nominations Thanks to Donald Glover, Zazie Beetz, and ‘Teddy Perkins’
Last year was good for Donald Glover after he won Emmys for directing and acting in “Atlanta,” but this year has the potential to be great. The FX series earned a total of 16 nominations for its second season, dominating the comedy field this year.
“Atlanta” received a nod in the Outstanding Comedy category and for its casting overall. Along those lines, the cast was well represented in the nominations. Glover has a good chance to repeat in the Lead Actor category after portraying the creepy Teddy Perkins who was so convincing and singular, the credits only listed him as performed by “himself.” Glover also has a non-“Atlanta” acting nomination for hosting “Saturday Night Live.”
Joining him are Brian Tyree Henry for Supporting Actor (but not Lakeith Stanfield, alas, probably because of vote-splitting), Zazie Beetz for Supporting Actress, and the hilarious Katt Williams in the Guest Actor category for playing Uncle Willy, which ended up being a role with far-reaching consequences this season.
Speaking of that first episode, “Alligator Man” received three nominations for writing (Donald Glover), single-camera picture editing, and music supervision.
Glover received one more nomination for directing the flashback episode “FUBU,” and Stefani Robinson nabbed a nod for her writing on “Barbershop.”
IndieWire spoke to Robinson earlier this year about being the only woman (and the youngest person) in the writers’ room. In a statement reacting to the nomination, Robinson said, “I am so thankful to the Television Academy for this incredible honor. This is something I have dreamed of since childhood, and I am humbled to have been chosen in this category amongst such talented peers. I am beyond excited for ‘Atlanta’ and everyone involved on the show – they are all true geniuses – and I am so thankful to FX and Donald Glover for trusting and supporting me. They have changed my life.”
But of course, this is the year of “Teddy Perkins,” in which Glover played the titular hermit in prosthetic whiteface Hiro Murai, who had directed Glover’s “This Is America” music video, received a well-earned nomination for directing this episode. It also got nods for production design, single-camera picture editing, sound editing, and cinematography.
While some may disagree with IndieWire’s assessment that the episode that pushed the boundaries of what comedy could do on television.
Last year, “Atlanta” earned a total of six nominations, winning two of them.
