Breaking down the most surprising, unusual, and weird Emmy nominations

On the Limited or Anthology Series front, the big success story was "The Penguin." Some were skeptical about the show, a spinoff of the movie "The Batman," but it landed critically and now with Emmy voters. "The Penguin" got 24 Emmy nominations, including nods for stars Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti. There are some heavy hitters on the acting front in the lead categories, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, and two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett all in the mix. Also, as predicted when discussing his casting in Luca Guadagnino's "Artificial," Copper Koch got a nomination for the Menendez brothers season of "Monster." To be fair, that prediction was as bold as predicting a "Toy Story" movie will be nominated for Best Animated Feature.

Speaking of bold predictions, we're betting on somebody from "The Studio" winning for Comedy Guest Actor. An amazing five of the six nominees are from the Apple TV+ show, including Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, and Anthony Mackie. Only Jon Bernthal for "The Bear" was able to avoid it being a clean sweep. Catherine O'Hara, up for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for "The Studio," is also up for Drama Guest Actress for "The Last of Us." As always, Catherine O'Hara rules.

Once again, Variety Script Series will be John Oliver against "Saturday Night Live." Literally. Those are the only two shows to get nominations. "The Simpsons" has picked up yet-another Animated Program nomination, and interestingly Adult Swim offering "Common Side Effects" got a nod. Ayo Edebiri is up for acting in "The Bear," as expected, but she's also nominated for directing the episode "Napkins." She is facing, among others, TV icon James Burrows.

A couple nominations do strike as odd as well. In Host for a Reality/Competition Program, of course we have the likes of RuPaul, Jeff Probst and Alan Cumming. Also nominated, though, are "The Sharks." You know, for "Shark Tank?" They are nominated collectively, which seems strange. We're not sure such a thing should be allowed, but it is funny. Speaking of dubious, for TV Movie both "The Gorge" and "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" are nominated. These are not TV movies. These are theatrical films made by theatrical production companies that got slapped on streaming services in the United States. "Mad About the Boy" is a Universal film that has a box office return of $139.6 million! The idea it is a TV movie is an absolute joke.

That gripe aside, the 2025 Emmy nominations proved largely interesting, and it will be worth tuning in to see who picks up some of these wins when the event happens later this year.

(h/t The New York Times)