Emmy Nominations 2023: The Succession of Surprises and Shifting Categories

The Trivial Pursuit of the 2023 Emmy Nominations. From ‘Succession’s’ record-breaking 27 nods to John Oliver’s category swap, we’re serving up the hottest trivia from the 2023 Emmy nominations announced on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

1. The Sweet Succession of Surprises

Now, let’s unwrap the golden ticket of trivia – the nominations. HBO’s ‘Succession‘ led the pack with a whopping 27 nods for its final season, setting a record for the most nominations for a single drama season. Not to be outdone, ‘The Last of Us,’ HBO’s dystopian video-game adaptation, bagged 24 nominations.

2. The Comedy Kings and Queens

On the lighter side of things, last year’s winner ‘Ted Lasso‘ scored 21 nominations, proving that nice guys don’t always finish last. It’s up against a hilarious lineup that includes ‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,’ ‘The Bear,’ ‘Barry,’ ‘Jury Duty,’ ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ and ‘Wednesday.’

3. The Limited Series Showdown

In the limited series category, Netflix’s ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story‘ and ‘Beef‘ compete head-to-head with ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi‘ from Disney+. May the force be with them!

4. The Network Nominations Tally

HBO outpaced all networks with 127 nominations in the network nominations tally, while Netflix landed 103 nods. It’s like the ‘Fast and Furious’ of network races!

5. The Roy Family Feud Continues

In the acting categories, “Succession” patriarch Brian Cox will compete with two of his warring TV sons – Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin – for outstanding drama actor. It’s like a family dinner but with more backstabbing and less passing potatoes.

6. The New Faces of Comedy

First-time nominees Jeremy Allen White of “The Bear” and Jason Segel of “Shrinking” are among those competing for outstanding comedy actor. It’s like the shameless freaks and geeks of high school but with more laughs and less acne.

7. The Latin Power

“Last of Us” star Pedro Pascal became the second Latino in history nominated for best drama actor. The first was Jimmy Smits, who was nominated five times in the 1990s for his role in “NYPD Blue.”

8. Black is Beautiful and Funny

Black women received the most nominations ever in a single category, with four actresses nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy. It’s like a revolution but with punchlines instead of pitchforks.

9. John Oliver’s Category Hopscotch

After winning seven years in a row, John Oliver’s ‘Last Week Tonight‘ has been booted from its usual Emmy category of outstanding variety series. Instead, it has been bumped into the ‘outstanding scripted variety series’ category. Why? Well, the Television Academy decided to define variety series as “unscripted or improv-based.” Since Oliver’s show is as scripted as a Shakespearean play, it no longer qualifies for the previous category.

The Variety Show Shuffle: Oliver’s show will face NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live‘ and HBO’s ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show‘ in the Outstanding Scripted Variety Series category, while other ‘The Daily Show’ alumni, ‘Late Night with Stephen Colbert,’ ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart,’ and ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah‘ are all vying for the top spot in the Variety Talk Series category.

10. The Emmy Ceremony: To Be or Not to Be?

Initially Scheduled for Sept. 18 on Fox, the ceremony plays a game of ‘will they, won’t they’ due to the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strike. It’s currently officially postponed to Jan. 2024. So, keep your popcorn on standby!

2023 Emmy Nominations Trivia Quiz

Now that you know all the trivia, the surprises, and the shifting categories of the 2023 Emmy nominations, how about a news quiz?

2023 Emmys Nominations Quiz

10 Quick Multiple-choice general knowledge questions about the 2023 Emmy nominees. No time-limit. How smart are you today?

1 / 10

1. Who is the ruthless and powerful patriarch of the media mogul family in HBO’s Succession?

Screenshot: Succession / HBO

Logan Roy.

Connor Roy.

Daddy Warbucks.

Rupert Murdoch.

Logan Roy, played by renowned Shakespearean stage actor and Emmy winner Brian Cox, is the founder and CEO of the fictional Waystar-Royco, the global media and entertainment conglomerate on HBO’s Succession. He is also the father of four children – Kendall, Shiv, Roman, and Connor – who constantly vie for his approval. Cox and the actors portraying Kendall, Shiv, and Roman were all nominated for the 2023 Emmys.

SPOILER: The character died unexpectedly in the third episode of Succession’s final season, which aired on April 9, 2023.

2 / 10

2. In HBO’s adaptation of the video game “The Last of Us,” what’s causing humans to behave zombie-like?

Screenshot: The Last of Us / HBO Max

A global pandemic.

Alien body snatchers.

Dehydration.

A mind-controlling fungus.

HBO premiered its big-budget version of gaming sensation “The Last of Us” on Jan. 15, 2023. The series’ creators, Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) and Neil Druckmann (a creator of the video game) incorporated a scene before the opening credits in which a scientist explains that a mind-controlling fungus could thrive on a warming planet.

Is there a zombifying fungus?

When the zombie-ant fungus, AKA Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, infects a carpenter ant, it grows through the insect, hijacking its mind, and forcing it to lock its mandibles around a leaf forever. It takes about a week for the ant to leave the safety of its nest and climb a nearby plant stem. When the ant climbs a leaf that overhangs its colony, fungal spores fall onto its sisters below and infect them.

3 / 10

3. Which Netflix original production features the Nevermore Academy?

Screenshot: Netflix

The School for Good and Evil.

The Umbrella Academy.

Wednesday.

The Adam Project.

Netflix’s 2022 series Wednesday follows the teenage daughter of the Addams Family (Jenna Ortega) as she attends Nevermore Academy, a school for society’s outsiders where her parents met. Ortega and the series were nominated for the 2023 Emmy Awards.

Fun Facts: The Academy’s “dorm mom,” Marilyn Thornhill, who, unlike other students and teachers at Nevermore Academy, lacks any special abilities or powers (or so it seems…), is played by Christina Ricci, who portrayed a 10-year-old Wednesday Addams in the 1990s Addams Family films.

4 / 10

4. Who’s the director behind Netflix’s new Addams Family series, “Wednesday”?

Screenshot: Wednesday / Netflix

The Addams Family live-action film director.

The Addams Family animated film director.

The Beetlejuice director.

The original Addams Family TV series director.

Netflix released the first trailer for Wednesday, Tim Burton’s (Beetlejuice) reimagining of the Addams Family series, on August 17, 2022. Burton was previously signed to develop a stop-motion Addams Family film – which was later canceled. The series, starring Jenna Ortega in the title role alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Gwendoline Christie, and Christina Ricci (who played Wednesday in the 1991 Barry Sonnenfeld live-action film,) premiered on Netflix in the fall of 2022. Watch the trailer.

5 / 10

5. On Game of Thrones and its prequel House of the Dragon, what’s the house of the dragon’s name?

Screenshot: House of the Dragon / HBO

Targaryen.

Lannister.

Stark.

Velaryon.

“House of the Dragon,” set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” follows the story of House Targaryen and the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after their father’s death. HBO released the first official trailer for “House of the Dragon” on July 20, 2022. The “Game of Thrones” prequel series debuted on Aug. 21. Watch the trailer.

6 / 10

6. What is Jennifer Coolidge’s character in HBO’s The White Lotus?

Screenshot: The White Lotus / HBO

Olivia.

Tanya.

Bobbie.

Rachel.

Jennifer Coolidge played lip-plumped heiress Tanya on HBO’s “The White Lotus” – one of only two characters from the first season to appear in the second. A murderous finale concluded the second season on Dec. 11, 2022.

7 / 10

7. Who plays the villainous Moff Gideon in “The Mandalorian”?

Screenshot: The Mandalorian / Lucas Films / Disney +

Battlestar Galactica’s Lieutenant "Starbuck".

Game of Thrones’ Oberyn Martell.

Breaking Bad’s Gus Fring.

Rocky’s Apollo Creed.

Giancarlo Esposito, who was the unforgettable Gus Fring on Breaking Bad, plays the main antagonist of The Mandalorian, Moff Gideon. The third season starts on Disney+ on Mar. 1, 2023. Minari’s Lee Isaac Chung and Black Panther’s Rachel Morrison will helm some new episodes. Watch the trailer.

8 / 10

8. What is the relationship between the two main characters in Apple TV’s “Shrinking”?

Screenshot: Shrinking interview / Apple TV+ via YouTube

Colleagues.

Lovers.

Father and son.

Doctor and patient.

In Apple TV’s “Shrinking,” Jason Segel and Harrison Ford are therapists working together in a mental health practice. Ford plays Segel’s cranky colleague and mentor. Watch the trailer. The show started streaming on Jan. 27, 2023, earning Segel his first Emmy nomination.

Fun Fact: In the pilot script, showrunner Bill Lawrence introduced a character as a “Harrison Ford-type.” Having read the script, Ford agreed to portray the tough therapist.

9 / 10

9. Which of these shows did DC’s new Lois Lane star in before becoming Superman’s love interest?

Screenshot: Eyewitness News ABC7NY – YouTube

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

The Crown.

The Handmaid’s Tale.

The Mandalorian.

Rachel Brosnahan, who was recently cast as Lois Lane in James Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy movie, played the lead role of Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel in the Prime Video comedy series for five seasons. She won several awards for her performance, including two Golden Globes and an Emmy, and was nominated for a second Emmy in 2023. Brosnahan will star opposite David Corenswet, who will play Clark Kent/Superman in the reboot set to premiere in theaters on July 11, 2025. The casting news was announced on June 27, 2023, and confirmed by Gunn on Twitter.

10 / 10

10. Why were images of John Oliver the only pictures uploaded to Reddit’s most popular picture channels in mid-June 2023?

Screenshot: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) – YouTube

John Oliver paid Reddit to promote his show.

Reddit users protested John Oliver and his witty jokes.

John Oliver hacked Reddit and replaced all images with his face.

Reddit moderators went on strike and posted John Oliver as a protest.

Unpaid Reddit moderators on strike, blocking users and advertisers, chose to post only images of comedian John Oliver as a symbol of protest. The strike started on June 14, 2023, and affected over 9,000 subreddits. This is after Reddit announced that it would start charging fees to some third-party developers from July 1, 2023, as part of its plan to go public later in 2023. This angered many moderators who use third-party apps to access Reddit’s data and perform tasks unavailable on the official app (such as content moderation). Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman refused to negotiate with the protesters.

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Sources

We cross-checked our 2023 Emmy nominations trivia facts with the world’s leading news providers.

• AP News: Succession tops the 2023 Emmy nominations, but strikes could cloud ceremony
• NPR: 2023 Emmy nominations are in: Succession and The Last of Us lead the pack
• The New York Times: Emmy Nominees 2023: The Complete List
• Reuters: HBO’s Succession, Last of Us lead nominees for TV’s Emmy awards
• Rolling Stone: 2023 Emmy Nominations: 10 Biggest Snubs and Surprises
• The Guardian: Emmys 2023: Succession’s final season scores 27 nominations
• AP News: Missing the Emmy Awards? What’s happening with the strike-delayed celebration of television