Ever since the first season of “Orange Is the New Black” earned a Best Comedy Series Emmy nomination in 2014, Netflix has fielded at least one nominee in the category every year — until last year when it was unceremoniously shut out. But it’s a new year, a new race, and the streaming giant could come back strong.
Netflix’s biggest comedy series contender at the moment is “Wednesday,” which is sitting in seventh place in the odds. The latest addition to the “Addams Family” canon, “Wednesday” was a massive smash when it premiered in November and didn’t do too shabby awards-wise over the winter either. It earned Golden Globe bids for Best Comedy/Musical Series and Best TV Comedy/Musical Actress for Jenna Ortega, who also scored a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and is in third place in the Best Comedy Actress Emmy odds. Tim Burton, who directed four episodes of the supernatural series, was shortlisted at the Directors Guild of America Awards and the series is up for Best International Program at the BAFTA TV Awards, showing its wide reach and appeal.
The streamer’s other next big comedy series hopeful is not yet in the top eight, but it may reach it soon. “Beef,” Lee Sung Jin‘s dark comedy that uses road rage to explore a myriad of human emotions, was released last week to raves and has already climbed three spots to 11th place. Stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong have also moved up to seventh and ninth place in their respective categories.
SEE ‘Wednesday’ director Tim Burton could bag Emmy nomination for first foray into TV
Netflix, of course, has other contenders in the running too, including freshman series “Mo” (18th) and former series nominees “Dead to Me” (16th), “Cobra Kai” (27th) and “Emily in Paris” (29th). But “Wednesday” and “Beef” hit different sweet spots of new shows that are populist with industry support (the former) and critically acclaimed with good word of mouth (the latter). The high visibility of Netflix also doesn’t hurt.
Last year was a weak comedy year for Netflix — “Cobra Kai” was its highest predicted series in 18th place — so it was hardly surprising that Netflix was AWOL in the lineup. “Wednesday” and “Beef” can also benefit from the two slots vacated by 2022 nominees “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Hacks,” which are skipping this cycle.
Two-time defending champ “Ted Lasso” currently leads the odds, followed by “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Barry” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” “Poker Face” trails “Wednesday” in eighth place.
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