HBO reclaims its Emmy crown with ‘Succession,’ ‘White Lotus’ wins

By Dawn Chmielewski

(Reuters) – The dysfunctional dynasty of “Succession,” the teen drama “Euphoria” and a comedy series set in the fictional White Lotus resort helped propel HBO to the top of the Emmy Awards heap Monday, surpassing streaming rival Netflix Inc.

The Warner Bros Discovery Inc division entered the night with the most nominations of any network or streaming service, with a total of 140 nominations for HBO and its companion online offering, HBO Max.

The network came away with 38 Emmy Awards, including outstanding anthology series for “The White Lotus,” best drama series for “Succession,” lead actress in a drama series for “Euphoria” star Zendaya, and lead comedy actress for “Hacks” star Jean Smart, who portrays a standup comedian.

Netflix received a total of 105 nominations, including 14 for the South Korean drama “Squid Game,” the first non-English language series to be nominated for a primetime Emmy. The streaming pioneer won 26 awards, including milestones for “Squid Game” director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, and the drama’s lead actor, Lee Jung-jae, who are the first Asian winners in their respective categories.

The embattled streaming service, which has lost subscribers this year amid intensifying competition, became a butt of jokes early in the show, as host Kenan Thompson drew a comedic parallel between Netflix and the popular show.

“‘Squid Game’ is a contest you enter when you’re in massive debt and desperate for money,” Thompson dead-panned. “Joining the cast next season? Netflix.”

“Ted Lasso,” the acclaimed comedy series about an American coach of a fictional English football team, and the dystopian office drama series “Severance” helped bring Apple Inc’s Apple TV+ a total of 52 Emmy nominations.

Apple walked away with six Emmys, including awards for “Ted Lasso” as best comedy and for best actor in a comedy, Jason Sudeikis, the show’s creator, who portrays the title character.

Walt Disney Co collected 117 nominations across its various platforms, including the ABC, FX and National Geographic television networks and the streaming services Disney+ and Hulu.

It received a total of 26 Emmys, including for lead actor in a limited series awarded to Michael Keaton for his portrayal of a small-town doctor coping with the opioid crisis in “Dopesick,” Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos Inc. who was later convicted of fraud, in “The Dropout,” and “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson for outstanding writing for a comedy series.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Stephen Coates)