This Year's Emmy Awards was All About Crime

Featured image credit: NBC via Variety

As long as we’ve had TV, we’ve had crime shows. Technically speaking, we even had “crime shows” before that: radio programs, film series, and of course serialized stories and novels. And for seventy-eight years, the Television Academy has reflected this investment in its annual Emmy Awards.

This year, though, it felt to me like the crime genres were really present at the Emmys… not simply in the programs nominated, but also in the choice of host: Mariska Hargitay, one of the most familiar faces in all of crime TV. For twenty-seven years, she has played Detective Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU. And her cold open was an homage to that show and character, doubling down on the crimey vibes reflected in the nominees.

Here are the nominees for this years Emmy awards, with the crime series emphasized in bold, so you can catch up on them with ease.

You see what I mean?

Outstanding drama series

The Pitt (Winner)
The Diplomat (Netflix)
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise (Hulu/Disney+)
Pluribus
Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Your Friends and Neighbors (Apple TV+)

Outstanding comedy series

Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Nobody Wants This
Hacks
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu/Disney+)
Shrinking

Outstanding limited or anthology series

DTF St. Louis (HBO) (Winner)
All Her Fault (Peacock)
The Beast In Me (Netflix)
Beef (Netflix)
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

Noah Wyle, The Pitt (Winner)
Sterling K. Brown, Paradise (Hulu/Disney+)
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Mark Ruffalo, Task (HBO)
Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat (Netflix)

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments (Hulu/Disney+)
Keri Russell, The Diplomat (Netflix)
Zendaya, Euphoria (HBO)

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man (Hulu/Disney+)
Steve Carell, Rooster
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building (Hulu/Disney+)

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

Jean Smart, Hacks (Winner)
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback

Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures (Winner)
Claire Danes, The Beast In Me (Netflix)
Carey Mulligan, Beef (Netflix)
Sarah Pidgeon,  Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault (Peacock)

Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

Matthew Rhys, The Beast In Me (Netflix) (Winner)
Riz Ahmed, Bait
Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit (Netflix)
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix)
Oscar Isaac, Beef  (Netflix)

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Dale Dickey, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+)
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Megan Stalter, Hacks
Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
Paul W. Downs, Hacks
Nick Offerman, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Michael Urie, Shrinking
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series

Tom Pelphrey, Task (HBO) (Winner)
Patrick Ball, The Pitt
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
Gerran Howell, The Pitt
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Carlos Manuel-Vesga, Pluribus

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series

Allison Janney, The Diplomat (Netflix) (Winner)
Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
Fiona Dourif, The Pitt
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
Karolina Wydra, Pluribus

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis (HBO) (Winner) 
Dakota Fanning, All Her Fault (Peacock)
Laurie Metcalf, Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix)
Joy Sunday, DTF St. Louis (HBO)
Youn Yuh-jung, Beef (Netflix)
Constance Zimmer, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

David Harbour,DTF St. Louis (HBO) (Winner)
Jason Bateman, DTF St. Louis (HBO)
Richard Gadd, Half Man
Richard Jenkins, DTF St. Louis  (HBO)
Charles Melton, Beef (Netflix)
Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning (Netflix)

Outstanding directing for a comedy series

Hiro Murai, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Randall Einhorn, Abbott Elementary 
Christopher Storer, The Bear
Andrew DeYoung, The Chair Company (HBO)
Lucia Aniello, Hacks
Mary Lou Belli, The Ms. Pat Show

Outstanding directing for a drama series

 Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Salli Richardson-Whitfield, The Gilded Age
Hanelle M. Culpepper, Paradise (Hulu/Disney+)
Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Vince Gilligan, Pluribus
Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Task (HBO)

Outstanding writing for a comedy series

Katie Dippold, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV+) (Winner)
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, The Chair Company (HBO)
Michael Patrick King, Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, Hacks
Anthony King, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat

Outstanding writing for a drama series

Vince Gilligan, Pluribus (Winner)
Peter Ackerman, Debora Cahn, The Diplomat (Netflix)
Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman, R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt
Valerie Chu, The Pitt
Will Smith, Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Brad Ingelsby, Task (HBO)

Outstanding reality competition program

The Traitors (Peacock) (Winner)
Dancing With the Stars
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Survivor
Top Chef