16 Under-the-Radar Emmy Nominations We're Excited About This Year

Beyond the predictable sweeps, there were a handful of gems that also got love from the Television Academy.

tim robinson in i think you should leave season 2
'I Think You Should Leave' | Netflix
'I Think You Should Leave' | Netflix

If you watched the announcement of the 2022 Emmy nominations this morning, you might think they were, frankly, pretty boring. Succession, Ted Lasso, Hacks, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and a bunch of previous winners added more nominations to their already sizable hauls of years past, while a couple of new favorites—Abbott Elementary, Severance, Yellowjackets—also snuck in. But to get to the really curious ways the Television Academy responded to this season, you have to dive deep into the full list of nominees. Sure, you'll find more laudits for Succession, which leads the pack with 25 nominations, but you'll also see that I Think You Should Leave is now an Emmy nominee and Chadwick Boseman got posthumous recognition. Here are other under-the-radar 2022 Emmy nominations you might have missed ahead of the Emmys broadcast on Monday, September 12.

sam richardson in i think you should leave
Netflix

I Think You Should Leave for Outstanding Comedy/Drama/Variety Series

In our opinion, the most important nomination of the year was in the "Short Form Comedy or Drama" categories. The out-of-control genius of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson was honored by the television establishment as it well deserves. Robinson himself was also given a nom for Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama, because his work as "guy who is obsessed with Dan Flashes" and "sloppy steaks dude who used to be a real piece of shit" should not go overlooked.

Rhea Seehorn for Supporting Actress in Better Call Saul

Ever since it debuted in 2015, the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul has delivered multiple acting nominations for series star Bob Odenkirk and his colleague Jonathan Banks, who plays retired cop-turned-fixer Mike. But standout Seehorn, who plays attorney Kim Wexler, has never been nominated despite consistently stealing scenes and serving as the show's emotional anchor and ethical conscience. This year, with the show winding down, the Emmys finally fixed that with a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Maybe she can even ward off the challenges from a strong roster of other nominees and score the show its first Emmy acting win.

Himesh Patel for Lead Actor (Limited Series) in Station Eleven

Station Eleven, HBO Max's adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel's surprisingly hopeful dystopian novel, was one of 2021's most surprising shows. Given its subject matter (a global pandemic) and tricky tone (melancholy yet mischievous), Station Eleven was never a lock for a big Emmy sweep, especially in the hyper-competitive limited-series field. But it was great to see Patel, a welcome presence in movies like Tenet and Don't Look Up, score a nomination for his sensitive, nuanced performance as Jeevan Chaudhary, an ordinary guy tasked with caring for a young girl he barely knows in the midst of the apocalypse.

Quinta Brunson is the first Black woman to get three Comedy nominations

We were thrilled to see Quinta Brunson nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, and equally excited when Abbott Elementary was in the mix for best comedy overall. But that's not the extent of Brunson's accomplishments. With a nod for writing as well, she became, as Variety reported, the first Black woman to earn three nominations in the comedy categories in one year.

Squid Game's 14 nominations

Of course Netflix's massive South Korean hit would rack up some Emmy noms, but it's exciting to see how well voters responded to this show that's just getting started. In addition to Outstanding Drama Series—making it the first non-English show to crack into the category—Squid Game's acting nominations include Lee Jung-jae for Lead Actor, Park Hae-soo and Oh Yeong-su for Supporting Actor, Jung Ho-yeon for Supporting Actress, and Lee You-mi for Guest Actress. Meanwhile, Hwang Dong-hyuk secured a nom directing for the episode "Red Light, Green Light," and the series also picked up nods for writing, production design, cinematography, main title theme, editing, visual effects, and stunt work.

The very chaotic Television Movie category

What does the phrase "television movie" even mean anymore? With the rise of streaming and the shift toward the limited series as the proving ground for movie stars, the "TV movie" feels like a confusing subcategory. That probably explains why this list of nominees (Chip 'n' Dale, Ray Donovan: The Movie, Reno 911!: The Hunt for QAnon, The Survivor, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas) feels so strange and incongruous. Either way, congrats to Ray Donovan: The Movie.

sydney sweeney in euphoria season 2
Eddy Chen/HBO

Sydney Sweeney is a double nominee

While her Euphoria castmate Zendaya is arguably the favorite to win Best Actress in a Drama for her work as the drug addict Rue, do not underestimate Sydney Sweeney, the not-so-secret MVP of the show. Sweeney, a meme sensation, found herself with nods in two categories: one for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Euphoria and the other for supporting actress in a limited series for The White Lotus. The era of Sweeney is upon us.

The White Lotus cast's big day

Despite airing one whole year ago, The White Lotus' cast cleaned up. Everyone knew MVP Jennifer Coolidge and her caftans would be nominated, but Emmy voters also recognized the brilliant work of Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Natasha Rothwell, and Steve Zahn, as well as creator Mike White's writing and directing. (Justice for Fred Hechinger.) That makes the whip-smart HBO satire one of the year's most-nominated programs, outdone only by Succession and Ted Lasso.

Barack Obama for Narrator

Hello, Emmy nominee Barack Obama. The former president was nominated for narrating the Netflix docuseries Our Great National Parks, which his production company, Higher Ground, financed. If he wins, Obama will be halfway to EGOT status, as he already has two Grammys for his audiobooks Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope.

Chadwick Boseman and Jessica Walter for Character Voice-Over Performance

Hidden deep amid a bunch of technical awards are a couple of categories for vocal performances, and one of these, Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance, is particularly notable this year for honoring two stars we lost far too soon: Chadwick Boseman, who voiced his iconic character Black Panther one final time in an episode of Marvel's remixed What If…? series, and Jessica Walter, whose character Malory Archer received a bittersweet farewell at the close of Archer's 12th season.

How To with John Wilson for Writing for Nonfiction Program

If we ran the Emmys, the extraordinary How to with John Wilson would be nominated in categories it wasn't eligible for, but at least it got one acknowledgement from the TV Academy in Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program. Wilson and his writers, including Conner O'Malley and Susan Orlean, were recognized for "How to Appreciate Wine," which ends with Wilson crashing a party at the home of the CEO of Bang energy drinks.

danny mcbride in the righteous gemstones season 2
Ryan Green/HBO

The Righteous Gemstones and Barry for Stunt Coordination

Danny McBride's Christian family saga The Righteous Gemstones feels like one of those comedies that's simply too funny, rude, and weird to earn much Emmy attention. His previous cult hits for HBO, Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, weren't exactly awards darlings, either. But it was fun to see the show pick up a nomination for Stunt Coordination alongside its HBO comedy sibling Barry. Gemstones' motorbike chase sequence in Season 2 remains one of the more exciting (and absurd) pieces of action filmmaking you'll find on TV in recent years.

The stacked Short Form Animated Program nominations

An underrated and often overlooked category that only became an award in 2008, the Short Form Animated Program nominations offer some excellent inclusions this year. Notably, there are the anthologies Love, Death + Robots, Netflix's R-rated sci-fi mindmelter that won in both 2020 and 2021; Disney+'s anime take on the Star Wars universe, Star Wars: Visions; and The Boys' animated spinoff, The Boys: Diabolical.

Arcane for Animated Program

A win for the gamers: Netflix's League of Legends-based animated series nabbed itself a nomination this year, in a category that also included Bob's Burgers, Rick & Morty, and The Simpsons. The mix of 2D/3D animation for the wildly popular video-game adaptation apparently made an impression on voters.

Pachinko for Main Title Design

Though Pachinko was largely, criminally, snubbed at this year's Emmys, it did manage one nom. One of the best parts about Apple TV+'s sweeping period drama (besides all of it) is its title sequence, which features all of the main characters letting loose and shaking it out to The Grass Roots' "Let's Live for Today" amid the winding pathways of a pachinko parlor, lit in bright pastel pinks, blues, and yellows and generally having an amazing time. Given the heartache and tragedy that makes up much of the show's plot, the title sequence is that much more of a balm, a can't-miss bit of every episode that makes hitting the "Skip Intro" button feel wrong.

Late Night with Seth Meyers was finally nominated in Variety Talk

The Variety series categories are often incredibly redundant. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has won every year since 2015. It will probably win again. But this year, it's up against Late Night with Seth Meyers, which finally cracked the nominations after years of sitting on the sidelines.

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.