As the Emmy Award nominations for this year’s ceremony arrived, one notable appearance in numerous categories was the recently cancelledLovecraft Country. WhileWandaVisionhit homeruns with nominations in the Limited Series categories,Lovecraft Countrywas one of the dominant forces in the Drama Series stakes. With the series not being renewed for a second season, despite good ratings and reviews, the arrival of the Emmy Nominations this afternoon has caused further head shaking by those still working out how the show was not renewed.
When the nominations were announced,Lovecraft Countryappeared in categories all six major Drama Series lists of contenders. The show received a nod in its own right for Best Drama Series, putting it up against Netflix’sBridgerton- which appears as a main rival in most categories - Amazon’sThe Boys,The MandalorianandThe Handmaid’s Tale, as well asThe Crown,PoseandThis Is Usmaking up the rest of the category. The series also picked up nominations for both Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett in the Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama respectively, Michael Kenneth Williams in Best Supporting Actor, Aunjanue Ellis in Best Supporting Actress and Courtney B Vance in Best Guest Actor.
While the show and it’s cast will be thrilled at the recognition, there is some tough competition in the categories, meaning that the outcome of the ceremony is still an open race. While the same series come up in all categories, it is the supporting role categories that are most interesting, with Williams finding himself up against John Lithgow forPerry Mason, Tobias Menzies forThe Crownand then O-T Fagbenle, Max Minghella and Bradley Whitford all forThe Handmaid’s Tale. The story is very similarly dominated by two particular shows in the Supporting Actress category, with Ellis facing off against Emerald Fenell, Gillian Anderson and Helena Bonham Carter all forThe Crown, and Ann Dowd, Samira Wiley and Madeline Brewer forThe Handmaid’s Tale.
The nominations by no means guarantee a win in any of these categories, but their appearance in every possible acting category as well as for Drama Series, suggests thatLovecraft Country’s cancellation after just one season was perhaps a little unfair. HBO Releases a statement at the beginning of July about the future of the show, which read, “We willnot be moving forward with a second season of Lovecraft Country. We are grateful for the dedication and artistry of the gifted cast and crew, and to Misha Green, who crafted this groundbreaking series. And to the fans, thank you for joining us on this journey.”
Showrunner Misha Green tweeted her disappointment at the decision in the following days, noting that up to that point she had been certain thatHBOwere ready to green light a new season, which she and her writing team had been hard at work on. Green followed this up with a look at some of the story points that they had planned if the second season had been given the go ahead. “A taste of the Season 2 bible. Wish we could have brought you Lovecraft Country Supremacy. Thank you for everyone who watched and engaged,” she wrote.
WhileLovecraft Countryis currently not coming back to screens, who knows how anEmmywin could change that with so many other streaming platforms on the lookout for new content.
