So This Is How The 2020 Remote Emmys Is Going To Work
Here's what the first semi-remote Emmys will look like.
With the BET Awards and VMAs now behind us, the pandemic-era award show season is fully underway, and the 2020 Emmys are up next. This Sunday, Sept. 20, the 72nd installment will be taking place mostly remotely.
You can watch the 2020 Emmys on ABC at 8 p.m. ET, or on Hulu + Live TV or YouTube TV (with a subscription to any of them).
Here's what we know about this year's Emmy Awards.
Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting (for the third time) from a stage inside of Los Angeles' Staples Center, according to an in-depth report from Variety.
But the seats will be empty.
The remote Emmys will not have an audience.
There also won't be a red carpet, or an, um, interesting attempt at one, like the VMAs.
Sadly, we won't have any moments like this one from last year.
There will be presenters: So far, everyone announced includes Oprah, Gabrielle Union, Issa Rae, Anthony Anderson, J.J. Watt, Lena Waithe and America Ferrera.
There might even be live reaction shots of every nominee as the awards are being announced because the producers want the show to be "live as much as possible."
“This will all depend on the comfort level of the people at the other end, but we’ve got to go and find them,” Ian Stewart, whose company Done+Dusted is working on the production of the event, told Variety. “They might be at home, they might be in the garden, might be in a hotel, they might be standing on the side of the street. It doesn’t really matter, wherever they feel comfortable. But we want to bring every nominee that we can logistically, live into the show.”
Logistically, it sounds like quite a challenge!
"This show will need an unbelievable number of wiring connections in and out, because the nominees are not going to be there. So we’re going to take cameras to where they are," executive producers Reginald Hudlin told Variety. "And the number of feeds that that requires is so massive that we need a facility like the Staples Center, which is used to having that much signal from reporters covering sports to handle the kind of in and outputs that it requires.”
On the other hand, the Creative Arts Emmys — which are being announced ahead of the big ceremony on Sunday — have been gathering a "pre-taped acceptance speech" from each of the nominees, "but only the winner’s thanks" is airing.
The remote Emmys are not going to be the "Zoomies" (lol), according to Stewart, which basically means that the technology will be a lot nicer than what we use to chat with our co-workers and families.
“The best thing for us is to have very high-end cameras, with a person operating them in somebody’s house or wherever they are. That’s our starting point,” Stewart explained.
Apparently, at one point, the producers hoped to coordinate real-time deliveries of the trophies to winners' homes, but that idea "was ultimately nixed."
So was having an indoor audience or onsite nominees.
As for the fashion, it could be as polished as any other award show, or people might just wear "pajamas" — expect to see anything along that spectrum, really.
“If you want to be in your sweats on your sofa that’s also fine,” Stewart said of the nominees. “It will be much more casual, much more fun, as we’re more in it together. It will go where it goes. We hope really well, but I can’t sit here and say that it’s going to go 100% perfectly because no one’s ever done it before.”
See the major nominations below.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson — Black-ish
Don Cheadle — Black Monday
Ted Danson — The Good Place
Michael Douglas — The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy — Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef — Ramy
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate — Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini — Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara — Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae — Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross — Black-ish
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Mahershala Ali — Ramy
Alan Arkin — The Komsinky Method
Andre Braugher — Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sterling K. Brown — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
William Jackson Harper — The Good Place
Daniel Levy — Schitt's Creek
Tony Shalhoub — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Alex Borstein — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
D'Arcy Carden — The Good Place
Betty Gilpin — GLOW
Marin Hinkle — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon — Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy — Schitt's Creek
Yvonne Orji — Insecure
Cecily Strong — Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Adam Driver — Saturday Night Live
Luke Kirby — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Eddie Murphy — Saturday Night Live
Dev Patel — Modern Love
Brad Pitt — Saturday Night Live
Fred Willard — Modern Family
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Angela Bassett — A Black Lady Sketch Show
Bette Midler — The Politician
Maya Rudolph — The Good Place
Maya Rudolph — Saturday Night Live
Wanda Sykes — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Phoebe Waller-Bridge — Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman — Ozark
Sterling K. Brown — This Is Us
Steve Carell — The Morning Show
Brian Cox — Succession
Billy Porter — Pose
Jeremy Strong — Succession
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston — The Morning Show
Olivia Colman — The Crown
Jodie Comer — Killing Eve
Laura Linney — Ozark
Sandra Oh — Killing Eve
Zendaya — Euphoria
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nicholas Braun — Succession
Billy Crudup — The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin — Succession
Mark Duplass — The Morning Show
Giancarlo Esposito — Better Call Saul
Matthew Macfadyen — Succession
Bradley Whitford — The Handmaid's Tale
Jeffrey Wright — Westworld
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Helena Bonham Carter — The Crown
Laura Dern — Big Little Lies
Julia Garner — Ozark
Thandie Newton — Westworld
Fiona Shaw — Killing Eve
Sarah Snook — Succession
Meryl Streep — Big Little Lies
Samira Wiley — The Handmaid's Tale
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman — The Outsider
Ron Cephas Jones — This Is Us
James Cromwell — Succession
Giancarlo Esposito — The Mandalorian
Andrew Scott — Black Mirror
Martin Short — The Morning Show
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Alexis Bledel — The Handmaid's Tale
Laverne Cox — Orange Is the New Black
Cherry Jones — Succession
Phylicia Rashad — This Is Us
Cicely Tyson — How to Get Away With Murder
Harriet Walter — Succession
Outstanding Competition Program
The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Jeremy Irons — Watchmen
Hugh Jackman — Bad Education
Paul Mescal — Normal People
Jeremy Pope — Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo — I Know This Much Is True
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Cate Blanchett — Mrs. America
Shira Haas — Unorthodox
Regina King — Watchmen
Octavia Spencer — Self Made
Kerry Washington — Little Fires Everywhere
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II — Watchmen
Jovan Adepo — Watchmen
Tituss Burgess — Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
Louis Gossett Jr. — Watchmen
Dylan McDermott — Hollywood
Jim Parsons — Hollywood
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Uzo Aduba — Mrs. America
Toni Collette — Unbelievable
Margo Martindale — Mrs. America
Jean Smart — Watchmen
Holland Taylor — Hollywood
Tracey Ullman — Mrs. America
Outstanding Limited Series
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek
What We Do in the Shadows
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession