From the Chair: The 76th Emmys and the Importance of Inclusion

One of the things I love most about working in television is being part of a community of talented professionals with a shared love for this amazing medium. That feeling is heightened on Emmy night, which Emmy-winner John Shaffner — one of my predecessors as chair of the Academy — used to describe as our industry's annual family reunion. That will be truer than ever at the 76th Emmys on September 15, when the first father-son pairing in Emmy history, Eugene and Dan Levy, join us as hosts.

We could not be more excited to have this talented team steering the ship on TV's biggest night. For starters, they're hilarious — quick, clever, irreverent, audacious and totally unpredictable. And with a body of work spanning from SCTV to Schitt's Creek, they're revered not only by their industry peers, but by audiences worldwide. With 20 nominations between them — 14 for Eugene, six for Dan — and four wins each — there's no question that they know their way around the Emmys. In fact, Eugene is a nominee right now as host and executive producer of the Apple TV+ program The Reluctant Traveler.

Return trips to the Emmys are to be celebrated, of course, but nabbing that first nomination is especially memorable. In my job, I spend a lot of time with talent, in front of the screen and behind the scenes, and I know that sometimes, especially after long careers, it feels like that moment of recognition will never come. Until it does! So, it's exciting that the 76th Emmys marks that milestone for 36 extraordinary performers, from new faces with just a few credits to established vets with bodies of work stretching across decades.

Up-and-comers include D'Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai, nominated for his work in Reservation Dogs, the groundbreaking FX comedy about a group of Native American teens in Oklahoma; Nava Mau for her sensitive work in the unsettling Netflix limited series Baby Reindeer; and Kali Reis, the former boxer who scored a knockout in the HBO anthology True Detective: Night Country.

On the more experienced end of the spectrum, it was wonderful to see veterans like Nestor Carbonell, whom I first saw on the late-'90s NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan, recognized for his performance in the FX epic Shōgun; Dominic West, who made an impact early this century in the groundbreaking HBO social drama The Wire, earn a nomination as Prince Charles in the Netflix historical drama The Crown; and Parker Posey, decades after wowing us in indie films like Party Girl, in the Prime Video spy drama Mr. & Mr. Smith. There were many more, of course, and I can't wait to see them all as we celebrate their efforts and announce our winners at the Emmys.

Revisiting the nominees, I have also been reflecting on their diversity and what it means for us as an industry. What Academy members have made clear, year over year, is that when outstanding, premium, inclusive content is greenlit and given the budget, support and runway for success, they will find it and reward it.

So, with the Emmys imminent, I want to take a moment to encourage our industry, once again, to keep investing in premium, inclusive stories that are reflective of our audiences' diversity. We're all hungry for it, just as viewers are.

Cris Abrego
Chair
Television Academy