‘The Studio’ Emmy predictions: How many nominations can it get?

Seth Rogen just might get to make a few acceptance speeches after all. While his on-camera doppelganger Matt Remick was desperate to be thanked from the Golden Globes stage, the cocreator/star/writer/director of Apple TV+'s The Studio may not have to worry. The freshman comedy may well prove to be the spoiler in the much-anticipated Emmys rematch between Hacks and The Bear — especially given its deep cast of A-list stars, the high-wire act of those oners, and Hollywood's love of celebrating itself.

Best Comedy Series

With eight slots for best comedy, The Studio is assured of a nomination — the only question is whether it will unseat the reigning champ, Hacks. As of now The Studio is in second place on Gold Derby's predictions charts, but it's verrrrry close — and this time out, there's no debate about whether these contenders are comedies. Both bring on the laughs, both are a love letter to/satire of the industry, and both are undeniable hits.

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

With just 51 submissions, there are only five slots up for grabs, but Rogen is in solid second here, too — just behind SAG winner Martin Short. Either of them are likely going to eventually unseat two-time winner Jeremy Allen White — though the well-timed, though as yet-unseen-by-critics season four debut of The Bear on June 25 could prove a narrative shift for the FX series. But Rogen, who's been making the rounds on the FYC campaign trail, will undoubtedly hear his name called on July 15 for his bumbling, hapless studio executive. "It doesn't feel like I am having to shift gears between acting and writing and producing and directing," Rogen told Gold Derby. "As I'm acting, I'm also directing the scenes in a very subtle way, and I'm also rewriting the scene sometimes. And so to me, I actually think I feel the most comfortable when I'm doing all those things."

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Who doesn't love Catherine O'Hara? She swept the TV awards cycle in 2020 for Schitt's Creek, and is a favorite among both audiences and her fellow actors. Which is why she's well-positioned for a double nomination this year — as supporting actress for The Studio, and for her guest turn on The Last of Us.  (She can do drama! She can do comedy!) The only question is whether her costar and another potential double nominee can get in as well: Kathryn Hahn, who's in seventh place in our odds for supporting actress for The Studio as well as lead actress for Agatha All Along. Luckily, this category will have a deserving seven slots to fill, especially considering the competition from Hacks (Hannah Einbinder), The Bear (Liza Colon-Zayas), Abbott Elementary (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James), and Shrinking (Jessica Williams). (Costars Keyla Monterroso Mejia and Chase Sui Wonders were submitted in the category as well, but likely won't make the cut.)

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Will we get to hear the magic words "Thank you, Sal Saperstein"? Ike Barinholtz stands in fourth place in our odds, comfortably secure in another seven-slot race; he, too, will have to fend off a two-time champion from The Bear, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, against the potential mid-summer momentum of Season 4. But the real surge may belong to Harrison Ford, another acting overachiever this season, who pulled double-duty with not only his well-hailed comedic turn in Shrinking but also weathered the winters of Taylor Sheridan's 1923 opposite another name familiar to award voters: Helen Mirren. The competition here also include Hacks star Paul W. Downs, Abbott Elementary's Tyler James Williams, and Ford's Shrinking costars Brett Goldstein and Michael Urie.

Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Has one show ever swept an entire category? Unlikely, yes, but given The Studio's powerhouse lineup of cameos, it's not inconceivable that the majority of the six slots will go to at least two, if not three, of these names: Bryan Cranston, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Dave Franco, David Krumholtz, Anthony Mackie, Nicholas Stoller, Zac Efron — and yes, Matt Belloni. (If only rival studio head Ted Sarandos had been submitted!) The race is Cranston's to lose — and Howard could even get nominated for playing himself twice. He's so good at playing himself, he did it also on Only Murders in the Building. “I'm not quite that affable and fun-loving, nor am I the hard-ass in The Studio,” Howard told Gold Derby. “I think I land somewhere in the middle.”

Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Name recognition always rules in this category, and The Studio's casting team worked their magic: Zoe Kravitz, Sarah Polley, Greta Lee, Olivia Wilde, and Rebecca Hall are all on the ballot. Currently ranked No. 7 in our prediction charts, Kravitz is the closest to breaking in to the magic six slots, with Polley and Wilde close behind. Years past have shown that single shows tend to sweep up the lion's share of nominations, so perhaps that will propel one or more of them to make the cut. But here again, they'll have to overtake buzzy performances from — you guessed it — Hacks (Julianne "Dance Mom" Nicholson) and The Bear (Jamie Lee Curtis). Not to mention Cynthia Erivo, who should get five slots alone for playing quintuplets on Poker Face.

Best Writing in a Comedy Series

Playing it safe — and strategic — The Studio submitted just one episode, "The Promotion," for writing, penned by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez. It's the pilot that sets the tone, establishes the characters, and raises the stakes for the rest of the season — it's hard to imagine the show being nommed without the episode that put it on the map. As for the competition for the six slots, last season's winner, Hacks, too, also laid all its cards on just one episode: season 4's penultimate "A Slippery Slope," where all of the tensions that have been bubbling finally burst through. The Bear opted for two: "Napkins," Tina's backstory, and "Ice Chips," Natalie's labor episode.

Best Directing in a Comedy Series

Strategy matters, here, too — and here again, The Studio went for its strongest directorial effort, "The Oner." Much ink, digital and otherwise, has been spilled over how the episode about a oner was shot as a oner, so suffice it to say that Rogen and Goldberg's directorial achievement here will not escape voters' notice. Vying for the other five slots: three episodes from The Bear which did earn two category noms last year and again, "A Slippery Slope" from Hacks. “There were a few moments where I almost lost my mind, and then I reminded myself that I am the one who chose to do this,” Rogen said. “Weird for me to get mad at someone for that. But it really was an amazing team effort.”

Other crafts

But wait, there's more: With its intentionally retro feel, The Studio is a natural contender for production design, cinematography, casting, costumes, and even hairstyling. "Everyone else in the show is like a throwback and dresses in a nostalgic kind of way," Rogen said at the FYC panel for The Studio. "But the idea was that [Kathryn Hahn's character] would be on the crackling edge of fashion. ... The hair, though, became a whole thing I had nothing to do with. I just went along for the ride."