On Wednesday morning, 16 days after the close of voting to determine the nominees for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, the TV Academy announced its finalists across more than 100 categories, as selected by 27,000 voters who all got to weigh in on the program nominations (e.g. best drama, comedy, limited/anthology, etc.), as well as the category or categories that pertain to their specific “peer group” (e.g. the performers peer group picks the acting nominees, the animation peer group picks the animation nominees, etc.). Their picks, which I have spent the morning studying, provide a ton of interesting clues — and perplexing questions — about which way the wind is blowing as we head toward final voting period (Aug. 17-26), followed by the Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies (Sept. 5-6) and the Primetime Emmys telecast (Sept. 14 on NBC).
One fun development: Law & Order: SVU vet Mariska Hargitay, who was named the host of the Primetime telecast yesterday, was today nominated for producing and directing the HBO documentary special My Mom Jayne, a film about her late mother, Jayne Mansfield. Those categories will be presented at the Creative Arts ceremonies, meaning Hargitay won’t be in the hot seat on the same night she hosts the Primetime ceremony. But if she wins at least one award at the former before heading to the latter — which seems quite possible, although she faces formidable competition in both categories — she will join an elite group of people who won an Emmy and hosted the Emmys in the same year: Neil Patrick Harris, David Letterman, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel.
