Emmy Nominations Redux: Lots of Familiar Names

Editor’s Note: This story is developing; check back for more nominations.

This year’s Emmy nominations offer a little deja vu for Emerson watchers, with many Emersonians up for the same awards they vied for last year.

Jennifer Coolidge ’85, who last year won her first Emmy in the Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for her work on the HBO series The White Lotus is nominated once again (this time, the nomination falls into the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category).

Henry Winkler ’67 is once again nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on HBO’s Barry, a role that got him an Emmy in 2018 and nominations in 2019 and 2022. Winkler has nine nominations total, dating back to 1976 for Happy Days.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is again nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, and RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked is up for Outstanding Unscripted Reality Program, meaning executive producer Randy Barbato ’82 is looking to capture his sixth and seventh Emmy for the show. He has 18 nominations total, and five wins, all for Drag Race.

Emmy perennial Opus Moreschi ’00 got his 25th Emmy nomination. He’s up for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Show for his work on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He has four wins to his name.

David Klotz ’94, another Emmys frequent flier, is up for two awards this year. He’s nominated twice for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) for House of the Dragon (“The Black Queen”) and Stranger Things (“Chapter 9: The Piggyback”), and once for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie, or Special for Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Klotz, who has been nominated 22 times and won seven times, including last year for Stranger Things.

Catherine Trasborg ’11, editor on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, is again nominated for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming; camera operator Kevin Johnson ’95 is once more nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program for The Amazing Race; and re-recording mixer Larry Benjamin ’88 is repeating his Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) nomination for his work on Better Call Saul (“Saul Gone”).

Trasborg has three career nominations , Johnson has 10 career nominations and two wins, and Benjamin has 13 career nominations and one win.

In the program categories, Love Is Blind (Brian Smith ’95, executive producer; LeeAnne Smith ’11, senior story producer) is up again for Outstanding Structured Reality Program; The Voice (Jared Wyso ’11, senior producer) is up once again for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Ballard Boyd ’04, producer) gets a repeat nomination for Outstanding Talk Series.

Smith has 20 career nominations and one win, Wyso has five nominations, and Boyd has three nominations and one win.

More Individual Nominees:

Rosebud Baker ’06, a writer for Saturday Night Live, is a nominee for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. This. is her second nomination.

Zach Rothfeld ’17, a writer on 100 Foot Wave (“Chapter V: Lost at Sea”) got his first ever nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program.

Joe Celli ’97, art director, Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, is nominated for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special. Celli has 13 nominations and six wins.

Shaun Farley, MA ’04, Foley editor on Andor (“The Eye”), got his first nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama (One Hour). Christopher Battaglia ’14, sound designer on The Last of Us (“When You’re Lost in Darkness”), also scored his first nominated in the category.

Eric Beetner ’92, editor on The Amazing Race, is up for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality or Competition Program. He has five career nominations for the show.

Jamie Kennedy ’11, editor on Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, is nominated for Outstanding Picturing Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. It’s Kennedy’s second-ever nomination.

Tyler Ericson ’19, lighting director for the 75th Annual Tony Awards, is up for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special. It’s Ericson’s first nomination.

More Program Nominations:

United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (Morgan Fallon ’99, executive producer) is nominated for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. Fallon has eight nominations and two wins.

The Simpsons (“Treehouse of Horror XXXIII”) (John Frink ’85, executive producer), is up for Outstanding Animated Program. Frink has 22 nominations and six wins.

Other Notables:

Though not technically on the Emmy ballot, these alums produced, wrote, or were featured in nominated programs:

Daisy Jones & the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid ’05, producer; Judalina Neira ’04, supervising producer), based on the novel by Jenkins Reid, is nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

Andrina Smith ’07 was the writer for MLK: Now Is the Time, nominated for Outstanding Emerging Media Program.

Vanderpump Rules (Taryn Benesta ’08, supervising producer) is up for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.

Marco Gonzalez ’16 is a writer for (and has appeared on) Jury Duty, nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Austin Bailey ’19 is segment coordinator for Late Night with Seth Meyers, nominated for Outstanding Talk Series.

Maggie Noren ’17 is a segment producer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, nominated for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series.

And though not technically a nomination, TV legend Norman Lear ’44 was the heart and soul of ABC’s Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter, which is nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). Lear made history as the oldest person to take home an Emmy in 2019.

The Emmy Awards are scheduled to be presented September 18.

Did we leave anyone out? Let us know at alumni@emerson.edu