The 2021 Emmy ceremony: this year's awards will be like this

By Daniel Arkin - NBC News

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the organization that organizes the Primetime Emmy Awards, hopes this year's ceremony will offer some comfort - or at least some meme material - in times of trouble.

"I definitely want the stars to come out and have fun," the show's host, Cedric the Entertainer, told The New York Times.

"There is a desire for that:

people just want to experience a night out,

done in the safest way possible."

Michael K. Williams, MJ Rodriguez, Bowen Yang, and Olivia Colman.

(left to right, top to bottom) Chelsea Stahl / NBC News;

Getty Images;

FX;

Netflix

Here's a look at some of the main storylines for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, which begins

Sunday at 8:00 PM ET

(5:00 PM PST) on CBS.

• Mj Rodriguez and Bowen Yang aim for a historic victory

The star actress

Pose

,

Mj Rodriguez,

30, and comic revelation of

Saturday Night Live

,

Bowen Yang,

 30, have an opportunity to consolidate its name in the history of the Emmys.

Rodriguez, who is nominated in the drama lead actress category for her portrayal of fierce family mother Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista in FX's drag dance drama

Pose

, could become the first transgender performer in history to win an Emmy. for their interpretation.

[MJ Rodriguez reacts to her historic Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Drama: "I feel like my colleagues see me"]

Regardless of what happens on Sunday night, Rodriguez's nomination in the lead actress category is a watershed moment for trans representation at the most important event in the television industry.

The nominees in the category of best dramatic actress in a television series.

Getty Images

So far, Television Academy voters have only nominated two trans performers for acting awards:

Laverne Cox

, from the Netflix drama series

Orange Is the New Black

(who earned four nominations for her supporting work in the series) and

Rain Valdez

, from the web series

Razor Tongue.

Yang, who is one of eight nominees in the Comedy Supporting Actor category, could become the first

SNL

actor to

earn

an Emmy Award.

(In show lingo, featured actors are newcomers who could be promoted to the group of repertoire cast members.)

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Yang, the first Chinese-American performer to join the SNL ensemble, was responsible for some of the most memorable characters from the 46th season of NBC's COVID-19-era sketch show, such as the iceberg that sank the Titanic and an imitation of Fran Lebowitz.

Yang also impressed viewers when, amid a wave of anti-Asian violence in the United States earlier this year, he appeared on Weekend Update and asked people to "recharge" and "do more."

MJ Rodriguez at the presentation of the film 'Annette' at the Cannes Film Festival, France, on July 6, 2021. Getty Images

"I'm just a comedian. I don't have the answers," Yang said in the segment.

"But I'm not just looking for them on the Internet. I'm looking around me," he added.

• Michael K. Williams will be remembered

Every year, the Emmy Awards feature an emotional

In Memoriam

segment

honoring the television industry luminaries who died the previous year.

But this year's ceremony could include a broader tribute to Michael K. Williams, who passed away Sept. 6 at age 54.

This is in part because Williams was one of the iconic faces of the "prestige television" era, earning critical acclaim and popular adoration for his roles on

The Wire

,

Boardwalk Empire,

 and others. recognized series.

The Academy has not announced plans for a special tribute to the actor.

But it is possible that he will be praised during the show.

Soprano

star

Edie Falco, for example, paid her respects to her co-star James Gandolfini with an emotional speech at the 2013 ceremony.

Williams could also be recognized with a posthumous victory for his supporting performance in the HBO supernatural drama

Lovecraft Country.

Michael K. Williams in March of this year in Miami, Florida, for the SAG Awards (Rodrigo Varela / Getty Images)

The actor appeared on the series as Montrose Freeman, a secretive man who disappears, forcing his son Atticus (Jonathan Majors) and Atticus's friend, Letitia (Jurnee Smollett), to search for him in Jim Crow's America of the United States. 50's.

The series, produced in part by JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele, garnered rave reviews when it premiered in August 2020. But it was canceled after a 10-episode season, baffling fans who

were captivated by its provocative mix of emotions. fantastic and racist terrors of real life.

In his category, Williams faces Giancarlo Esposito (

The Mandalorian

), OT Fagbenle (

The Handmaid's Tale

), John Lithgow (

Perry Mason

), Tobias Menzies (

The Crown

), Max Minghella (

Handmaid's

), Chris Sullivan (

This Is Us

) and Bradley Whitford (

Handmaid's

).

Williams was previously nominated for three Performance Emmys for his supporting performances in the HBO film Bessie (starring Queen Latifah as blues singer Bessie Smith), the HBO limited series The Night Of, and the Netflix limited series When They See Us.

• Netflix aspires to a jackpot

Netflix has established itself in the last decade as one of the top destinations for scripted original shows.

But the streaming giant has yet to clinch a win in either of the two main Emmys categories: best drama series and best comedy series.

The platform's best chance to end its losing streak comes this year in the drama category, where the lavish royal family saga

The Crown

- fresh out of a headline-grabbing fourth season featuring Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin ) - is considered the favorite.

Netflix has another contender in the drama category that could score a surprise win: the steamy literary adaptation

Bridgerton

, which debuted in December.

(

Emily in Paris 

and

Cobra Kai

, the nominated Netflix comedy series, don't get much momentum in awards season.)

Actors Josh O'Connor and Emma Corrin play Charles and Diana in the fourth season of 'The Crown.' Des Willie / Netflix /

In a market as competitive as

streaming

, big wins at the Emmy Awards help platforms polish their brands and even attract new subscribers.

The Handmaid's Tale's

triumph

 in 2017 helped increase Hulu's good faith as a provider of original shows, for example.

Netflix's previous hopes of grabbing drama series gold with popular shows like

House of Cards

,

Stranger Things

 and

Ozark

were dashed by the dominance of repeat winners

Breaking Bad

 (two wins) and

Game of Thrones

 (four wins). .

In addition to

Bridgerton 

and

The Crown

, six other series are competing for the drama series trophy this year:

 Amazon's

The Boys

,

Handmaid's

,

 HBO

's

Lovecraft Country

,

 Disney +

The Mandalorian

,

FX's

Pose 

and

 NBC's

This Is Us

.

• The Emmys in the days of the delta variant

In the past 18 months, Hollywood's major award galas - last year's Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys - have been forced to scale back their ceremonies and adapt to the reality of the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, this year's Emmys - which come amid the spread of the delta variant in the United States - won't exactly represent a return to normalcy either.

[We answer 5 key questions about the coronavirus vaccine booster]

The television academy has said that the number of guests at the show will be limited, and even "not all nominees will be able to attend this year's awards," according to an Aug. 10 press release.

(The academy did not respond to questions about the show's format or safety regulations for COVID-19.)

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4, 202100: 29

The ceremony is scheduled to take place indoors and outdoors on the Event Deck at LA Live, near the regular Emmys venue at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

"The health and safety of our nominees is of the utmost importance

," the academy said.

"Thank you for your understanding as we continue to navigate the delta variant of COVID-19," he added.

However, the presence of front-row stars could bring a sense of normalcy to viewers weary of the pandemic.

Artists appearing during the broadcast include Stephen Colbert, Mindy Kaling, Dan Levy, Seth Rogen, and Kerry Washington.