2024 Emmys mark historic year celebrating diversity in nominations

LOS ANGELES -- This year's Emmys include a diverse list of nominees.

An increase in diverse storytelling across television shows has led to a historic year in many Emmy categories. Some nominees are making history just by being nominated!

Take "Reservation Dogs," for example. The FX series became a breakthrough hit, portraying authentic, Indigenous stories. Now, in its third and final season, the series is nominated for Outstanding Comedy, and its star, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai has made history as the first Indigenous nominee in a lead acting category.

For her work in Hulu's "Under the Bridge," Lily Gladstone became one of the first Indigenous women nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, along with Kali Reis of "True Detective: Night Country." This comes after her historic Oscar nomination.

FX's "Shgun" has garnered a plethora of nominations, making history as the second non-English language show nominated for Outstanding Drama following "Squid Game" two years ago. Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira and Anna Sawai were all nominated for acting categories.

Sawai, who was nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama, spoke about what the nomination meant to her. "I'm just like taking it in. It just feels unreal. And I don't know that I've completely understood the effect that it's had."

Maya Erskine is also nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Erskine and Sawai are just the second and third Asian women ever nominated in that category. The first was Sandra Oh for her work in "Killing Eve" in 2018.

Oh won her first Emmy this year for producing Outstanding TV Movie winner, "Quiz Lady."

For the past few years, Quinta Brunson and Ayo Edebiri have been breaking barriers in the comedy categories. At last year's Emmys, Brunson became the second Black woman to win Lead Actress in a Comedy for her part in "Abbott Elementary," and Edebiri became the third Black Supporting Actress winner for "The Bear."

Now, the two are both nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, alongside Selena Gomez, Maya Rudolph, Jean Smart and Kristen Wiig, marking the first time a Lead Acting category has been comprised of a majority of women of color nominees.

In addition to her first acting nomination for Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building," Gomez also obtained her third producing nomination for the series, breaking the all-time record for a Latina producer.

Marking another historic nomination for a Latina, "True Detective: Night Country" showrunner Issa Lopez, became the first Latina to be nominated for directing.

Also, "Baby Reindeer's" Nava Mao became the second transgender actor recognized in a main category, following Michaela Jaé Rodriguez for FX's "Pose."

The 76th Emmy Awards will broadcast live from L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. It will also stream the next day on Hulu.

Live "On The Red Carpet" arrival coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on ABC and streams at OnTheRedCarpet.com.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of FX, Hulu and this ABC station.