Emmy Award-nominated actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his roles in HBO shows The Wire and Lovecraft Country, died Monday afternoon. He was 54 years old. 

The actor, who received a 2021 Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his appearance in HBO’s Lovecraft Country, was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment by family members, according to The New York Times. The cause of death was not revealed but the death was being investigated as a possible drug overdose, the Times reported. 

Williams is arguably best known for his role as Omar Little in HBO’s drama series The Wire. Williams also appeared in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

HBO in a tweet said it was “devastated" to learn of Williams’ passing, adding that Williams has been an HBO family member for more than 20 years.

Williams also starred in SundanceTV's dark comedy series Hap and Leonard in the late 2010's. In a 2018 interview with Multichannel News, Williams talked about the  burgeoning opportunities actors and producers of color are finding on television.

Williams also garnered other Emmy nods in past years for acting performances in such shows as Netflix's When They See Us, and HBO's The Night Of and Bessie. When They See Us executive producer Ava DuVernay Monday posted on social media that Williams was a "flash of love -- now gone. But never forgotten." 

Read Also: Observations from the 2021 Emmy Awards Nominations

The main headline coming out of the Television Academy’s Emmys nomination announcement Tuesday is the dominance of the streaming services. With shows from streaming services representing eight of the top 10 most nominated shows, it’s clear that the online platform resonated with viewers, critics and Emmy voters.

With that said, there were a few highlights that traditional television distributors can hang their hats on heading into the Sept. 19 Emmy Awards show telecast. Here are several takeaways for cable and broadcast networks from Tuesday’s 73rd Emmys nominations announcement.

Read Also: Streaming Shows 'The Crown,' 'The Mandalorian,' 'WandaVision' Lead Emmy Awards Nominations 

• Along with 18 nominations, HBO’s recently cancelled Lovecraft Country became the first series ever to have Black actors nominated in both the drama best actor (Jonathan Rogers) and best actress (Jurnee Smollet) categories. The horror-themed show also has the distinction of having Black actors nominated in six of the seven drama acting categories. Overall, actors of color drew four of the six nominations in the best actor in a drama series category and half of the nominations for the best actress in a drama series award. 

Read Also: 'Lovecraft Country' Creator Outlines New Season Plot Despite Series Cancellation

• NBC’s Saturday Night Live continues to rack up Emmy nominations. The late-night series drew 21 nominations — one off its record 22 nods for a variety show garnered in 2017— and now has a record 306th Emmy nominations overall. It was one of the few bright spots for the broadcast networks, which found itself either shut out or with only one nomination in the outstanding drama, comedy and limited series categories. NBC led all broadcast networks with 46 nominations.

• HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show is the only show that stands in the way of Saturday Night Live winning its fifth straight Emmy in the Outstanding Variety Sketch Series category as only two shows qualified for the award.  

• FX was the most nominated basic cable network with 16, nine of which were generated by Pose, including a lead actress in a drama nomination for MJ Rodriguez — the first ever in the category for a lead trans person. VH1 (11) and National Geographic (10) also generated double-digit nominations. Overall 16 cable networks garnered Emmy nominations, matching the number of online services with Emmy nods. 

• HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will look to make it six Emmy wins in a row in the Outstanding Talk Series category, while VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race will go for four straight wins in the Outstanding Competition Program category.  

Lovecraft Country creator Misha Green offered a glimpse of what a second season of the HBO horror series would have looked like if  the network had not cancelled the show. 

Green took to Twitter to thank viewers for tuning into the series, and also provided a snapshot of the direction a sophomore season of the Golden Globe-nominated series would have moved. HBO late last week pulled the plug on the series, which aired in summer 2021 and starred Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Courtney B. Vance. 

"We will not be moving forward with a second season of Lovecraft Country," HBO said in a statement. "We are grateful for the dedication and artistry of the gifted cast and crew, and to Misha Green, who crafted this groundbreaking series. And to the fans, thank you for joining us on this journey."

In the Tweet, Green says the synopsis for the series’ sophomore season “begins in a new world, and that new world is a country that sits precisely where the United States used to sit … welcome to the sovereign states of America …

Read Also: Programming Review: Lovecraft Country

The series is based on Matt Ruff’s 2016 novel and follows Atticus Freeman (Majors) as he journeys with his childhood friend Letitia (Smollett) and his uncle George (Vance) on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams).

It’s unclear if Lovecraft Country, distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution, would be pitched to another network.

Netflix continued its successful 2021 awards season run, picking up the most Critics Choice Awards wins within the television category during Sunday night's virtual awards ceremony. 

Netflix took home eight Critics Choice Awards to lead all broadcast, cable and streaming services. Netflix was led by The Crown, which won four awards, including best drama series, best actor in a drama series (Josh O’Connor), best actress in a drama series categories (Emma Corrin) and best supporting actress in a drama series (Gillian Anderson). 

Netflix's performance follows its domination of the Golden Globes Awards ceremony last weekend. 

Also Read: Golden Globes: Netflix Dominates TV Categories with 'The Crown,' 'Queen's Gambit'

Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso won three awards, including best comedy series, topping Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek, which won two awards in its final season. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit also won two awards, including best limited series. 

Overall, streaming services took home more than half of the awards in the TV categories. 

HBO took home two awards, one each for drama series Lovecraft Country and limited series The Undoing.

Netflix also won six awards in the film category, including three for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which included a best actor nod for the late Chadwick Boseman’s performance in the film. The Trial of The Chicago 7 won two awards including best acting ensemble. 

Amazon Studios won three awards, including a best supporting actress win for Maria Bakalova in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and a best editing statuette for Sound of Metal.

The Critics Choice Winners in the television category are as follows:  

BEST DRAMA SERIES

The Crown (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Josh O’Connor – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Emma Corrin – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Michael K. Williams – Lovecraft Country (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Gillian Anderson – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Daniel Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST LIMITED SERIES

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

BEST TV MOVIE

Hamilton (Disney Plus)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE 

John Boyega – Small Axe (Amazon Studios)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Donald Sutherland – The Undoing (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America (FX)

BEST TALK SHOW

Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (Netflix)

Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia (Netflix)

BEST SHORT FORM SERIES

Better Call Saul: Ethics Training with Kim Wexler (AMC/Youtube)

The Critics Choice Winners in the film category are as follows: 

BEST PICTURE

Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS

Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Alan Kim – Minari (A24)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST DIRECTOR

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Joshua James Richards – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – Mank (Netflix)

BEST EDITING

Alan Baumgarten – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Ann Roth – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Tenet (Warner Bros.)

BEST COMEDY

Palm Springs (Hulu and NEON)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Minari (A24)

BEST SONG

Speak Now – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)

BEST SCORE

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste – Soul (Disney)

As the nation continues to celebrate Black History Month, a number of television distributors are making sure that the recognition of African-American contributions to the country echo loudly on the small screen beyond February.

National Geographic on Feb. 10 said it will mark the 100th anniversary of the devastating Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre in which white racists burned down a thriving Black community in the city. The documentary, Red Summer, recounts the two-day massacre that left as many as 300 Black people dead and more than 10,000 homeless and displaced. The documentary will air in June as part of Nat Geo’s celebration of Juneteenth, when the last African-American slaves in the U.S. learned of their emancipation. 

Until recently, this dark period in the United States was all but buried in the history books. National Geographic Global Television Networks president Courteney Monroe revealed during her TCA Winter Tour opening remarks that she had only recently become aware of the incident. “This tragedy was the most visible during a period in the early 20th century when Jim Crow laws were at their height and the [Klu Klux Klan] was resurging across the nation,” she would add. 

ALSO READ: Black Voices Rising

Nat Geo will also pay homage to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, through its March limited series Genius: Aretha. It’s the third installment of the network’s Genius franchise, built around prominent and creative historic figures, and the first featuring an African-American legend. Nat Geo will follow up Franklin with a Genius focused on Martin Luther King Jr. 

HBO in March will sing the praises of a legendary female R&B singer, Tina Turner, in Tina. The documentary charts the singer’s career of more than five decades, recounting her early fame, her personal and professional struggles, including her tumultuous marriage to Ike Turner, as well as her even more improbable resurgence as a global star in the 1980s. Also in March, Lifetime will air a movie chronicling the life of iconic gospel singer Mahalia Jackson — the first of four films the network will develop with Good Morning America host Robin Roberts. 

Making Awards History

African-American images and stories are teeing up history in the upcoming awards season as Black actors and projects garnered a record-setting number of nominations. For example, four of five SAG Awards best film nominations are led by people of color — three of them with predominately African-American casts: Netflix’s Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Amazon Video’s One Night in Miami. 

Other Black historically themed shows, like HBO’s Lovecraft Country — which weaves the negative history of the 1950s Jim Crow period within an equally scary sci-fi tale — Hulu’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday and Judas and the Black Messiah, which focuses on the government’s infiltration of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, drew multiple nominations in major categories across nominations for Screen Actors Guild and Critics Choice Awards.

Black History Month has arguably taken on greater significance this year in light of the social justice movement ignited by the death of George Floyd last May. TV One president Michelle Rice said that the continued proliferation of content created about, by and for African-Americans will help ensure that the history, stories, images and messages resonate throughout the year. 

“Even though TV One targets black people and we feel like we get that message out to our audience every day, I think it’s also important to get that message out to consumers who are not Black,” she said. “When you talk about this whole anti-racism movement, it’s really about educating and getting people to understand that our stories are part of the fabric of this country.”

HBO’s drama series Lovecraft Country tackles the issues of racism, prejudice and privilege in a frightening yet mesmerizing manner.

The series, a takeoff on author Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, follows World War II veteran and sci-fi fan Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he returns home to Chicago during the Jim Crow 1950s to search for his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams). While the two don’t get along, Montrose writes Atticus about a mysterious place in New England where he believes that secrets about Tic’s ancestry lie.

Curious to learn more about his legacy, Tic decides to travel east along with his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) — also a sci-fi fan whose favorite book is Bram Stoker’s Dracula — and childhood friend Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) in search of his father. Along the way, the three encounter racism at virtually every turn, from prejudiced gas station attendants to unnervingly racist cops. Once they reach their destination, the three are then forced to battle horrifying supernatural elements that in retrospect seem less scary than the racist realities of their travel.

Lovecraft Country executive producers Misha Green (Underground), J.J. Abrams (Westworld, Lost) and Jordan Peele (Get Out) unleash a flurry of ghosts, vampires, haunted houses, witches and magical 
spells to scare and terrify viewers throughout the series as it weaves different storylines together revolving around the protagonists, as well as supporting characters including Letitia’s sister Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku) and Uncle George’s wife Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis).

More succinctly, the producers also reflect on the real-life historical horrors of segregation and racial prejudice with its showcasing of sundown town lynchings and cross burnings that are just as terrifying as Lovecraft Country’s fantasy world.

The 10-part Lovecraft Country is oftentimes frightening and disturbing, but is overall a fascinating series worthy of viewers’ time and attention.

August programming offerings will heat up this week as several high-profile scripted and reality series make their debuts.

HBO's much anticipated horror/thriller series Lovecraft County -- executive produced by Jordan Peele and Misha Green -- debuts on Aug. 16, while Apple TV Plus' Ted Lasso, starring Jason Sudelkis as an American college football coach-turned-England pro soccer team coach, premieres Aug. 14

On the unscripted front, HBO will debut its Hard Knocks pro football reality series on Aug. 11 with a focus on the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, while its sister streaming service HBO Max on Aug. 13 will cook up a new reality series starring actress Selena Gomez titled Selena + Chef (pictured). 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several other shows debuting the week of Aug. 10 to Aug. 16 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Aug. 10 -- Game On: A Comedy Crossover Event (special) -- Netflix

Aug. 10 -- The Other One (comedy) -- Acorn TV

Aug. 11 -- Hard Knocks: Los Angeles (sports docu series) -- HBO

Aug. 12 -- Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn (documentary) -- HBO

Aug. 13 -- Five Bedrooms (dramedy) -- Peacock

Aug. 14 -- Teenage Bounty Hunters (comedy) -- Netflix

HBO Wednesday announced an Aug. 16 premiere date for its new scripted drama series Lovecraft Country.

The 10-episode series, based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, follows the exploits of an African-American man and his female childhood friend as they travel through 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures, according to HBO.

The series, executive produced by Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim and David Knoller, stars Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Courtney B. Vance and Jada Harris. 

Lovecraft Country is produced by afemme, Inc., Bad Robot Productions and Monkeypaw Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

HBO Wednesday announced an Aug. 16 premiere date for its new scripted drama series Lovecraft Country.

The 10-episode series, based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, follows the exploits of an African-American man and his female childhood friend as they travel through 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures, according to HBO.

The series, executive produced by Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim and David Knoller, stars Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Courtney B. Vance and Jada Harris. 

Lovecraft Country is produced by afemme, Inc., Bad Robot Productions and Monkeypaw Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.