Amid the anticipated dropping of its third and final season, Apple TV Plus series Ted Lasso captured nearly 17 million minutes of viewer engagement in the U.S. last year, more than any other original show or movie in domestic subscription streaming, according to Nielsen. 

Nielsen's data -- limited to sampling of TV screen viewing in the U.S. market -- does not reveal how many addressable homes Apple TV Plus has. For that matter, Apple has never released a subscriber figure for its four-year-old Apple TV Plus service. 

Apple did reveal during its third-quarter earnings conference call back in August that it now has more than 1 billion subscribers across its digital services portfolio. Apple told showbiz union IATSE back in September 2021 that Apple TV Plus had fewer than 20 million paid subscribers. 

When ranking the major SVOD services, most TMT analysts and trade pubs hazard a guess for TV Plus of well under 30 million paid members. 

But given Nielsen's just-released performance metrics, those figures look way too low. 

So how many subscribers does TV Plus have?

Nielsen's weekly streaming rankings still garner regular coverage from the major showbiz trades, but there has been, since their beginnings three years ago, a major distortion in the methodology, which is major differences in platform scale. 

According to Netflix's latest shareholder letter, released last week, the service has 77.32 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, for more than any competitor. This is the major reason why Netflix's films and series fill the rankings on Nielsen's weekly streaming charts. They just have way more addressable viewers. 

Netflix's No. 1 show last year (by its own global tally) was Shawn Ryan's The Night Agent. According to Nielsen, The Night Agent finished second behind Ted Lasso on its 2023 original show rankings with 2.5 million fewer engagement minutes than the Apple show. 

Runtimes and episode counts factor in here, with 10 episodes of The Night Agent running an average of 45 minutes each vs. 30 total episodes of Ted Lasso typically around half an hour in length. 

But the water-cooler fervor of Ted Lasso's final sign-off last May aside, we don't think the show could generate these kinds of engagement numbers if Apple TV Plus didn't have at least, say, 40 million or more addressable viewers in the U.S. 

Then again ... Nielsen's sustained credibility as a measurer of video usage continues to confound us. For instance, as the final five episodes of Ted Lasso generated, by Nielsen's own account, huge viewing engagement last May, Apple TV Plus wasn't even accounted for on Nielsen's monthly viewership tracker, "The Gauge," for the month of May 2023. 

Apple is still offering three free months of TV Plus to purchasers of Macbooks, iPhones and other Apple gadgets.

Back in October, Apple upped the price of its SVOD service to $9.99 a month.

Apple and Ted Lasso aside, Nielsen also said that 13-year-old off-USA Network series Suits was the most watched show in U.S. subscription streaming last year, breaking the engagement record set by The Office.

Nielsen also said that overall streaming engagement was up 21% vs. 2022. 

As it nears the end of its third season, Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso remained at the top of the table for a third-straight week according to TVision’s Power Score rankings for the week of May 22.

Amazon Prime Video’s Citadel rose to the second position from No. 4 a week ago while The Family Stallone, new on Paramount Plus, opened as No 3.

Another new show, Disney Plus’s American Born Chinese, was No. 4 and Amazon Freevee’s Jury Duty rounded out the top five.

Other shows new to the top 20 included FUBAR on Netflix; Primo, another Freevee series; The Ultimatum: Queer Love from Netflix; and Season  7 of Queer Eye on Netflix. 

Netflix had eight shows in the Top 20.

The Power Score ranking is designed to compare streaming shows on an apples-to-apples basis. In calculating its Power Score, TVision, which measures activity across over 1,000 apps, looks at the amount of time viewers pay attention to the program, the amount of program time available for the season, the program’s reach, as well as the application’s reach.

TVision said it chose that combination of metrics to enable a neutral look at the quality of programming and its unique, inherent ability to draw in viewers — regardless of the scale of the platform or the program’s release schedule.

Apple TV Plus series Ted Lasso climbed to the top of TVision’s Power Score rankings for shows on connected TV for the week of May 8.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story from Netflix ranked second, climbing from 22nd last week and Freevee’s Jury Duty, last week’s top show, came in third place. 

Rounding out the top five were Missing Dead or Alive from Netflix, which was new to the rankings, and Citadel from Amazon, which had been the second-ranked show.

Netflix has eight shows in the top 20, including Queen Cleopatra, which was new to the list.

Other new shows on the list included Apple TV’s The Last Thing He Told Me, Peacock’s Bupkis and The Muppets Mayhem on Disney Plus.

The TV Power Score ranking is designed to compare streaming shows on an apples-to-apples basis. In calculating its Power Score, TVision, which measures activity across over 1,000 apps, looks at the amount of time viewers pay attention to the program, the amount of program time available for the season, the program’s reach, as well as the application’s reach.

TVision said it chose that combination of metrics to enable a neutral look at the quality of programming and its unique, inherent ability to draw in viewers — regardless of the scale of the platform, or the program’s release schedule.

More than 18 months after the final season 2 episode of its flagship series dropped on Apple TV Plus, Apple announced that the third -- and perhaps last -- season of Ted Lasso will debut on March 15.

Apple also released a teaser trailer for Ted Lasso: Season 3 -- which tells you little or nothing about the upcoming 12-episode campaign. (See it below.)

In terms of brand recognition and prestige, Ted Lasso has been the most successful show yet for the 3-year-old Apple TV Plus platform, winning 11 Primetime Emmys. 

Last June, Brett Goldstein, who stars as grumpy retired footballer Roy Kent on Ted Lasso and also works in the writers' room, told The Sunday Times that season 3 was being written as the series' finale. 

Apple hasn't formally announced this, however. 

Here is Apple's official summary of season 3:

The newly-promoted AFC Richmond faces ridicule as media predictions widely peg them as last in the Premier League and Nate (Nick Mohammed), now hailed as the “wonder kid,” has gone to work for Rupert (Anthony Head) at West Ham United. In the wake of Nate’s contentious departure from Richmond, Roy Kent (Goldstein) steps up as assistant coach, alongside Beard (Brendan Hunt).

Meanwhile, while Ted (Jason Sudeikis) deals with pressures at work, he continues to wrestle with his own personal issues back home, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is focused on defeating Rupert and Keeley (Juno Temple) navigates being the boss of her own PR agency. Things seem to be falling apart both on and off the pitch, but Team Lasso is set to give it their best shot anyway.

Season three of soccer comedy Ted Lasso starts on Apple TV Plus Wednesday, March 15. One episode drops that day, with new episodes weekly on Wednesdays. There are 12 episodes. 

The new season sees newly-promoted AFC Richmond face ridicule as predictions peg them to be last in the Premier League. Nate (Nick Mohammed), hailed as the “wonder kid,” has gone to work for Rupert (Anthony Head) at West Ham United. In the wake of Nate’s contentious departure, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) steps up as assistant coach, alongside Beard (Brendan Hunt). Meanwhile, while Ted (Jason Sudeikis) deals with pressures at work,  he continues to wrestle with his personal issues back home. Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is focused on defeating Rupert, and Keeley (Juno Temple) navigates being the boss of her own PR agency. 

Sudeikis plays Lasso, an American football coach hired to  manage a British soccer team, despite having no experience in that sport. The cast also features Jeremy Swift,  Phil Dunster, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez and Kola Bokinni. 

Season two came out in July 2021.

Sudeikis is executive producer, alongside Bill Lawrence via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal  Television. Hunt, Joe Kelly and Bill Wrubel also exec produce, along with Doozer’s Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer, along with Jane Becker and Jamie Lee. The series, based on an NBC Sports format, was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Hunt and Kelly. ■

Peacock’s new mystery series Poker Face and Apple TV Plus’s comedy series Shrinking lead the list of new original series debuting during the last full week of January.

Poker Face, from Knives Out producer Rian Johnson, debuts January 26 and stars Natasha Lyonne as a fugitive card shark who travels the country and solves murders with her unique ability to tell if a person is lying. Also starring in the 10-episode series are Benjamin Bratt, Adrien Brody and Stephanie Hsu. 

Shrinking, produced by Ted Lasso creators Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, stars Jason Segal as a therapist who takes an unusual approach in treating his patients while dealing with his own grief. Also starring in the Apple TV Plus series, which debuts January 27,  are Harrison Ford — in his first comedy TV series role — as well as Jessica Williams and Christa Miller.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of January 23 to January 29 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

 January 24: How I Met Your Father (returning series) — Hulu

January 25: Extraordinary (comedy) — Hulu

January 26: The 1619 Project (documentary) – Hulu

January 26: Teen Wolf: The Movie (drama) — Paramount Plus

January 27: Lockwood & Co. (fantasy) — Netflix

January 27: Shrinking (comedy) — Apple TV Plus

January 27: You People (comedy) — Netflix

January 28: Frozen Planet II (documentary) — BBC America

PASADENA, CALIF. — Apple TV Plus has finally given us (some) more details on season three of Ted Lasso.

The awards show darling will return to the streaming service in Spring 2023, Apple TV Plus announced Wednesday during the Television Critics Association press tour. Yeah, that's a broad time frame but at least it's something.

Executive producer Bill Lawrence hinted earlier in the day that news about Ted Lasso season three would come soon. Lawrence participated in an Apple TV Plus panel for Shrinking. He is co-creator and executive producer of that series.

Also: Apple TV Plus Shares Premiere for ‘City on Fire,’ Other Originals: TCA

Lawrence also said he had seen cuts of season three and it's "f**king awesome."

Season two of Lasso premiered back in July of 2021 and garnered multiple awards, including Emmys in 2022 for best comedy series and best actor in a comedy series for series star Jason Sudeikis. The 2022 statuettes were the second consecutive wins for the show in both best comedy series and best actor categories.

Apple TV Plus just turned three late last year but parent Apple has revealed little about the service. Earlier this month, Apple lost David Stern, who oversaw the company's paid subscription services, including Apple TV Plus. ■

NBC's 2022 Emmy Awards primetime telecast was dominated by a handful of shows but still managed to feature a few surprises and record-setting wins.

HBO shows took two of the three top series awards, with Succession winning in the best drama series category and The White Lotus winning the top limited or anthology series award. Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso repeated as best comedy series.

The White Lotus led all shows with 10 Emmy Award wins across the Emmys' primetime and creative arts ceremonies, with HBO’s Euphoria and Netflix’s Squid Game finishing second with six awards each. CBS’ Adele: One Night Only, Netflix’s Stranger Things and Disney Plus’s The Beatles: Get Back finished in a third place tie with five statuettes each.

Also: Sheryl Lee Ralph Leads Emmy Winners Across Supporting Actors, Actress Categories

Netflix’s Squid Game made Emmy history when series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk became the first Asian to win an Emmy for best director for a drama series, and series star Lee Jung-jae won the Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series, also the first Asian to win the award in the category.

Also: ‘Squid Game's’ Lee Jung-jae, ‘Euphoria’s’ Zendaya Set Records for Lead Drama Series Actor, Actress Wins

Several shows and performers garnered repeat wins during the ceremony, including Hacks’s Jean Smart and Ted Lasso’s Jason Sudeikis, who took home their second straight lead comedy actress and actor Emmy statuettes, respectively. Also returning to the winner’s stage in consecutive years was Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein, who won for best supporting actor in a comedy series.

Other highlights include HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver winning its seventh-straight Emmy in the best variety talk series category, and Prime Video’s freshman series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls ending Ru Paul’s Drag Race’s four year-winning streak in the best competition program category. In the variety sketch category, NBC's Saturday Night Live beat out its only competition, HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, for its sixth consecutive Emmy win in the category.

The list of the 74th Emmy Awards winners are as follows: 

• OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
  Succession (HBO)
• LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
  Zendaya (Euphoria, HBO)
• LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
  Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game, Netflix)
• SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
  Julia Garner (Ozark, Netflix)
• SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
  Matthew Macfadyen (Succession, HBO)
• DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES 
  Hwang Dong-hyuk (Squid Game, Netflix)
• WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
  Jesse Armstrong (Succession, HBO)
• OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
  Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)
• LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
  Jean Smart (Hacks, HBO Max)
• LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
  Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso, Apple TV Plus) 
• SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
  Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary, ABC)
• SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
  Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso, Apple TV Plus)
• DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
  MJ Delany (Ted Lasso, Apple TV Plus)
• WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
  Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary, ABC)
• LIMITED ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
  The White Lotus (HBO)
• LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED TV SERIES OR MOVIE
  Michael Keaton (Dopesick, Hulu) 
• LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED TV SERIES OR MOVIE
  Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout, Hulu) 
• SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
  Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus, HBO)
• SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
  Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus, HBO)
• WRITING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
  Mike White (The White Lotus, HBO)
• DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
  Mike White (The White Lotus, HBO)
• REALITY/COMPETITION SERIES 
  Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (Amazon Prime Video)
• VARIETY TALK SERIES
  Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
• VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
  Saturday Night Live (NBC)
• WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
  Jerrod Carmichael (Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel, HBO) 

Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae stunned the television industry by winning the Emmy Award for best actor in a drama series, while Zendaya returned to the winner’s stage  with a best actress Emmy for her role in HBO’s Euphoria. 

Jung-jae’s win for his role as Seong Gi-Hun in Netflix’s thriller series is the first for an actor of Asian descent, beating out an impressive list of competitors including Jason Bateman (Ozark), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Brian Cox (Succession) Adam Scott (Severance) and Jeremy Strong (Succession).

Zendaya took home the best actress in a drama series award for the second time in three years (she was not eligible in 2021), becoming the youngest two-time winner in Emmy history for her role as Rue in the HBO series Euphoria. Zendaya, now 26 years old, set the record by winning the 2020 Emmy in the category at the age of 24.

There were no surprises on the comedy front as Hacks’ Jean Smart and Ted Lasso’s Jason Sudeikis both repeated as winners in the best actress and best actor categories, respectively. ■   

Abbott Elementary’s Sheryl Lee Ralph was a surprise Emmy Award winner in the supporting actress in a comedy category, leading an otherwise predictable lineup of winners in the supporting performance categories across comedy, drama and limited series. 

Ralph, who plays teacher Barbara Howard in the freshman ABC comedy, accepted her first Emmy award during NBC's live telecast by singing lyrics from the Dianne Reeves song Endangered Species. She becomes the second Black woman in history to win in the category, 35 years after Jackée Harry won the award for her role in 227.

Also: Multicultural Perspectives: From Dreamgirl to President: Sheryl Lee Ralph Continues to Shine

“To anyone who has ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like,” Ralph added. 

Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson also won an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series.

Other winners in the supporting actor and actress categories include Brett Goldstein, who repeated as supporting actor in a comedy series for his role as Roy Kent in Apple TV Plus’ Ted Lasso.

On the drama side, Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen won the best support actor award, while Ozark’s Julia Garner took home top honors for best supporting actress. 

HBO’s The White Lotus swept the supporting actor and actress categories in a limited or anthology series or movie, as Murray Bartlett and Jennifer Coolidge took home statuettes, respectively.■  

HBO was the big draw at Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards event, garnering more wins than any other distributor.

The ceremony, simulcast live on TBS and The CW, saw HBO/HBO Max win 10 Critics Choice Awards, topping Netflix’s seven wins and Apple TV Plus’s five statuettes, said the Critics Choice Association. 

Apple TV’s Ted Lasso continued its strong TV awards season, winning four Critics Choice Awards to top all series. The show matched its Emmy Award for best comedy with a Critics Choice win in the category, along with wins for best actor (Jason Sudeikis) best supporting actor (Brett Goldstein) and best supporting actress (Hannah Waddingham).

HBO's Succession added the Critics Choice Award for best drama to its 2022 Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards wins in the category. Series stars Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook took home Critics Choice Award statuettes in the best supporting actor and actress categories, respectively. 

Netflix original film The Power of the Dog took home best picture honors, along with a best director statuette for Jane Campion.

Winners from the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards in the television category are as follows:

BEST DRAMA SERIES

Succession (HBO)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game (Netflix)  

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Melanie Lynskey – Yellowjackets (Showtime)  

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Kieran Culkin – Succession (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Sarah Snook – Succession (HBO)  

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

Jean Smart – Hacks (HBO Max)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Brett Goldstein – Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST LIMITED SERIES

Mare of Easttown (HBO)

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Oslo (HBO)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Michael Keaton – Dopesick (Hulu)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Kate Winslet – Mare of Easttown (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Murray Bartlett – The White Lotus (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Jennifer Coolidge – The White Lotus (HBO)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIES

Squid Game (Netflix)

BEST ANIMATED SERIES

What If … ?  (Disney Plus)

BEST TALK SHOW

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL

Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix)

Brett Goldstein, a writer and co-executive producer of Ted Lasso, the award-winning series produced by Warner Bros. TV Group for Apple TV Plus, has signed an overall development deal with Warner Bros.

Goldstein was cast to play Roy Kent, a gruff but lovable member of AFC Richmond on Ted Lasso.

He will develop, create and produce new programs for all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max and other streamers, cable and broadcast networks. The deal does not cover Goldstein’s acting activity.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Warner Bros. said the deal was exclusive and covers multiple years and came after a competitive process.

“Much like the character Joe Gillis in Sunset Blvd, I’ve always dreamed of having my own parking space at Warners, and it’s extraordinary to see that dream come true,” Goldstein said in a statement. “I do, however, hope the comparison ends there and I don’t wind up dead in a pool having been shot by an insane older movie star. As long as that doesn’t happen, I’m very excited and extremely honoured to be embarking on new and exciting adventures with the excellent brothers* at Warners. (*Not all the people that work there are related. Apparently.)”

In addition to Ted Lasso, Goldstein is writing and executive producing Shrinking, another Warner Bros. comedy that received a straight-to-series order from Apple TV Plus. He’s working with Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel, who will star on the show. ■

HBO/HBO Max combined garnered the most Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, led by drama series Succession, SAG announced during a Wednesday morning ceremony.

HBO/HBO Max drew 14 nominations, topping Netflix’s 10 nods. Streaming services Hulu, Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus also generated multiple SAG Awards nominations during the virtual ceremony, hosted by actresses Rosario Dawson and Vanessa Hudgens. 

Succession drew five nominations – including an outstanding drama ensemble nod – tying it for the top spot with Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso. Netflix’s Squid Game and Apple TV Plus’s The Morning Show – along with HBO’s Mare of Easttown – drew four nominations each.

Succession will battle with Squid Game, The Morning Show, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale and Paramount Network's Yellowstone for best drama ensemble honors, while Ted Lasso, Hulu's The Great and Only Murders In The Building, HBO Max's Hacks, and Netflix's The Kominsky Method will compete in the best comedy ensemble category.

Also: HBO Cleans Up at Golden Globes

TBS and TNT will simulcast live the 28th Annual SAG Awards on Feb. 27 from Santa Monica, Calif. 

The SAG Awards nominations in the television category are as follows:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

MURRAY BARTLETT –THE WHITE LOTUS (HBO)

OSCAR ISAAC – SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (HBO)

MICHAEL KEATON  –DOPESICK (Hulu)

EWAN McGREGOR – HALSTON (Netflix)

EVAN PETERS – MARE OF EASTTOWN (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

JENNIFER COOLIDGE – THE WHITE LOTUS (HBO)

CYNTHIA ERIVO  –GENIUS: ARETHA (National Geographic)

MARGARET QUALLEY  – MAID (Netflix)

JEAN SMART  – MARE OF EASTTOWN (HBO)

KATE WINSLET – MARE OF EASTTOWN (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

BRIAN COX  – SUCCESSION (HBO)

BILLY CRUDUP  – THE MORNING SHOW (Apple TV Plus)

KIERAN CULKIN  – SUCCESSION (HBO)

LEE JUNG-JAE  – SQUID GAME (Netflix)

JEREMY STRONG – SUCCESSION (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

JENNIFER ANISTON – THE MORNING SHOW (Apple TV Plus)

JUNG HO-YEON – SQUID GAME (Netflix)

ELISABETH MOSS – THE HANDMAID’S TALE (Hulu)

SARAH SNOOK – SUCCESSION (HBO)

REESE WITHERSPOON – THE MORNING SHOW (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

MICHAEL DOUGLAS – THE KOMINSKY METHOD (Netflix)

BRETT GOLDSTEIN – TED LASSO (Apple TV Plus)

STEVE MARTIN – ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (Hulu)

MARTIN SHORT – ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (Hulu)

JASON SUDEIKIS – TED LASSO (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

ELLE FANNING – THE GREAT (Hulu)

SANDRA OH – THE CHAIR (Netflix)

JEAN SMART – HACKS (HBO Max)

JUNO TEMPLE – TED LASSO (Apple TV Plus)

HANNAH WADDINGHAM – TED LASSO (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

THE HANDMAID’S TALE -- HBO

THE MORNING SHOW -- Apple TV Plus

SQUID GAME -- Netflix

SUCCESSION -- HBO

YELLOWSTONE -- Paramount Network

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

THE GREAT -- Hulu

HACKS -- HBO 

THE KOMINSKY METHOD -- Netflix

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING -- Hulu

TED LASSO -- Apple TV Plus

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

COBRA KAI -- Netflix 

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER -- Disney Plus

LOKI -- Disney Plus

MARE OF EASTTOWN -- HBO

SQUID GAME -- Netflix ■ 

Ted Lasso, the acclaimed Apple TV Plus comedy was the top series of 2021, according to a poll of Roku users.

The streaming platform surveyed more than 50,000 viewers and asked them to rank their favorite series of 2021 

After Ted Lasso, viewers picked Disney Plus’ WandaVision and Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale.

Squid Game was the first and only Netflix original series to make the Roku top 10 list, coming in at No. 4.

The rest of the top 10 was Hulu’s Only Murders In the Building, HBO’s Mare of Easttown, CBC’s Heartland, Apple TV Plus’ The Morning Show, HBO’s Succession and Discovery’s 90-Day Fiancé.

Roku also reported that the most searched-for title by Roku users was Yellowstone from the Paramount Network. 

The other most-search for shows and movies were SpongeBob SquarePants, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Halloween and The Chosen.

The lists will be revealed during a special "The Year in Streaming" episode or Roku’s Roku Recommends show hosted by Maria Menounos and Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins, which starts streaming Monday.

The special is part of Roku's New Year's experience.

Also appearing on the special are Liza Katzer and Jamie Lee, producers of Ted Lasso, Amy Ryan of Only Murders in the Building,  O-T Fagbenle of The Handmaid’s Tale, Chrishell Stause from Selling Sunset, Karamo Brown of Queer Eye and Cheryl Hines from Curb Your Enthusiasm. ■

The beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its 2022 Golden Globe Awards nominations Monday (December 13) as the organization continues to operate with no TV home for its January 9 awards ceremony and under a cloud of controversy that threatens to undermine its relevance

With Snoop Dogg reading the names of the nominees — often incorrectly, to humorous effect — the Golden Globes will forge ahead even as the HFPA continues to face criticism over the lack of diversity among its board members. In a release, the HFPA said it had admitted “their largest and most diverse class to date of 21 new members, all of whom are first-time Golden Globe voters.” Still, it’s unclear if the January 9 show will air on traditional television after longtime distributor NBC announced earlier in the year that it will not televise the Globes ceremony due to the controversy.  

This year’s Golden Globes nominations in the television categories featured more diversity than last year’s nomination class. Nods for Uzo Abdula (HBO’s In Treatment) and Michaela Jae Rodriguez (FX’s Pose) in the best actress drama category, as well as Issa Rae (HBO’s Insecure) and Tracee Ellis Ross (ABC’s Black-ish) for best comedy/movie actress, and Cynthia Erivo (National Geographic’s Genius: Aretha) for best actress in a television motion picture come one year after no actresses of color were nominated in any major TV category for 2021. That was despite industry recognized performances from Emmy-nominated actress Jurnee Smollett in HBO’s Lovecraft Country and Critics Choice Awards-nominated Michaela Coel in HBO’s drama series I May Destroy You.

Also, the HFPA recognized shows featuring people of color in lead roles such as Netflix’s Squid Game and Lupin as well as FX’s Pose (best drama series), Amazon’s The Underground Railroad (best television motion picture) and FX’s Reservation Dogs (best musical/comedy series). 

The HFPA gravitated to streaming services in a big way in its nomination choices. Hulu and Netflix were the big standouts with 10 nominations each — behind only the 15 nods from the combined HBO/HBO Plus — with Apple TV Plus coming in with eight nods. 

In addition, seven of the top 10 most-nominated shows were from streaming services, led by Apple TV Plus'sThe Morning Show and Ted Lasso with four nominations each, followed by three nominations each for Hulu’s Dopesick, The Great and Only Murders in the Building, HBO Max’s Hacks, and Netflix’s Maid and Squid Game.

Also, the HFPA has often been lauded — and at times criticized — for its penchant for nominating shows that are considered outside of Hollywood’s mainstream, but this year’s list of nominations seemed to have fewer surprise nominations than in previous years. With the exceptions of Netflix’s Lupin and Squid Game along with FX’s Reservation Dogs, many of its nominations were given to the industry’s most high-profile and most talked-about shows, from top-nominated series, HBO’s Succession, to Apple TV Plus's Ted Lasso.  ■  

Netflix’s local-language series sensation Squid Game garnered 1.91 billion streaming minutes in the U.S. for the week of Sept. 20-26, according to Nielsen, making it the most watched show among the major subscription streaming services that week. 

That’s no surprise at all. Netflix already revealed that Squid Game, which premiered Sept. 17, was the most watched show ever on its platform in its first 28 days.

What was entirely surprising, however, was the inclusion of Apple TV Plus and its signature series, Ted Lasso, which suddenly showed up at No. 8 on Nielsen’s top 10 most streamed shows with 509 million viewing minutes for the week ending Sept. 26. 

It’s the first time that Nielsen has included Apple TV Plus alongside the four biggest U.S. subscription streaming services, the shows for which it started ranking last year—Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney Plus. In January, Nielsen included a one-week exception for HBO Max and Wonder Woman 1984 for Christmas Week, but no other service has been included in its minutes-streamed rankings to date besides the Big 4 SVODs. 

A source close to the research company said Apple TV Plus will be included in its streaming tabulations going forward. HBO Max will remain out of the equation, unless a standout performance causes Nielsen to consider another exception. 

So why start ranking Apple TV Plus now?

In case you’re wondering, Episode 10 of the 12-episode Season 2 for the Emmy-beloved Ted Lasso debuted on Sept. 24. Was this a particularly outsized audience performance for the show? Did it really produce a bigger audience than the Season 2 premiere, which dropped July 23?

Questions about platform size also come to mind. Is Apple TV Plus really tall enough to ride the ride?

Netflix revealed earlier this week that it has surpassed 74 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, a number far outstripping any other subscription streaming service. So it’s understandable why Netflix shows typically dominate Nielsen’s rankings, which are based on total minutes viewed.

AT&T, meanwhile, revealed Thursday that it has 45.2 million subscribers in the U.S. for the IP-based HBO Max and the traditional, linear HBO service combined, a number that matches or exceeds the domestic ranks of both Hulu and Disney Plus. 

For its part, Apple told Hollywood production trade union IATSE  recently that it has less than 20 million subscribers for Apple TV Plus. It was unclear whether Apple meant paying subscribers, since so many users of the service are still getting it free off aggressive promotions tied to Apple hardware. Some research firms have pegged the number of Apple TV Plus sign-ups to be in the 40 million range. 

Either way, it seems strange to embrace Apple TV Plus into the fold while keeping HBO Max on a kind of double-secret promotion. 

As for Squid Game, its weekly performance was only the fifth best of the year, according to Nielsen, with Wonder Woman 1984, and Netflix shows Manifest, Outer Banks and Virgin River having all surpassed the 2 billion viewing minutes mark earlier this year.

Netflix’s Lucifer, meanwhile, suffered a massive dip in viewership week over week, losing 728 million viewing minutes. Still the supernatural-themed original series took the No. 2 spot with 860 million viewing minutes.

Netflix’s Sex Education, which debuted its third season on the streaming service Sept. 17, took the No. 3 spot generating 856 million viewing minutes during the week of Sept. 20. That’s up 261 million viewing minutes week over week. The teen comedy was renewed for a fourth season on Sept. 25.

After just three days on Netflix, Mike Flanagan’s seven-episode supernatural horror series Midnight Mass took the No. 6 spot with 566 million viewing minutes during the week of Sept. 20-26. 

Starring Zach Gilford, Kate Siegel and Hamish Linklater, Midnight Mass follows an isolated island community that experiences miraculous events and frightening omens after the arrival of a mysterious priest. 

For the first time in five weeks, Manifest didn’t make Nielsen’s top ten chart. The show ‘s 42 episodes drew just 430 million viewing minutes. That’s down by 282 million viewing minutes week over week. 

And after four weeks on Nielsen’s top 10, Netflix’s limited series Clickbait also got pushed off the overall ranker.

Debuting the sixth of its 10 first-season episodes on Sept. 21, Hulu’s star-studded comedy Only Murders in the Building continue to see its audience drop. The show starting Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as true-crime podcasters drew 299 million streaming minutes for the week of Sept. 20-26, down from 311 million the week prior. It was the ninth most watched SVOD original series for the week, according to Nielsen’s sub ranking of streaming originals.

Finally, the Netflix thriller Intrusion, which debuted on the platform Sept. 22 was the No. 1 movie during a down week for streaming films, capturing 331 million U.S. streaming minutes, Nielsen said. 

Previous Weekly Rankings:

Sept. 12-19: Netflix Phenom ‘Squid Game’ Got Off to a Surprisingly Slow Start

Sept. 6-11: Netflix’s ‘Clickbait’ Holds Off Surging ‘Lucifer’

August 30 - Sept. 5: Netflix’s 'Clickbait' Steals Audience Traffic From 'Manifest'

August 23-29: Netflix’s 'Manifest' Soars Back to No. 1 with the Debut of Season 3

August 16-22: Netflix’s ’Outer Banks’ Loses 37% of Its Audience, Still Finishes No. 1

August 9-15: Netflix’s Scrappy ‘Outer Banks’ Maintains the No. 1 Spot

August 2-8: Netflix's ‘Outer Banks’ Surpasses 2.1 Billion Viewing Minutes

July 26 - August 1: Netflix's 'All American' Edges 'Outer Banks' for No. 1

July 19-25: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Maintains the No. 1 Spot

July 12-18: Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’ Ends Five-Week ‘Manifest’ Winning Streak

July 5-11: #SaveManifest Movement Picks Up Steam as Netflix Series Becomes the Most Watched SVOD Show for 5th Straight Week

June 28-July 4: Amazon’s $200 Million Bet on Paramount’s ‘The Tomorrow War’ Pays Off

June 21-27: ‘Manifest’ Continues Series Saving Flight Plan on Netflix

June 14-20: Netflix’s ‘Manifest’ Scores the Year’s Biggest SVOD Audience So Far

June 7-13: Netflix’s ‘Sweet Tooth’ Shows Bite for the Week of June 7-13

May 31-June 6: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Bedevils SVOD’s Biggest Audience Since Season 3 of 'Cobra Kai’ Debuted in January

May 24-30: Netflix’s ‘Lucifer’ Has SVOD’s Biggest Week* Since ‘Coming 2 America’ Debuted in Early-March

May  17-23: Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ on Netflix Leads a Rather Lifeless Week for the U.S. Streaming Biz

May 10-16: ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ Not Good Enough For Netflix to Renew, But Strong Enough to Lead the Week of May 10-16

May 3-9: Netflix’s $100 Million Bet on Sony’s ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ Pays Off

April 26 - May 2: Netflix’s ‘Shadow and Bone’ Edges Hulu’s ‘Handmade’s Tale' in Rebound Week for the Streaming Biz

April 19-25: Netflix’s ‘NCIS’ Off-net Run Wins Another ‘Easttown and Down' Week for the U.S. SVOD Biz

April 12-18: Disney Plus’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Builds to 855 Million Streaming Minutes and a No. 1 Finish

April 5-11: Give Netflix's 'Thunder Force' Five for Winning the Week of April 5-11

March 29 - April 4: Netflix’s ‘The Irregulars’ Tops the Easter Week Charts

March 22-28: - 'Falcon and Winter Soldier' Tops SVOD Originals

March 15-21: - 'Grey's Anatomy' Re-Runs Top SVOD Ranker

March 8-14: - ‘The Crown’ Got Royal Gains from Meghan’s Big Oprah Interview

March 1-7: - Amazon Tops the Charts for the First Time with ‘Coming 2 America’

Feb 22-28: - Netflix’s 'Ginny & Georgia' Leads the SVOD Biz

In the midst of contentious contract negotiations between the major Hollywood union representing behind-the-scenes crews in film and TV productions and producers, the union revealed that as recently as July, Apple claimed that it had less than 20 million subscribers to its Apple TV Plus streaming service in the U.S. and Canada. 

The disclosure made by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) was first reported by CNBC

Since launching its subscription streaming service in November 2019, Apple hasn’t revealed subscriber metrics for Apple TV Plus. With Apple giving away access to the $4.99-a-month SVOD away to those who bought iPhones and other Apple gadgets for the first 20 months of Apple TV Plus’ existence, several well-regarded research firms have pegged Apple TV Plus at around 40 million subscribers, many of them on promotion. 

So a figure of 20 million would be considered low. 

However, at that level, Apple was able to pay lower rates than larger streaming services (and the major studios) for everything from costume designers and makeup artists, to camera operators and production designers. A union spokesperson told CNBC that NBCUniversal’s Peacock and ViacomCBS’ Paramount Plus also fall under the 20-million subscriber threshold.

It’s unclear if sub 20 million number includes only users who are paying for the Apple TV Plus service, and not the millions who are still on promotion.

In July, Apple scaled back its free trials from one year to three months for customers who purchase a new iPhone or other eligible gadget. 

The current contract between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and IATSE was negotiated in 2009 at a time when streaming media was seen as a nascent business model with an uncertain future. Streaming companies enjoy reduced labor rates compared to film and television productions. However, the union is looking to eliminate those discounts in its current negotiations. 

The union argues that streaming has certainly established itself as a profitable business now and can afford to pay more. 

“Workers on certain ‘new media’ streaming projects get paid less, even on productions with budgets that rival or exceed those of traditionally released blockbusters,” IATSE said in recent press release. 

Union members are frustrated with the idea of working at reduced rates for a company like Apple, with a market capitalization that peaked at almost $2.5 trillion in August, especially with the streaming service taking home 10 Emmy awards earlier this month. 

The union is also objecting to “excessively unsafe and harmful working hours, unlivable wages for the lowest paid crafts and consistent failure to provide reasonable rest during meal breaks, between workdays, and on weekends,” according to a press release issued by IATSE last week. 

“These issues are real for the workers in our industry, and change is long overdue. However, the explosion of streaming combined with the pandemic has elevated and aggravated working conditions, bringing 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers covered by these contracts to a breaking point,” IATSE added. We risked our health and safety all year, working through the Pandemic to ensure that our business emerged intact. Now, we cannot and will not accept a deal that leaves us with an unsustainable outcome.”

Next TV reported last week that the union has set a strike-authorization vote for Oct. 1 and that it is considered likely to pass, however, that won’t automatically trigger a walkout. 

The Crown won Netflix’s first ever Emmy Award for best drama series, leading a streaming services sweep of the major awards categories during Sunday night’s Primetime Emmy Awards telecast. 

Along with The Crown, wins by Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso for best comedy series and Netflix’s The Queens Gambit for best limited, anthology series or movie certified the digital platform as this year's dominant source for quality content on the small screen, according to Television Academy voters.  

The Crown won seven Emmy statuettes -- the biggest of which was for best drama series -- to top all shows. The Crown's win marks only the second Emmy best drama series win for a streaming service, following Hulu’s 2017 win for The Handmaid’s Tale.

Along with winning best drama series, The Crown’s Josh O’Connor and Olivia Colman won Emmys for lead actor and actress, respectively. Also The Crown’s Tobias Menzies and Gillian Anderson won best supporting actor and best supporting actress Emmys, respectively.

Emmys 2021: 'Ted Lasso' Gets Top Comedy, 'The Crown' Named Best Drama, 'The Queen's Gambit' Best Limited Series

Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso was the big winner in the comedy category, winning four awards including best comedy series and outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for Jason Sudeikis. The soccer-themed series also won Emmys in the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series category for Brett Goldstein, and outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for Hannah Waddingham. 

Actress Jean Smart kept Ted Lasso from sweeping the major Emmy comedy acting awards with a win in the lead actress category for her role in HBO Max's Hacks.

Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit was the top choice in the Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category. Kate Winslet won lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for her role in Mare of Easttown, while Ewan McGregor won lead actor in the category for his role in Halston.

Overall Netflix won 10 Primetime Emmy Awards during CBS’ live telecast, besting HBO/HBO Max’s nine awards. Apple TV Plus finished third with four awards during the telecast, which was hosted by Cedric The Entertainer. 

Together with the Creative Arts Emmys, Netflix finished with a total of 44 Emmy Awards, easily besting second place HBO/HBO Max's 19 awards. Disney Plus (14 award wins) and Apple TV Plus (10 wins) were the only other distributors with double figure win totals, according to the Television Academy. NBC topped all broadcast networks with eight Emmy wins.  

One of the few surprises during the primetime ceremony was Michaela Coel’s win in the Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movies for her work on HBO’s I May Destroy You.   

HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won the Outstanding Variety Talk Series category for the sixth year in a row, while VH1’s RuPaul Drag Race was the winner in the Outstanding Competition Program for the fourth consecutive year.

Emmys 2021: Photos From the 73rd Annual Emmy Awards

The complete list of the 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards winners are as follows: 

Outstanding Comedy Series

"Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Jean Smart, "Hacks" (HBO Max)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Brett Goldstein, "Ted Lasso" (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Hannah Waddingham, "Ted Lasso" (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

"Hacks" (There Is No Line), Written by Lucia Aniello (HBO Max)

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

"Hacks" (There Is No Line), Directed by Lucia Aniello (HBO Max)

Outstanding Drama Series

"The Crown" (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Olivia Colman, "The Crown" (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Josh O'Connor, "The Crown" (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Tobias Menzies, "The Crown" (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Gillian Anderson, "The Crown" (Netflix)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

"The Crown" (War), written by Peter Morgan (Netflix)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

"The Crown" (War), Directed by Jessica Hobbs  (Netflix)

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

"The Queen's Gambit" (Netflix)

"Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or a Movie

Ewan McGregor, "Halston" (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or a Movie

Kate Winslet, "Mare of Easttown" (HB0)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Evan Peters, "Mare of Easttown" (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Julianne Nicholson, "Mare of Easttown" (HBO)

Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

"The Queen's Gambit," Directed by Scott Frank (Netflix)

Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

"I May Destroy You," Written by Michaela Coel (HBO)

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

"Saturday Night Live" (NBC)

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

"Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020" (Showtime)

Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)

"Hamilton" (Disney Plus)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (HBO)

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (HBO)

Outstanding Competition Program

"RuPaul's Drag Race" (VH1)

Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso was the big winner at the 2021 TCA Awards, the Television Critics Association said Wednesday.

The streaming service's freshman soccer-themed series netted three awards, including Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Outstanding New Program, according to the organization. 

HBO and HBO Max combined to take home the most TCA Awards for a distributor with four, including the best Individual Achievement in Drama statuette for HBO's I May Destroy You star Michaela Coel. Also, Jean Smart won the Individual Achievement in Comedy award for her starring role in HBO Max’s Hacks. Streaming services Netflix and Apple TV Plus drew three wins each. 

Smart also earned a career achievement award from the organization, celebrating the three-time Emmy winner’s acclaimed body of work from Designing Women to more recent roles including the TCA Award-winning miniseries Mare of Easttown.

HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver returned to the winner’s circle in the Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch category, matching the late-night show’s 2018 and 2019 wins. HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show won the category in 2020.

“Television came through in a big way this year, serving up some much-needed entertainment that was a welcome distraction from the real-life dramas of the real world,” said Melanie McFarland, TCA president and TV critic for Salon. “This season’s offerings gave us plenty of reasons to smile in uncertain times. We are excited to honor these outstanding programs as we celebrate 37 years of the TCA Awards, and we look forward to being together again in person in 2022.”

The 2021 TCA Award recipients are as follows:

Individual Achievement In Drama: Michaela Coel (“I MAY DESTROY YOU,” HBO)

Individual Achievement In Comedy: Jean Smart (“HACKS,” HBO Max)

Outstanding Achievement In News and Information: “FRAMING BRITNEY SPEARS” (FX/FX On Hulu)

Outstanding Achievement In Reality Programming: TIE: “COUPLES THERAPY” (Showtime), “DEAF U” (Netflix)

Outstanding Achievement In Youth Programming: “THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB” (Netflix)

Outstanding Achievement In Variety, Talk Or Sketch: “LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER” (HBO, 2018 & 2019 Winner In Category)

Outstanding New Program: “TED LASSO” (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Achievement In Movies, Miniseries, Or Specials: “MARE OF EASTTOWN” (HBO)

Outstanding Achievement In Drama: “THE CROWN” (Netflix)

Outstanding Achievement In Comedy: “TED LASSO” (Apple TV+)

Program of the Year: “TED LASSO” (Apple TV+)

Career Achievement Honoree: Jean Smart

Heritage Award: “THE GOLDEN GIRLS” (NBC)

From Ted Lasso’s relentless optimism to The Underground Railroad’s devastating storytelling, from Bridgerton’s frothy romance to The Handmaid’s Tale’s wrenching violence, this year’s Emmy-nominated shows all reflect the constantly changing culture in their own unique ways. In a time where audiences mostly consume their entertainment on demand from their homes, these are the shows that stood out.

The outstanding drama nominees reveal the true range of television in 2021, with romance, science fiction, superheroes, family drama and historical drama all in play. 

Stacked Field for Drama 

Netflix’s The Crown — with 24 nominations in 2021, including for outstanding drama series — is the favorite to finally win the top drama Emmy after the show has been nominated for each of its four seasons. Season four began telling the tortured story of Prince Charles and Princess Diana with lead actor and actress nominees Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin channeling their royal counterparts through nuanced performances. 

While season four of The Crown is set in London in the ’80s, the story it told was remarkably resonant, especially as Charles and Diana’s son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, struggled to redefine their own relationship with Buckingham Palace. 

Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian, in season two, tied The Crown with 24 nominations, many of which are in the craft and technical categories.

Coming in with 21 nominations is Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a show that continues to feel prescient as politics divides the country. The Handmaid’s Tale was named outstanding drama in its first season, which premiered in April 2017.

“The Handmaid’s Tale came to life as we were seeing the rise of the far right throughout the world, and then [Donald] Trump made it to the White House,” executive producer Warren Littlefield said. “Hulu decided that they had a show that spoke to the moment and they promoted us in the Super Bowl. In many ways, we’ve been seen as a voice of the resistance against what we were experiencing here in the U.S. and what people were feeling throughout the world.”

In season four, Handmaid Offred (star and executive producer Elisabeth Moss) is dealing with the ramifications of helping many of Gilead’s children escape across the border to Canada and trying to escape herself, even though that means leaving her own children. 

“June’s journey to freedom as she is getting through that compound where bodies are just desperate to get out — when that boat pulls away, in our visual narrative, people are throwing themselves to try and touch that freedom, which June is fortunate enough to get,” Littlefield said. “We’re living a version of that as we look at Afghanistan and realize what all those people are going through. We don’t predict the future … [but] we seem to echo the world that we inhabit. I hope we bring a sense of the fight against those who oppress us and against authoritarian regimes, both foreign and domestic.” 

Also nominated for best drama series are Netflix’s Bridgerton, HBO’s Lovecraft
Country, FX’s Pose, Amazon’s The Boys and NBC’s This Is Us, which returns to the category after missing in 2020. All  of those shows in their own ways deal with issues of race, class, identity and social justice.

Lead actress in a drama series is a stacked category, including awards heavy-hitters Olivia Colman, playing Queen Elizabeth in The Crown, and The Handmaid’s Tale’s Moss, who won the Emmy in this category in the show’s first season. Even with those two in the mix, the front-runners are two Emmy newcomers: The Crown’s Corrin, who won the Golden Globe, and Pose’s M.J. Rodriguez, who made history as the first transgender actress to be nominated in this category. Also nominated are In Treatment’s three-time Emmy winner Uzo Aduba and Lovecraft Country’s Jurnee Smollett.

Josh O’Connor, like his Crown counterpart Emma Corrin, has a good shot at taking the win for lead actor in a drama series, with Billy Porter of FX’s Pose, a former winner in this category, also considered a contender. Bridgerton’s instant star, Regé-Jean Page, could also grab a win here. Also nominated are Perry Mason’s Matthew Rhys, who won an Emmy in 2018 for FX’s The Americans; Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors, who is about to star as the next major villain in the Marvel Universe; and two-time Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown for This Is Us.

‘Lasso’ a Comedy Favorite

Apple TV Plus’s sunny sensation Ted Lasso is almost the universal pick to sweep the comedy categories. Like Schitt’s Creek last year, Ted Lasso, which was developed out of a popular branded content piece for NBC Sports, provided audiences with a much-needed break from the unrelenting bad news of politics and the pandemic. 

Also nominated outstanding comedy series are ABC’s perennially nominated Black-ish; Netflix’s Cobra Kai, which it picked up from YouTube and just renewed for season five ahead of the season four debut; Netflix’s Emily in Paris; Hulu’s Pen15 and Netflix’s The Kominsky Method. 

All that Lasso love also puts series star, co-creator and executive producer Jason Sudeikis in the hot seat to repeat his Golden Globe victory with an Emmy. Much of Lasso’s supporting cast is also nominated, including Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, co-creator Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammad and Jeremy Swift.

Joining Sudeikis in the lead actor in a comedy category are Black-ish’s Anthony Anderson, Kenan’s Kenan Thompson, Shameless’s William H. Macy and The Kominsky Method’s Michael Douglas. 

A late entry to the comedy field is HBO Max’s Hacks, starring lead actress nominee Jean Smart and supporting actress nominee Hannah Einbinder. Hacks, about an aging comedian and the cynical young woman who helps her freshen her act, premiered on HBO Max on May 13, just before the Emmy eligibility deadline closed on May 31. Nominated alongside Hacks is HBO Max sibling The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco. 

Besides Smart and Cuoco, also nominated are Black-ish’s Tracee Ellis Ross, Shrill’s Aidy Bryant and Mom’s Allison Janney, a previous winner for this role. Side note: Saturday Night Live cast members past and present cleaned up at this year’s Emmy nominations, with Thompson and Bryant also nominated in the supporting categories for Saturday Night Live, along with Bowen Yang, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong. Filling out the supporting actor category is Hacks’s Carl Clemons-Hopkins and The Kominsky Method’s Paul Reiser. On the actress side is Rosie Perez for The Flight Attendant.

Because of their limited purviews, limited series are often the most incisive of the scripted series, telling intense stories quickly and with purpose.

Limited series is the only one of the major three series categories that seems to be a true toss-up. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit won Golden Globes for limited series and for lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy. But the chess-focused drama didn’t have to face HBO’s I May You Destroy You, which won a Peabody and was considered by many critics to be 2020’s best show but was ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press, or HBO’s Mare of Easttown, which offered powerhouse performances from a trio of actresses: Kate Winslet in the title role, Jean Smart as Mare’s mom and Julianne Nicholson as Mare’s best friend. 

All three series — as well as Amazon’s The Underground Railroad, based on Colson Whitehead’s best-selling novel and created, directed and executive produced by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), and Disney Plus’s genre-bending WandaVision — are in the mix for the win.

‘Mare’ a Complex Contender

Mare of Easttown, starring and executive produced by Kate Winslet, tells the story of a woman who’s lived her whole life in a blue-collar town in Pennsylvania and has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a detective. As the story unfolds, so does the trauma that Mare has had to endure as she married and raised children herself. The story also includes many twists and turns as Mare tries to solve two cases that have affected her personally.

“It’s never been on my mind to make something relevant, it’s not how I go about crafting stories,” show creator Brad Inglesby said. “What I try to do is write something, a character, a world with as much honesty as I can and as many specifics as I can and hope that if I’ve achieved that, then the honesty of that world will come through and impact people emotionally. What we were always trying to do with Mare was to make it as honest a portrait of a community as we could. We feel that if we portray people with honesty and complexity, then the audience will believe in these people, believe in this place and get immersed in the world.” 

Four out of five of this year’s limited-series nominees are heavily driven by the performances of their lead actresses: I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel, Mare’s Kate Winslet, The Queen’s Gambit’s Anya Taylor-Joy and WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen are all nominated, as is Cynthia Erivo for Nat Geo’s Genius: Aretha. 

Among the men, only WandaVision’s Paul Bettany is nominated along with the series in which he starred. Also nominated are Hamilton’s Lin Manuel-Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr., The Undoing’s Hugh Grant and Halston’s Ewan McGregor.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, will air Sunday, Sept. 19, on CBS. 

The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC), which has turned its focus to streamed content, had some encouraging words for Apple TV Wednesday (Sept. 1) and its comedy, Ted Lasso, now in its sophomore season.

Citing the half hour comedy about an optimistic American football turned European football coach, PTC said more streaming services should follow that lead.

"Audiences – and particularly families – have always wanted lighter and more positive entertainment, but Hollywood has been reluctant to produce it. Given the popularity of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, it appears Hollywood is finally taking notice of the desire for aspirational content. We are here to cheer this trend on and to add our voices to those calling for more uplifting entertainment," said PTC President Tim Winter in a statement.

Winter said Lasso's aspirational content includes "frequent explicit language and other content that may be inappropriate for children," but that the industry should look more to that than what he called the "obscenity-laden darkness that is so ubiquitous in entertainment programming."

Despite the significant buzz surrounding Ted Lasso, the Season 2 debut of Apple TV Plus' most popular show is driving only a limited amount of audience share to the subscription platform.

According to data compiled by Reelgood, Ted Lasso commanded 5.3% of the search and recommendation platform's referral traffic for the weekend of July 30-Aug. 1. 

Apple TV Plus debuted the second episode of the second season of Ted Lasso on July 30. The show, which recently received a whopping 20 Emmy nominations, debuted its Season 2 on Thursday, July 22. For the weekend of July 23-25, it commanded just 4.6% of streams. 

For context, when Disney Plus debuted Marvel "MCU"-based series Loki back on June 11, the show commanded 10.5% of Reelgood referral traffic. 

The audience for the show and the platform appear to be growing. When Apple TV Plus debuted the first three episodes of Ted Lasso Season 1 on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, the series controlled just 1.9% of Reelgood weekend referral traffic. 

And perhaps most notable, Ted Lasso was the most-streamed series last weekend, Reelgood also noted. 

Last week, Reelgood rival JustWatch revealed that for the first six months of 2021, Apple TV Plus controlled just 3% of its total referral traffic, with Netflix (28%), Amazon Prime Video (20%) and Disney Plus (14%) leading the pack. 

In the vacuum created by Apple's laconic approach to disclosing subscriber metrics about its 20-month-old SVOD service, we're left to infer anecdotal information to determine the platform's relative scale. 

During Apple's Q2 earnings call last week, CEO Tim Cook revealed only that Apple had 700 million subscribers globally across its vast subscription service portfolio, which includes everything from Apple Arcade to cloud storage. 

In May, UK research company Ampere Analysis suggested that Apple TV Plus had about 40 million subscribers, many of them on free promotion based on Apple hardware purchases. 

The second season premiere of Apple TV Plus’ Emmy-nominated sports comedy series Ted Lasso leads a light lineup of show premieres this week.

Ted Lasso’s sophomore campaign debuts July 23 and continues to follow the exploits of an American Football coach (played by Jason Sudeikis) hired to manage an English soccer team despite no experience in the sport. Ted Lasso was recently nominated for 20 Emmy nominations and an industry-leading 15 TCA Award nominations.

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

New series debuts include the July 21 premiere of Disney Plus’ Turner & Hooch, starring Josh Peck and adapted from the 1989 feature film of the same name starring Tom Hanks.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of July 19 to July 25 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

July 19: For Ball and Country (sports documentary) — Peacock

July 21: Behind the Attraction (reality) — Disney Plus

July 21: Sexy Beasts (reality) — Netflix

July 23: Masters of the Universe: Revelation (animation) — Netflix

July 23: Jolt (movie) — Prime Video

July 23: Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage (documentary) — HBO Max 

Coming off a dominant Emmy Awards nominations showing, streaming platforms continued their unprecedented awards season roll as Netflix and Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso led the lineup of TCA Award nominations announced Thursday. 

Netflix drew 15 TCA Award nominations to lead all distributors, followed by HBO with 14 and streaming service HBO Max with 10. Apple TV Plus drew eight nominations, with Disney Plus and Showtime grabbing five nominations each, according to the Television Critics Association.

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

Apple TV’s Ted Lasso garnered the most nominations for any show with five, including nods for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, Outstanding New Program and Program of the Year. Streaming shows WandaVision (Disney Plus) and Hacks (HBO Max) tied with four nominations along with HBO shows I May Destroy You and Mare Of Easttown.

Freshman shows dominated the Program of the Year category with Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit and Bridgerton along with Hacks, I May Destroy You, Mare of Easttown, Ted Lasso, WandaVision and Amazon’s The Underground Railroad all battling for the title. 

Also Read: Observations From The 2021 Emmy Awards Nominations

Nominations in the outstanding comedy series category also feature a majority of new shows, with HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, Peacock’s Girls5Eva, HBO Max’s Hacks, Apple TV’s Mythic Quest and Ted Lasso all competing against veteran NBC shows Superstore and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, as well as Hulu’s Pen15.

“This was an incredible year for fresh, inclusive content and new creators, and our nominations are a reflection of that,” said Melanie McFarland, TCA President and TV critic for Salon in a statement. “The TCA membership selected from a wealth of original offerings that broke fresh ground and presented exciting, thought-provoking experiences that redefined the television landscape. Although we will not be able to honor these landmark achievements in-person, we look forward to celebrating 37 years of the TCA Awards and sharing our top picks when the winners are unveiled.”

Winners of the 2021 TCA Awards will be announced at a later date. 

The full list of 2021 TCA Award nominees is as follows: 

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

Michaela Coel, “I May Destroy You” – HBO

Ethan Hawke, “The Good Lord Bird” – Showtime

Thuso Mbedu, “The Underground Railroad” – Amazon

Elizabeth Olsen, “WandaVision” – Disney+

Mj Rodriguez, “Pose” – FX

Omar Sy, “Lupin” – Netflix

Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit” – Netflix

Kate Winslet, “Mare of Easttown” – HBO

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY

Bo Burnham, “Bo Burnham: Inside” – Netflix

Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant” – HBO Max

Maya Erskine, “Pen15” – Hulu

Renee Elise Goldsberry, “Girls5Eva” – Peacock

Charlotte Nicdao, “Mythic Quest” – Apple TV+

Jean Smart, “Hacks” – HBO Max

Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+

Hannah Waddingham, “Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION

“Allen v. Farrow” – HBO

“City So Real” – NatGeo

“Framing Britney Spears” – FX/FX On Hulu

“Frontline” – PBS (Eight-time Winner in Category)

I'll Be Gone in the Dark” – HBO

“Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special” – CBS

“The Rachel Maddow Show” – MSNBC

“60 Minutes” – CBS (2012 Winner in Category)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY

“Couples Therapy” – Showtime

“Deaf U” – Netflix

“The Great Pottery Throw Down” – HBO Max

“Legendary” – HBO Max

“Nailed It! Double Trouble” – Netflix

“The Real World Homecoming: New York” – Paramount+

“Taste the Nation” – Hulu

“Top Chef: Portland” – Bravo

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING

“The Baby-Sitters Club” – Netflix

“Bluey” – Disney Jr.

“Donkey Hodie” – PBS Kids

“Emily's Wonder Lab” – Netflix

“Odd Squad” – PBS Kids

“Sesame Street” – HBO

“Waffles + Mochi” – Netflix

“Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum” – PBS Kids

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM

“Bridgerton” – Netflix

“The Flight Attendant” – HBO Max

“Hacks” – HBO Max

“I May Destroy You” – HBO

“Mare of Easttown” – HBO

“P-Valley” – Starz

“Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+

“WandaVision” – Disney+

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES OR SPECIALS

“Bo Burnham: Inside” – Netflix

“The Good Lord Bird” – Showtime

“I May Destroy You” – HBO

"It's a Sin” – HBO Max

“Mare of Easttown” – HBO

“The Queen's Gambit” – Netflix

“The Underground Railroad” – Amazon

“WandaVision” – Disney+

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

“Bridgerton” – Netflix

“The Crown” – Netflix

“For All Mankind” – Apple TV+

“The Handmaid's Tale” – Hulu

“Lovecraft Country” – HBO

“The Mandalorian” – Disney+

“Pose” – FX

“P-Valley” – Starz

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY

“The Flight Attendant” – HBO Max

“Girls5Eva” – Peacock

“Hacks” – HBO Max

“Mythic Quest” – Apple TV+

“Pen15” – Hulu

“Superstore” – NBC

“Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+

“Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist” – NBC

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VARIETY, TALK OR SKETCH

“The Amber Ruffin Show” – Peacock

“A Black Lady Sketch Show” – HBO (2020 Winner in Category)

“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” – Comedy Central

“Desus & Mero” – Showtime

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” – HBO (2019 & 2018 Winner in Category)

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” – NBC

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” – CBS

“Saturday Night Live” – NBC

“Ziwe” – Showtime

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR

“Bridgerton” – Netflix

“Hacks” – HBO Max

“I May Destroy You” – HBO

“Mare of Easttown” – HBO

“The Queen's Gambit” – Netflix

“Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+

“The Underground Railroad” – Amazon

“WandaVision” – Disney+

Jason Sudeikis returns as Ted Lasso, well-intentioned but clueless American football coach managing a soccer team in England. Lasso’s AFC Richmond squad is mired in an endless streak of tie games. The team is presented with a golden chance to break the winless run as a Richmond striker lines up for a penalty kick. As he boots the ball, Richmond’s greyhound mascot ambles onto the field and unwittingly fouls up the path to a win. 

The striker, Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández), is traumatized by the PK fail. Lasso likens his player to “an expensive tape measure — he snaps back real quick.” Alas, Rojas does not, and the coaching staff wrestles with how best to handle a player in a serious funk.  

Lasso faces another challenge when a former standout player seeks to come back to AFC Richmond after being booted off a cheesy reality TV show. His old teammates do not want him back. 

Hannah Waddingham plays the Richmond owner Rebecca Welton. Brendan Hunt is Coach Beard, Brett Goldstein plays profane star player Roy Kent and Juno Temple plays Roy’s girlfriend, Keeley Jones. Jeremy Swift is Higgins, director of football operations.  

Sudeikis, also an executive producer, has Lasso nailed. As funny as he is, Lasso is best, and most human, when delivering other emotions, such as ruminating on his childhood history with dogs at a post-match press conference, and finding common ground with a despondent former player in a pub. 

Season two, available on Apple TV Plus starting July 23, spells new misadventures for Lasso and his squad. Sudeikis is up for the task, and the myriad of merry mishaps is fun to watch.

Purchasers of Apple hardware probably have Ted Lasso to thank for having free access to Apple TV Plus for just three months as opposed to a full year, the promotion that was offered to purchasers of new Apple gadgets for streaming service’s first 20 months on the market.

Having a certifiable hit means Apple is giving away its $4.99-a-month SVOD service less and less these days. 

The streaming service has struggled with a deficit of programming, a problem compounded by pandemic-related production delays. Ted Lasso marks the service’s first hit giving Apple TV Plus traction in an increasingly competitive market.

The hotly anticipated second season of the series, born from NBC Sports promos for Premier League soccer in 2013, will debut on July 23. Despite AFC Richmond suffering a big season finale loss, the Diamond Dogs appear full of life in the season two trailer, even after being relegated out of the Premier League.

As Apple’s biggest hit, there's plenty of pressure on series creators Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly to make season two just as good as the first. But Hunt, who plays loyal sidekick to Sudeikis’ Lasso as the laconic Coach Beard, says he’s not letting it get to him.

“We had season two mostly written before season one came out,” Hunt said during a recent virtual press junket for his show. “When season one started to get some good reviews, it was a load off because it gave us a little more ammunition to feel confident in the things that we were doing and the way that we were doing this show. While it was really great that season one was so well received, we weren’t putting pressure on ourselves to get that kind of response. So, if we want to replicate that process, we have to continue not worrying about what the response is going to be and just make the story that we like and hope that people will go along for the ride.”

Led by an inherently optimistic and hopeful character, Ted Lasso was a much needed feel-good series when it launched in August 2020—six months into the pandemic and three months before the presidential election. But Hunt says that the pandemic didn’t help the series succeed. 

“The pandemic doesn't help anything,” Hunt said. “I wish the pandemic had never happened. It’s the worst. But the pandemic did happen, and we came out during it. That's just how it went. But I'm glad that we were a source of at least distraction for people. People have talked about this show being a positive, and I do love hearing that, but I always remind myself that it’s not a sunshine show. It’s not a Teletubbies or Barney—maybe we are somewhere in-between the two—but people go through things in the show. It’s a positive show because of where people end up, not because of any continuum of denial of the difficulties of life.”

It’s that fine line of being a funny and transformative that has helped Ted Lasso become a success. The endearing series starring Sudeikis as a clueless American football coach who is hired to be the manager of a struggling Premier League soccer club, despite knowing nothing about soccer, has gobbled a slew of awards including a Golden Globe and SAG trophies for Sudeikis. 

In addition, the 10-episode series triumphed at the 2021 Critics Choice Awards, sweeping all categories it was nominated for including Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Jason Sudeikis, and Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Hannah Waddingham. Most recently the 30 minute, 10 episode series won a Peabody.

Apple hasn’t released any viewership metrics for Ted Lasso. Heck, the tech giant won’t release numbers for Apple TV Plus, merely noting that its “services” business—a sector that includes everything from Apple Arcade to Apple Music to TV Plus—had 660 million subscribers at the end of Q1. 

We do know it’s going better for Apple TV Plus, based partly on the company’s decision to trim the promotion it offers Apple gadget buyers to just three months, effective July 1. And we do know, based on the presence of Ted Lasso—both in Apple TV Plus marketing and the social media zeitgeist—that this show is working.

“All the discourse had become a bit toxic (in the world when the show came out)” Hunt said. “To be reminded that it’s actually possible to be consistently good and to take your time doing it was a heartening bit of information for people to be reminded of.”

Apple has already renewed Ted Lasso for a third season, which is rumored to be its last. 

“It’s true that we always pictured a three season arc, and we know where these characters are going by the end of that season,” Hunt said. “But when we had that idea, however many years ago, we were not calculating the response the show would get. So, our determination to make it only three seasons might be challenged.”

With Foundation—the adaptation of the classic Isaac Asimov books—coming in September and the Simon Kinberg-produced Invasion arriving October 22, it’s possible that Apple won’t push for a fourth season of Ted Lasso. Either way, Hunt isn't worried about it.

“All we can control is making the best show we can,” he said. “Records are made to be broken. Babe Ruth had the most home runs until Hank Aaron until Barry Bonds, etc.  So, if we are Apple’s biggest hit now, that's just now. They'll have a bigger one later and then a bigger one after that. So, we are not measuring ourselves against other shows, we’re just happy that that we're getting the response we are.”

Apple is making its first move to wean its 20-month-old Apple TV Plus streaming service off the promotional juice, cutting the one-year free trial it offers to purchasers of Apple hardware to just three months, starting July 1.

Apple said it had 660 million subscribers at the end of Q1 across its range of subscription services, which include not just the Apple TV Plus, but also Apple Arcade and Apple Music, just to name a few.

Apple has not disclosed a specific Apple TV Plus subscriber number since the service launched on November 1, 2019. Ampere Analysis estimates that the $4.99-a-month SVOD offering finished 2020 with more than 40 million subscribers, with the majority of them still getting the service for free after purchasing an iPhone, iPad or MacBook Pro. 

Apple TV Plus has struggled with a deficit of programming, a problem compounded by pandemic-related production delays. And until Ted Lasso came along, the service didn’t really have a certifiable hit. 

However, season 2 of Ted Lasso is coming soon (July 23), as are some other can’t-miss event series—the Simon Kinberg-produced Invasion (Oct. 22) among them. (We included trailer's to both shows below.)

Perhaps Apple feels it’s time to see if consumers will pay five bucks a month for its SVOD, despite its lack of library. 

Season two of comedy Ted Lasso returns to Apple TV Plus July 23. Jason Sudeikis stars in the show about a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer or any clue about British culture.

Sudeikis is an executive producer on the show, along with Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold of Doozer Productions. 

Season one premiered Aug. 14. Ted Lasso was born from NBC Sports promos for Premier League soccer. 

Sudeikis got the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy in March. Ted Lasso was up for best comedy at the Globes but did not win. 

Sudeikis was in the Saturday Night Live cast from 2005 to 2013. 

Netflix continued its awards season success Sunday, dominating SAG Awards wins in both the television and motion picture categories during a televised primetime ceremony.

The streaming service won four SAG Awards in the television category to lead all distributors, doubling the take of second place Pop TV's two award wins. 

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

Netflix was once again led by The Crown, which repeated as the top choice in the outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series category. The Crown star Gillian Anderson also won a SAG Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series. 

Read also: Netflix, 'The Crown' Lead Critics Choice Awards TV Wins 

Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek won two awards in the comedy category, including outstanding ensemble as well as best actress in a comedy series for Catherine O’Hara.

On the movie front, Netflix won three awards, including two for original movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom stars Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boesman, who took home SAG Awards for outstanding lead female and male actor in a motion picture, respectively.

Read also: ABC, Netflix Among Top NAACP Image Awards Winners 

The 27th annual SAG Awards winners in the television category are as follows: 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

MARK RUFFALO / Dominick Birdsey/Thomas Birdsey – I Know This Much is True (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY / Beth Harmon – The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

JASON BATEMAN / Marty Byrde – Ozark (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

GILLIAN ANDERSON / Margaret Thatcher – The Crown (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

JASON SUDEIKIS / Ted Lasso –  Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

CATHERINE O’HARA / Moira Rose – Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

The Crown (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series

The Manalorian (Disney Plus)

**

The 27th annual SAG Awards winners in the motion picture category are as follows:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

CHADWICK BOSEMAN / Levee – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

VIOLA DAVIS / Ma Rainey – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

DANIEL KALUUYA / Fred Hampton – Judas and The Black Messiah

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

YUH-JUNG YOUN / Soonja – Minari

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Wonder Woman 1984

Netflix’s Bridgerton is a late entry to the TV awards fray, having been released on Christmas Day. But with Netflix noting that more than 63 million people have tuned in to binge the period-drama delight, Bridgerton is a possible Golden Globes drama nominee ahead of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s nominations on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

The frothy series — stuffed full of jaw-dropping costumes, flashy jewelry and sky-high wigs — should appeal to the international journalists who make up the HFPA, with its setting in 1813 London and its cast of British actors. 

Bridgerton showed up right when it was needed — at the end of a difficult 2020 that included the first-ever modern global pandemic, which kept people around the world in their homes for most of the year, as well as a contentious presidential election and frequent protests against racial injustice and police brutality.

“Television was more important than ever this year,” Aaron Barnhart, TV critic for website Primetimer, said. “This is a relatively late air date for the Globes, which gives them a chance to position themselves as the predictor of Emmy winners. The Golden Globes have such a high visibility that they could actually wind up being the premiere television award, supplanting the Emmys.” 

Whether that turns out to be true remains to be seen, but the HFPA has its work cut out for it selecting among all of this year’s worthy options. 

‘The Crown’ Shines in Drama

Netflix’s The Crown, with its more serious tone and sedate look than bright Bridgerton, is probably the lead drama contender in 2021, especially without last year’s winner, HBO’s Succession, in the mix. Both last year’s winner, Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth, and Emma Corrin, with her uncanny and tragic portrayal of Princess Diana, are considered lead contenders for best actress nominations. While the two could split the vote, the HFPA is loath to repeat itself, which could push Corrin higher in contention. Josh O’Connor’s Prince Charles, with his back hunched and his hands perpetually in his pockets, also is a best actor contender.

“The Crown was more scandalous and less interesting this season,” Barnhart said. Barnhart would like to see Tobias Menzes, who plays Prince Philip and has been seen on such shows as Game of Thrones and Outlander, get a nomination, as well as Erin Doherty, who plays the very stiff-upper-lipped Princess Anne.

Also considered likely drama nominations are Netflix’s oft-nominated Ozark, which aired season three in 2020, and AMC’s Better Call Saul, which is widely considered one of TV’s best shows but hasn’t earned anywhere close the number of accolades as its progenitor, Breaking Bad. 

Ozark’s Laura Linney, Jason Bateman and Julia Garner are all likely to score best actress, best actor and best supporting actress nods, with Garner having won the Emmy for this role in 2019 and 2020. Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk, portraying attorney Jimmy McGill’s transformation into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman, also is expected to be listed among the best TV drama actors.

Both HBO’s wild Lovecraft Country and its period piece Perry Mason should score noms, with Perry Mason star and producer Matthew Rhys leading the list of expected best-actor nominations. Rhys won the Emmy in 2018 for playing Russian spy Phillip Jennings in FX’s The Americans. Lovecraft Country leads Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett also are both expected to appear on the best actor and best actress lists.

Finally, Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian is a popular favorite, with fan love high for Baby Yoda/Grogu. Star Pedro Pascal, who played one of the villains in WarnerMedia’s Wonder Woman 1984, also could be nominated.

‘Creek’ Still Rising

On the comedy side, Pop TV/Netflix’s Schitt’s Creek is still riding high, with its cast — and particularly Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy as Moira and Johnny Rose — expected to grab Globes. That would be a first for the veteran Canadian comedic performers.

But with Schitt’s Creek having swept the comedy Emmys, the HFPA may want to veer to something new. Options include Hulu’s The Great, starring likely nominees Elle Fanning and Nicolas Hoult, or Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso, starring and created by Jason Sudeikis, which was born out of a content marketing play for NBC Sports. 

“I could see Ted Lasso getting the comedy award because it finished so strong,” Barnhart said. “It threw you off with the first couple of episodes, and then it went deep with its characters and wrapped up so satisfyingly so that you’re looking forward to season two. Who would have thought that this little promotional campaign would have become this?”

Last year’s winner, Hulu’s Ramy, remains in play, especially with a guest turn from double Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.

FX has fan-fave vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows, and a late entry is HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco, who also is a contender for best actress in a comedy.

Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, which, like Bridgerton, is a period piece driven by buzz as well as the performance of lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy, has risen to the top of the contenders’ list for limited series. It’s joined by Netflix’s Unorthodox, which scored eight Emmy nominations and won best director of a limited series for Maria Schrader. Other contenders include FX’s Mrs. America, starring Cate Blanchett, and perennial nominee Fargo, now in its fourth iteration and starring Chris Rock. 

HBO should be competing in this category with The Undoing, starring likely nominees Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant and executive produced by David E. Kelly, as well as Michaela Coel’s auteur-driven I May Destroy You. Steve McQueen’s anthology Small Axe, which plays like a series of short films on Amazon, will likely show up here, as well as Hulu’s tortured but beautiful Irish romance Normal People.

Ted Lasso premieres on Apple TV+, a comedy series about a football coach from Kansas who ends up coaching a Premier League team in England, where soccer is of course known as football. Jason Sudeikis plays the clueless Lasso. 

The show “is based on pre-existing format/characters from NBC Sports,” said Apple TV+, and that got me wondering how NBC Sports helped launch an Apple TV+ series. 

It turns out a series of NBC Sports short films, starring Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, helped promote Premier League action on NBC Sports. In the films, the moustachioed Lasso becomes manager of Tottenham Hotspur. Knowing nothing about soccer, he doesn’t last long in the role. 

The first clip, “An American Coach in London,”  came out in 2013 and shows Lasso learning about soccer as he makes his way in London. “Ties and no playoffs?” he wondered about English football at a press conference. “Why do you even do this?”

That clip has 14.2 million views on YouTube, so I’m not exactly sure how I missed it. 

Upon learning that one of his players is from Wales, Lasso wondered, “How many countries are in this country?”

His players call him Wanker, which he takes as a term of affection. “I think it just means great,” Lasso said. “A nice guy...a kind heart.”

Sudeikis of course was in the Saturday Night Live cast from 2005 to 2013. 

In 2014, a 6-minute clip, “The Return of Coach Lasso,” was shown on more than 19,000 movie screens, and Lasso starred in 30-second sports across the NBCUniversal network portfolio. It features Lasso doing studio work for NBC Sports back in the States, alongside Arlo White and Rebecca Lowe. Lasso has some trouble with the concept of relegation in English soccer. He coaches a girls team, and brings a “Premier League level of standards” to the girls, he said, coaching them on how to flop for non-existent penalties, and how to celebrate after a goal. 

Former U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard turns up in the video. 

At the end of the clip, Lasso has hooked up with another Premier League team. “I just got asked to be the head coach of Lychester,” said Lasso. 

“You mean Leicester,” said his interviewer. 

Ted Lasso, a comedy series starring Jason Sudeikis, debuts on Apple TV+ Aug. 14. Sudeikis plays Lasso, a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer.

Sudeikis is an executive producer on the show, along with Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold of Doozer Productions. 

The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Joe Kelly and Brendan Hunt, and is based on pre-existing format/characters from NBC Sports.

Sudeikis was on Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2013. His movie work includes Horrible Bosses, Hall Pass and We’re the Millers. 

Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television produce the show alongside Doozer. 

Apple TV+ original series include The Morning Show, Central Park and Defending Jacob. The service costs $4.99 monthly. 

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