Emmy nominations have Las Vegas flair
Deborah Vance may have lost her headlining gig at the Palmetto casino, but she’ll always have the Emmys.
“Hacks,” the HBO Max comedy set and partially filmed in Las Vegas, received a whopping 15 Emmy nominations Tuesday. Among the biggest were outstanding comedy series and lead actress in a comedy series for Jean Smart’s portrayal of Vance, the comic legend known as the “Queen of Las Vegas.”
Only nine series in all of television garnered more nominations. “The Crown” tied with “The Mandalorian” for the most with 24 apiece.
The most recent season of “Shark Tank,” filmed inside a production bubble at The Venetian, landed three nominations, including outstanding structured reality program. That category also features Las Vegas-based brothers Drew Scott and Jonathan Silver Scott as nominees for “Property Brothers: Forever Home.”
Former valley residents also fared well, with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” scoring two nominations, including outstanding variety talk series. Jason Sudeikis, a founding member of “The Second City” at the Flamingo in 2001, was nominated three times, for starring in the Apple TV+ sensation “Ted Lasso,” along with two for writing episodes of the comedy. Kenan Thompson, who called Henderson home for four years, will face off with Sudeikis for lead actor in a comedy for “Kenan.” Thompson also was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy for his work on “Saturday Night Live.”
As far as tangential ties go, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which featured local contestant Elliott with 2 Ts and has a spinoff show at the Flamingo, is up for nine Emmys. And “The Queen’s Gambit,” with 18 nominations, set its U.S. Open chess tournament in Las Vegas.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.