Pluribus, Widows Bay and Your Friends and Neighbors Apple TV+ Logo text Matt Cherniss is in a good mood today. You would be too if your streaming service again broke its own record for Emmys nominations — especially if your platform put out as (relatively) few shows as his Apple TV. (How small is Apple TV? It has still never even qualified for Nielsen’s monthly The Gauge report, which includes any platform responsible for at least one percent of TV usage.)
On Wednesday, the Television Academy unveiled 87 Emmy Awards nominations for Apple TV, up from 81 last year. This, in an Emmys season without The Studio or Ted Lasso. So how did they do it? Mainly through Widow’s Bay (19 nominations) and Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus (18) — both newcomers. The best part? The two won’t cancel each other out, as Pluribus is a drama series and Widow’s Bay was submitted as a comedy — a (very) dark comedy.
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And that’s exactly where my phone call with Cherniss began; read The Hollywood Reporter‘s Q&A with the Apple TV head of programming below.
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Make the case to me that Widow’s Bay is a comedy.
One of the best things about television right now is, I think, the variety of shows and the uniqueness of the creativity that’s out there, and that things don’t necessarily fit into a category maybe as simply as they did in the past. Widow’s Bay does a lot of things when you’re watching the show, right? It scares you, it makes you think, and it makes you laugh — and it makes me laugh a lot. And so you know where it sits as a category? I guess that the voters ultimately will decide, you know, what they feel is the best comedy, but I certainly think that it’s well-suited to be in that category.
It’s the only quote-unquote “Comedy” I won’t watch with the lights off.
Yeah, yeah. I think that’s right. I also think that there’s a heightened element to the show — and the genre — that leans it a little more into that category. The intention of the actors and the characters are a little bit larger than life at times that I think suits the comedy category for that show, in particular.
There are definitely humorous situations and performances, I will give you that.
I mean, look, if you’re doing a show that examines the human condition, anyway, and there’s no laughs in it, that’s going to be tough. And certainly, you know, we all are sort of acclimated to certain formats, right, driving these things? But, ultimately, I do think that Widow’s Bay is in the right place.
How much will today do in terms of boosting Widow’s Bay viewership? Severance took a bit of time for the positive industry reception to translate into a significant mainstream audience.
I think it is different for every show — how long it’s been on your service, and sort of the life cycle of it, [and] when these nominations come to be. Right now, Widow’s Bay is having a moment, right? And there’s a lot of audience coming to it. I think and hope that the these nominations will only further supercharge that process, but it’s still very much in that accelerating-growth phase as it relates to people finding it, talking about it, telling other people about it. We’re in sort of the white-hot center of that as we speak.
Even HBO and FX should be jealous of Apple TV’s batting average when it comes to quality. What is your secret?
Well, I think there’s two things, or three things. I think that it is quality over quantity — I think that’s something we’re committed to, and we’re focused on. I think that we are committed to working with the absolute best talent in the business, and I think that there’s no better way to deliver consistently great shows, then to work for the best. And I think we have the best people here at Apple. I think we have the best teams, and I think they get behind the shows in ways that it’s just so gratifying to see. I think the talent feels it, and I think the audience feels it out there when they are looking for something to watch.
There is always talk about Apple TV essentially being a rounding error for Apple, which I believe speaks more to the sheer massiveness of Apple than the smallness of Apple TV. Do days like today prove internally that Apple TV is a crown jewel, even though it’s not the iPhone?
It’s a good question. You know, I have been here since — close to, if not — the beginning, and I’ll tell you that I know that that has been sort of echoed out in the world. I have never felt anything less than total support and commitment from this company. And so, while these are certainly celebratory moments, I think they reinforce everyone’s belief in Apple TV as a service, and in the support that we get from the top to the bottom of this company. I don’t think it really changes anything. I think we’re all in for Apple TV, and I’ve never felt any other way.
I’d be remiss not to also mention Pluribus cleaning up this morning — are there any Apple TV shows you feel were snubbed?
I don’t know that I want to identify one. Everything that I believe we’ve done is deserving in being acknowledged for the work that they’ve done. If there was one or two, honestly, I’d tell you, but I could give you a reason that, you know, of the 31 shows we submitted, every one of them deserved that. That really isn’t just me wanting to dodge a question, it’s the truth. Everyone has put in a tremendous amount of work and effort, and deserved to be [nominated]. The fact that over half the slate was, was gratifying.
OK, I’ll give you mine. Your Friends & Neighbors wasn’t snubbed as a series, but I feel some of the individual performances were — Jon Hamm being the most obvious example.
I don’t think you can consider a show that gets nominated for best drama a “snub.” The fact is that the entire cast and team is going to get an opportunity to celebrate the nomination as a series. Certainly, individually, I agree that they are deserving — and Jon’s performance is unbelievable in that show, and deserves a nomination for sure. But I think that all of them collectively would agree that having the series nominated is a great thing.
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