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In 2018, Prime Video was the first streamer to land an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and then repeated as winner in the top comedy category with Fleabag the following year. After cracking the Outstanding Drama Series field with a nomination for The Boys in 2021, Prime Video had a drama breakthrough this year with two series in the top category, Kilter Films’ Fallout, based on the Bethesda video games, and Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, inspired by the 2005 film, which landed 16 nominations each for a 32 total.
That accounted for the majority of Prime Video’s modest Emmy nomination haul of 37 this year, behind other major networks and streamers. (Notable among Prime Video’s other nominated programs is crowd pleaser Red, White & Royal Blue for Outstanding Television Movie.)
While Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, admitted that she would’ve liked to see limited series Expats and its star/executive producer Nicole Kidman recognized, she is happy with the streamer’s Emmy nomination performance.
“The last few years we’ve been really committed to creating some really special global series that will resonate all over the world, always looking for that combination of a great vision and a passionate creator who cares deeply about the IP and has a reason to — or a vision — for reinventing it, and we found that with both of these projects,” Salke said of Fallout and Mr. & Mrs Smith.
“Jonah [Nolan] and Kilter and [showrunners] Geneva [Robertson-Dworet] and Graham [Wagner] on Fallout came in with such a strong vision and connection to the team at Bethesda and bringing the story to life in a way that felt completely unique, really entertaining, post-apocalyptic but not depressing — all the ingredients of being something that could break out, and so to see it come together was really thrilling for us.
“And then the same with Mr. And Mrs. Smith, having Donald come in early on and say he wanted to tackle this IP and wanted to tell the stories through the prism of a marriage and a relationship. It was all character-driven, it wasn’t any of the low-hanging fruit you might expect in the project, so it really elevated it every step, and we find his and Francesca’s work to be really inspiring.”
Earlier today, Robertson-Dworet & Wagner and Glovel & Sloane received Emmy nominations for writing the pilot episodes of Fallout and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, respectively.
Both Fallout and Mr. & Mrs. Smith have been renewed for a second season. Salke and Amazon MGM Studios Head Of Television Vernon Sanders provided status updates, including addressing that question about the Season 2 leads of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
“On Fallout, the team has had such a crisp and clear vision all along, so I can share that we already have scripts in hand for Season 2,” Sanders said. “We’ve set a high quality bar, so we’re going to make sure that Season 2 not only lives up to Season 1 but delivers even more. We’ve got a plan that we’re moving very fast on. I can’t tell you an exact date, but I think everyone will be happy with how quickly we’re able to get back with Season 2.”
On Mr. & Mrs. Smith, “writers are hard at work,” Sanders said. “Jen and I heard a pitch on what Season 2 would be about, and we will love it. Donald’s a busy guy, he is a multi-multi-hyphenated but that show will be back sooner rather than later as well.”
Following the shots in the Season 1 finale cliffhanger, there has been a lot of speculation whether Glover and Maya Erskine — both Emmy-nominated today for their performances — would return as the titular Mr. and Mrs. Smith next season. Salke and Sanders added to the suspense.
“I think audiences will get everything they want when they come back,” Salke said.
Sanders was even more circumspect. “Beyond not answering that question directly what I think we will say — what you see in Season 1 — the incredible roster of talent that they’ve been able to bring to this show in Season 1 really blew us away.”
Mr. & Mrs. Smith landed an impressive five Guest Actor/Actress In a Drama Series Emmy nominations for Michaela Coel, Sarah Paulson, Parker Posey, Paul Dano and John Turturo.
Both Fallout and Mr. & Mrs. Smith came out of overall deals Amazon MGM Studio had signed with Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Killer Films and Glover. The studio remains committed to overall pacts, Salke said, noting that another big name on the Amazon talent roster, Fleabag creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is working on her followup series, Lara Croft.
“We are very committed to our staple of creators,” Salke said. “We’re not into the volume game at all, but we love our partnerships with our key overalls.”
This year, Prime Video had no shows in the Outstanding Comedy category after nominations for the final season of Mrs. Maisel and plucky newcomer Jury Duty from sibling Freevee last year.
There had been chatter about a potential followup to Jury Duty that keeps the general setup of the original. Sanders confirmed that there have been conversations.
“There is only one Jury Duty but certainly the visionary brains behind that, they all have relationships with us, and we’re talking about what is a new, different thing that they want to do,” he said.
Upcoming Prime Video shows Vernon and Salke highlighted include Etoile, the next series from the Mrs. Maisel duo of Amy-Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino and new series with Nicole Kidman (Kay Scarpetta), Scarlett Johansson (Just Cause) and Robin Wright (The Girlfriend).
