Bob Odenkirk could find himself in the rare air of the Emmys this year. AMC will submit Odenkirk’s new series “Lucky Hank” in the comedy categories for this year’s Emmy competition, Variety confirmed.
Of course, AMC also submits the latest episodes of Odenkirk’s “Better Call Saul” in the drama fields. If Odenkirk were nominated in both the Best Drama Actor and Best Comedy Actor races, he would become the first performer in history to be nominated in both genres in the same year.
Several performers have been nominated for and even won Emmys as both dramatic and comedic leads — but never at the same time. It’s a possibility: Odenkirk has been nominated five times in the Best Dramatic Actor category for “Better Call Saul,” and this will be his last opportunity to enter that race for “Saul” (which received 46 nominations over the course of his run, but has yet to win a single Emmy). Meanwhile, Odenkirk has been known primarily as a comedy actor, making him a real contender in the comedy race this year for “Hank.”
“Lucky Hank” will actually mark the first time Odenkirk has been submitted in the lead comedian category. He has already won two Emmy Awards: one in 1989 for writing on “Saturday Night Live” and one in 1993 for writing on “The Ben Stiller Show”.
The reason behind the placement of “Lucky Hank” is probably obvious: it avoids putting him in competition with “Better Call Saul” and forcing voters to choose between two different Odenkirks.
But there’s also a lot of comedic DNA behind the show, which was adapted from Richard Russo’s novel “Straight Man.” The show was billed as a “dark comedy,” the network noted, and aside from Odenkirk’s comedic background, it also comes from co-showrunners and executive producers Paul Lieberstein (“The Office”) and Aaron Zelman (” Silicon Valley”), both of whom also have comedy writing backgrounds.
Other submissions for “Lucky Hank” include Mireille Enos for Supporting Actress in a Comedy; Cedric Yarbrough and Diedrich Bader for Supporting Actor in a Comedy; and Kyle MacLachlan for Guest Actor in a Comedy. Also submitted are Peter Farelly (episode 101) and Nicole Holofcender (episode 107) for comedy directing, and Lieberstein and Zelman for comedy writing (episode 102).
For “Better Call Saul,” submissions besides Odenkirk include Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito and Pat Healy for supporting actor in a drama; AMC is still figuring out where to place Rhea Seehorn, who was nominated for supporting drama actress last year. Meanwhile, the legendary Carol Burnett will be cast as a supporting dramatic actress. (Corrected from a previous article that incorrectly placed Burnett in the guest category.)
In the guest categories, ‘Saul’ faces ‘Breaking Bad’ alum Betsy Brandt for guest drama actress, and other ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ alums for actor. guest drama, including Bryan Cranston, Tony Dalton, Mark Margolis, Michael McKean and Aaron Paul.
Drama directing submissions include Michael Morris (609), Michelle MacLaren (610), Thomas Schnauz (611) and Peter Gould (613), while playwriting submissions are Gordon Smith (608), Ann Cherkis (609) , Alison Tatlock (610), Thomas Schnauz (611) and Peter Gould (613).
AMC’s other dramatic submissions come from “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” and “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches.”