Nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards have been revealed, and aside from Amazon’s Fallout receiving a surprising number of nominations and The Bear once again breaking lofty records held by past shows, it’s a pretty normal year for the ceremony. Except, when it comes to animation, the medium is packing even more in its category than ever before.

I have no beef with shows like The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and Rick & Morty, but they are the safe animated picks when it comes to The Emmys, and rarely do we see masterpieces like BoJack Horseman or Arcane nestle in to compete with them, and even then, chances are they don’t walk away with the win. The View From Halfway Down failing to win in 2020 will always irk me given it’s one of the most heartbreaking episodes I’ve seen from any show, let alone animated. In 2024, however, the tides seem to be changing.

Outstanding Animated Program Is All To Play For This Year

Before I delve into the 2024 nominations, let’s take a brief look back at last year and exactly what was competing for top prize. The nominees were Bob’s Burgers, Primal, Entergalactic, Rick & Morty, and The Simpsons, the latter of which picked up the gold for Treehouse of Horror XXXIII. There’s a few rogue picks in the form of Primal and Entergalactic, but otherwise, this was business as usual. Much like the Academy Awards, it feels like the industry bodies rarely go beyond the mainstream and continually opt for safe picks. This time, things are different.

First up is Bob’s Burgers with The Amazing Rudy which is a fantastic episode fans hoped would be recognised for not just its animation, but also its writing and character work. The show has always excelled at combining sharp humour with unfolding strong character arcs, and that deserves to be recognised. I’m unsure it has a chance of walking away with anything however, especially when you consider the stiff competition this year that goes far beyond animated sitcoms that usually dominate the category.

Next is The Tale of the Ronin and The Bride from Blue Eye Samurai, a beautiful episode that takes the flawed and bloodthirsty protagonist Mizu and paints her in a new light. It’s a look at who her character used to be before everything was taken for her, and she was forced into killing not just for vengeance, but for survival.

It’s gorgeously animated, narratively tragic, and hard to fault once you break it all down. If this wins, I won’t be surprised, and I can say the same for Scavengers Reign.

You Need To Watch Blue Eye Samurai And Scavengers Reign

HBO’s underrated sci-fi series arrived on Netflix late last month, and with it has picked up a vocal international audience, so I’m chuffed to see it recognised here. The Signal opens up the series and does a phenomenal job of introducing us to the alien world our cast struggle to escape. Multiple characters are introduced as myriad mysteries are teased, while enough big questions are asked without ever overwhelming the viewer. You could turn the volume all the way down and still be witness to a visual treat, so the fact its storytelling also blows you away is a tremendous bonus. Once again, this is an easy winner, and yet also too close to call.

Finally, rounding out the trio of unexpected newcomers is X-Men ‘97, a continuation of the classic cartoon that is arguably the strongest thing Marvel has produced since Endgame. I want to avoid spoiling exactly what Remember It entails. I’ll just say it involves Jean Grey, Wolverine, and a lot of memories. There were doubts if this sequel series would be pandering nostalgia bait or not, but I’m relieved to say its something quite special, and in good company this year as it competes for Outstanding Animated Program.

Who knows, maybe one of the usual suspects will end up winning regardless, but either way, it feels like a win for animation as a medium to see its singular category cover such a range of different shows, each of which are worth watching. With any luck, it will shine more light on Blue Eye Samurai and Scavengers Reign while simultaneously showing exactly how far animated sitcoms can go when they’re given opportunities to experiment.