We’ve got some takeaways from this year’s Emmy nominations.
The 2023 Emmy nominations saw their announcement on Wednesday morning, as a host of television programs will now vie for the gold.
Hit series like Succession, The White Lotus, Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Ted Lasso, Barry, The Last of Us, Andor and Only Murders in the Building will contend for this year’s Emmy slate.
It’s not easy to know exactly how every single category will go once the shot airs in September, but we do have some takeaways as to how this round of Emmy nominations went.
Spoiler: we’re expecting a lot of Succession awards. Let’s take a look at five takeaways from Wednesday’s Emmy nominations.
Sophie Kihm of Nameberry made a video about the names used in the popular HBO show. She postured that the character Tom Wambsgans could be named after the 1920s Cleveland infielder Bill Wambsganss.
Cleveland’s Wambsganss famously recorded the only unassisted triple play in World Series, defeating beat Brooklyn in 1920.
HBO’s Wambgans, meanwhile, got all three Roy siblings “out” of the running to unexpectedly become the U.S.-based CEO of Waystar-Royco in the series finale.
Unfortunately, however, this theory was recently debunked.
Stefan Fatsis reached out to Frank Rich, an executive producer on the show. Here is what Rich said (via Slate):
“I hate to spoil the internet’s fun, but it’s false … Tom’s family name was picked before we had shot a first season”—the Succession pilot was made in 2016—“let alone mapped out precise story twists that would culminate 39 episodes later! Not to mention that many of the key writers on the show, starting with its creator, Jesse [Armstrong], are British, live in London, and are devoted to British football.”
So the last name wasn’t actually a clue. It was just a coincidence.
Rich added that Tom’s character, in reality, was likely given the surname of someone on the Succession staff. Here is more:
“If memory serves,” Rich said, “we were looking for something off-key that would be awkward to say/pronounce, befitting a character who arrives as an outsider in the Roys’ world.”
While it was fun for us all to briefly believe in the power of foreshadowing by using naming conventions, sadly, this one falls short when put under the microscope.
WARNING: SUCCESSION SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE SERIES FINALE!
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Names from Succession have always been a big part of the characters they belong to. I mean, we’ve been talking about how Shiv will shiv one of her brothers for a while, right?
And in the series finale, a name that we may not have thought about much with a sports background turned out to predict who would end up at the helm of Logan Roy’s company.
Tom’s last name is Wambsgans. Thanks to a video that’s making its way around the internet on Monday after the finale, it’s the perfect name for the man who is now CEO: Bill Wambsganss was a second baseman for Cleveland. Why is he famous beyond that?
Because he’s the only man to ever deliver an unassisted triple play in the World Series.
Triple play. Get it? YUP. WILD!
Check this out and the reactions from people who realize the surname predicted everything:
This became an instant meme from the Succession series finale.
WARNING: A BIG SUCCESSIONSPOILER AHEAD! DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU’VE SEEN IT.
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Whew. That Succession series finale was something, wasn’t it? We’ve rounded up the five most devastating moments, which included two big things from the final fight between Shiv, Kendall and Roman Roy.
One of those was Kendall, in pure desperation mode, screaming at Shiv: “I AM THE ELDEST BOY!” It’s a call-back to something he said in front of Connor Roy earlier in the series, who rightfully took offense to it since he’s truly the eldest sibling despite the fact that he has zero interest in Logan’s business.
Some devastating moments from the Succession series finale.
WARNING: SO MANY SUCCESSION SERIES FINALE SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED IT.
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What a ride it’s been for the Roy children and the viewers who spent week after week watching four seasons of Succession to see who would end up with their late father’s company. And just when you thought it would ultimately stay with Kendall, Shiv and Roman thanks to the usual boardroom machinations they’ve attempted to weave through in all four seasons … nope.
With Shiv casting the deciding vote, GoJo will buy the company. Tom — TOM! Yes, TOM!!! — will be the CEO. Where does that leave Ken, broken and without the position he thought was his ultimate fate? Are Shiv and Tom destined to be together, unhappy but powerful? And is this ultimately a good thing for Roman (I think so!).
Let’s run through some of the most devastating moments in the series finale:
Matsson and Kyrie have both had some very controversial tweets.
Warning: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 7 OF SUCCESSION SEASON 4.
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The latest episode of HBO’s Succession contains a small (perhaps unintentional) easter egg if you were paying very close attention.
Toward the end of the episode, Lukas Matsson (portrayed by Alexander Skarsgaard) sat on a window sill during a pre-election party hosted by Siobhan Roy (Sarah Snook) and Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen).
Matsson looks at the view of New York City from the window and waxes poetic about how much he hates the town. Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) is nearby and dissents, describing New York as a famously “happening” town.
“Is it though?” Matsson argued. “Compared to Singapore? Seoul?”
Roy believes that New York still “runs [expletive]” but Matsson disagrees.
“Nothing happens in New York that doesn’t happen everywhere,” Matsson said.
The two continue to exchange insults before eventually hugging it out, and the tension in the room was palpable. It was so intense that you probably did not notice the sneakers Matsson was wearing.
Fortunately, however, The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann had a watchful eye on the kicks. Mann noticed that Matsson was rocking the Nike Kyrie sneakers.
These sneakers are the Nike Kyrie Infinity (previously known as the Kyrie 8) in the “Leopard Camo” colorway. These are particularly loud shoes and such a perfect choice for Matsson, who is one of the most eccentric characters on the show.
Folks in the Succession costume and wardrobe department may not have intentionally dressed Matsson in Kyrie sneakers for the scene in which he delivered his anti-NYC take.
But it was a fascinating parallel to see that on-screen, especially after Kyrie’s massive trade request that landed him away from the Brooklyn Nets during the regular season.
The Warner Bros. Television Studios in Los Angeles was a filming location for both shows.
If you were watching Succession very closely last night, you might have noticed something that even the showrunners potentially missed.
During a transitionary scene around the 18-minute mark of the episode, Roman Roy (played by Kieran Culkin) was transported on a Waystar-branded golf cart as the dramatic theme music played in the background.
He is on his way to a meeting with Joy Palmer (portrayed by Annabeth Gish) at a restaurant, and it isn’t a particularly momentous or important scene.
This probably would have made a lot of sense as a good moment to check your phone. Thankfully, however, at least one person who was watching was paying particularly close attention.
I went to Warner Brothers Studios while out in LA and they were filming #AbbottElementary at the time. It’s amazing how real it looks on TV vs what I saw on a soundstage.
Shocking news broke on Monday, April 24th that long-time host Tucker Carlson was out at Fox News. While that story will be one to follow going forward, one pop culture theme immediately began to emerge as fans of Succession took to the internet to remark on how the move felt straight out of the HBO hit drama.
It’s a natural association to make as one major plot line through all three plus seasons so far has been the Roy family’s connection to ATN, a cable news network that shares a lot of similarities with 24-hour stations like Fox News.
Kerry Castellabate (Zoe Winters), Logan Roy’s mistress/assistant, became a topic of ridicule in the second episode of Season 4 as she put forth an all-time cringe audition to become an ATN host. Well, the internet made the connection and the jokes were free-flowing.
Everyone wants to know where this Succession hotel is!
Succession went on the road and on location this week for Episode 5, “Kill List.” The Roy kids — Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) — and the whole crew hopped a jet to Norway to try and finish negotiations with Lukas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgård).
While the story was gripping (and the memes impeccable), people were more obsessed with the backdrop. Most of the episode took place in Valldal, Norway, at the iconic Juvet Landscape Hotel. The hotel sits along a mountain valley that overlooks a rushing river and features modern looking cabins that jut out into the scenery with floor-to-ceiling windows. Breathtaking doesn’t seem to do it justice.
If it looked familiar to you, that might be because the Juvet Landscape Hotel was also used in 2014’s Ex Machina, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac.
The third episode of the season, “Connor’s Wedding,” shook the Roy family to their core after losing the patriarch. Logan Roy’s (Brian Cox) sudden passing en route to a business meeting with Lukas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgård) threw everything — business and otherwise — into a frenzy.
In Sunday night’s fifth episode, “Kill List,” discussions with Mattson are rekindled as the crew hops a jet for a stunningly gorgeous meeting of the minds in Norway.
Unsurprisingly, things don’t go smoothly (when do they ever on this show?). Sibohan “Shiv” Roy (Sarah Snook) was the star of the episode, although Hugo’s (Fisher Stevens) speedy metabolism is up there.
As always, the internet was rife with perfect memes from the newest episode.
