‘Mrs. Maisel,’ ‘Fleishman,’ Natasha Lyonne among Jewish nominees at strike-delayed Emmys

It took months longer than anticipated, but “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is finally competing for its last shot at Emmy gold.

The Emmy Awards for the 2022-23 television season, originally scheduled for September, will take place Monday after extended delays due to the 2023 Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes. That means the many high-profile Jewish nominees, including the final season of Amazon Prime’s “Mrs. Maisel” and the FX limited series “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” could now pick up prizes months — in some cases more than a year — after they finished airing.

The awards come in a new context for show business and the Jewish world: one in which parts of Hollywood are wearing pins on red carpets in support of Israeli hostages while others are being fired from productions over their pointed criticism of Israel’s war with Hamas. 

Here is a guide to the significant Jewish nominees in advance of Monday’s awards ceremony,  which will air on Fox.

“Mrs. Maisel,” the acclaimed comedy series about a 1950s-era Jewish housewife who becomes a stand-up comedian, will compete for four categories on Monday: best comedy; directing; lead actress in a comedy series (Rachel Brosnahan, who isn’t Jewish); and supporting address in a comedy series (Alex Borstein, who is). 

“Fleishman,” based on the novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner about a Jewish divorced dad navigating the New York dating scene, will compete for five awards: best limited/anthology series; lead actress in a limited series (Lizzy Caplan, who is Jewish); supporting actress in a limited series (Claire Danes); and directing and writing (Brodesser-Akner is nominated in the latter).

Jewish actors up for the award

Several other Jewish actors will also be up for awards. Natasha Lyonne is up for best lead actress in a comedy series for the mystery show “Poker Face” on Peacock, while Jason Segel will compete for best actor in a comedy for the therapy-themed “Shrinking” on Apple TV+. The best supporting actor in a comedy category is stacked with Jews: Brett Goldstein (the final season of “Ted Lasso”), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear”) and Henry Winkler (the final season of “Barry”) are all nominees.

J. Smith-Cameron, who is married to Jewish writer Kenneth Lonergan and wore a pin in support of Israeli hostages to last week’s Golden Globes ceremony, is also nominated for an Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama for the final season of HBO’s “Succession.” A nominee for supporting actress in the limited-series category, Merritt Wever for Hulu’s “Tiny Beautiful Things,” is not Jewish but has said her mother sent her to Camp Kinderland —  which she called “a red-diaper baby camp started by Jewish labor organizers” — when she was a kid.

“The Problem With Jon Stewart,” Apple TV+’s news comedy show starring the Jewish former “Daily Show” host, also received a nomination for best talk series. Stewart’s show was canceled last fall, reportedly because Apple objected to his commentary on China. Trevor Noah, who has Jewish ancestry and had a bar mitzvah, was also nominated for two nominations for his stint hosting “The Daily Show,” which he left at the end of 2022.

The Creative Arts Emmys, which aired Jan. 6, netted several other notable Jewish winners, including Judith Light for guest-starring on “Poker Face,” Maya Rudolph for her voiceover on Netflix’s adult animated series “Big Mouth,” and Ken Burns’ PBS documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust” for outstanding writing for a nonfiction program. The latter lost out on best documentary series to slavery-focused show “The 1619 Project.”

Also losing in their respective categories were Mayim Bialik for best game show host for “Jeopardy!” (she has since announced she has been let go from her hosting job) and Norman Lear, who died in December but whose televised 100th-birthday celebration on ABC was nominated for best prerecorded variety special.