TORONTO — Late comedian Norm Macdonald was the leading Canadian Emmy nominee announced Tuesday, with Martin Short and Sandra Oh earning nods in top acting categories.
The Quebec-raised comic pulled in three nominations for Netflix’s “Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special,” a single-take routine he filmed at home in the summer of 2020. Macdonald died last September at age 61 after quietly battling leukemia.
The special appeared on Netflix with little notice just a day before the Emmy Awards eligibility period finished and secured the comedian nods for writer on a variety special and director, which he shares with Jeff Tomsic. The show itself was named in the pre-recorded variety special category.
Other familiar faces showed up in the contenders with Hamilton-born Short taking a lead actor in a comedy series nomination for his work on “Only Murders in the Building.” He’ll compete against his co-star Steve Martin.
“Killing Eve” star Oh received her fourth nomination as lead actress in a drama series for starring in the twisty thriller, which closed out its final season earlier this year. The Nepean, Ont. native is nominated in the category alongside her co-star Jodie Comer.
And Vancouver-raised Rogen is nominated for supporting actor in a limited series for “Pam & Tommy,” playing the sneaky construction worker who stole and leaked Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape.
Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s instantly recognizable work on the ominous tropical score for “The White Lotus” landed him among the nominees for music composition on a limited series.
The Chilean-Canadian was deep into co-composing the music for season 2 of the HBO series at his isolated recording studio in Sainte-Luce, Que. when he heard about the Emmy love.
While the score was considered a frontrunner for its use of unconventional instruments — including a human femur as a drumstick — he said he’s still surprised that a project that “felt like too much fun” could be awards worthy.
“For me, growing up in Chile — in a dictatorship — it’s like another planet,” he said of awards shows.
“It still feels like I’m 12 years old and I don’t understand what’s happening. It’s really overwhelming, this stuff.”
Fellow composer Mychael Danna, a Toronto composer on the NASA and SpaceX documentary “Return to Space,” is nominated for the original score on a documentary series or special.
Canadian choreographer Christian Vincent’s work on CBC’s “The Porter” was among the nominees for choreography in scripted programming.
Montreal-born “Queer Eye” star Antoni Porowski shared a nomination with the other members of the Fab Five for outstanding host for a reality or competition program.
Toronto-raised Lorne Michaels earned two nominations — one for writing on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and another for the behind-the-scenes web series “Saturday Night Live Presents: Stories From The Show,” which is contending in the outstanding short form non-fiction or reality series category.
He’ll be up against fellow Toronto native Samantha Bee whose interviews with her late-night show’s crew about their experiences in the entertainment industry got her a nod for “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents: Once Upon A Time In Late Night.”
Seven nominations were given to HBO series “Station Eleven,” based on a dystopian novel by Canadian writer Emily St. John Mandel and partly filmed in Ontario. They include nods for director Hiro Murai and lead actor Himesh Patel.
The Emmys air Sept. 12 on CTV.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2022.
