NBC is backing its proven award-season performers. Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, and Melissa McCarthy bring legitimate awards pedigree to the ballot, while strategic picks like Colman Domingo show the network is thinking beyond pure ratings when building its submission strategy.
Sources say the Skarsgård snub stings most — his January episode drew 4.8 million viewers, the third-best of the season, and featured Ashley Padilla's viral 'Trump Mom' sketch that dominated social media for days. The decision has industry insiders questioning whether NBC made a strategic error or if there's bad blood behind the scenes.
NBC submitted 11 of 20 Season 51 hosts for guest acting consideration, down from all 20 in Season 50. Emmy voting runs through June 22 with nominations announced July 8. Grande's December episode drew 5.4 million viewers and Rodrigo's May episode nearly hit 5 million — the season's two most-watched shows.
The Emmys submission game is never just about ratings, but leaving Skarsgård off while pushing McCarthy and Domingo despite middling numbers suggests NBC made some questionable strategic calls this cycle.
With Emmy nominations voting officially underway through June 22, the Television Academy's ballots are revealing which performances could break through when the nominations drop on July 8 — and for 'Saturday Night Live,' the results tell a fascinating story about strategy, star power, and snubs. NBC submitted just 11 of the 20 stars who hosted during Season 51 for guest comedy acting consideration. That's a significant drop from Season 50, when all 20 hosts landed on the ballot.
The guest comedy actor submissions include Bad Bunny, Ryan Gosling, Harry Styles, Jack Black, Colman Domingo, Will Ferrell and Connor Storie. On the actress side, Amy Poehler, Olivia Rodrigo, Melissa McCarthy and Ariana Grande made the cut — a list that mixes SNL alumni with buzzy pop culture names. The nine hosts who were left off the ballot are where this story gets interesting.
Matt Damon, a former nominee for hosting back in 2019, was not submitted neither was Alexander Skarsgård, whose January episode featured Ashley Padilla's viral 'Trump Mom' sketch that set social media ablaze. Also snubbed: Glen Powell, Josh O'Connor, Finn Wolfhard and Miles Teller — along with music popstars Sabrina Carpenter and Nikki Glaser, plus recent Oscar nominee Teyana Taylor for her work in 'One Battle After Another.' The viewership data makes some of these omissions puzzling.
Skarsgård's episode drew 4.8 million viewers, the third-best performance of the season among installments with reported numbers — yet he was passed over while awards-friendly names like Domingo and McCarthy were put forward despite middling Nielsen ratings. The 11 hosts NBC did submit averaged about 4.6 million viewers per episode against roughly 4.2 million for the nine that were left off the ballot. The two most-watched shows of the season — Grande's December episode at 5.4 million and Rodrigo's May episode approaching 5 million — both made the cut, which tracks with conventional awards-season wisdom.
But in a category that often rewards buzzy one-night turns, leaving that much star wattage on the table feels like a strategic miscalculation as much as a numbers game. SNL hedged nothing with its regulars, however. The entire Season 51 main cast and featured players were submitted for supporting comedy actor and actress categories, including Bowen Yang who departed back in December.
Across all performer categories this year, 1,573 submissions are in contention — down nearly 8% from 1,706 in 2025. Both 'The Boys' and 'Saturday Night Live' drew 28 performer submissions each, the most of any series on the ballot.
