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2021 Emmy Awards: Start time, channel, nominations, how to watch and stream

“Mare of Easttown,” which features a lot of characters with Delco accents, could be the big winner Sunday night

Kate Winslet as Mare Sheehan in HBO's "Mare of Easttown," which is nominated for 16 Emmy Awards.
Kate Winslet as Mare Sheehan in HBO's "Mare of Easttown," which is nominated for 16 Emmy Awards.Read moreMICHELE K. SHORT / HBO
    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

The 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards take place Sunday, and Delco could end up being the big winner.

Mare of Easttown, the acclaimed HBO murder-mystery series starting Kate Winslet and set in the Philadelphia suburbs, is nominated for 16 awards, including outstanding limited or anthology series and outstanding contemporary costumes (which were inspired by real Wawa customers). That’s more nominations that any show not named WandaVision (23 nominations) and The Queen’s Gambit (18).

Winslet, who is nominated for outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie, prepared for the role of detective Mare Sheehan by hanging out with local police officers, a Philadelphia therapist, and a local dialect coach to perfect her Delco accent.

“The really tricky part of doing a dialect is making it disappear. So the audience doesn’t hear you’re doing like a voice,” Winslet told the Inquirer. “And of course with a Delco dialect, actually the temptation to make it sound like you’re doing a voice, it’s pretty high, You know,” she said as she slipped into an exaggerated accent, “’I was all on my own, I was alone, you want some wooder.’”

If Mare of Easttown has a big night, it might drive new viewers to the show. That’s good news for everyone except residents of Wallingford, where Winslet’s home in the show became a popular tourist attraction in April, much to the chagrin of its owners.

Hosting is comedian Cedric the Entertainer (real name Cedric Antonio Kyles). The awards air on ABC this year as part of a network-sharing deal that includes CBS, NBC, and Fox. The open question is how many people will tune in, considering the show’s ratings hit an all-time low last year, drawing just 6.1 million viewers (in 2013, the show drew 17.3 million viewers).

Viewers can also expect an emotional “In Memoriam” segment headlined by former Saturday Night Live cast member Norm Macdonald, legendary actor Ed Asner, and The Wire and Boardwalk Empire star Michael K. Williams — all three of whom died in the past few weeks. Other TV personalities whose deaths are likely to be honored include longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, Gilligan’s Island actress Dawn Wells, Today show weather forecaster Willard Scott, and veteran actor George Segal, who most recently starred in the Philadelphia-suburbs-set The Goldbergs.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the 2021 Emmy Awards:

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2021 Primetime Emmy Awards

  1. When: Sunday, Sept. 19

  2. Where: L.A. Live’s Event Deck, Los Angeles

  3. Time: 8 p.m. Eastern

  4. TV: 6abc

  5. Host: Cedric the Entertainer

  6. Streaming: The Emmys app (free on Roku, fireTV, and Apple TV), Paramount+, FuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV (all require a subscription)

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Mare of Easttown reading material prior to the Emmy’s

  1. Chester County Detective Christine Bleiler taught Winslet to be Mare, including offering some suggestions on her attire. “[Once Winslet called] and she said they were putting her in leggings for something,” Blieler said. “And I’m like, ‘No. No. Don’t wear yoga pants. This isn’t Saturday morning at the soccer game.’”

  2. The real Mary “Mare” Sheehan is a Delco native and co-captain for St. Joseph’s University women’s basketball team. “It was crazy,” Sheehan said. “I was like wait, hold on, now we got my name, my town, my sport, and my mascot? This is too much! It’s one too many coincidences.”

  3. Kassie Mundhenk, a teenage actress with Downs syndrome from Bucks County, brought her voice and attitude to Mare of Easttown.

  4. Show creator Brad Ingelsby is a huge Philly hoops fan. His father and uncle were teammates on Villanova’s 1971 Final Four team, and his brother, Martin, is head coach of the University of Delaware’s men’s basketball team.

Other Philly connections in tonight’s Emmy’s

  1. Leslie Odom Jr., who was raised in Philadelphia’s East Oak Lane section, is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie for his role as Aaron Burr in the Disney+ film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. Odom has already won a Tony and a Grammy, so if he wins he’ll be one film away from joining the short list of EGOT winners — performers who have received Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.

  2. Madeline Brewer, nominated for best drama supporting actress for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, is a South Jersey native and graduated from Pitman High School.

  3. Carl Clemons-Hopkins, nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for the HBO Max’s Hacks, graduated from University of the Arts and could become the first openly nonbinary actor to win an Emmy Award.

2021 Primetime Emmy Award nominees

If you’re a particular fan of cinematography or sound mixing, here’s a full list of all the nominations in every single category.

Outstanding Drama Series

  1. The Boys (Amazon Prime Video)

  2. Bridgerton (Netflix)

  3. The Crown (Netflix)

  4. The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

  5. Lovecraft Country (HBO)

  6. The Mandalorian (Disney+)

  7. Pose (FX)

  8. This Is Us (NBC)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

  1. Uzo Aduba, In Treatment

  2. Olivia Colman, The Crown

  3. Emma Corrin, The Crown

  4. Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale

  5. Mj Rodriguez, Pose

  6. Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

  1. Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us

  2. Jonathan Majors, Lovecraft Country

  3. Josh O’Connor, The Crown

  4. Regé-Jean Page, Bridgerton

  5. Billy Porter, Pose

  6. Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

  1. Gillian Anderson, The Crown

  2. Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown

  3. Madeline Brewer, The Handmaid’s Tale

  4. Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale

  5. Aunjanue Ellis, Lovecraft Country

  6. Emerald Fennell, The Crown

  7. Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale

  8. Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

  1. Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian

  2. O-T Fagbenle, The Handmaid’s Tale

  3. John Lithgow, Perry Mason

  4. Tobias Menzies, The Crown

  5. Max Minghella, The Handmaid’s Tale

  6. Chris Sullivan, This is Us

  7. Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale

  8. Michael Kenneth Williams, Lovecraft Country

Outstanding Limited Series

  1. I May Destroy You (HBO)

  2. Mare of Easttown (HBO)

  3. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

  4. The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video)

  5. WandaVision (Disney+)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

  1. Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You

  2. Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha

  3. Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision

  4. Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit

  5. Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

  1. Paul Bettany, WandaVision

  2. Hugh Grant, The Undoing

  3. Ewan McGregor, Halston

  4. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

  5. Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

  1. Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown

  2. Julianne Nicholson, Mare of Easttown

  3. Kathryn Hahn, WandaVision

  4. Phillipa Soo, Hamilton

  5. Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton

  6. Moses Ingram, The Queen’s Gambit

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

  1. Daveed Diggs, Hamilton

  2. Jonathan Groff, Hamilton

  3. Anthony Ramos, Hamilton

  4. Thomas Brodie-Sangster, The Queen’s Gambit

  5. Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown

  6. Paapa Essiedu, I May Destroy You

Outstanding Comedy Series

  1. black-ish (ABC)

  2. Cobra Kai (Netflix)

  3. Emily in Paris (Netflix)

  4. Hacks (HBO Max)

  5. The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)

  6. The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

  7. Pen15 (Hulu)

  8. Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

  1. Aidy Bryant, Shrill

  2. Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant

  3. Allison Janney, Mom

  4. Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

  5. Jean Smart, Hacks

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

  1. Anthony Anderson, black-Ish

  2. Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method

  3. William H. Macy, Shameless

  4. Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

  5. Kenan Thompson, Kenan

Outstanding Competition Program

  1. The Amazing Race (CBS)

  2. Nailed It! (Netflix)

  3. RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1)

  4. Top Chef (Bravo)

  5. The Voice (NBC)

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

  1. Conan (TBS)

  2. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)

  3. Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)

  4. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

  5. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)