It was just reported by Variety that the comedy show Lucky Hank would be submitted for certain categories of comedy at the Emmys this year. The Adaptation of Richard Russo’s (Everybody’s Fool, The Old Cape Magic) novel Straight Man was released earlier this month and has received critical acclaim.
In the exclusive report made by Variety, the dark comedy Lucky Hank is the latest show to be up for possible awards at this year’s Emmys. The adaptation came from comedic geniuses, co-showrunners, and executive producers Paul Lieberstein (The Office, King of the Hill) and Aaron Zelman (Silicon Valley, Damages). Sourced from the article, both Lieberstein and Zelman have a background in comedic writing.
The main story revolves around Hank who is an English department chairman at an underfunded college. He balances and treads the line between a midlife crisis and full-blown meltdown. This show would see him navigate the many problems he faces both personally and professionally. Sourced from the AMC website, they give a brief description for this first episode: “When George Saunders visits Railton College, the professors scramble to impress the celebrated writer, while Hank is reminded of his own failed writing career. Hank and Lily anticipate an announcement from their daughter Julie.”
The cast has been called stellar. Playing the role of William Henry Devereaux, Jr., better known as Hank, is Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul). For many, this is the reason that they go and watch the series just to get more of the former Breaking Bad actor. Joining him on the show includes Mireille Enos (Hanna, World War Z) as Lily Devereaux, Hank’s seemingly happy wife; Olivia Scott Welch (Unbelievable, Modern Family) as Julie, Hank’s daughter; Oscar Nuñez (The Office, Mr. Iglesias) as Dean Jacob Rose, Hank’s boss; Diedrich Bader (Office Space, Napoleon Dynamite) as Tony Conigula, Hank’s best friend who works outside of the English Department at Railton; Sara Amini (The Twilight Zone, Future Man) as Meg Quigley, professor by day, bartender at night; Cedric Yarbrough (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Black Dynamite) as Paul Rourke, Hank’s perceived ‘rival’ if he took on the form of a professor; Suzanne Cryer (Seinfeld, Silicon Valley) as Gracie DuBois, one of the Railton English department’s professors who doesn’t like Hank; Alvina August (The Boys, Animal Control) as June Washington-Chen, another English professor at Railton; Arthur Keng (Silicon Valley, As We See It) as Teddy Washington-Chen, another English professor at the College; Jackson Kelly (My Year of Dicks, Hard Miles) as Barto Williams-Stevens, one of Hank’s rambunctious students; and Shannon DeVido (Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, DIfficult People) as Emma Wheemer, who is a disabled English professor.
Jackson Kelly as Bartow in Lucky Hank (Season 1, Episode 1). Photo Credit: Sergei Bachlakov/AMC
The show garnered massive success after its premiere on AMC on March 19th, 2023. As of now, it has a 95% on the tomatometer and a 71% Audience score. Lucky Hank also has a 6.8/10 on IMDb as a whole, but surprisingly has episode one rated at 7.4/10 and episode two at 7.5/10. The show is serving more than what might have been expected considering the fandom behind Bob Odenkirk’s portrayal as the sly quirky lawyer from Albuquerque, Saul Goodman. Fans of the Breaking Bad franchise are tuning in though to another well received performance from the acclaimed actor.
That’s why AMC is not only submitting Lucky Hank to the Emmys, but also some episodes of Better Call Saul. According to Variety, AMC is submitting both shows involving Odenkirk in different fields so as to not stir up confusion from the fanbase. Better Call Saul is listed under drama, while Lucky Hank is listed under comedy. In the article, they go on to say if Odenkirk wins both nominations, “he would become the first performer in history to be nominated in both genres in the same year.”
From Variety, Lucky Hank’s submission will stand as Odenkirk’s first series where he is in the lead comedy acting category. It has been a long time coming considering his other two Emmy wins were in 1989 for writing on Saturday Night Live, and one in 1993 for The Ben Stiller Show. That would mean that if Odenkirk wins any Emmys, it would be his first in 30 years.
However, it is not only him that is up for awards. His Breaking bad Co-Star, Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian, The Boys) is also in the race to be nominated for best supporting actor. That would be in part due to his well-received portrayal as the notorious Gus Fring in Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul. According to Variety, “other submissions for Lucky Hank include Mireille Enos for supporting actress in a comedy; Cedric Yarbrough and Diedrich Bader for supporting actor in a comedy; and Kyle MacLachlan for guest actor in a comedy.”
It’s not just the actors. Also submitted were Peter Farelly (episode 101) and Nicole Holofcender (episode 107) for comedy directing, finally Lieberstein and Zelman for comedy writing (episode 102). via. Variety.
This year’s nominations would be selected between June 15th and 16th and the ceremony would commence on September 18th, 2023, at 5:00pm EST. You can watch the ceremony live on NBC as well as streaming it on Peacock.
Lucky Hank is available to watch on the AMC TV channel and through streaming AMC+. They release episodes every Sunday night at 9:00pm EST. You can watch the trailer for the show down below.