Why The Bear Is Nominated in the Comedy Category for the 2024 Emmys

The Bear has set a new record in the comedy category for the 2024 Emmy Awards. 

The FX series – which stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach – leads with 23 Emmy nominations, breaking the record for most nominations for a comedy, originally set by NBC’s 30 Rock in 2009 with 22 nominations.  

Despite the incredible success of the series, critics and fans alike still raised questions about whether The Bear could really be considered a comedy or if the show would be a better fit as a drama due to its sometimes dark subject nature.

One user on X (formerly known as Twitter) even called The Bear’s categorization as a comedy “disrespectful” to the other comedy shows.  

Questions about The Bear’s category were also brought up during the 2023 Emmy Awards as well, when the show earned 10 awards including outstanding comedy series and outstanding supporting actress. 

According to the Emmy nomination rules, producers are able to select which category a show can be nominated in, but must receive final approvals from the “Academy’s Industry Panel.” 

The rules also state that for a show to be considered a comedy, “the majority of a [show’s] time” must be “primarily comedic” for at least six episodes in a season. Once a show is entered into a specific category, “all entries must follow the specific categorization of a show.” 

Meaning if a show is entered as a comedy, all the awards — acting, directing, for example — need to be within the comedy series category. 

The nomination rules also clarify that “the Academy reserves the right to have the category placement reviewed by the Academy’s Industry Panel” and a category change can only be approved after a review is completed.  

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter back in August 2023, The Bear’s co-showrunner Joanna Calo said that she and the show’s creator Christopher Storer were “never particularly interested in adhering to whatever preconceived notions one may have about what a comedy entails.”

“Chris and I both felt that if we were going to add another show to the content heap, it needed to be different enough to be worth the internet space,” Calo said. 

The Bear is also not the first show to cross between show genres. HBO’s Succession toyed the line between drama and comedy, and was categorized as a drama at the Emmy Awards since 2022. 

Back in 2013, Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black was also previously nominated for several awards in the comedy category and then the Emmy rule change in 2015 forced the show to be nominated as a drama.

The Bear's recent Emmy nominations are for its second season, which dropped in June 2023. The series — which also stars Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Edwin Lee Gibson and Matty Matheson — released its third season on June 27, 2024.

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The 76th Emmy Awards will air live on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. See the full list of nominees on the official Emmy's website.