Children’s & Family Emmy Nominees Unveiled

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has revealed the nominations for the second annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards.

Nominees in the interactive media category—judged in person—will be announced later this month, as will honorees in the individual achievement in animation and the newly created public-service initiative categories.

The nominees for the preschool series category are Blue’s Clues & You! from Nickelodeon, Sesame Street from HBO Max, Waffles + Mochi’s Restaurant from Netflix and Helpsters and Slumberkins from Apple TV+. Are You Afraid of the Dark from Nickelodeon, Malory Towers from BYUtv, The Muppets Mayhem from Disney+ and Best Foot Forward and Jane from Apple TV+ are nominated for the children’s or family viewing series category.

Nominees for the young teen series category are The Crossover, Ghostwriter, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, The Mysterious Benedict Society and XO, Kitty. Three of the nominees are from Disney+.

Fiction special contenders are Chang Can Dunk, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock—Night of the Lights, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Ivy and Bean: Doomed to Dance and Prom Pact. The non-fiction program category contenders are 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed, All-Round Champion, Mamas, NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition and Nick News.

Nominees for the preschool animated series include The Adventures of Paddington, Spirit Rangers, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, StoryBots: Answer Time and The Tiny Chef Show, which has just been renewed for a second season by Nickelodeon.

Also in animation, the nominees for children’s or young teen animated series are Baymax!, Big City Greens, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, ONI: Thunder God’s Tale and Zootopia+. All the series for this category hail from Disney+ and Disney Channel, besides ONI: Thunder God’s Tale, which is from Netflix. Contenders for best animated special are Looney Tunes Cartoons, Bugs Bunny’s Howl-O-Skreem Spooktacular, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Moon Girl Landing, Reindeer in Here, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Snoopy Presents: Lucy’s School and The Wonderful Summer of Mickey Mouse.

Short-form program nominees are The Big Gathering, I Am Groot, Sesame Street: Wes’ First Barbershop Haircut, Sesame Street’s #ComingTogether Word of the Day Series and Storyline Online.

Tim Allen, Ella Bright, Veda Cienfuegos, Tony Hale and Gina Rodriguez are nominated to win the lead performance in a preschool, children’s or young teen program, while the nominees for the supporting performance category for preschool, children’s or young teen programs are Adeel Akhtar, Nonso Anozie, Kal Penn, Neil Sandilands and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The actors are mainly from Netflix and Apple TV+ programs, with a few from Disney Channel, HBO Max, Nickelodeon and Hulu.

Tabitha Brown, who rose to notoriety through her TikTok platform, is a nominee in the host category for her YouTube Original show Tab Time. More nominees in the category include Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman (Kids Baking Championship); Emmanuel Carter (Noggin Knows); Taylor Cassidy, Benjamin de Almedia, Kahlil Green, Tejas Hullur, Jane McManus and Jillian Smith (Nick News); and Juanpa Zurita (Elmo’s Mindfulness Spectacular!).

More categories and nominees have been released for writing, directing, puppetry, voice performances, editing and more. In the second year of the standalone competition, it remains the biggest Emmy competition NATAS oversees.

Rachel Schwartz, director of daytime and the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, said, “We are very proud of the growth experienced in year two of the Children’s & Family Emmys, especially in the development and cultivation of the new categories dedicated to puppetry.”

“Programming created for children’s and family viewing has a long history of leading the way in innovation and storytelling,” added Brent Stanton, head of daytime and the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards. “In this year specifically, a year so impacted by artists fighting for fair recognition of their true value, it is more important than ever to honor the excellence of their talents and achievements.”