'Ride or Die' Submitted As Comedy With Waddingham & Spencer Lead Bids
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- "Ride or Die" has ranked No. 1 on Prime Video since its July 15 release, holds a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score, and is now entering the awards race starting with guild races, the Golden Globes, and Critics Choice Awards.
- Prime Video is submitting the hourlong action series — created by Tessa Coates — in comedy series categories, following the genre-blending route that includes The Bear, Wednesday, Elsbeth, and Ponies this Emmy cycle.
- Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer will both be entered in Lead Actress in a Comedy; the show is a "true two-hander" about assassin Judith (Waddingham) and her best friend of more than 20 years, MP's wife Debbie (Spencer).
- Waddingham will separately compete in Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Apple TV's Ted Lasso Season 4 as Rebecca, keeping her two shows on different tracks after winning an Emmy for Ted Lasso Season 1.
- Ed Skrein (Billy, Judith's mark-turned-partner) and Bill Nighy (The Director, Judith's boss and father figure) will be submitted as Supporting Actors in a Comedy Series.
- "Ride or Die" outperformed Prime Video's heavily marketed summer YA slate largely through word of mouth — "a notable feat" for a series led by two 50-something women.
Why it matters: Prime Video's comedy-category submission for an hourlong action series follows the well-worn genre-blending route The Bear, Wednesday, and Elsbeth have already exploited this Emmy cycle. The dual Lead Actress bids keep Waddingham and Spencer centrally in conversation, while Waddingham's Supporting entry for Ted Lasso Season 4 preserves her separate awards track — a split-category approach she has already proven works, having won an Emmy for Ted Lasso Season 1.
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