Celebrity Docs Dominate Emmy Nonfiction Nominations: Marty Short, Mel Brooks, John Candy, Scorsese, Jayne Mansfield/Mariska Hargitay & More
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man! led all nonfiction entries with six Emmy nominations including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing for Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio; the 100-year-old comedy legend also appears in the nominated John Candy film.
- John Candy: I Like Me, the Amazon MGM Studios documentary directed by Colin Hanks and executive produced by Ryan Reynolds, earned five nominations and features interviews with Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Steve Martin, and Macaulay Culkin.
- "My Mom Jayne", Mariska Hargitay's HBO directorial debut about her mother Jayne Mansfield—who died in a car crash when Hargitay was 3—is nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special; Hargitay will also host the Primetime Emmy telecast September 14 on NBC.
- "Mr. Scorsese", the five-part Apple TV+ series directed by Rebecca Miller, scored three nominations including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, featuring appearances by Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jodie Foster.
- "Rafa", Netflix's four-part Rafael Nadal documentary directed by Zach Heinzerling, landed an Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series nomination; executive producer David Ellison is the chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, currently pursuing a Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
- "Sean Combs: The Reckoning" earned a nonfiction series nomination, with director Alexandria Stapleton framing the project as a cautionary look at "how we glorify celebrity" rather than a celebratory legacy film.
- "Marty, Life Is Short", Lawrence Kasdan's Netflix documentary about Martin Short, received three nominations; Short separately earned a Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nod for "Only Murders in the Building."
Why it matters: Documentaries about legacy Hollywood and music-world figures dominate the nonfiction race, with HBO, Amazon MGM Studios, Netflix, and Apple TV+ all landing multiple nods. The Sean Combs entry shows Emmy voters are willing to recognize true-crime celebrity exposés alongside tributes, while Mariska Hargitay hosting the main telecast while her own directorial debut competes blurs the line between presenter and nominee.
