'Squid Game' carries the flag for Asian representation at the 74th Emmy awards

South Koreans Lee Jung-jae, left, and Hwang Dong-hyuk with their history-making Emmys.

Applause for Squid Game for representing Asians at the Emmy's Monday night, Lee Jung-jae for winning outstanding lead actor in a drama series and director Hwang Dong-hyuk for winning top director for a drama series.

We celebrate Hwang's and Lee's accomplishments that widened the television industry's representation to include Asians, Asian American actors and series went almost unnoticed.

Although they didn't win the prestigious trophy awarded to television's projects and actors, huge recognition and credit should also be given to Karyn Kusama (Yellowjacket) and Cathy Yan (Succession) were both nominated for director in a drama series, Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) for actress in a drama series, Bowen Yang (Saturday NIght Live) for supporting actor in a comedy series.

Other Asians who received nominations included Hiro Murai who was nominated in two categories as director in a comedy series (Atlanta) and a drama series (Station 11); HoYeon Jung (Squid Game) supporting actress in a drama series; Park Hae-soo and O Yeung-su (Squid Game) supporting actor in a drama series; Lee You-mi (Squid Game) guest actor in a drama series; Himesh Patel, (Station Eleven), lead actor in an anthology; Padma Lakshmi (Top Chef) and Tan France (Queer Eye), host of a reality competition show; and Ali Wong, writer for a variety special.

Squid Game made history in a number of ways: Hwang is first Asian to win the best director award and Lee became the first person from a foreign language show to win in his category.

Set in Seoul, the series is about a group of people facing financial trouble who play against each other to win money. Losers die. It is the first South Korean series and the first television series not in English to to be nominated for best drama series, which eventually went to winner Succession. The show was nominated in 14 categories.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

'Squid Game' making history in 74th Emmy Awards

The Korean series 'Squid Game' and lead actor Lee Jung-Jae have been nominated for Emmy's

The Emmy nominations for the 2021 season produced some good news and bad news along the diversity front.

The bad news: This year there are fewer Latino and Black nominees in the high-profile acting categories.

The good news: There are nine Asian or Asian American acting category nominees; an  increase from last year. 

Altogether, there were 25 non-white nominees among the acting categories this year, a precipitous drop from 41 non-white nominees last year despite a noticeable increase in productions featuring actors, writers and directors of color.

Four of the acting nominations went to actors in the series Squid Games. The Korean dystopian drama garnered 14 nominations.

Amazingly, the American epic Pachinko with its predominantly Asian and Asian American cast was totally shut out despite its more serious tone, theme and more demanding acting roles.

FYI: For a complete list of the Emmy nominees, click here.

The Asian and AAPI Emmy nominees are:

Outstanding Drama Series: Squid Game

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Lee Jung-Jae (Squid Game) 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Park Hae-soo and O Yeung-su (Squid Game)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: HoYeon Jung (Squid Game)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series: Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama: Lee You-mi, (Squid Game)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie: Himesh Patel, (Station Eleven)

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Padma Lakshmi (Top Chef) and Tan France (Queer Eye)

Outstanding Director in a Drama Series: Wang Dong-hyuk (Squid Game); Karyn Kusama (Yellow Jackets); Cathy Yang, (Succession); and Hiro Murai,(Station 11)

Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series: Hiro Murai (Atlanta)

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special: Ali Wong (Ali Wong: Don Wong)

The Korean series, Squid Game, is making history. It is the first non-English speaking production to be nominated for an Emmy in any category.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.