Yesterday, the Television Academy announced all the nominees for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards and there’s already so much discourse to parse through. Just how many Emmys will “Severance” receive from their 27 nominations? Will “The Pitt” star Noah Wyle, who was last nominated in 1999, finally win an Emmy? And why were “Squid Game” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” snubbed?
These are all questions that critics and viewers, myself among them, will talk about until the ceremony is held on Sept. 14. But as much as I love to dissect culture, there’s one thing this awards season cycle that I am absolutely crystal clear about: Just give Robby Hoffman the damn Emmy, already.
The 35-year-old ex-Hasidic queer comedian is an undeniable comedic force as Randi on “Hacks.” Whether Randi is talking about the movie “Speed,” kosher sinks or mentally mapping the city she lives in, Robby steals every scene she is in. She does this by essentially being her slightly off-kilter, bitingly honest, lesbian Larry David self.
And, perhaps even more impressively, she broke out in this role despite probably less than 10 minutes of screen time across the entire season. With all due respect to Robby’s very talented fellow nominees Olivia Colman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cynthia Erivo, Julianne Nicholson and Zoë Kravitz (who is nominated for playing herself in “The Studio”), this is Robby’s Emmy to lose.
The nod comes as Robby’s first Primetime Emmy nomination, though she has previously been nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019 for the children’s show “Odd Squad.” She won her first Daytime Emmy in 2019.
Following the news of Robby’s nomination, she received congratulations on social media from fellow Jewish “Hacks” star and Emmy nominee Hannah Einbinder, who called Robby her “rabbi.” Robby also received praise from her wife, reality TV star Gabby Windey. “We’ve been saying!!!,” Gabby wrote in an Instagram comment. “Beyond deserving baby so proud of you!!!”
In conclusion: Emmy voters, give Robby Hoffman the Emmy. You’d be meshugga not to.
