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'Severance' leads Emmy nominations with 27 nods

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Show will compete on Sunday with 'The Pitt,' 'White Lotus'

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Series tackles work-life balance with goats, waffle

parties

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 (Reuters) - When Adam Scott filmed

"Severance" for Apple TV+, he and fellow cast members

were unsure how viewers would respond to a streaming series

built around brain chips, a room full of goats and waffle

parties.

The psychological thriller, the most-nominated show at

Sunday's Emmy Awards, tells the story of office workers who

undergo a surgery that makes them forget their home life at

work, and vice versa.

"We all felt it was weird, and maybe too weird," said Scott,

the "Parks and Recreation" actor who plays a history professor

turned manager inside the sterile offices of the fictional Lumon

Industries.

Voters for the Emmys, the highest honors in television, have

embraced the mind-bending tale. "Severance" racked up 27 Emmy

nominations and won six trophies at an Emmys ceremony last

week for technical awards.

The sci-fi series is in the running for more Emmys on Sunday

including the top prize of best drama. Competitors include "Star

Wars" series "Andor," emergency room tale "The Pitt" and murder

mystery "The White Lotus." Winners will be announced at a

red-carpet ceremony televised live on CBS.

Scott was nominated for best drama actor and "Severance"

co-star Britt Lower for best drama actress. Seven other

"Severance" stars received supporting or guest actor nods.

Many of the "Severance" actors play two characters - an

"innie" version who works at Lumon performing tedious tasks and

an "outie" variation who lives in the outside world.

Among the show's unusual touchpoints, the Lumon building

includes a room where caretakers raise herds of goats. One

employee is rewarded for good work with a waffle party that

provides an opportunity for sexual experiences.

What does all of this add up to?

"Severance" offers a philosophical take on the work-life

balance and the power of corporations, while "poking a stick at

it with an absurdist light," said Chris Rice, co-CEO of Fifth

Season, the production company behind the show.

Supporting actor nominee John Turturro, who plays loyal

Lumon employee Irving, said the show "poses questions without

giving all the answers."

"I think people find that really participatory," he added.

Plus, "people have to navigate work life and personal life, and

that is an eternal conundrum that people go through."

BIG QUESTIONS

"Severance" debuted in 2022 to critical acclaim and gained

traction with viewers when season two was released in January

2025. The show landed in Nielsen's top 10 list of the

most-streamed shows.

Stars of the series said they thought it was more than job

dissatisfaction that drew people to "Severance." They cited

loneliness in today's society as people are glued to technology

rather than seeking human connection.

"There's a certain alienation that we're all feeling from

one another these days," Scott said.

Zach Cherry, a supporting actor nominee who plays dependable

office worker Dylan, said "Severance" makes people turn inward.

"Beyond the characters connecting to each other," Cherry

said, "it's also about the characters learning to connect to all

the different parts of themselves, which I think is also

something that everyone has to deal with."

Lower, who plays the stubborn Helly, said the show has

earned fans among high school and college students who have not

yet entered the workforce. She believes the series is prompting

people to ask deep questions, such as "what makes us human?"

"To me, that is kind of the most exciting part," Lower said.

"Are the innies human? Are they full humans? And what makes them

that?"