Look, let me get this out right away, The Bear on Hulu (or Disney Plus in the UK) is a phenomenal show and it’s certainly a series worth gold hardware. However, with the 2025 Emmy nominations being announced on July 15, and the FX series receiving 13 Emmy nominations in total in comedy categories, I find myself once again beating the same drum I’ve been beating for a while — The Bear is not a comedy.
I’ve been watching The Bear from the very beginning, and I’ve loved every minute of it. The show has a unique premise, Jeremy Allen White and company deliver phenomenal scenes, the dramatic tension created by dynamic dialogue is top-notch and it has everything you want in a binge-worthy series. But it isn’t funny to me. Yes, I’ve chuckled sparingly here and there over the seasons, but not enough to the point where I could conceivably justify The Bear continuing to receive multiple comedy nominations at the Emmys.
And I’m a person who is a fan of dry and dark comedy. I enjoyed Weeds, Dead to Me, Beef, Atlanta and Shameless; but unlike The Bear, these shows had considerably more funny moments.
With all that being said, I do believe The Bear is deserving of Emmy recognition, just not of the comedic variety. I think that next year, when it’s time for nominations, the series should do something that Shameless did back in 2014.
When the US version of Shameless was originally rolled out in 2011, it was marketed to awarding bodies as a drama. It made sense on paper as the series focused on the hard knocks of one family and the unscrupulous lengths the father went to in order to preserve his own status quo of alcoholism and drug abuse.
However, even though the series was serious in premise and had multiple scenes that made me tear up, the dramatic moments were almost evenly balanced with scenes chock-full of laughter. Which is why it was completely understandable that the powers that be officially began classifying Shameless as a comedy instead of a drama in 2014.
If in new seasons, The Bear continues striking the same tone it has in previous ones, those behind the show should consider officially making a change and submitting it in the drama category to future award bodies. Essentially, doing the opposite of what Shameless did.
Now I’m not sure if that means longer episodes of The Bear would have to be created at that point to fit the typical length of a US drama, but I’d be up for more The Bear.
I tend to think Hollywood as a whole could benefit from the switch. Think about the potential nominations some comedies could get if The Bear weren’t scooping up many of them. I could even make an argument that Hacks or Abbott Elementary would possibly have more wins at the Emmys if not for The Bear, but I digress.
On a final note, it’s worth reiterating that The Bear is a great show, it’s deserving of its award wins. I just would like these wins to take place in the drama categories.
You can catch up with all episodes of The Bear on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
