‘The Idol’ Is Emmy-Nominated. No, Really.

World Class Sinner? More like World Class Winner, baby.

By Audra Heinrichs | July 17, 2024 | 4:40pm

Photo: HBO Entertainment TV

‘The Idol’ Is Emmy-Nominated. No, Really.

While it’s not difficult to imagine that the cast of HBO’s The Idol have kicked themselves for ever agreeing to take part in what’s probably the worst-reviewed project of their careers, one member of the irredeemable series’ crew is celebrating today: Emmy-nominated choreographer, Nina McNeely. That’s right, The Idol is technically in the running for a gold statue all thanks to a a few dance numbers–namely, one set to a little ditty by the name of World Class Sinner.

On Wednesday, nominations for the 76th annual Emmy Awards were unveiled at Los Angeles’ El Capitan theatre, and pretty much every series you’d expect (Shogun, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building) racked up a record-breaking number of them (25, 23 and 21, respectively). Other surprises included a lot of love for Reservation Dogs, and True Detective: Night Country, and a best actor nomination for Lily Gladstone—one of three Indigenous actors, including D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Kali Reis, nominated this year for the first time in 17 years—in Under the Bridge. Then, of course, there’s McNeely’s nomination.

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It’s no secret that The Idol‘s legacy will always be just a lazy, lackluster depiction of a vulnerable pop star written by men. When the series premiered in June 2023, I wrote the following in my review:

“It’s an irredeemably bad show that not only offers no nuance on a lecherous industry, rape culture, mental health, or trauma specific to survivors thus far, but is also not nearly as smart, edgy, or cool as it thinks it is. Frankly, neither of those realities should be any surprise. It’s made by men who simply aren’t creative enough to tell a tale about exploitation without, well, exploiting people.”

Regardless, The Idol did one thing correctly: Introduce a dance routine that somehow still finds its way into my TikTok for you page. Who could forget the first time they saw Lily-Rose Depp stumble through the choreography of World Class Sinner? No one, that’s who. And more importantly, who among us hasn’t attempted to “lick it, drop it,” just the same? Even less. In fact, it’s probably the solitary thing people remember from this series save for The Weeknd’s rattail. This, we now know, is due entirely to McNeely’s vision. I think it’s fair to assert that that alone deserves something, no?

While I’m not keen on rewarding The Idol (specifically, Sam Levinson), let it be known that I do support women. So, come September 15, I’ll be pulling for McNeely.