Quibi is dead — long live Quibi!
The Jeffrey Katzenberg-led mobile premium video service flamed out last year about six months after launching. But three of its pricey original series just picked up a total of eight 2021 Emmy Awards nominations — “Reno 911!“, “Die Hart” and “Mapleworth Murders” — the first two of which are currently streaming for free on the Roku Channel.
From beyond the grave, Quibi got more Emmy nominations than Fox (which had seven), Paramount Plus (six) or Showtime (six). To be fair, Quibi’s nods were in the less-competitive short-form categories
Related: Emmy nominations breakdown by platform, network and studio.
Quibi’s reboot of Comedy Central series “Reno 911!” received a nomination in the Emmys short-form comedy, drama or variety series category. It will face off against Apple TV’s “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” with James Corden; the “Late Night With Seth Meyers: Corrections” series on YouTube; “The Randy Rainbow Show” on YouTube; and Stephen Colbert’s “Tooning Out the News” on Paramount Plus.
In addition, Kerri Kenney-Silver got nominated for actress in a short-form comedy or drama series for her turn in “Reno 911!” as Deputy Trudy Wiegel. Kenney-Silver also served as executive producer on the show.
Quibi’s “Die Hart” action-comedy nabbed three short-form acting nominations, for Kevin Hart, John Travolta and Nathalie Emmanuel. In the show, from Hart’s LOL Studios, Hart plays a fictionalized version of himself who wants to play an action star — but must first train at the world’s greatest action star school, run by a lunatic (Travolta), and compete with a rival student (Emmanuel). Roku has renewed the show for a second season, to be called “Die Harter.”
Also grabbing three Emmy acting nods was Quibi’s “Mapleworth Murders,” for Paula Pell, J.B. Smoove and John Lutz. The “Murder She Wrote” spoof, from Universal Television produced in association with Broadway Video and Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions, is not yet available on the Roku Channel.
Last year, Quibi garnered 10 Emmy nominations and won two:Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Cephas Jones each took home short-form acting trophies for “#FreeRayshawn,” a police drama from executive producer Antoine Fuqua. Jasmine Cephas Jones announced the 2021 Emmy noms Tuesday alongside her dad, Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”).
Roku debuted the first batch of 30 Roku Originals originally produced for Quibi in May. Later this year, the video-streaming platform plans to release another 45 or so of the shows that it picked up through its acquisition of Quibi in January. Roku paid well under $100 million for the assets of the defunct company, which had landed $1.75 billion in funding.
Pictured above: “Reno 911!” on the Roku Channel
