Canceled NBC Show Earn Big Emmy Nominations for Revival Movie

One of the more surprising Emmy nominations announced Tuesday morning involved the revival movie of a canceled NBC series. Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas, the revival of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, earned two nominations, including Outstanding Television Movie. Immoral Compass and the Zoey movie earned the first-ever Emmy nominations for The Roku Channel.

Aside from the surprise nod for Outstanding Television Movie, Zoey was also nominated for Oustanding Choreography for Scripted Programming. Choreographer Mandy Moore previously won in this category by default in 2020 as the only nominee. Moore also earned two nominations in 2021 for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The other 2022 nominees in the choreography category are Ryan Heffington for Euphoria, Fred Tallesken for Goliath, Christopher Gattelli for Schmigadoon!, and Christian Vincent for The Porter.

Zoey has tough competition in the Oustanding Television Movie category. The other nominees there are Ray Donovan The Movie (Showtime), Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon (Paramount+), The Survivor (HBO/HBO Max), and Chip ‘N’ Dale Rescue Rangers (Disney+). The Survivor, a critically-acclaimed movie starring Ben Foster as a boxer in the Auschwitz concentration camp, should be considered the frontrunner for the award.

Even Zoey creator Austin Winsberg was shocked by the two nominations. In a new interview with TVInsider, he said fans have to keep putting pressure on Roku if they want more Zoey. “We all do! I think we just have to keep putting pressure on Roku. I think there’s a desire for more,” he said. “It gets complicated now because actors are off doing other projects. I know that Roku was really happy with the movie and it did well for them. So I think there’s always a possibility, but nothing to announce as of this moment.”

The Roku Channel picked up a third nomination thanks to comedian Bill Burr. He was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for Immoral Compass. The series was one of the short-form shows developed for Jeffrey Katzengerger’s short-form Quibi platform. After Quibi folded, The Roku Channel bought its entire library, including shows still in development like Immoral Compass.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist was a unique NBC comedy-drama featuring music and intricate choreography. Jane Levy starred as the titular Zoey, who hears people’s innermost thoughts as popular songs. Skylar Astin, Alex Newell, John Clarence Stwart, Mary Steenburgen, and Peter Gallagher appeared on the show. Bernadette Peters earned an Emmy nomination for her guest appearance on the show. Zoey built a devoted fanbase, but its low ratings and high cost made it difficult to keep it running. NBC canceled the show in June 2021 after two seasons and 26 episodes.