Chicago Series ‘The Bear’ Plates Three Critics Choice Award Nominations

TV nominees for the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards were announced this week, and a Chicago television series is near the top of the pack. FX’s The Bear earned a nomination for Best Comedy Series, as well as a Best Actor in a Comedy Series nod for Jeremy Allen White and a Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination for Ayo Edebiri.

The show filmed entirely in Chicago this past Spring and has been renewed for a second season. Sources tell SCREEN the show will begin filming Season Two in Chicago this February.

The Bear was created by Christopher Storer (Ramy) and follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a young chef from the fine dining world, who comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop – The Original Beef of Chicagoland – after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he’s used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, his strong-willed and recalcitrant kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother’s suicide.

If you’re just hearing about The Bear for the first time, here’s a quick teaser for the show…

Running Through the Rest of the Nominees…

ABC breakout Abbott Elementary led the pack with six nominations. In addition to a nod for Best Comedy Series, Abbott Elementary notched nominations for five of its cast members: Quinta Brunson (Actress in a Comedy), Chris Perfetti and Tyler James Williams (Supporting Actor in a Comedy), and Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Supporting Actress in a Comedy).

AMC’s Better Call Saul was close behind with five nods, while Starz’s Gaslit, FX’s Reservation Dogs and Paramount+’s The Good Fight each earned four nominations.

Here is the full slate of television Critics Choice nominations…

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Andor (Disney+)
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
Better Call Saul (AMC)
The Crown (Netflix)
Euphoria (HBO)
The Good Fight (Paramount+)
House of the Dragon (HBO)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Yellowstone (Paramount Network)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jeff Bridges, The Old Man
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Diego Luna, Andor
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Adam Scott, Severance
Antony Starr, The Boys

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christine Baranski, The Good Fight
Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters
Laura Linney, Ozark
Mandy Moore, This Is Us
Kelly Reilly, Yellowstone
Zendaya, Euphoria

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Andre Braugher, The Good Fight
Ismael Cruz Córdova, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Michael Emerson, Evil
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
John Lithgow, The Old Man
Matt Smith, House of the Dragon

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Milly Alcock, House of the Dragon
Carol Burnett, Better Call Saul
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
Julia Garner, Ozark
Audra McDonald, The Good Fight
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul

BEST COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Barry (HBO)
The Bear (FX)
Better Things (FX)
Ghosts (CBS)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Reboot (Hulu)
Reservation Dogs (FX)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Matt Berry, What We Do in the Shadows
Bill Hader, Barry
Keegan-Michael Key, Reboot
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Reservation Dogs

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Girls5eva
Devery Jacobs, Reservation Dogs
Jean Smart, Hacks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Brandon Scott Jones, Ghosts
Leslie Jordan, Call Me Kat
James Marsden, Dead to Me
Chris Perfetti, Abbott Elementary
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Henry Winkler, Barry

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Paulina Alexis, Reservation Dogs
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Marcia Gay Harden, Uncoupled
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Annie Potts, Young Sheldon
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

BEST LIMITED SERIES
The Dropout (Hulu)
Gaslit (Starz)
The Girl from Plainville (Hulu)
The Offer (Paramount+)
Pam & Tommy (Hulu)
Station Eleven (HBO Max)
This Is Going to Hurt (AMC+)
Under the Banner of Heaven (FX)

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Fresh (Hulu)
Prey (Hulu)
Ray Donovan: The Movie (Showtime)
The Survivor (HBO)
Three Months (Paramount+)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (The Roku Channel)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Ben Foster, The Survivor
Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven
Samuel L. Jackson, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
Daniel Radcliffe, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy
Ben Whishaw, This Is Going to Hurt

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Lily James, Pam & Tommy
Amber Midthunder, Prey
Julia Roberts, Gaslit
Michelle Pfeiffer, The First Lady
Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Murray Bartlett, Welcome to Chippendales
Domhnall Gleeson, The Patient
Matthew Goode, The Offer
Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird
Ray Liotta, Black Bird
Shea Whigham, Gaslit

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Claire Danes, Fleishman Is In Trouble
Dominique Fishback, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
Betty Gilpin, Gaslit
Melanie Lynskey, Candy
Niecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Juno Temple, The Offer

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIES
1899 (Netflix)
Borgen (Netflix)
Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Netflix)
Garcia! (HBO Max)
The Kingdom Exodus (MUBI)
Kleo (Netflix)
My Brilliant Friend (HBO)
Pachinko (Apple TV+)
Tehran (Apple TV+)

BEST ANIMATED SERIES
Bluey (Disney+)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal (Adult Swim)
Harley Quinn (HBO Max)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+)
Undone (Prime Video)

BEST TALK SHOW
The Amber Ruffin Show (Peacock)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
The Kelly Clarkson Show (NBC)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (Bravo)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL
Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune (Netflix)
Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel (HBO)
Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual (Netflix)
Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth (HBO)
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special (Netflix)
Would It Kill You to Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant & John Early (Peacock)

Nominations for the film categories will be revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 14; the awards ceremony will air live on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 7/6c on The CW.

Looking Ahead to Season Two of The Bear

As mentioned above, Season Two will begin filming this coming February in Chicago. As for the streaming home for Season Two, an FX rep confirmed to IndieWire earlier this year that The Bear will remain a Hulu exclusive, but could not confirm whether the new season’s release schedule would follow a binge model, weekly model, or some combination of the two. “Too soon on that,” the rep replied to IndieWire’s inquiry.

Chicago UPM Back at the Helm for Season Two

The Unit Production Manager and Co-Producer of Season One is expected to return for Season Two. That UPM is Chicago’s Carrie Holt de Lama, a cornerstone of the television and film production community in town. de Lama helmed the pilot for The Bear which shot in Chicago in July of 2021. de Lama’s recent credits include Unit Production Manager of the popular Chicago-made Showtime series Work in Progress, which filmed and premiered its second season earlier this year. de Lama also served as UPM of several episodes of the Emmy-nominated HBO series Lovecraft Country and Showtime’s Emmy winner Shameless.

Check back here at SCREEN for updates as filming of Season Two of The Bear approaches in the new year. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.

And if you’re late to the Season One feast, all eight episodes of “The Bear” are now available on Hulu. Click here to enjoy the first season.