Before Emmy Gold: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Television has long been a breeding ground for onscreen stars to hone their skills behind the camera. Still, it feels particularly notable that the nominees for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series at this year’s Emmys include multiple household names who have remained busy both on and offscreen.

With talent from several of the year’s biggest comedies, the category is an intriguing glimpse into the state of the genre today. As we look towards next month’s exciting reveal, the Before Emmy Gold series will be highlighting each of the nominees by reflecting on their standout projects before they earned their 2025 nomination. Let’s take a trip through memory lane with Nathan Fielder, Ayo Edeberi, James Burrows, Lucia Aniello, and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg.

Nathan Fielder

Nominated For: The Rehearsal

Previous Nominations: Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series – 2019; Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special – 2024 (Executive Producer); Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series – 2025

Hidden Gem: The Curse

The Rehearsal is arguably the year’s most egregious snub in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, making Nathan Fielder’s dual nominations in the Directing and Writing categories all the more relieving. He would be a deserving winner next month, as the term “directing” likely sells his contributions to the HBO series short. Fielder obviously stars in the show as well, but he is truly the complete creative force behind the series, orchestrating an entire team of collaborators in pursuit of his own singular (and let’s be real – insane) comedic vision. It may be a stretch to label The Curse as a hidden gem in Fielder’s career, but the show is a must-watch for those who have not yet seen it. It was a similarly snubbed series at last year’s Emmys, and is a mystifying testament to Fielder’s talents as a performer.

Ayo Edeberi

Nominated For: The Bear

Previous Nominations: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – 2023; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – 2024, 2025

Hidden Gem: The Sweet East

After years of acclaim from the Television Academy and beyond for her terrific work as Sydney on FX’s The Bear, Ayo Edeberi stepped behind the camera for the show’s third season, directing the Tina-centered episode “Napkins,” one of the most heartfelt episodes of the entire series. Edeberi demonstrates impressive control over the course of Tina’s grueling job search, allowing the episode to eventually explode open with a powerful exchange between Liza Colón-Zayas and Jon Bernthal, whose brief appearances in The Bear always become the standouts of a given season. Edeberi’s star is on a meteoric rise, with an upcoming role in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt certain to propel her even further, but fans of the young actress should absolutely check out Sean Price Williams’ 2023 film The Sweet East, a surrealist picaresque of contemporary America’s eastern seaboard. Ayo appears alongside a whole host of indie darlings, including Simon Rex, Talia Ryder, and Jacob Elordi.

James Burrows

Nominated For: Mid-Century Modern

Previous Nominations: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series – 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2020, 2021, 2025; Outstanding Variety Special (Live) – 2020, 2022; Outstanding Comedy Series – 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005; Outstanding Information Special – 1990; Hall of Fame Honoree – 2006

Hidden Gem: 3rd Rock From the Sun

The name you may not recognize amongst this bunch is actually its most acclaimed. Legendary sitcom director James Burrow boasts 46 Emmy nominations and 11 wins as both a director and a producer. He was inducted into the TV Academy’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Having last been nominated in 2021 for the “Pilot” episode of B Positive, Burrows returns this year with a nomination for Mid-Century Modern, starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Linda Lavin in her final TV role. While we may not treat sitcoms with the same reverence we once did, directors like Burrows are holding down the fort with all the humor and nostalgia we have come to expect from the genre. My personal favorite of Burrows’ sitcom successes? 3rd Rock From the Sun, the satirical sci-fi series starring John Lithgow, and which birthed the career of Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Lucia Aniello

Nominated For: Hacks

Previous Nominations: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series – 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025; Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series – 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025; Outstanding Comedy Series – 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025

Hidden Gems: Time Traveling Bong

Lucia Aniello may not be an onscreen performer in Hacks, but her husband and co-creator Paul W. Downs spoke with us earlier this year about his work both onscreen as Jimmy LuSaque and offscreen as writer/director/producer. Along with Jen Statsky, Aniello and Downs form an indispensable trio of comedy genius, and Aniello has already nabbed a pair of deserving Emmy wins in this very category. She won in 2021 and 2024, and was also nominated in 2022. Not a season of Hacks has gone by without a bevy of Emmy nominations to go along with it, and Aniello’s pivotal work on S4E9 “A Slippery Slope” makes her my predicted pick to win this category in 2025, even if I would love to see Fielder take it home. Fans of Hacks may be surprised to find Aniello operating in an entirely different comedic register with her early Comedy Central series Time Traveling Bong, which is exactly the kind of so-dumb-its-smart stoner comedy that its title suggests. Aniello and Downs even partnered with Ilana Glazer for the three-episode miniseries!

Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg

Nominated For: The Studio

Previous Nominations: Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program – 2005; Outstanding Drama Series – 2021; Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series – 2022; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (Rogen) – 2022; Outstanding Short Form Animated Program – 2022; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – 2025 (Rogen); Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series – 2025; Outstanding Comedy Series – 2025

Hidden Gem: This is the End

It is hard to identify a hidden gem for one of the most formidable comedic duos of our time, but This is the End remains my personal favorite comedy of the 21st century, and feels particularly relevant to The Studio with its metatextual riffs on actors playing themselves. The Studio adopts a much more family-friendly style of comedy, as opposed to the crude sense of humor that found Channing Tatum (as himself) tied to a leash as the sex slave for a cannibal Danny McBride (also playing himself). The Studio‘s 23 nominations are the most ever for a comedy in its first season, and it is likely to clean up across a wide variety of categories. While Aniello is my predicted winner, and Fielder is my personal pick, I would not be surprised to see Rogen & Goldberg secure the victory here, one of several for The Studio on Emmys weekend.