With “Is The Bear a comedy?” debate still ongoing, FX is adding another title to the conversation, The Lowdown, opting to submit the hourlong noir series starring Ethan Hawke as a comedy for the 2025 Emmy Awards.
That is a shift for the show, which was submitted as a drama for the Golden Globes, guild and other awards races over the last several months. In FX’s January Season 2 renewal announcement, The Lowdown was labeled as a “Western-noir drama.” The series’ biggest awards recognition to date has been making AFI Awards’ list of the Top 10 television programs of 2025.
The reclassification decision, which is certain to draw attention — and raise a few eyebrows — was made by FX after consultations with series’ creator/executive producer Sterlin Harjo and star/executive producer Hawke, sources said.
Fueled by the comedic sensibilities of Harjo, co-creator of FX’s Reservation Dogs — a half-hour comedy-drama that competed as comedy, earning an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nomination — The Lowdown has strong comedic undercurrent. Yet, a number of other hourlong series with comedic elements, such as HBO’s Succession or The White Lotus, have run as drama series during their awards runs. (Mike White’s anthology is a unique case as it started as a limited/anthology series with its original installment before transitioning to drama series for the Emmys and most — but not all — other races. It has competed as comedy for several guild awards, including the DGAs.)
Ultimately, FX’s determination was that the drama-comedy balance on the Tulsa noir skewed slightly towards comedy, leading to the show’s comedy designation for Emmy consideration.
Under the current Emmy rules, hourlong series don’t need pre-approval to compete as comedies, a stipulation that was in place in the late 2010s. Series submitted as comedies are required to be “primarily comedic,” regardless of runtime. The Academy “reserves the right to have the category placement reviewed” by its Industry Panel.
Where do comedic dramas, dramatic comedies or dramedies fit has been an age-old Emmy question, which has spawned many controversies, including the TV Academy in 2015 allowing hourlong Glee and Shameless to compete as comedies but not Orange Is the New Black.
And then there is FX’s The Bear which also mixes comedic and dramatic storytelling, perplexing awards purists. Competing as a comedy, it has won 21 Emmys, including for Outstanding Comedy Series. Other comedy-drama winners in the top comedy category include Prime Video’s hourlong The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
The Lowdown follows the gritty exploits of citizen journalist “Lee Raybon” (Hawke), a self-proclaimed Tulsa “truthstorian” whose obsession with the truth is always getting him into trouble.
Harjo, who wrote and directed the pilot, executive produces with Garrett Basch, Ethan Hawke and Ryan Hawke. The Lowdown is produced by FX Productions.
