Baz and Nancy fly the flag for Ireland at Emmy awards

Irish interest in Monday's International Emmy awards at the Hilton New York Hotel is represented by Baz Ashmawy and his mother Nancy, whose Sky 1 show 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy has been nominated in the non-scripted entertainment category.

Made by Burning Bright Productions and Ashmawy's Brown Bread Films, the country of origin for the Sky-commissioned "septuagenarian adventure" series is listed as the UK, while Sky 1's Moone Boy, which won best comedy two years ago, is also technically a production of UK origin in Emmyland. This is despite the fact that it features mostly Irish actors, is written by two Irishmen and is filmed in Co Roscommon – just one of the four production companies involved (Grand Pictures) is based in Ireland.

The last television programme listed as from Ireland to get any International Emmy love was in fact Beat Girl, which was in the running for an International Emmy Kids Award in 2014 and was made in Ireland by Portugal-headquartered BeActive and its Dublin-based sister company CR Entertainment.

Baz and Nancy shouldn’t be too disappointed if their trip down the red carpet doesn’t end in victory, however, as their show has been acquired by broadcasters in more than 100 territories, making it Sky’s most successful factual entertainment property to date.