Emmy Review: Drama Series

By Abe Friedtanzer

Will HBO or Netflix reign on Emmy night?

This year’s Best Drama slate includes seven past nominees and one freshman series. There are heavy hitters but also major omissions like Big Little Lies, The Morning Show, and This Is Us in favor of shows that didn’t consistently show up across categories. To me, Succession, which I’m predicting will win lead actor, supporting actress, guest actress, and writing, seems like the safe frontrunner, like Game of Thrones was last year. But are we missing another show that could win it instead? 

I’ll try to avoid major plot details in my analysis – but if you’d like more spoiler-filled descriptions, click on the episode titles. Let’s consider each nominee…

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Emmy Review: Limited Series

by Juan Carlos

"And the Emmy goes to Watchmen."

Truth be told, it is hard to see a scenario where any other nominee overtakes HBO's series, which is the most nominated this year. The second-most nominated limited series Hollywood (with 11 nominations) was not even nominated in this, the top category. All of the other shows have a crucial nomination missing. Watchmen’s nomination haul demonstrates overwhelming support. Interesting to note that all of the nominees in this category are female-driven stories. Here is one last take on the contenders for limited series…..

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Emmy Review: Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

by Juan Carlos

We now reach this hotly contested category, consisting of Emmy favorites, Oscar winners, and a breakout performer. Aside from Regina King and Cate Blanchett, pundits were trying out several combinations of who would fill the remaining slots, especially with the decrease from six to five nominees. Unbelievable is competing for Limited Series, but neither of its widely predicted leads Merritt Wever or Kaitlyn Dever made it. Previous Emmy winners and nominees that were also in the running but didn't make it included Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Dockery, Helen Mirren, Ellie Kemper, and Aunjanue Ellis.

Without further ado, let's consider the lucky five who were nominated...  

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Emmy Review: Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

By Juan Carlos Ojano

Herewith a strange category in that all of the nominees have considerable hurdles to overcome to win this Emmy. As it stands, this group is an eclectic mixture of the young (Mescal, Pope), the old (Irons), and the superheroes in between (Jackman, Ruffalo). Do note that this category as well as Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie do not have episode submissions. Instead, the performance from the entire series will be considered...

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Emmys Review: Animated Program

by Christopher James

It’s the old guard versus the “new” wave of Netflix animation. I use “new” in quotes because there’s nothing “new” about Bojack Horseman or Big Mouth, except that the Emmys finally noticed them just last year. Can they win on their second try at the Emmys?

All three of their challengers have won before. Rick and Morty won its sole bid for Outstanding Animated Program in 2018. Meanwhile, Bob’s Burgers has consistently earned nominations for every year since its second season, winning in 2014 and 2017. And never count out the most senior show in a lineup. The Simpsons won this category last year, its first win since 2008. In total, the legendary comedy has been nominated twenty-seven times in this category, winning twelve of those competitions.

Since this is a tight race, it may come down to episode submission. Let’s take a look at the field:

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