Are streaming services poised for an Emmy win for Outstanding Drama Series?
The A.V. Club is counting down the days leading up to the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 17, with an examination of this year’s major categories. Each day, TV editor Erik Adams is breaking down a category and giving us his picks for who should win, and who will win. On the final day of our Emmy Round Up, we’re looking at the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series:
Streaming services are dominating this category, making up the majority of nominees for the first time thanks to Netflix (The Crown, House Of Cards, Stranger Things) and Hulu (The Handmaid’s Tale). While Netflix has been nominated before, no streaming service has ever won this award. But this year could be the first, thanks to The Handmaid’s Tale. It captured the zeitgeist this spring, with hauntingly relevant themes that could appeal to Emmy voters.
But if there’s any thwart to The Handmaid’s Tale, it’s NBC’s This Is Us. Network dramas have experienced a drought in this category for over a decade, with the last win being for Fox’s 24 in 2006. The show’s critical response and wild popularity, and voter desire for a network win will probably sway Emmy votes towards This Is Us. For the rest of Erik’s analysis, check out the video above.
Join The A.V. Club this Sunday, September 17, as we live blog the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on CBS.