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April 4, 2024Recent Emmy rules dictate that there will be eight nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series and eight nominees for Outstanding Drama Series regardless of the number of submissions. While there were indeed a number of new series that premiered during the 2023-2024 TV season, despite a strike that pushed back production for most projects, the first place to start is always with potential returning contenders. Of last year’s sixteen nominated series, only four are eligible again this year.

The 2022-2023 Emmys taking place right around the same time as the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and Critics Choice Awards that honored achievements during the 2023 calendar year meant that The Bear swept with every major awards body. But the Emmys were actually citing season one while every other group was already feting season two, which will be a strong contender for a repeat win at the Emmys.

Both Abbott Elementary and Only Murders in the Building are in the hunt for their third consecutive nominations, both of which seem likely given that favor for the two series continues to be strong. While Wednesday will be back for season two, it won’t arrive in time for this Emmy cycle. A second season of Jury Duty seems unlikely but could happen in the future, certainly not in time to be on this year’s ballot. And say goodbye to Barry and past winners The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Ted Lasso, all of which have officially ended.

There are six additional past nominees back in the running this season that could make a comeback. Hacks scored for its first two seasons and should be back for its third, which premieres in early May after almost two full years off the air. Curb Your Enthusiasm has followed an even more unusual airing schedule, airing twelve seasons over the course of twenty-five years. Somehow, it’s managed to get all nominated for all but its first, most recently in 2022, 2020, 2018, and 2012. Its final season is now eligible and seems likely to get in based on history alone.

What We Do in the Shadows, which is set to end with its upcoming sixth season, was nominated for both seasons two and three, missing out for season four. With fewer returning contenders in the running, season five could mark a return to the lineup for the well-liked vampire mockumentary. Two other surprise past inclusions are still on the air, though as of this writing, both Cobra Kai and Emily in Paris, nominated in 2021, are not set to return before the end of the season. And don’t count out Frasier, which won this prize for its first five seasons on the air, scored three more nominations, and now returns after a nearly two-decade hiatus for a relatively well-received revival.

The Outstanding Drama Series race is considerably more wide-open. Three-time champion Succession is over, as is Better Call Saul, which shockingly never managed to win any of its fifty-three Emmy nominations. The next seasons of House of the Dragon and The Last of Us are coming soon, but not returning to HBO until June 2024 and early 2025, respectively. There’s no word on a timeline for season two of Andor and season three of The White Lotus and Yellowjackets. That leaves exactly one potential repeat nominee, The Crown. After winning the top prize and every televised Emmy for season four in 2021, its fifth season in 2023 earned fewer total nominations. For its sixth and final season, can it return in a big way for a farewell awards tour? Even if it doesn’t, a snub for its last stretch is unfathomable.

It’s worth looking back at previous years to see what other shows could factor into the awards conversation. Four series nominated in 2022 are all coming back, but there’s no word on when. Severance, Squid Game, and Stranger Things are all hot tickets that will surely take time, and recent news is that season three of Euphoria is going to be a long wait. Season four of past nominee The Boys will bow in June, too late for this Emmy cycle, and The Handmaid’s Tale, which also missed out for its most recent season five, won’t be back until next year. Onetime nominee Bridgerton will return for the first half of its third season in May before the back half premieres in June, so it’s unclear whether those first four episodes will be sufficient for Emmy consideration. Whether two-time nominee The Mandalorian will be back at all remains a question mark, and there’s one other show that was renewed following its nominated first season way back in 2019 but feels unlikely to still be in development at this point: Bodyguard.
Statistics and history certainly aren’t everything, as past awards seasons have shown us, but it’s always important to look back at what Emmy voters have shown they love as a starting point for what to expect. Programs don’t need to be submitted until May 9th and nominations voting begins June 13th, which allows for plenty of time for this season’s likely frontrunners to shift and new contenders to emerge. Come back to Awards Buzz regularly for deep dives into a number of categories, looking at the likeliest nominees and highlighting some longshots who are truly worthy of consideration.
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[…] will be announced on July 17th, and the drama races are set for a massive overhaul. As we explained in our early April Emmy preview, out of last year’s eight nominees for Outstanding Drama Series, […]