The Contending weighs in with their Limited Series Emmy predictions. How many trophies will Netflix’s Adolescence take home?
We weighed in on Emmy’s Comedy races, so it’s time for our Limited Series Emmy predictions. Taking a look at this year’s nominees, it’s tough to imagine that, just a few years ago, the Limited Series Emmy races were some of the hottest on the ballot. Think about 2016: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story versus American Crime versus Fargo versus The Night Manager versus Roots. Think about 2017: Big Little Lies versus Fargo versus Feud: Bette and Joan versus Genius (Einstein) versus The Night Of. Those years provide just two examples of classic Limited Series contests. Two years we clearly took for granted since the renaissance of the Limited Series in the mid-2010s.
Yes, there are still great Limited Series to be had this Emmy cycle. But the race doesn’t have the same excitement it once had.
Netflix’s Adolescence stunned viewers with its unexpected and stark look at the perils of modern culture and its impact on young men. HBO’s The Penguin fashioned an engaging twist on a mafia story within the context of the DC universe. Dying For Sex created a funny and touching memoir out of an extremely difficult period at the end of someone’s life. After those titles, everything seems kind of… fine?
So, making our 2025 Limited Series Emmy predictions comes down to a single question. How far down the line will the Television Academy mark their ballots for Adolescence? Will The Penguin overcome presumed comic book bias to take home major trophies? It won big at last weekend’s Creative Arts Awards, but it seemed always primed to win there given its comic book origins. Will Adolescence‘s very short run time (only 4 episodes) hinder it in any way? After all, it seems strange to compare Erin Doherty’s or Christine Tremarco’s contained performances (Doherty has only a single episode) against the broad, firecracker, series-spanning performance of Jenny Slate in Dying For Sex. The same odd comparison happens between the great Stephen Graham (2 episodes) against Colin Farrell’s titular role in The Penguin.
Or maybe the Television Academy doesn’t care about things like that. Maybe they just vote for what they love.
We’ll find out on Sunday night.
Until then, here are our Limited Series Emmy predictions (plus the Variety / Reality / Talk categories).
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It's a weird situation the industry is in now. Story-wise, there is no actual reason for The Penguin to be a "comic book" series. It's just a crime thriller; there is nothing about the story or characters that requires this to take place in the DC Universe, and the occasional perfunctory Batman references in the dialog don't mean or add anything.
So they make the main character in their mafia series a Batman villain for marketability purposes, but paradoxically that hurts its ability to be judged on its own merits for awards.
Great point. Very thoughtful and probably true!