TVLine’s annual advocacy interval referred to as Dream Emmy season has commenced! As per custom, we’re launching the three-week occasion with the Excellent Drama Sequence race and this very acquainted query: Is Succession unbeatable?
With out query, the HBO phenom — coming off a really well-received fourth and last season — is the frontrunner to take house the highest drama prize (because it did in 2020 and 2022). Nonetheless, two different super-buzzy HBO dramas — we’re you, The Final of Us and The White Lotus — may simply play spoiler.
The larger query, in fact, is whether or not any of the aforementioned collection deserve to be within the operating for TV’s highest honor (as a result of, reminder, these are suggestions, not predictions). And that’s the place we are available!
Scroll by the listing under to evaluation all of our Dream Nominees after which inform us if our picks warrant a “Hell, sure!,” “Um, no” or “How may you allow off such-and-such?!”
For the document, 2023 Emmy nominations will likely be voted on from June 15-26, and unveiled on July 12. The seventy fifth Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is scheduled to air on Monday, Sept. 18 on Fox.
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Andor (Disney+)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Disney+ WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Taking its cue from the movie Rogue One, for which the two-season collection serves as a prequel, Andor is a grounded, slow-burn espionage story populated by participating characters each acquainted (Rogue One star Diego Luna’s Andor, franchise vet Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma) and new. And visually, Andor was downright transporting, forsaking the flat, digital backdrops of The Mandalorian to as an alternative situate characters on lush, precise landscapes or contained in the dirty alleys of Ferrix. Mando and Sir Din Grogu are enjoyable to use up time with, however Andor is the Star Wars collection many followers had been searching for.
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Higher Name Saul (AMC)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of AMC WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: That is Saul‘s final probability to understand Emmy gold after going house empty-handed on a whopping 46 complete nominations to date — and it’s laborious to think about a extra convincing closing assertion. Within the rivetingly tense last season, we mentioned goodbye to key characters in surprising vogue, reunited with acquainted faces (hello, Walt and Jesse!) and noticed the harm brought on by Jimmy’s sins in an prolonged black-and-white flash-forward. (Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn had been by no means higher.) Plus, all of it wrapped up with a supremely satisfying collection finale that even rivaled Breaking Unhealthy‘s personal celebrated swan track.
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The Boys (Prime Video)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Prime Video WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: With all of the hype surrounding the superhero drama’s audacious content material in Season 3 (see: the premiere’s exploding penis, the “Herogasm” episode), it’s straightforward to neglect that beneath all of the gory and express scenes is a sharply written and highly effective satire. However simply rewatch Homelander’s Trump-esque triumph within the season finale and check out to not get chills. Mix that with progressive turns like Black Noir’s animated backstory and surprisingly emotional twists (something with Kimiko and Frenchie seizes our hearts), and also you’ve obtained a collection that not solely is aware of learn how to shock, but additionally continues to push itself to new depths.
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The Final of Us (HBO)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of HBO WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: How’s this for a cheat code? Government producers Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin blended a cracking-good solid (led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey), spare-yet-evocative writing and loving devotion to/willingness to deviate from the supply materials — a post-apocalyptic, zombie online game! — all to create one of many best dramas we’ve seen in years. Actually? Give ‘em the trophy for that Episode 3 diversion alone, a tour de pressure from visitor stars Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman that nonetheless makes us weep every time we see a strawberry patch.
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Snowfall (FX)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of FX WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: FX’s charming drama, set in the course of the top of the Nineteen Eighties crack epidemic, closed out its run on a collection excessive as Franklin lastly obtained what was coming to him, ending up broke and wandering the neighborhood he destroyed with medication. We had been moved by Damson Idris’ career-defining efficiency in the course of the once-promising vendor’s unsettling downward spiral, and left breathless by the present’s sobering ending that eloquently captured the devastating results of habit. A really excellent crime story highlighted by an ultra-talented solid, gorgeous cinematography and people unforgettable needle drops, Snowfall has earned its spot as one of many all-time greats within the style.
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Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Paramount+ WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Picard‘s third and last season gave us what we wished all alongside: a full-on Subsequent Era reunion, with Patrick Stewart reteaming along with his outdated co-stars for one last mission within the stars. It wasn’t only a nostalgia journey, although: The ultimate season pushed Jean-Luc and his Enterprise buddies to new emotional heights with the introduction of a son Jean-Luc by no means knew he had, together with a badass villain in Amanda Plummer’s Vadic. Plentiful Easter eggs and enjoyable cameos made the season a Trekkie’s delight, and the epic collection finale gave the Enterprise crew the grand send-off they’ve at all times deserved.
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Succession (HBO)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of HBO WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: We had been unhappy to listen to that HBO’s company drama was ending, however we trusted collection creator Jesse Armstrong to stay the touchdown — and boy, did he. In Season 4, we had been ready to look at the Roy household battle it out, solely to have the wind knocked out of us by the devastatingly abrupt demise of patriarch Logan. (Put “Connor’s Marriage ceremony” proper up there with the perfect TV drama episodes ever.) However the household heat was short-lived, and the Roy siblings turned on one another as they struggled to flee their father’s immense shadow. Like Logan Roy himself, Succession went out on high.
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The White Lotus (HBO)
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of HBO WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: We’re very a lot on board with taking an annual trip with Mike White’s sharply noticed social satire, particularly since Season 2 served up extra of the present’s exquisitely awkward class warfare, however with an attractive European aptitude. After all it was a pleasure to spend extra time with Jennifer Coolidge as pampered goofball Tanya, however we truly preferred attending to know newcomers like Meghann Fahy’s Daphne and Haley Lu Richardson’s Portia, too. All of it performed out like an Italian intercourse farce, with a number of carnal misunderstandings giving us a captivating thriller to untangle, constructing as much as a murderous, um, climax.
