Why This Matters: The Emmys have become the best means for networks and streaming services to brand themselves as quality.
The 71st annual Emmys are in a way a celebration of endings.
HBO's supernova, Game of Thrones, ended its run this year and while the ending proved controversial, the fantasy epic hauled in a record-setting 32 nominations, making its win for outstanding drama series nearly a lock. Game of Thrones already has taken the drama win three times, and overall it's been nominated 161 times with 47 wins.
Also ending is another supernova of sorts: HBO's Veep concluded this year as well, and it has been nominated every year that it's been on the air. Veep has been named outstanding comedy series three times, and star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won the Emmy for outstanding comedy actress every season, or six times so far. Louis-Dreyfus is now positioned to be the actor who has won the most Emmys ever. If she wins this year and that's considered likely she will hit nine, breaking a tie with Cloris Leachman.
Less nominated but also highly impactful to the TV business is the end of CBS's The Big Bang Theory, which was TV's most-watched comedy for years and has earned billions of dollars for its producing studio, Warner Bros., over its long run as syndication's highest-rated sitcom. Other big shows, such as Fox's Empire and The CW's Supernatural, are also headed into final-season runs.
Among all those endings, not a first, but a rare occurrence: TV's biggest awards show is going hostless, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said last week at the TCA Summer Press Tour. The last time the Emmys aired without a host was in 2003, when the show also aired on Fox. Before that, it went hostless in 1998 on NBC and in 1975 on CBS.
A Season of Endings
Part of what factored into that decision was the number of endings TV is facing this year, Collier said.
It's our job to assess how to elevate the program and what's interesting about this year is how many amazing shows we're saying goodbye to: Game of Thrones, Empire, Veep, Big Bang Theory this is new to me, I've never worked on the Emmys before, he said. You have to look at trade-offs: If you have a host and opening number, that's 15 to 20 minutes you don't have to salute the shows. Our production team has had to balance those trade-offs. I think it will give us more time to honor those shows.
It also was not lost on Fox that the Academy Awards telecast fared just fine without a host. The Oscars did very well, Collier said, noting that the show's ratings actually went up this year. That was something we paid attention to. This is a unique year for some of America's favorite shows and producers came to the conclusion that spending more time on those was the right thing to do.
Host or no, this Emmys also comes before an ending of another sort. By Emmys time next year, The Walt Disney Co. will have launched Disney , which will include movies and series from the likes of Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, and has the potential to be its own sort of Death Star. WarnerMedia's HBO Max also should be online by then with streaming services from Apple and Comcast/NBCUniversal not far behind. All of that is likely to change the business of television already in the throes of high disruption even further and more foundationally.
This year, though, the Emmys feels familiar. HBO once again led all comers with a record-setting 137 nominations after losing the lead to Netflix last year, with 112 nods for Netflix in 2018 compared to 108 for HBO, but the premium net tied the streaming service last year in wins with 23 each. HBO has a good shot this year to hit the trifecta with Game of Thrones, Veep and limited series Chernobyl all well-positioned to win. That said, Netflix, with 117 total nods this year, has strong contenders in all three categories, too.
HBO and Netflix far outstripped the competition, with NBC coming in third with 58 total nominations and Amazon Prime Video in fourth with 47.
Thrones' Likely to Reign
Of the three series categories, Game of Thrones seems like the safest best to take home the win. After earning a record-setting 32 nominations, nothing even seems close in terms of production values and sheer scale. That said, the conclusion of Thrones created controversy in the fandom with 1.7 million people (and climbing) signing a petition asking HBO to redo the finale.
There are very, very few downsides to having a hugely popular show, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys said at TCA. But one I can think of is when you try to end it, many people have big opinions on how it should end and how they should see the characters' stories come to an end. I think [the petition] shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn't something that we seriously considered.
Some awards-season observers believe the controversy just fanned the flames of the fandom.
I think controversy is often key to a show's legacy, said Richard Licata, CEO of Licata & Co., a leading TV-awards consultant. [Controversy] kept Thrones in the Emmy conversation, and once and for all solidified its status as a cultural television phenomenon. I think the provocativeness has and will help it make multiple trips to the podium. This is the last time the TV industry can validate Thrones and whether it wins or not, it is walking away with the most nominations in Emmy history.
Also validating Thrones or at least creators and executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss is the fact that they made a $200 million overall deal with Netflix last week.
Beyond Thrones, also nominated in the outstanding drama category are BBC America's Killing Eve; AMC's Better Call Saul; HBO's Succession, just back for season two; Netflix
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Why This Matters: The Emmys have become the best means for networks and streaming services to brand themselves as quality.
