Traditionally, the Outstanding Limited Series category has been one of the premier Emmy races each year, often attracting top filmmakers and major movie stars to bring to life stories that can best be told in a 4-10 episode format (with, if they’re lucky, the budget to match). And like its sister awards, the Oscars, many of the main competitors usually wait to premiere until the end of the eligibility period to be fresher in voters’ minds.
Not so this year. There are still ten weeks to go before the entry deadline of May 31st, and there are a few prominent limited series — Jessica Biel & Elizabeth Banks in “The Better Sister” (Prime Video) and Julianne Moore in “Sirens” (Netflix), to name just two — still to premiere. However, a consensus is growing among Emmy prognosticators that most of the category’s top contenders are already (or about to be) streaming and available to watch today.
So, if you want to get a jump on your Emmy homework this year, here are ten limited series to put on your radar, along with a few comments as to where their awards strength (or weaknesses) may lie. Happy streaming!
“ADOLESCENCE” (4 episodes) – Now Streaming On Netflix
In one sense, the narrative outline for the four-part Netflix series is simple: Eddie (Owen Cooper) is a 13-year-old boy who is arrested on suspicion of murdering a classmate. He swears to his father (Stephen Graham) that he didn’t do it, but the evidence suggests otherwise. But it’s the ripples that spread out from this one incident that have a profound effect on the family and the community at large, especially on a forensic psychologist (Erin Doherty) who is anxious to see whether there is evil inside the boy. As deeply satisfying as the acting, writing, and themes of the series might be, it will likely be remembered most for its form: each of the four episodes is comprised of a single unbroken shot, immersing us in the action as it happens as we walk the same steps as everyone involved. It’s safe to say that “Adolescence” is unlike any television series ever made.
EMMY OUTLOOK: To predict what Emmy voters will do, you can look back on previous stats, awards, and nominations from other voting bodies, and that’s a real help. But once in a while, old-fashioned word-of-mouth kicks in. It happened last year with “Baby Reindeer,” and it’s happening now with this Netflix series. A week before its premiere, “Adolescence” was on few people’s Emmy radar, and now, for the moment at least, it’s the title on everyone’s lips. Expect series, writing, directing, cinematography nominations, and serious campaigns touting Graham, Cooper, and Doherty. In horse racing parlance, this one is coming up fast on the outside and about to overtake the front-runner (if it hasn’t already).
“BLACK MIRROR” (6 episodes) – Premieres April 10th On Netflix
Netflix has been wisely (if frustratingly) stingy about the exact details of the seventh season of this acclaimed anthology series. However, we do know that for the first time in the series’ history, “Black Mirror” will feature a direct sequel to a beloved episode: USS Callister, which won four 2018 Primetime Emmy Awards. Just how series creator Charlie Brooker will weave the plot and themes from that season into the stories that will comprise Season 7 is anyone’s guess, but considering the return of much of its Emmy Award-winning crafts team, as well as its banger of an announced cast, it’s one to which Emmy voters will likely pay close attention.Â
EMMY OUTLOOK: “Black Mirror” won the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie in three consecutive years, an Academy record, but for Season 7, Netflix is submitting the show for Outstanding Limited Series. While the competition in Limited Series may be more intense, Season 7’s cast is stacked with Emmy favorites, including previous winners Awkwafina, Chris O’Dowd, and Paul Giamatti, as well as prior Emmy nominees Issa Rae, Emma Corrin, Rashida Jones, Will Poulter, Harriet Walter, and Tracee Ellis Ross. All the elements are in place, but can the series deliver on them?
“DISCLAIMER” (7 episodes) – Now streaming On Apple TV+
If there’s a limited series with an impeccable pedigree in the race, “Disclaimer” is it. The first limited series written and directed by Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón, the seven-episode Apple TV+ series had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, where it garnered strong critical backing. Based on the novel by Renée Knight, the drama focuses on a renowned documentary journalist (Cate Blanchett) who has hidden a scandalous secret from her husband (Sacha Baron Cohen) in her past for years. However, the father (Kevin Kline) of the man involved in the incident has published a thinly disguised novel about her actions in hopes of destroying her.
EMMY OUTLOOK: Solid. The series has proven to be a formidable contender in earlier awards shows, with nominations from both the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards as the year’s best. In addition, both Blanchett and Kline earned acting nominations from both groups. Cuarón received a Best Director nom from the Directors Guild, and Blanchett won this year’s Satellite Award as the year’s Best Actress. “Disclaimer” is clearly on an awards roll, which will likely continue throughout the Emmy season.
“DYING FOR SEX” (8 episodes) – Premieres April 4th On Hulu
Based on the podcast by Nikki Boyer, this 8-episode Hulu dramatic comedy focuses on Boyer’s relationship with her best friend Molly (Michelle Williams), whose Stage IV metastatic breast cancer has returned. Facing death, Molly confesses to her doctor that she has never had an orgasm with another person, and from this bucket list wish, a quest is born. With Nikki by her side, Molly sets out on her journey to experience The Big O with a wide variety of men, always motivated by her one fervent wish: “I want to feel everything for as long as I can.”
EMMY OUTLOOK: Williams swept the awards season in 2019 for her take on Gwen Verdon in the limited series “Fosse/Verdon,” and it will likely be her presence alone that will initially draw Emmy voters into checking this out. In addition, her co-stars, SAG Award winner Slate and Oscar winner Sissy Spacek have their own fans as well. Critical to the series’ chances, however, will be how the show’s writing is received. The material is dicey and, if handled incorrectly, could turn off more prudish Emmy voters (if any are left). However, a series nomination has a real shot if the scripts nail the delicate balance between comedy and tragedy.
“MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY” (9 episodes) – Now Streaming On Netflix
The second season of this Ryan Murphy-produced anthology series focuses on the 1989 murders of powerful music executive José Menendez (Javier Bardem) and his troubled wife Kitty (Chloë Sevigny) at the hands of their two sons Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Kyle (Cooper Koch). Prosecutors argued that the motive behind the killing was the brothers’ desire to grab the family fortune, while the boys allege that it was done out of fear after they endured years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by José. Though the story is told from multiple perspectives, the version told by the brothers, whether reliable or not, is the one most utilized in the narrative.
EMMY OUTLOOK: The first edition of “Monster,” which focused on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, earned 13 Emmy nominations (with 1 win), so clearly, the anthology series is on Emmy voters’ radar. Though this second season received decidedly mixed critical reviews, it has fared well on the awards circuit thus far. The series has received three Golden Globe nominations — as Limited Series, Best Actor for Koch, and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem — and Bardem also earned a Best Male Actor nomination from the Screen Actors Guild for his performance. Emmy voters in the past have responded well to Murphy’s projects, and there’s no reason to think this love will stop here.
“THE PENGUIN” (8 episodes) – Now Streaming On Max
One of the most welcome surprises of this television year has been the quality of this 8-episode spin-off of the 2022 Matt Reeves theatrical film, “The Batman.” As fashioned by the series’ showrunner Lauren LeFranc, “The Batman” is much closer to the milieu of “The Sopranos” than of the comic-book world, as it chronicles the rise of mid-level gangster Oswald Cobb (Colin Farrell) who rises to the top of the Gotham City drug trade after the death of his boss, only to come face-to-face with the late boss’ daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti) who will stop at nothing to take over what she considers to be the family business. The prosthetic makeup on Farrell has been widely praised, but the techs are outstanding up and down the line in building the menacing environment in which a mobster like Cobb can thrive.
EMMY OUTLOOK: Judging by its stats, this would have to be considered the big dog in the race. The limited series has earned nominations from the PGA, Critics Choice, and Golden Globe Awards, as well as from a wide array of tech guilds — editing, sound, cinematography, makeup & hairstyling, and art direction (where it won). Tellingly, it has also been nominated by both the Writers Guild and Directors Guild. Milioti won the Critics Choice Award as Lead Actress, and co-star Farrell has swept the board so far, winning the Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, among others. So right now, “The Penguin” is sitting pretty well for the Emmys. However, early presumed front-runners in this category have often been prone to an upset by an impertinent late-comer, which this year could be “Adolescence.” Plus, this category has not been kind to comic book adaptations, giving them its top award only once (its DC Comics stablemate, 2019’s “Watchmen”). But it’s hard to ignore a series that has checked off this many boxes.Â
“THE PERFECT COUPLE” (6 episodes) – Now Streaming On Netflix
“The Perfect Couple” is the limited series equivalent of a “beach read,” which is convenient because its action is set at the fabulously lavish seaside mansion of best-selling novelist Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman) whose promo tour for her latest book happily coincides with the wedding of her son Benji (Billy Howle) to Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson), who, in Greer’s eyes, is not exactly top drawer. The morning of the wedding, however, the murdered body of one of the guests washes up on shore, and wouldn’t you know it? Everyone’s a suspect. This might have been an otherwise forgettable whodunnit were it not for the strong performances by the cast and the sensitive direction of Susanne Bier, who takes the time to present these archetypes as real people worth caring about.
EMMY OUTLOOK: Usually, Emmy voters go for highbrow and relevant in this category, and “The Perfect Couple” is anything but that. However, there’s enormous respect in the industry for Kidman and the prestige brought to the project by Bier’s direction. There may also be a stealth awards contender in Liev Schreiber, whose performance as Greer’s pot-smoking husband Tag has already earned this year’s Critics Choice Award as the year’s Best Supporting Actor.
“PRESUMED INNOCENT” (8 episodes) – Now Streaming On Apple TV+
This Apple TV+ series has been adapted by author Scott Turow’s best-selling courtroom thriller, which was adapted from the hit 1990 film starring Harrison Ford. The guiding force behind this TV adaptation is writer/producer David E. Kelley, who has taken Turow’s text (which was abbreviated for the film) and let it breathe during the course of its eight episodes. Here, Kelley digs deeper into the psyche of top prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has the tables turned when he is accused of the murder of a former colleague (Renate Reinsve) with whom he was having an affair.
EMMY OUTLOOK: Kelley, who has won 11 Emmy Awards from 30 nominations and is a member of the Television Academy Hall of Fame, certainly has Emmy voters’ attention with the right project, and “Presumed Innocent” has received enough critical acclaim to be a strong contender. Heading your cast with such Oscar nominees as Gyllenhaal (nominated for a Globe for his performance) and Ruth Negga (Indie Spirit Award nominee for hers) can’t hurt, either. However, the biggest obstacle that the series is likely to face is the question, “Wasn’t that on last year?” Indeed, having your premiere way back in June 2024, just days after this year’s eligibility calendar began, can seem like an eternity to voters, so it’s a big reminder job that the Apple team has before them. Fortunately, they have the goods to make it happen.
“SAY NOTHING” (9 episodes) – Now Streaming On Hulu
Based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s acclaimed best-seller, this 9-part Hulu series is set during The Troubles, the four-decade nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that pitted Ulster Protestants against Irish Catholics. The drama is set among four significant figures in the struggle for Northern Ireland’s independence — the Price sisters: Dolours (Lola Petticrew) and Marian (Hazel Doupe), whose acts of rebellion inspired a nation; Brendan Hughes (Anthony Boyle), a populist leader of the Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.); and Gerry Adams (Josh Finan), who went on to become president of the Irish Republican party Sinn Féin and who to this day denies ever being a member of the I.R.A. The series skillfully captures the exuberance of the early days of the rebellion, as well as the burden of the legacy of violence that the movement had to carry in its later years.
EMMY OUTLOOK:Â Unlike several of its fellow competitors, “Say Nothing” doesn’t have a cast and crew chock full of well-known previous Emmy nominees. It’s a fight that it will have to power through on sheer quality alone, but considering that the series received some of the highest critical praise of the season, that might just be enough to capture that Limited Series nomination.
“ZERO DAY” (9 episodes) – Now Streaming On Netflix
After a “zero-day” cyberattack cripples the United States and kills thousands of Americans, President Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett) appoints her predecessor, former President George Mullen (Robert De Niro), to head up a Zero Day Commission to uncover who was behind the terrorism. In so doing, Mullen seeks to expand his power, squashing civil liberties and detaining suspects with torture-like interrogations. His tactics capture the attention of a fiery NYC Congresswoman (and his estranged daughter), Alexandra (Lizzy Caplan), a provocative male podcaster (Dan Stevens), and a tech billionaire (Gaby Hoffmann) who has her own designs. The pilot script was written almost three years ago, but the parallels to today write themselves.
EMMY OUTLOOK: Any acting project that marks the first American TV series for the legendary De Niro will certainly attract awards attention, but notable too is that the series boasts nine Emmy winners and nominees among its principal cast. The series itself received mixed reviews from critics upon its premiere, but among its creators are Noah Oppenheim, a former president of NBC News, and Michael S. Schmidt, a famed NY Times investigative reporter, who lend the project both credibility and snob appeal (the importance of which Emmy prognosticators underestimate at their own peril). The most terrifying prospect may be that the series becomes even more relevant in the months to come.
What do you think are the big Emmy contenders this year for Outstanding Limited Series? What are some of your favorite shows you’ve watched for this season so far? Please let us know in the comments section below or over on our X account, and be sure to check out our latest Emmy predictions which will be arriving later this week. Please also be sure to subscribe to the Next Best Series Podcast where we will be conducting a number of interviews with Emmy contenders throughout the awards season and discussing the race over the next couple of months.
