We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2025 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 12 to June 23, with the official Emmy nominations announced Tuesday, July 15. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 18 and ends the night of August 27. The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 14, and air live on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.
The State of the Race
Unfortunately, unlike the Comedy and Drama categories, which have expanded in recent years, the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category at the Emmys still only allows for five nominees. Shows that premiere earlier in the season tend to be favored, making the spring schedule, when the majority of these shows are released, a very tight competition for voters’ attention.
But with two wins in a row for spring premieres “Beef” and “Baby Reindeer,” it seems like Netflix has perfected the formula. The popularity of the latter series caught them by surprise, as the streaming service was more anticipating “Ripley” as its big Emmy play last season. Realizing that their Emmy wins have been built more on originality over star power, Netflix has gone early on giving British crime drama “Adolescence” an awards push. And it’s worked, as the series has found a global audience after glowing reviews.
It will be interesting to see how much more Netflix can stack on top of that success, and possibly dominate the category, with the new season of “Black Mirror” retreading on some of its Emmy-winning chapters, and “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Sirens” being from creatives that saw Emmys success with projects like “Dahmer” and “Maid,” respectively.
The biggest contender in the category before this recent Netflix push was “The Penguin” on HBO, a series spinoff of the 2022 blockbuster “The Batman.” Its submission into the category has a shred of controversy in that the series is expected to do a second season, but has plenty of plausible deniability at this point with the creative team insisting that it can’t happen until after “The Batman Part II” makes it into theaters, which right now won’t happen until fall 2027 at the earliest. It feels safe to we are quite far from an official renewal announcement.
Surprisingly, HBO, which is often a major contender in the category, does not have much else on its limited series slate, but FX, the other consistent category winner over the past decade or so, does. Literary adaptation “Say Nothing” did not make waves viewership-wise, but already won a USC Scripter Award and was nominated at the WGA Awards. And “Dying for Sex,” which reteams the cable network with Michelle Williams after she won her first Emmy for “Fosse/Verdon” a few years ago.
Outside of those three networks, the race is pretty neck and neck. Apple TV+ has the most prestigious options, with the Alfonso Cuarón-helmed “Disclaimer,” which stars Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, summer 2024 hit “Presumed Innocent” from TV maestro David E. Kelley, and “Dope Thief” from “Top Gun: Maverick” co-writer Peter Craig, which stars Oscar and Emmy nominee Brian Tyree Henry. However, the streaming service has often been snubbed in this category, until it finally got a nomination last year. It has never been favored to win.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu have more consistently been viewed as destinations for Emmy-worthy limited series by voters, receiving multiple nominations over the years. Currently, their big pushes are “The Better Sister” and “Good American Family,” respectively, as their other contenders like “A Very Royal Scandal” and “Clipped” have been lost to time.
Though the tinge of uncertainty around the success of those news shows does leave room for Peacock to rise up the ranks, as its series “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” was more popular than its been given credit for, and its new show “Long Bright River” stars Amanda Seyfried coming off her Emmy win for limited series “The Dropout.”
Current Contenders (In Alphabetical Order):
“Adolescence” (Netflix)
“The Better Sister” (Prime Video)
“Black Mirror” (Netflix)
“Disclaimer” (Apple TV+)
“Dope Thief” (Apple TV+)
“Dying for Sex” (FX)
“Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” (Peacock)
“Good American Family” (Hulu)
“Happy Face” (Paramount+)
“Long Bright River” (Peacock)
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” (Netflix)
“The Penguin” (HBO)
“Presumed Innocent” (Apple TV+)
“Say Nothing” (FX)
“Sirens” (Netflix)
More Limited Series and TV Movie Category Predictions:
Outstanding TV Movie
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
To see IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 77th Emmy Awards, click here.
Last Year’s Winner: “Baby Reindeer”
Still Eligible: No.
Hot Streak: The past decade has seen Netflix, HBO, and FX trade off Emmy wins as the category went through a couple of name changes. However, Netflix now is on the precipice of getting the first threepeat in a while, releasing another spring phenomenon after the surprise success of “Beef” and “Baby Reindeer.”
Notable Ineligible Series: “Task” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); “Murderbot” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); “The Beast in Me” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); “Death by Lightning” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); and “Wayward” (the season will not air in time to be eligible).
