Emmy Winner Predictions: Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 7:31PM 
Now this is one hell of a category, and it may actually be THE most competitive race of Emmy night. Unlike drama and comedy series, where The Crown and Ted Lasso have distinct advantages and are all but guaranteed to triumph (check out our breakdowns of those categories for more), this one is completely open and up in the air. It’s one of the few categories where I correctly predicted all five nominees, though they didn’t end up with the same hauls I expected. Let’s break down the competition, their overall stats, and which of them could emerge victorious…
I May Destroy You (HBO Max)
I actually just finished watching this show. It’s remarkable, and it’s very much unlike anything else I’ve seen. Its approach to its subject matter – sexual assault – is entirely unconventional, and the talent involved, Weruche Opia and acting nominees Michaela Coel and Paapa Essiedu, is excellent. It scored some crucial nominations out of its total of nine, including casting, writing, and two for directing. The fact that it made it this far suggests that it does have tremendous support, and while it might be the underdog, it would be a phenomenal choice. I’m very glad it got nominated so that I finally made time to watch it, which I should have done right from the start.
Mare of Easttown (HBO)
This show is probably the most recent instance of appointment television, following in the footsteps of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, where people sat down every Sunday night to catch the next new episode as soon as it was available. It also benefits from recency bias given that it finished airing in May at the tail end of the TV season. It hit all the marks it needed to, with four acting bids and mentions for directing and writing. It didn’t win a single one of its creative arts awards bids but it could still triumph on Emmy night.
The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Now here’s the show to beat, or at least the show that won every single prize in the earlier ceremonies that go by calendar year. It scored eighteen nominations and actually already won half of those at the Creative Arts Emmys this past weekend, which is a good thing though not always a guarantee of eventual top-category success (Stranger Things outperformed The Handmaid’s Tale in the technical categories when they were both freshmen, only to lose the big prizes). Anya Taylor-Joy is very hot right now and the show’s quality holds up, so I still think this is the one to beat. Of these five, I think it’s the most consistently entertaining watch as well.
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video)
This series turned out to be too tough for Emmy voters to truly appreciate, scoring just seven bids, the least of any program in this category, and earning a grand total of zero acting nominations, which is a bit hard to believe. To imagine it winning after that is difficult, since voters would have endorsed it a lot more enthusiastically if they actually loved it. I think Barry Jenkins has a chance to win for his directing, but this strong but draining show is not likely to win this prize.
WandaVision (Disney+)
And here we have the juggernaut, the show that earned twenty-three nominations, just one shy of the tie created by The Crown and The Mandalorian. With its technical bids, the show went only three for fifteen at the Creative Arts Emmys, but it might have a better chance in the major races, where it has three actors nominated and also three of its episodes up for writing. It’s the genre choice, which didn’t hurt last year’s big winner, Watchmen. Will voters embrace this superhero/MCU fare as warmly?
I’m really torn about this since I do think that four of these shows could legitimately win. My gut still tells me that The Queen’s Gambit will pull it off, even if both WandaVision and Mare of Easttown are potential upsets. And how cool would it be if they all split the votes and I May Destroy You won? Fortunately, and as my rankings below indicate, there are no bad choices here.
Predictions
- The Queen’s Gambit
- WandaVision
- Mare of Easttown
- I May Destroy You
- The Underground Railroad
Personal Ranking
- The Queen’s Gambit
- I May Destroy You
- WandaVision
- The Underground Railroad
- Mare of Easttown
What do you think will win here, and which was your favourite?
ALL CATEGORIES REVIEWED
- Limited Series
- Limited - Actress
- Limited - Actor
- Limited - Supporting Actress
- Limited - Supporting Actor
- Limited - Directing
- Limited - Writing
- Comedy - Lead Actor
- Comedy - Supporting Actor
- Comedy - Guest Actress
- Comedy - Guest Actor
- Comedy - Directing
- Comedy - Writing
- Drama - Lead Actress
- Drama - Supporting Actress
- Drama - Supporting Actor
- Drama - Guest Actress
- Drama - Guest Actor
- Drama - Directing
- Drama - Writing
- Outstanding TV Movie
- Outstanding Editing
- Outstanding Unstructured Reality
- Outstanding Main Title Design
- Outstanding Costumes, Contemporary
- Outstanding Costumes, Period
Reader Comments (10)
GO WANDAVISION!!!!!
Guys, just wanted to say that I'm in awe of all the coverage you've done this season. I've really appreciated it and I know I'm not alone, thank you.
Such a great category: The best TV of the year, really.
No offense, but seeing Mare of Eastown ranking last in this very list seems pretty absurd to me personally.
Also, it won Production Design at the Creative Emmys.
Ritzy -- i guess Abe didn't love it as much as the rest of us. I would personally rank Kate Winslet first in actress but I think i would also vote for Queens Gambit in series (by a hair) over the others.
My personal ranking:
I May Destroy You
Mare of Easttown
The Queen’s Gambit
WandaVision
(embarrassed to admit I still need to finish watching The Underground Railroad)
Prediction:
Oof
I'm with Ritzy. Mare was the best thing I saw on tv all year. I'd vote for it for both Actress and Series.
I loved I May Destroy You, but it feels like it aired 5 years ago. Recency bias is real.
I'm with Ritzy. Mare was the best thing I saw on tv all year. I'd vote for it for both Actress and Series.
I loved I May Destroy You, but it feels like it aired 5 years ago. Recency bias is real.
I am putting my chips on the table for "Mare of Easttown".
I have a very short streak of correctly predicting wins for "Succession" and "Schitt's Creek".
So based on the fact that "Mare of Easttown" made me watch, kept me interested, and I still like it, I think it will win.
The queen's gambit, for sure. Already won 9 Emmys, which speaks volumes of the support it got, it also swept all the industry awards (in fact having an extended Oscar season ended up being a blessing for it, because it kept winning awards until late April, so it barely lost momentum and managed to stay in conversation since its premiere in the fall). And being already part of the popular culture and becoming Anya Taylor Joy's star-making role also helps.
But the acting/directing/screenwriting awards will be spread among the other nominees (excepting Undergound railroad, which unfortunately seems poised to go 0-7)