SPECIAL: Stephen Colbert hosts this year’s Emmy Awards ceremony, which will end dramatically because of a scheduling quirk. Because of a long break between seasons of
Game of Thrones, that HBO series, which won Outstanding Drama Series the past two years, isn’t eligible. That makes the field more wide open for the other contenders, only one of which, NBC’s
This Is Us, emanates from a broadcast network. The others: AMC’s
Better Call Saul (my favorite); Hulu’s
The Handmaid’s Tale (the probable winner); HBO’s
Westworld; and Netflix’s
The Crown, House of Cards and
Stranger Things. In comedy, HBO’s
Veep has won the past two years, and is eligible again this year. Its competition includes two broadcast series, both from ABC –
black-ish and once-perennial winner
Modern Family – as well as FX’s
Atlanta, Netflix’s
Master of None and
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and HBO’s
Silicon Valley. For a full preview, see Alex Strachan's TV That Matters.