--- description: From Shōgun's dominance to HBO's disappointment title: 5 Things the 2024 Emmy Nominations Tell Us About the State of TV image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [awards](/tag/awards/) ## awards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 Things the 2024 Emmy Nominations Tell Us About the State of TV  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Jul 17, 2024 5:30 PM CUT  Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in Shōgun. Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in Shōgun.Kurt Iswarienko—FX  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Jul 17, 2024 5:30 PM CUT It’s Emmy nominations day again—yes, just six months after [January’s awards telecast](https://time.com/6555525/emmy-awards-guide-winners-nominees-host/ "undefined"). The 2023 ceremony was postponed to 2024 due to the overlapping [actors’ and writers’ strikes](https://time.com/6316559/fall-tv-strikes-impact/ "undefined") that brought Hollywood to a standstill throughout the summer and fall. But it’s the new slate of Emmy nominees that reflects last year’s atypically scant TV output, which is also a result of the ongoing contraction of the streaming industry, driven by the financial sector’s impatience to see its enormous investments in the original-content arms race finally turn a profit. As the business [reshapes itself](https://time.com/6253697/streaming-wars-disney-chaos-era/ "undefined"), for the umpteenth time in the past decade, to accommodate new economic constraints, it’s worth considering what this year’s Emmy nominations say about the state of TV. ## **1\.** **_Shōgun_** **dominated the drama series nominations—by defying the austerity logic of the post-consolidation streaming industry.** FX’s [_Shōgun_](https://time.com/6692336/shogun-review-fx/ "undefined") is today’s biggest winner, with 25 total nominations, including best drama series, recognition for two of its leads—Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada—and several supporting and guest actor nods. Which makes sense. A historical epic of swords, ships, and samurai that drew huge audiences, _Shōgun_ is exactly the kind of series the Emmys love to celebrate. Plus, it happens to be [the year’s best show to date](https://time.com/6982872/best-tv-shows-2024-so-far/ "undefined"). In the works since the late 2010s, it’s also a meticulously crafted, extremely expensive holdover from streaming’s profligate era, when even the silliest genre series were granted [_Game of Thrones_\-level budgets](https://time.com/4277766/game-of-thrones-episode-cost-expensive/ "undefined"). (Remember Apple’s god-awful Jason Momoa vehicle, [_See_](https://time.com/5710943/apple-tv-plus-what-to-watch/ "undefined")?) Which makes it a rarity half a decade later, as executives desperate to cut content costs reserve the biggest bucks for franchise fare and video-game adaptations with guaranteed audiences while filling out their libraries with cheap reality and lifestyle programming. _Shōgun_’s commercial, critical, and now awards-season success—following a run that convinced FX to renew it for a second season even though it was conceived as a miniseries—should send a message to Hollywood that ambitious bets can still pay off, both creatively and financially. Not every show merits eight-figure episodic budgets and years of development, but the ones that do are worth a dozen dumb superhero sequels. Given its trajectory, producers must be clamoring to create the next _Shōgun_.Here’s hoping the suits hearing their pitches are sharp enough to spot it.  A scene from Season 1 of The Gilded Age Alison Cohen Rosa—HBO Watch _Shōgun_ on [Hulu](https://fave.co/3SeH9SM "undefined"). ## **2\. When it comes to prestige drama, HBO might no longer be the brand to beat.** For the past quarter-century, as [_The Sopranos_](https://time.com/6551999/the-sopranos-david-chase-interview-25th-anniversary/ "undefined"),[ _Deadwood_](https://time.com/5597321/deadwood-movie-hbo-women/ "undefined"), and [_The Wire_](https://time.com/collection-post/3103884/the-wire/ "undefined")gave way to [_Succession_](https://time.com/tag/succession/ "undefined") and the [_Game of Thrones_](https://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/ "undefined")[franchise](https://time.com/6207254/house-of-the-dragon-review/ "undefined"), HBO has been TV’s gold standard for drama. Last year, in a relatively typical showing, the brand boasted four out of eight drama series nominees, with _Succession_ going on to sweep just about every category where it was up for an award. But in 2024, the network’s only drama series nominee is [_The Gilded Age_](https://time.com/6140300/gilded-age-review-hbo/ "undefined")—a fun, silly historical soap that nobody actually thinks is one of the best shows out there. HBO’s solid franchise revival [_True Detective: Night Country_](https://time.com/6553033/true-detective-night-country-review/ "undefined"),did lead the limited series category with 19 nominations. There are certainly external explanations for the scarcity of HBO titles among this year’s nominations. Amid writers’ and actors’ strikes, three of [2023’s drama series nominees](https://time.com/6294127/emmy-nomination-snubs-2023/ "undefined")—[_The Last of Us_](https://time.com/6245838/the-last-of-us-hbo-review/ "undefined"), [_The White Lotus_](https://time.com/6223583/the-white-lotus-season-2-review/ "undefined"), and [_House of the Dragon_](https://time.com/6987842/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-review/ "undefined")—failed to produce a season during this eligibility period; the fourth, _Succession_, ended last May. The Emmys also overlooked HBO’s stunning adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel [_The Sympathizer_](https://time.com/6965283/the-sympathizer-review-hbo/ "undefined")—which is, in my estimation, as strong a limited series as any that actually got nominated. (Seriously, [_Lessons in Chemistry_](https://time.com/6321425/lessons-in-chemistry-review-apple/ "undefined")?) Yet other platforms have had the same production delays and TV Academy whims to weather. So it seems fair to ask if we’re starting to see the [penny-pinching, populist agenda Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/magazine/david-zaslav-warner-media-discovery.html "undefined") brought to the mega-company’s suite of TV brands—including a Discovery stable built on such thrifty lifestyle networks as TLC, HGTV, and Food Network—chip away at its most prestigious purveyor of original programming. Last year, HBO Max became Max; now, there’s reason to worry that the name change was more than a symbolic gesture. ## **3\. Second-tier streamers and cable networks are falling off the radar.** Among the major categories whose nominees were announced in Wednesday’s telecast, Peacock earned just one nod—for its wonderful reality competition [_The Traitors_](https://time.com/6553586/the-traitors-season-2-review/ "undefined"). Showtime was widely expected to get some recognition for its brilliantly weird Nathan Fielder satirical thriller [_The Curse_](https://time.com/6331126/the-curse-review-nathan-fielder/ "undefined"), but in the end it, too, came away with a single major nomination, for Matt Bomer’s lead performance in the underrated miniseries [_Fellow Travelers_](https://time.com/6325890/fellow-travelers-review/ "undefined"). Showtime’s sister brand Paramount+, along with cable stalwarts AMC and Starz, got shut out of the big categories entirely. For pay-TV platforms that are supposed to attract subscribers by producing premium product, this seems like a problem. It’s also a sign of times when mergers and declining revenue have led to industry titans like Netflix, Disney, WBD, and Amazon eroding smaller competitors’ market shares. Of the two relatively niche brands that did make a strong showing in this year’s noms, one—FX—is a Disney subsidiary and the other—Apple TV+—is overspending on celebrity-packed projects thanks to a parent company with bottomless pockets.  Inside 3 Body Problem's mysterious VR game Netflix ## **4\. Genre shows have become the freshest dramas on TV.** [_The Crown_](https://time.com/6334953/the-crown-season-6-review/ "undefined"). _The Gilded Age_. [_The Morning Show_](https://time.com/6313175/morning-show-season-3-review-billy-crudup/ "undefined"). Yawn! In a post-_Succession_ world, the starry, talky ensemble dramas that secured predictable slots among this year’s nominees feel a bit stale. More exciting has been the rise of a new generation of genre fare that’s immersive like _Shōgun_, witty like the post-apocalyptic game adaptation [_Fallout_](https://time.com/6966286/fallout-video-game-adaptation/ "undefined"), self-aware like the action dramedy [_Mr. & Mrs. Smith_](https://time.com/6588667/mr-and-mrs-smith-review-donald-glover/ "undefined"), unapologetically cerebral like the sci-fi spectacle [_3 Body Problem_](https://time.com/6898428/3-body-problem-review-netflix/ "undefined"), character-rich like the spy series _Slow Horses_. (Although, if we're being honest, I'd still rather groan my way through _The Morning Show_ than watch the final nominee, _Star Wars_ spin-off [_Ahsoka_](https://time.com/6306900/ahsoka-star-wars-what-to-know/ "undefined").) If TV execs are resigned to pander to spectacle-hungry audiences by prioritizing genre shows over realistic dramas, at least some of what they’re greenlighting is worth watching. ## **5\. We could use some great new comedies.**  Tyler James Williams, Quinta Brunson, Lisa Ann Walter and Sheryl Lee Ralph in Abbott Elementary. Gilles Mingasson—ABC It was, in many ways, a good round of nominations for comedy. [_Reservation Dogs_](https://time.com/6202872/reservation-dogs-fx/ "undefined"), one of TV’s best shows in any genre for its entire run, which [ended last year](https://time.com/6317495/reservation-dogs-series-finale-review/ "undefined"), finally scored nods in the series and lead actor categories (though where is Devery Jacobs’ lead actress nom?). But, like _Rez Dogs_, [_Curb Your Enthusiasm_](https://time.com/6590886/larry-david-curb-your-enthusiasm-season-12/ "undefined")was nominated for its [final season](https://time.com/6964642/curb-your-enthusiasm-finale-seinfeld/ "undefined"). _What We Do in the Shadows_ is slated to end with its upcoming sixth season. [_Abbott Elementary_](https://time.com/6693133/william-stanford-davis-abbott-elementary-essay/ "undefined"), [_The Bear_](https://time.com/6991369/the-bear-season-3-review/ "undefined"), [_Hacks_](https://time.com/6974146/hacks-season-three-review/ "undefined"), and [_Only Murders in the Building_](https://time.com/6304781/only-murders-season-3-episode-3-meryl/ "undefined") all have three seasons under their belts. And the only debut series on the list is [_Palm Royale_](https://time.com/6957413/palm-royale-review-kristen-wiig/ "undefined"), a funny, star-packed but slight soap that divided critics. Comedy has gotten short shrift on TV of late. Whether it comes from networks, streamers, or cable, there’s room for some great new stories in the genre to shake up the current status quo. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6999634/emmy-nominations-2024-analysis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6999634/emmy-nominations-2024-analysis/"},"headline":"5 Things the 2024 Emmy Nominations Tell Us About the State of TV","datePublished":"2024-07-17T17:30:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:52:11.955Z","description":"From Shōgun's dominance to HBO's disappointment","url":"https://time.com/6999634/emmy-nominations-2024-analysis/","keywords":["awards","list","Second click","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"shogun-fx","caption":"Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in Shōgun","creditText":"Kurt Iswarienko—FX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6999634/emmy-nominations-2024-analysis/","name":"5 Things the 2024 Emmy Nominations Tell Us About the State of TV"}}]}] ```