So here we are, in another Emmy season, with all the campaigning, nominations and appetizers a human being could want.
Looks like it was just Emmy season last year. However, a full 12 months have passed, bringing with them a huge new list of contenders. (Okay, not as big as it could be, but more on that in a second.)
It may not quite feel like awards season is in full swing with the state of the world so weak and the state of television…not much better. Fears of automation, shrinkage and general deflation abound everywhere. Not to mention the possibility of AI overrunning physical sets and/or writers’ rooms, e.g Return It’s been brutally portrayed this season.
In New York City’s TV introductions in mid-May, Amazon and YouTube took over legacy networks like NBC, CBS and HBO, when they had been around at all. The event made it clear that TV is the world of technology companies now, and more often than not Content creators‘ world; The YouTube presentation, with Jessers and Alex Coopers, was the talk of the week.
Yes, the state of scripted television can seem as bleak as the dramatic plot Very badwhich, thinking about it, seems like a very long time ago. And the numbers back up those predictions: after reaching a peak of nearly 1,700 original series in 2022, the total number fell to barely 1,100 in 2025 — a decline of almost a third. But that doesn’t mean quality can’t be found. We’re just pulling from an increasingly shallow pool.
In fact, the number of legitimate cultural breakthroughs – the successions, crownsand The Handmaid’s TaleFive years ago, it didn’t matter mad mens, Homelandsand game of thrones A decade ago – it seemed limited. High-quality viewing experiences are still happening, but they’re broken down into more niche shows or come from older properties, or just from TikTok.
Even some of the hot headlines from last year aren’t here this season. no studio, no to cutno Andorno The last of usno White lotus. And the buzziest show of the year, Hot competitiondisqualified thanks to Emmy technology.
When breakthroughs did occur last year, they tended to come in more recycled forms: a Strange things The franchise that started a decade ago this summer, or A.J house Which is derived from a formula that was started over 30 years ago.
But while freshness may feel in short supply, shorter does not mean in short supply. And yes, because these are special awards, and the awards column, optimism should prevail – that’s why we’re doing all this, after all. But you also have plenty of actual reasons to find optimism in this current landscape.
A few that immediately come to mind:
The magic of awkward comedy Jury Duty: Company Review.
Sleep magic Margo has financial problems.
The familiar but also timeless and deeply human magic of, yes, the house.
Nineties magic love story.
You hate them but you can’t stop watching and being fascinated by them I love Los Angeles.
Plus, Amy’s best moments come out of nowhere. See: Jeff Heller’s upset win last season for his supporting performance in Someone somewhere. “For the last 25 years I’ve been saying, ‘Hey world, I want to be an actor,’ and the world’s been saying, ‘Maybe computers?'” Heller told a beaming human in a pink suit to the room, which caught and brought back spontaneity in kind.
Or Katherine LaNasa’s win for her exemplary supporting performance as Nurse Dana the houseanother tale of a long-term worker who suddenly and unexpectedly gets a statuette. Such moments could certainly happen in the era of peak television, but they were much less likely. Who had room for new faces when Jon Hamm was always around?
That’s the beauty of an Emmy season. Whether it’s a busy TV year or a quiet year, a hot time or a cold period, great stories always find their way to us in one way or another. The best stories are the ones you don’t quite believe can happen, until they do. I don’t know what will happen in Taylor Sheridan’s bid for her first-ever major Emmy nomination — whether awards and populism will eventually intersect — but it may go down as LandmanAnd I’m excited to see it.
I also don’t know if Return She could win her first major Emmy with her blockbuster comeback season, or if Lisa Kudrow manages to pick up her first Emmy in nearly 30 years. But the fact that this could happen — and with a show about Hollywood teetering on the precipice of artificial intelligence — makes the whole prospect so delicious.
So, let’s start by talking about the end of television, the collapse of the attention economy, and the AI monster. Let the counter-arguments about the triumph of art, the power of creativity, and the human need to tell stories begin as well. We are sure to get plenty of all of them, with varying degrees of clarity in the classroom.
When it comes to scripted television, are we in decline or in transition? No one really knows. But this season will help us find out. Hopefully there will be some great pink evening moments along the way.
This story first appeared in the June standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To obtain the magazine, click here to subscribe.
