Final 2020 Emmy Predictions: the LIMITED SERIES categories

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The Limited Series categories at the Emmys took a hit from the Television Academy’s new sliding scale rules, carving back some to just five nominations. With a season that has been dominated by FX’s Mrs. America, Netflix’s Unbelievable and HBO’s Watchmen it makes for very little wiggle room for other nominees to get in.

That might explain why Kevin, Amanda and I find ourselves really spread out in some categories like directing, where we have a full ten names/titles vying for six spots.

Emmy Podcast #35: Final Emmy predictions in Drama, Comedy, Limited Series

As you can imagine, the supporting actress category gave us the most grief with so many Mrs. America contenders. In fact, there are more contenders from that series alone than there are spots to fill. So how many get in? 2? 3? 4? It’s one of the more cutthroat races of the year. Lead Actor is also going to see some wild upsets and snubs. This has been a category that has heavily trended to younger, non-white men as winners but this year has very little to offer in that department. In fact, it’s jammed full of Oscar winners and nominees like Russell Crowe, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Jackman and Mark Ruffalo angling for a TV win. One wonders if any of them might be vulnerable to a newcomer like Paul Mescal or Jeremy Pope or if those two are on the outside looking in.

Here are our final 2020 Emmy nomination predictions in the Limited Series categories. Nominations will be announced on July 28.

LIMITED SERIES (5)

• Mrs. America (FX/FX on Hulu) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Unbelievable (Netflix) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Watchmen (HBO) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Hollywood (Netflix) – Erik, Amanda
• Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) – Erik, Kevin
• Defending Jacob (Apple) – Kevin
• I Know This Much Is True (HBO) – Amanda

TELEVISION MOVIE (5)

• Bad Education (HBO) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Netflix) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• American Son (Netflix) – Kevin, Amanda
• The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (Lifetime) – Erik, Kevin
• Patsy & Loretta (Lifetime) – Erik, Amanda
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend (Netflix) – Erik, Kevin
• Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (Netflix) – Amanda

LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE (5)

• Russell Crowe – The Loudest Voice – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Hugh Jackman – Bad Education – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Mark Ruffalo – I Know This Much Is True – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Chris Evans – Defending Jacob – Kevin, Amanda
• Jeremy Irons – Watchmen – Kevin, Amanda
• Paul Mescal – Normal People – Erik
• Jeremy Pope – Hollywood – Erik

LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE (5)

• Cate Blanchett – Mrs. America – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Kaitlyn Dever – Unbelievable – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Regina King – Watchmen – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Merritt Wever – Unbelievable – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere – Erik, Kevin
• Michelle Dockery – Defending Jacob – Amanda

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE (6)

• Tim Blake Nelson – Watchmen – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Jim Parsons – Hollywood – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• John Slattery – Mrs. America – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Watchmen – Erik, Kevin
• Louis Gossett Jr. – Watchmen – Kevin, Amanda
• Joe Mantello – Hollywood – Erik, Kevin
• John Turturro – The Plot Against America – Erik, Amanda
• Ray Romano – Bad Education – Amanda

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE (6)

• Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Toni Collette – Unbelievable – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Margo Martindale – Mrs. America – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Sarah Paulson – Mrs. America – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Jean Smart – Watchmen – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Rose Byrne – Mrs. America – Kevin
• Allison Janney – Bad Education – Amanda
• Patti LuPone – Hollywood – Erik

DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE (6)

• Unbelievable – “Episode 1” (Lisa Cholodenko) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Watchmen – “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” (Nicole Kassell) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Watchmen – “See How They Fly” (Frederick E.O. Toye) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Mrs. America – “Reagan” (Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck) – Erik, Kevin
• Watchmen – “This Extraordinary Being” (Stephen Williams) – Kevin, Amanda
• Bad Education (Cory Finley) – Amanda
• Hollywood – “Hooray For Hollywood” (Ryan Murphy) – Erik
• Little Fires Everywhere – “Find A Way” (Lynn Shelton) – Erik
• Mrs. America – “Houston” (Janicza Bravo) – Kevin
• Mrs. America – “Shirley” (Amma Asante) – Amanda

WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE (5)

With just 75 submissions and the new sliding scale, this category will drop to just 5 nominees for the first time since 2013.

• Mrs. America – “Shirley” (Tanya Barfield) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Unbelievable – “Episode 1” (Susannah Grant and Michael Chabon & Ayelet Waldman) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Watchmen – “This Extraordinary Being” (Damon Lindelof & Cord Jefferson) – Erik, Kevin, Amanda
• Bad Education (Mike Makowsky) – Erik, Amanda
• Mrs. America – “Houston” (Dahvi Waller) – Kevin, Amanda
• Normal People – “Episode 3” (Sally Rooney and Alice Birch) – Erik, Kevin

Final 2020 Emmy Predictions: the COMEDY categories