The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards will be airing (in some form!) on Sept. 20. Before the real nominees are unveiled on July 28, we at TVLine have come up with our own dream nominations in 15 major categories. Scroll down to see our ideal contenders for Outstanding Limited Series, then give us your thoughts!
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mrs-america
Image Credit: Courtesy of FX on Hulu MRS. AMERICA
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Believe us, we thought we had zero desire to rehash Phyllis Schlafly’s unrelenting — and ultimately successful — grassroots campaign to torpedo the Equal Rights Act in the 1970s. But FX on Hulu’s historical drama sucked us right in, thanks to an A-list cast (Cate Blanchett! Uzo Aduba! Tracey Ullman!) giving deeply nuanced performances and offering up a history lesson that doubles as a cautionary tale for contemporary American politics.
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Episode 2
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hulu NORMAL PEOPLE
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Even if you didn’t see the Irish drama, we’ll bet our Hulu subscription that you heard about the sex scenes, breathtaking snapshots of intimacy that managed to come off exceptionally real without feeling at all exploitative. But they’re not the reason that we remain haunted by the series. Its sensitive treatment of star-crossed lovers Connell and Marianne left us with renewed hope that no soul is so broken that it can’t be repaired by love.
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unbelievable
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix UNBELIEVABLE
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: This Netflix drama’s opening episode dared you to continue watching, exposing us as it did to the plight of a teen rape victim whose tragic-but-shaky testimony elicited side-eye from the cops, and even earned her condemnation. Yet stuck with it we did, and the reward was a compelling tale of two Colorado detectives who went from being perfect strangers to slightly imperfect partners in crimefighting. With heralded performances from principals Kaitlyn Dever, Merritt Wever and Toni Collette, this eight-episode binge was as engaging as it was emotionally wrenching.
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unorthodox
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix UNORTHODOX
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Inspiring, and brutal in its honesty, Netflix’s adaptation of Deborah Feldman’s autobiography, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, did a remarkable job of putting us in the running shoes of its heroine, a teenage bride who tastes freedom only after fleeing from not only her marriage but her ultra-religious Brooklyn community. As she found both her place and her voice among the students at a Berlin music conservatory, our hearts, unbidden, began to sing right along with her.
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watchmen
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO WATCHMEN
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Let’s forget, for a moment, the eerie prescience of a late 2019 series about cops, race and the importance of keeping one’s face covered. Instead, let’s talk about how Damon Lindelof & Co. took a Dr. Manhattan-sized task — reframing a beloved comic-book series so it not only honored the source material but also forged a compelling new story — and absolutely nailed it. The HBO series was one of the best-done projects in the past decade, and we’d rather get squished by a giant squid than see it not get its due at nominating time.
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