The Nominees:
- ABC's American Crime
- FX's Fargo
- AMC's The Night Manager
- FX's The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
- A&E, History and Lifetime's Roots
FX's critically acclaimed anthology series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story has been the frontrunner to win this race ever since nomination morning in July. In fact, it became an immediate contender the moment it premiered back in February. The season was really embraced by the Emmy voters. It got 22 total nominations. Plus, it has already won four of those at the Creative Arts Emmys over the weekend. That's just a stunning achievement that should be celebrated. It seems likely that it will be too. The narrative is in place for The People v. O.J. Simpson to win this award. It will dominate in most of the limited series portion of the awards ceremony. That may become monotonous in the middle of the night. But it would still be a really deserving sweep for what was a great limited series.
And yet, we shouldn't be looking at this race as a lock for The People v. O.J. Simpson. This was a fantastic year for limited series. The nominations didn't completely recognize that stunning achievement. This genre is alive and well in the entertainment industry of 2016. It's exciting and has brought some really engaging and interesting stories and actors to TV. It's hard to argue against The People v. O.J. Simpson winning in every category it is nominated in. It produced a number of fantastic moments and performances this year. But so did the rest of this field and a number of other limited series. American Crime, The Night Manager and Roots deserve to win something. But it's looking increasingly likely that they'll walk away from Sunday's awards without a single win. The Night Manager prevailed in music composition and has a solid shot for supporting actress. But the other two will just enjoy the recognition of being nominated.
Meanwhile, Fargo could be a legitimate threat to derail The People v. O.J. Simpson's momentum. The second season of the anthology drama was my favorite show of 2015. The first season won in this race two years. It had a notable weaker field that year though. It wasn't as strong as the race is in 2016. Fargo Season 1 was a lock to win just like The People v. O.J. Simpson is a lock to win now. The two FX series are going head-to-head in a number of key races throughout the night. I'm predicting O.J. will prevail in the majority of them. But if Fargo starts taking home a few awards, it could easily win in this category as well.
Should Win: Fargo
Will Win: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Dark Horse: Fargo
And yet, we shouldn't be looking at this race as a lock for The People v. O.J. Simpson. This was a fantastic year for limited series. The nominations didn't completely recognize that stunning achievement. This genre is alive and well in the entertainment industry of 2016. It's exciting and has brought some really engaging and interesting stories and actors to TV. It's hard to argue against The People v. O.J. Simpson winning in every category it is nominated in. It produced a number of fantastic moments and performances this year. But so did the rest of this field and a number of other limited series. American Crime, The Night Manager and Roots deserve to win something. But it's looking increasingly likely that they'll walk away from Sunday's awards without a single win. The Night Manager prevailed in music composition and has a solid shot for supporting actress. But the other two will just enjoy the recognition of being nominated.
Meanwhile, Fargo could be a legitimate threat to derail The People v. O.J. Simpson's momentum. The second season of the anthology drama was my favorite show of 2015. The first season won in this race two years. It had a notable weaker field that year though. It wasn't as strong as the race is in 2016. Fargo Season 1 was a lock to win just like The People v. O.J. Simpson is a lock to win now. The two FX series are going head-to-head in a number of key races throughout the night. I'm predicting O.J. will prevail in the majority of them. But if Fargo starts taking home a few awards, it could easily win in this category as well.
Should Win: Fargo
Will Win: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Dark Horse: Fargo
