#Streaming Platforms Enter a Pitched Battle

Apple TV+

Major Contenders Bad Sisters, The Big Door Prize, Black Bird, The Last Thing He Told Me, Loot, The Problem With Jon Stewart, The Reluctant Traveler, Schmigadoon!, Shrinking, Ted Lasso 

Apple’s Ted Lasso is the reigning comedy champ, having secured the top prize in the category two years in a row, making Apple TV+ the only streamer to have two series wins. This season it will add The Big Door Prize, Loot and Shrinking to its comic slate, while the musical comedy Schmigadoon! has entered the scripted variety race. The true-crime series Black Bird and Sharon Horgan’s Bad Sisters are the streamer’s top contenders in the limited/anthology and drama categories, respectively, while Eugene Levy’s The Reluctant Traveler could charm its way to a reality series nom.

Disney+

Major Contenders American Born Chinese, Andor, The Mandalorian, Ms. Marvel, Obi-Wan Kenobi, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, A Small Light

The Star Wars and Marvel spinoff shows have performed well with TV Academy voters, who previously nominated The Mandalorian twice for best drama series, as well as WandaVision for best limited/anthology series. Those universes have expanded with additional spinoffs (with Emmy winners Ewan McGregor and Tatiana Maslany as the respective leads of Obi-Wan Kenobi and She-Hulk), but the streamer also has the star-studded American Born Chinese (featuring Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan and nominee Stephanie Hsu) and Nat Geo’s Anne Frank drama A Small Light for the sci-fi/fantasy-averse. 

FREEVEE

Major Contenders High School, Jury Duty, Primo

Amazon’s ad-supported streamer may still be in its upstart era, but the comedy-doc hybrid Jury Duty, starring a scene-stealing James Marsden, has generated lots of buzz.

Hulu

Major Contenders The 1619 Project, The Bear*, Fire Island, Fleishman Is in Trouble*, The Great, The Handmaid’s Tale, History of the World: Part II, Only Murders in the Building, The Patient*, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Prey, Ramy, Reservation Dogs*, Taste the Nation, Tiny Beautiful Things, Welcome to Chippendales

Hulu has the benefit of a partnership with FX, whose streaming-only titles (indicated above with asterisks) boost Hulu’s slate. But the streamer’s originals are diversified across all Emmy categories: Among the contenders are the recent seasons of the Emmy-winning series The Handmaid’s Tale (the first streaming title to win best drama, in 2017); comedies The Great and Only Murders in the Building; docs Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields and The 1619 Project; and TV movies Fire Island and Prey.

Max

Major Contenders The Big Brunch, The Last Movie Stars, Love & Death, The Other Two, Rap Sh!t, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Velma

The streamer dropped HBO from its name when it relaunched as Max on May 23, and it will host the cabler’s linear programming as well as other brands that fall under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella. But among its streaming-first titles formerly classified as HBO Max Originals are many comedy contenders (making up for the absence of the Emmy-winning Hacks this season, whose production was delayed for Jean Smart to recover from heart surgery), as well as the true-crime limited series Love & Death from Emmy winner David E. Kelley and Ethan Hawke’s The Last Movie Stars, a six-part biography of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

Netflix

Major Contenders Beef, The Crown, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Dead to Me, The Diplomat, Harry & Meghan, Love Is Blind, Mo, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, Pamela: A Love Story, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Queer Eye, Sr., Wednesday

Netflix was the second streamer to win best drama, in 2021 with The Crown — whose follow-up season (with a new cast led by Imelda Staunton) may be its strongest contender in the drama race. But don’t discount recent hits like the Bridgerton spinoff Queen Charlotte or the unexpectedly witty geopolitical thriller The Diplomat. While Netflix is the only streamer to win for best limited series (The Queen’s Gambit in 2021), it could double its tally with a hopeful like Dahmer.

Paramount+

Major Contenders 1923, The Good Fight, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Inside Amy Schumer, Last Flight Home, Tulsa King

The Taylor Sheridan-created 1923 and -produced Tulsa King were two of Paramount+’s buzziest series, bringing A-listers Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and Sylvester Stallone to the streaming landscape.

Peacock

Major Contenders The Amber Ruffin Show, Bupkis, A Friend of the Family, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Mrs. Davis, Poker Face, The Traitors 

Natasha Lyonne’s Columbo-inspired procedural Poker Face and Pete Davidson’s Bupkis each boast dozens of guest performers, which could make for two guest acting categories packed with A-list names from the streamers’ comedies. 

Prime Video

Major Contenders The Boys, Daisy Jones & The Six, Dead Ringers, The English, Judy Blume Forever, A League of Their Own, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Swarm

With The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s debut season, Amazon’s streamer service became the first to win best comedy series — an accomplishment it’s hoping to repeat with the show’s final season. And while Daisy Jones & The Six and Dead Ringers are strong contenders in the limited series category, Prime Video’s biggest priority is earning nods for its expensive investment in its Lord of the Rings prequel, aiming for a best drama nomination. 

The Roku Channel

Major Contenders Slip, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

The crowd-pleasing Weird already won a Critics Choice Award for best TV movie, and is primed for an Emmy nom in the same category.

This story first appeared in the May 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.