The limited series has emerged as one of the most popular forms of television in 2024, with many returning and original shows making waves across the industry. On the latest episode of Variety‘s Awards Circuit presented by Paramount+, Variety TV editor Michael Schneider and senior features editor Emily Longeretta discuss the front runners of this year’s Emmy race in the best limited/anthology series category.
This year’s breakout hit is undoubtedly Richard Gadd’s “Baby Reindeer,” which has garnered buzz from fans for being allegedly loosely based on a true story. A Scottish woman named Fiona Harvey, the supposed inspiration for “Baby Reindeer’s” stalker character Martha, has sued Netflix over her depiction in the show. Although the lawsuit could prove expensive for the steamer, the added attention on “Baby Reindeer” keeps the series in the conversation well beyond everyone’s binge-watch.
“Because this is based on a true story, the whole ‘no press is bad press’ sentence gets into the conversation,” says Longeretta. “I think people are talking about this and people have a little bit of a question mark of what is real and what isn’t, and then they are watching the show more.”
A familiar series making a run at Emmy gold this year is “Fargo.” John Hamm, Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh, who join the cast for the fifth season, are all serious contenders for their respective acting categories. “Fargo” has had shaky luck during Emmys season, only winning 6 awards out of 49 nominations, but 2024 could be the year FX brings home some serious hardware for the midwestern anthology series.
“This season is probably one of my favorites of the bunch,” Schneider says. “Noah Hawley did a really fantastic job resetting it and, of course, with this cast.”
“I think they added so many incredible people,” Longeretta adds. “One of the ones I wanted to throw out there in the supporting actor category was Joe Keery because he really shined in my eyes.”
Another Netflix series vying for Emmy contention is “Ripley” starring Andrew Scott and Dakota Fanning. The black-and-white drama has already garnered attention from the Gotham TV Awards, which nominated “Ripley” for breakthrough limited series and honored Scott with the outstanding performance in a limited series award.
“Every shot looks like a painting or it looks like an amazing photo,” Schneider says. “It’s shot unlike anything else.”
Schneider and Longeretta also discuss “True Detective: Night Country,” which sees Jodie Foster and Kali Reis take the helm for the fourth season of the supernatural anthology series. Also in the Emmy race are two Apple TV+ shows: “Lessons in Chemistry” with Brie Larson Lewis Pullman and the Steven Spielberg-produced “Masters of the Air” starring Austin Butler and Callum Turner.
At the end of the episode, Schneider and Longeretta give picks for other limited and anthology series you should check out before voting. Watch the full conversation above.