2025 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Marcus Jones
We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2025 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 12 to June 23, with the official Emmy nominations announced Tuesday, July 15. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 18 and ends the night of August 27. The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 14, and air live on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.
The State of the Race
Though we stand by our opinion that the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series Emmy category should expand to a permanent eight nominations like its Comedy and Drama counterparts, it would be tough for voters to count eight or more limited or anthology series they actually watched this season.
Netflix, which has won this category two years running, has fared the best, with “Adolescence” cracking the list of its top 10 most watched original TV series of all time. It premiering at the beginning of spring, much like Emmy winners “Beef” and “Baby Reindeer” before it, indicates that its streaming service has cannily figured out the best current recipe for making a Limited Series Emmy frontrunner.
This comes much to the chagrin of TV mogul Ryan Murphy, who did produce another major hit for Netflix with “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” one that became so popular it got its subjects another court date to possibly be paroled. However, like its predecessor “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” it premiered too early to maintain the momentum needed to win the category.
Same thing goes for “The Penguin,” which premiered early last fall. Prior to “Adolescence,” the TV spin-off of “The Batman” was a shoo-in for the Emmy, having become a huge win for HBO both critically and commercially. It won several winter TV awards including a Golden Globe and two Critics Choice Awards for its leads Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti. But nominations voting for the Emmy Awards does not start until mid-June. Ultimately, the DC Studios TV project should do very well nominations-wise, but is facing an uphill battle against the four episode, big word-of-mouth hit that is easier to catch up on, “Adolescence.”
Though Netflix had a late-in-the-game hit with “Sirens,” the most likely contenders for the final two nomination slots come from FX and Apple TV+. The strongest option comes from the former, as “Dying for Sex” is a really strong vehicle for Michelle Williams, who is campaigning in the one key acting category “Adolescence” did not submit for. It also stands out for having shorter episodes, and being funnier than the rest of the pack, even though it is about a woman dying of cancer.
FX also has what would be the big prestige choice, Peabody Award winner “Say Nothing,” an adaptation of the 2018 book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe that has largely been received as a new classic. That it won a USC Scripter Award earlier this year, ending what had been a two year winning streak for “Slow Horses,” indicates that the show had a bigger awards-voting audience than people anticipate.
However, the biggest hit of both the FX shows and Apple TV+ shows, was the newest version of “Presumed Innocent” from prolific showrunner David E. Kelley. The series was a big hit last summer, but that is a lot of time to stay top of mind for voters, especially when its leads Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga have not been too present to campaign for the show. Same goes for the other Apple TV+ contender “Disclaimer,” which is led by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón and Oscar-winning actors Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. Apple TV+ also has “Dope Thief,” which premiered more recently, but is much more of a player in the acting categories than for the series category.
Predicted Nominees:
“Adolescence” (Netflix)
“Dying for Sex” (FX)
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” (Netflix)
“The Penguin” (HBO)
“Say Nothing” (FX)
Contenders:
“Black Mirror” (Netflix)
“Disclaimer” (Apple TV+)
“Presumed Innocent” (Apple TV+)
In a Perfect World:
“Clipped” (Hulu)
“Get Millie Black” (HBO)
“Three Women” (Starz)
More Limited Series and TV Movie Category Predictions:
Outstanding TV Movie
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
View IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 77th Emmy Awards.
Last Year’s Winner: “Baby Reindeer”
Still Eligible: No.
Hot Streak: The past decade has seen Netflix, HBO, and FX trade off Emmy wins as the category went through a couple of name changes. However, Netflix now is on the precipice of getting the first threepeat in a while, releasing another spring phenomenon after the surprise success of “Beef” and “Baby Reindeer.”
Notable Ineligible Series: “Task” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); “Murderbot” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); “The Beast in Me” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); “Death by Lightning” (the season will not air in time to be eligible); and “Wayward” (the season will not air in time to be eligible).
