Final seasons don’t have the best track record at the Emmys, but here’s how the HBO behemoth can ascend the throne in Season 8.
Is it too soon to predict a show’s Emmy odds when the eligible season doesn’t even have a release date? What about when it’s been less than one week since the latest Emmys wrapped up? OK, maybe, but… what if that show is “Game of Thrones”? Right, then it’s fine. After all, everything about the hugely anticipated final season is already under the microscope.
HBO’s two-time Emmy champion in the Outstanding Drama Series category took a victory lap Monday night when it won the 2018 race, beating the incumbent victor “The Handmaid’s Tale” in a much-anticipated showdown between defending champions. Many experts expected the Hulu drama to prevail, while maintaining “Game of Thrones” was far from a long shot.
But with Season 8 set for a debut in the first half of 2019, it’s time to look ahead, not behind — or to climb out of the Slaver’s Bay fighting pits, if you will. What does this win mean for the 2019 race? It makes the climb that much easier, but the final season was already facing a fierce fight for the Emmy throne.
Let’s start with the upside: For one, “Game of Thrones” won quite a few Emmys. It came into the night with the most wins of any 2018 series, after snagging seven trophies at the Creative Arts ceremony on Sept. 8. Throw in the two it won at the Primetime Emmys, and that’s still the third best total the series has seen. Nine wins is second only to the 2015 and 2016 campaigns, when the series’ 12 trophies tied the record for most ever by a single show.
While the eighth and final season has long been rumored to premiere in April of next year, it now looks like we may have to wait a little longer.
Moreover, the release date should be a benefit for the final season. Assuming it’s eligible — which would mean at least three of its six episodes premiere before May 31 — the window between release and voting will be substantially shorter than this year.
(Excerpt) Read More at: IndieWire.com