{"id":854,"date":"2026-05-29T15:38:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854"},"modified":"2026-05-29T15:38:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:38:50","slug":"as-tv-contracts-the-2026-emmy-race-offers-a-case-for-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854","title":{"rendered":"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tHere we are, at another Emmy season, with all the campaigning, candidacies and canap\u00e9s a human could possibly want.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=852\">Netflix\u2019s \u2018A Different World\u2019 to Premiere 39 Years (to the Day) After the Original Series<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tIt seems like it was just Emmy season <em>last <\/em>year. And yet a full 12 months have gone by, bringing with them a giant new slate of contenders. (Well, not as giant as it could be, but more on that in a second.)<\/p>\n<p>\n\tYou may not fully feel the awards season vibes with the state of the world so tenuous and the state of TV \u2026 not much better. Fears of automation, contraction and general diminution abound everywhere. Not to mention the prospect of AI engulfing physical sets and\/or writers rooms, as <em>The Comeback<\/em> savagely portrayed this season.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAt the television upfronts in New York City in mid-May, legacy networks like NBC, CBS and HBO were lapped by Amazon and YouTube \u2014 when they were there at all. The event made clear that TV is tech companies\u2019 world now and, more to the point, often <em>content\u202fcreators<\/em>\u2019 world; the YouTube presentation, with its Jessers and its Alex Coopers, was the talk of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tYes, the state of scripted television can seem as bleak as a plotline from <em>Breaking Bad<\/em>, which, come to think of it, feels so very long ago. And the numbers back up that outlook: After hitting a peak of nearly 1,700 original series in 2022, the total number plunged to barely 1,100 in 2025 \u2014 a drop of nearly a third. But that doesn\u2019t mean quality can\u2019t be found. We\u2019re just drawing from an increasingly shallow pool.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIndeed, the number of legitimate cultural breakthroughs \u2014 the <em>Succession<\/em>s, <em>Crown<\/em>sand\u00a0<em>Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>s\u00a0of five years ago, never mind the\u00a0<em>Mad Men<\/em>s, <em>Homeland<\/em>sand <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>\u00a0of a decade ago \u2014 appear limited. Quality viewing experiences still happen, but they\u2019re fractured into more niche offerings or come from older properties, or just\u00a0TikTok.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tEven some hot titles from last year aren\u2019t here this season. No <em>Studio,<\/em> no <em>Severance<\/em>, no <em>Andor<\/em>, no <em>Last of Us<\/em>, no\u00a0<em>White Lotus<\/em>. And the buzziest show of this year, <em>Heated\u202fRivalry<\/em>, isn\u2019t eligible thanks to an Emmy technicality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhen breakthroughs did happen in the past year, they tended to come in more recycled guises: a <em>Stranger Things<\/em> franchise that began a decade ago this summer, or a\u00a0<em>Pitt<\/em> that draws from a formula that began more than 30 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut while freshness may feel in shorter supply, shorter doesn\u2019t mean short. And, yes, because this is an awards special, and an awards column, optimism must prevail \u2014 it\u2019s why we do all this, after all. But you also have plenty of actual reasons to find optimism in this current landscape.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=850\">Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman Land \u2018Welcome to Wrexham\u2019-Like Disney+ Series for Their Sailing Team<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tA few immediately come to mind:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe cringe-comedy charm of <em>Jury Duty: Company Retreat<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe slept-on charm of <em>Margo\u2019s Got Money\u00a0Troubles<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe familiar but also timeless and deeply human charm of, yes, <em>The Pitt<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe \u201990s charm of\u00a0<em>Love Story<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe you-hate-them-but-you-just-can\u2019t-seem-to-stop-watching-them charm of <em>I Love LA.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\n\tPlus, the best Emmy moments tend to come out of nowhere. See: Jeff Hiller\u2019s surprise win last season for his supporting performance in <em>Somebody Somewhere. <\/em>\u201cFor the past 25 years I\u2019ve been like, \u2018World, I want to be an actor,\u2019 and the\u00a0world\u2019s like, \u2018Maybe computers?\u2019 \u201d a jubilantly human and pink-tuxedoed Hiller said to the room, which absorbed and returned the spontaneity in\u202fkind.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tOr Katherine LaNasa\u2019s\u00a0win for her perfect supporting performance as Nurse Dana on <em>The Pitt<\/em>, another tale of a longtime toiler suddenly and unexpectedly getting a statuette. Sure, moments like this could happen in the Peak TV era, but they were a lot less likely. Who had room for fresh faces when Jon Hamm was always around?<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThat\u2019s the beauty of Emmy season. Whether it\u2019s a busy year for television or a quiet one, a hot time or a cool period, nifty stories always somehow manage to find their way to us. The best stories are the ones you never quite believe can happen, until they do. I don\u2019t know what will unfold in the bid for a Taylor Sheridan show to land its first-ever major Emmy nomination \u2014 whether awards and populism will ultimately converge \u2014 but it might just go down with <em>Landman<\/em>, and I\u2019m excited to see it play out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI also don\u2019t know if <em>The Comeback <\/em>could win its first major Emmy with its blockbuster, well, comeback season, or if Lisa Kudrow can score her first Emmy in nearly 30 years. But the fact that this could happen \u2014 and with a show about Hollywood teetering on an AI abyss, no less \u2014 makes the whole prospect pretty tasty.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSo let the takes about the end of television and the fracturing of the attention economy and the Leviathan of AI begin. Let the counter-takes about the triumph of art and the power of creativity and humans\u2019 need for storytelling begin, too. We will surely get plenty of all of them, with varying degrees of adjudicating clarity.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhen it comes to scripted television, are we in a decline or a transition? No one truly knows. But this season will help us find out. Hopefully with some pretty great pink tuxedo moments along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n<em>This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=848\">Na Hong-Jin\u2019s \u2018Hope\u2019 Sets Sales Record for Korean Film<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore the 2026 Emmy race, shifting TV trends, standout contenders, and reasons for optimism in a changing entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[245,826,827],"class_list":["post-854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-awards","tag-emmy-awards","tag-emmys-2026"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the 2026 Emmy race, shifting TV trends, standout contenders, and reasons for optimism in a changing entertainment landscape.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T15:38:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T15:38:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854\"},\"wordCount\":949,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Awards\",\"Emmy Awards\",\"Emmys 2026\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854\",\"name\":\"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism - US Property Moves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T15:38:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=854#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Property Moves\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism - US Property Moves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism - US Property Moves","og_description":"Explore the 2026 Emmy race, shifting TV trends, standout contenders, and reasons for optimism in a changing entertainment landscape.","og_url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854","og_site_name":"US Property Moves","article_published_time":"2026-05-29T15:38:50+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"headline":"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism","datePublished":"2026-05-29T15:38:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854"},"wordCount":949,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp","keywords":["Awards","Emmy Awards","Emmys 2026"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854","name":"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism - US Property Moves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-29T15:38:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/85664ba9aa7ef0696de8910134de7fa9.webp","width":1440,"height":810},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=854#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"As TV Contracts, the 2026 Emmy Race Offers a Case for Optimism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/","name":"US Property Moves","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/uspropertymoves.com"],"url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}