Emmys 2019: Best Drama Series — Our Dream Nominees
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BETTER CALL SAUL
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: As Jimmy McGill creeps closer and closer to becoming Saul Goodman, AMC's Breaking Bad spinoff just keeps getting better and better. Season 4 topped itself by painstakingly charting Jimmy's tragic descent into sleazeville, and Bob Odenkirk hit new heights as a dramatic actor. It still tossed in a few nods to its Breaking Bad roots — the Gale cameo was a nice touch — but Saul is fully its own series now, and a great one.
Bodyguard
BODYGUARD
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: With its taut, can't-look-away 21-minute opening sequence, Netflix's British import set a high bar for itself, which it more than surpassed over the tightly plotted season. Whether intriguing us with its political machinations or shocking us with that truly unexpected midseason twist, the story of war vet-turned-bodyguard David Budd was a riveting, unpredictable thriller that elevated our blood pressure in the best way.
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HOMECOMING
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Yes, Julia Roberts doing a TV show is big news, but Amazon's haunting psychological drama was more than a mere star vehicle. Hatched from the fertile mind of Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, it was a riveting throwback to '70s conspiracy thrillers, with creeping paranoia and stylish cinematography to match. The mystery it spun only got more fascinating the deeper into it we got, and Roberts put a human face on it with a delicately restrained performance.
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POSE
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Amid a sea of garden-variety dramas chronicling white people's white problems, this FX treasure from the house of Ryan Murphy stands out as a true original. Boasting the largest ensemble of transgender actors on television, and featuring powerhouse performances from the likes of Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez, Pose offers a powerful look at the true meaning of family — even if it isn't the one you were born into.
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SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Facebook Watch doesn't quite have the cachet that Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have among Emmy voters, but our fingers are crossed that this first-year drama manages to break through in a big way. Over 10 half-hour episodes, the Kit Steinkellner-created series proved itself to be an emotionally astute, genuinely moving exploration of bereavement unlike anything else on television, and featured a career-best performance by Elizabeth Olsen as grief-stricken widow Leigh.
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SUCCESSION
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: This HBO drama over the course of its freshman run enjoyed a fantastic snowball effect — evolving from expletive-laced family melodrama into a compelling bit of Media Empire satire. The ensemble boasts real gems, including Jeremy Strong's hair-trigger take on heir apparent Kendall Roy, Matthew Macfadyen as suck-up son-in-law Tom, and the always-intimidating Brian Cox as a crusty, indefatigable and Murdochian patriarch.
The One with the Celebrity Divorce
THE GOOD FIGHT
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: In its third season, the CBS All Access drama cemented its status as TV's most entertainingly bold and unapologetically wackadoodle drama series. In addition to introducing a Roy Cohn-esque lawyer played by a scenery-chewing Michael Sheen, the Good Wife spinoff continued to dismantle its fourth wall by having characters talk directly to the camera and turning its Schoolhouse Rock-like musical interludes into a weekly feature. But it was the series' continued obsession with all things Trump, as well as its searing exploration of race, gender and sexual misconduct in the workplace, that made this season's Fight next-level great.