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Emmys 2025: Outstanding Drama Series — Our Dream Nominees!
How's this for an Emmy twist: Only one of 2024's Outstanding Drama Series nominees — a roster that included The Crown, Fallout, The Gilded Age, The Morning Show, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Slow Horses, 3 Body Problem and eventual winner Shōgun — is even in the running this year. (We're looking at you, Slow Horses.)
In other words, the 2025 Drama Series contest is guaranteed to feature a mostly-fresh crop of nominees. However, that does not mean the race is wide open. Far from it. Two series — Apple TV+'s Severance, coming off a near-perfect sophomore season, and Max's freshman medical phenom The Pitt — have emerged as early frontrunners to take home the Emmys' top drama prize in September.
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Both shows have already cleared one hurdle en route to Emmy glory: They have secured two of the eight slots on TVLine's coveted Dream Emmy lineup.
Scroll down to check outof our Dream Nominees (remember, these aren't ; they're ) and then tell us if our picks warrant a 'Hell, yes!,' 'Um, no' or 'How could you leave off such-and-such?!'
For the record, 2025 Emmy nominations will be voted on from June 12-23, and unveiled on July 15. The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is scheduled to air on Sunday, Sept. 14, on CBS.
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: More than just the best live-action Star Wars show we've gotten, it is one of TV's greatest series ever — a superlative cinched by an incredible second and final season brimming with action, spycraft, intricate interpersonal dynamics, tragedy and heartbreak. The cast was wall-to-wall stellar, the Volume-less sets were richly detailed and tactile, and the final build-up to the events of the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was as meticulous as it was satisfying. — Matt Webb Mitovich
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: Imagine if Dr. Gregory House were a detective working on the Island of Misfit Toys, and you essentially have Dept. Q, Netflix's outwardly grumpy, stealthily joyous thriller from Queen's Gambit auteur Scott Frank. Matthew Goode deftly channels his inner Hugh Laurie as a perpetually agitated detective attempting to solve a cold case involving an equally cranky, possibly dead prosecutor. The mystery is edge-of-your-seat riveting, the performances across-the-board revelatory and the payoffs so satisfying that you'll no doubt be relieved to find Dept. Q competing as a drama vs. limited series. — Michael Ausiello
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: What The Diplomat's sophomore slump-defying second season lacked in volume (just six episodes?!), the Netflix political thriller more than made up for in propulsive storytelling and breathtaking performances. Led by the one-two punch of Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell, who together have given birth to one of TV's most entertainingly complicated and nuanced couples, the show upped the prestige ante in Season 2 with the addition of Allison Janney as VP Grace Penn, then stuck the landing with one of the year's most jaw-dropping cliffhangers. — M.A.
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: How would we describe the financial drama's third season? To borrow a word from Eric Tao: Relentless. Leads Myha'la and Ken Leung continued serving raw performances and cutthroat takedowns, while newcomers Sarah Goldberg and Kit Harington raised the stakes as the foundations of Pierpoint began to crack. While professional turmoil was once again off the charts, we basked in the season's soapier elements, too. From Yasmin's wicked yacht reveal to Robert's heartbreaking romantic blindside, Industry was a powerhouse we simply couldn't get enough of. — Nick Caruso
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: The heartbreaking, take-no-prisoners second season of AMC's Interview With the Vampire thrust viewers deeper into the complex, intertwined struggles of our fanged (and not-yet-fanged) favorites, this time against the sumptuous backdrop of 1940s Paris. Drenched in themes of love, loss and betrayal, the Anne Rice adaptation spun an intoxicating narrative, one anchored and elevated by otherworldly performances from Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid — whose palpable chemistry is among the best on TV today — as well as Assad Zaman and Eric Bogosian, who brought considerable gravity to some of the series' most explosive reveals. Delainey Hayles was also a revelation as Claudia 2.0, the rare example of a seamless TV recast. — Andy Swift
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: There was a 'Broadcast TV is back!' chant last fall, fueled in large part by the success of this freshman hit — aka the second-most-watched series of the TV season. After rebuffing the 'Who needs a Matlock reboot?' critics by revealing itself to be anything but, the twisty, Kathy Bates-led drama kept us tuned in week after week to see how 'Matty' might slowly but surely avenge her daughter's death. Throw in fantastic work by Skye P. Marshall, a perfect scene partner for Bates, and the verdict is unanimous: Matlock is great TV. — M.W.M.
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: ER was the gold standard… that was, until Noah Wyle, R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells reunited to deliver the most medically accurate TV drama of all time. Sure, The Pitt's attention to detail may compel you to watch certain scenes through the cracks of your fingers, but the effort must be commended, as should its commitment to elegant world-building. While it takes place almost entirely in the fluorescent-lit confines of a woefully underfunded hospital, it still manages to deliver captivating characters and interpersonal dynamics, buoyed not only by Wyle's performance, but by its entire ensemble. There's not a weak link in the bunch. — Ryan Schwartz
WHY IT DESERVES A NOD: We had to wait three years for it, but Apple TV+'s surreal sci-fi thriller went right back to work in Season 2, crafting an absolute knockout of a sophomore run. Yes, we got some answers about what's really going on at Lumon, but we got some fascinating new questions, too, along with a deeper emotional resonance. The cast stepped their game up, as well, with Adam Scott, Britt Lower and Tramell Tillman all hitting new highs. We'd be more than happy to clock in on Emmy night and see this show get the promotion it deserves. — Dave Nemetz
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