“Throwing shows against the wall and hoping for the best”: NBC, quality, and the Emmy race for Outstanding Drama Series in the 2010s

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1999, The Sopranos (HBO, 1999–2007) was the first-ever nominee from premium or basic cable in the Primetime Emmys’ Outstanding Drama Series category, a slate annually dominated by broadcast dramas; by 2012, the broadcast networks had been completely omitted from the Emmy category’s nominations, ceded to the prestige cable (and later, streaming) dramas that had been influenced by HBO and The Sopranos. This article uses this turn to consider the impact on the development of broadcast dramas, examining how one broadcast network, NBC, tried to compete with cable and streaming prestige dramas from 2012–2016, an era in which no broadcast drama was nominated for the Emmy prize. By examining trade dispatches, the article demonstrates that NBC prioritized familiarity and formula rather than edgy, acclaimed dramas to stabilize its shaky primetime schedule, an aim emblematized by NBC’s divergent promotion of its critically-acclaimed dramas This Is Us (NBC, 2016–2022) and Hannibal (NBC, 2013–2015). NBC’s response invites us to consider the value of the Emmys to contemporary broadcast networks in the era of ‘Peak TV’, as well as the role that conglomeration plays in allowing broadcasters to consign prestige dramas to sibling cable channels and streaming platforms.