Friday, May 29, 2026

My Reactions to the 2026 Astra TV Nominations, Conclusion: Outstanding Limited Series/TV Movie et al

 


The limited series/TV movie category is by definition always closest to what the Emmys can do. The Astras have limited (unintentional play on words) the number of nominees in this category to six over the last few years, which is as close to current lead up.

That said, the same quirks that are present throughout are often seen, most notably in 2024 when the Astras completely ignored Capote Vs. The Swans, which while it wasn't nominated for Best Limited Series received 12 other nominations in major categories. There's nothing quite as egregious here but there are still some striking omissions and inclusions.

 

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES

Five of the six nominated series will likely be major contenders: All Her Fault, Season 2 of Beef, Half Man, DTF St. Louis and The Beast in Me. The odd one is that The Girlfriend is present rather than Love Story, though it was nominated by the Critics Choice Award for better Limited Series

I'll pass over TV Movie save to say that Remarkably Bright Creatures is already one of the major front-runners and will likely be a possibility in some of the Emmy nominations down the road.

 

LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE CAST ENSEMBLE

Obviously I can't fault them for the nominations for Beef or All Her Fault. The Girlfriend makes sense under their arguments and because Mike, Nick, Nick & Alice is here for TV movie I get that.

I do question Lord of The Flies and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen being here ahead of DTF St. Louis and Love Story. Half Man is far more of a two man show so that's not surprising and Love Story was a coin toss.

 

ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Carey Mulligan, Claire Danes, Sarah Pidgeon and Sarah Snook are absolutely going to be fighting it out for Best Actress in the Emmys. I can see the argument for Sally Field for Remarkably Bright Creatures.

I do, however, question Camila Morrone being here for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ahead of either Robin Wright or Olivia Cooke for The Girlfriend. Considering Wright was nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award, this is a striking omission.

 

ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES

Credit where its due: Charlie Hunnam isn't her for playing Ed Gein, despite having been nominated for the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award. Indeed the third season of Monster has no presence at all. I really hope the Emmys follow that.

Richard Gadd, Oscar Isaac, Paul Anthony Kelly and Matthew Rhys are basically locks for Emmy nominations. Lewis Pullman is a dark horse for Remarkably Bright Creatures. I have no idea what the Emmys will do for Riz Ahmed in Bait. We'll have to see. But no notes on this one.

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES

Linda Cardellini is here for DTF: St. Louis. Dakota Fanning will be attending with her sister as a co-nominee as she's nominated for All Her Fault. Callie Spaeny and Youn Yuh-Jung are both here for Season 2 of Beef. And Grace Gummer is in the hunt for playing Caroline Kennedy in Love Story.

Brittany Snow being here for The Beast of Me is an interesting choice. It's possible like Michelle Pfeiffer and John C. McGinley she's double dipping but having seen Beast In Me I know that Snow's work is generally excellent. I might have preferred to see Naomi Watts here instead but Snow's a decent choice and maybe the Emmys will have room for both. Good.

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

David Harbour and Jason Bateman are both deservedly here for DTF: St. Louis. Jamie Bell is here for Half Man as he should be. Jake Lacy is here for All Her Fault and Charles Melton for Beef.

I'll confess to being slightly surprised to see Troy Kotsur here for Black Rabbit but considering that the show has no other presence her (Bateman was not nominated for Best Actor) I'm basically okay. Besides I'm honestly not sure who my sixth pick will be in a few months' time.

 

DIRECTING IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

All Her Fault, Beef and DTF St. Louis more than deserve it and I can see the logic for Remarkably Bright Creatures. I could hem and haw about Something Very Bad and The Girlfriend being here instead of Half Man or Beast in Me but honestly The Girlfriend did have good direction and Half Man's strengths are not technical.

 

WRITING

Here I am somewhat annoyed not to see Half Man considered for Best writing and to see Something Very Bad here. All the other nominees are from directing, save Bait which was nominated for writing instead. And honestly given the description of the series I really can't fault the Astras for choosing it.

 

So I'm okay with ninety percent of the nominees. I'm a little annoyed by Something Very Bad doing so very well but considering that four of my choices for Best Limited Series have done best by the Astras and that even the fifth has done better then some of the previous Ryan Murphy series, I'm basically okay. And honestly if The Girlfriend had gotten some acting nominations I might be happier.

 

The remainder of the nominations I have no real skin in the game. I still don't care about reality series, competition or otherwise my interest in talk or variety faded along time ago and I have no real interest in animation, at least group. That said there are some ephemera that I am happy about.

As a Jeopardy fan I take pleasure in seeing both Celebrity Jeopardy All-Stars and Pop Culture Jeopardy nominated for Best Game Show. Several of the documentary TV movies this past year gave me immense enjoyment in different ways and I was thrilled to see Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man and Mariska Hargitay's My Mom Jayne both nominated. And I'm thrilled to see Nikki Glaser nominated for Best Standup or Variety special and I truly hope the nomination for The Muppet Show convinces somebody to make it more than a one-off. (Or maybe I want to see Kermit the Frog give an acceptance speech, which would be awesome.)

The Astra TV Awards are scheduled to be held Saturday August 15th. I will be back in late August with my predictions and hopefully I can actually see it this year.

I will be back with more on at least one of Phase 3 of Emmy Watch which I've missed sometime next week. Thanks for reading.

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