‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Did Not Win Any 2021 Emmy Awards — Why Some Fans Won’t Be Surprised
The 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony took place on Sept. 19, and the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards occurred on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12. The Handmaid’s Tale received a total of 11 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations and 10 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominations. Despite having a total of 21 nominations, The Handmaid’s Tale did not take home a single award from the 2021 Emmy Awards. Based on the quality of the show’s fourth season, some fans predicted The Handmaid’s Tale would leave the awards show winless.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ lost in every nominated Emmy Awards category
In 2018, The Handmaid’s Tale won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its acclaimed first season. Since its first season, reviews and accolades for the Hulu series have steadily decreased.
At the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, the show was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Elisabeth Moss received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as June Osborne. O-T Fagbenle, Max Minghella, and Bradley Whitford were all nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
The Handmaid’s Tale received four nominations in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category, and Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, and Samira Wiley were all nominated.
Even with the numerous nominations, the Hulu show lost in each category at the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards just days after losing in 10 categories at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Some fans of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ predicted the outcome
After Emmy Awards nominations were announced in July 2021, some fans of the Hulu show speculated on the odds that the series could actually win in the nominated categories.
While discussing the show and Emmy Awards nominations, fans of The Handmaid’s Tale faulted the series’ direction in its fourth season and the writing on the show.
“I’m glad for the actors as it’s always a career boost to get a nomination or win, but for the show as a whole, it comes across like they’re coasting off their initial reputation and the link to the book at this point with how Season 4 panned out,” wrote a Reddit user.
“None of the cast are poor actors, but the writing doesn’t exactly give them the best opportunities to shine at this point…,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
Another fan wrote on Reddit, “Yeah honestly it’s not a knock on them as actors, but with the writing I don’t think anyone on this show really deserves an award this year.”
The show made history with its record losses
To make matters worse for The Handmaid’s Tale, Variety reports that the show set a record at the 2021 Emmy Awards that no series wants to set.
According to Variety, “… the dystopian drama lost all of its awards, setting the record for the most losing series in a single year, topping AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ zero for 17 that occurred in 2012.”
The Handmaid’s Tale is already renewed for a fifth season with Hulu, so perhaps the series will have an opportunity to redeem itself after the new season premieres.
