2015 Emmys: Will ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘American Crime’ win Limited Series honor?

There’s a distinct American flair in the Emmy nominees this year for Outstanding Limited Series … at least in the form of two shows with “American” in the title. That’s a little bit hokey, but that is at the moment very much where we are. “American Crime” and “American Horror Story” are the two commercial heavyweights in this category, and while it is not confirmed that either one will win, they at least have to be considered favorites for the time being.

Take a look below at our analysis on the category, which is a little more devoid of well-known programs than it was at this point last year.

The nominees

American Crime (ABC)

American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX)

The Honorable Woman (SundaceTV)

Olive Kitteridge (HBO)

Wolf Hall (PBS)

Who should win – In talking about sheer quality alone, “Olive Kitteridge” is the strongest in terms of writing and acting, and we’d say that “American Crime” was second for giving us a really gritty, almost expose on life and social relationships.Given that “Olive” does have a little bit of that HBO pedigree behind it, you do have to think that it will help it in some capacity.

Who will win – We do still have a feeling that “American Horror Story” is the favorite to win just because it is the most well-known of any of the nominees, and it has a great cast and comes from the prolific Ryan Murphy. Maybe “American Crime” does also have a chance, but we feel like without a notable competitor this is probably the Freak Show’s race to lose. Whether or not it should be a Limited Series given that it contained characters from Asylum is an entirely different story…