Emmys 2021: Outlander, Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe ineligible; why?
If you saw the Emmy nominations earlier today, maybe you were briefly disappointed that Outlander was not a part of them. With that being said, though, it turns out there’s a legitimately good reason why that didn’t happen.
The way that the Emmys work is that they have a specific calendar by which they consider shows. While the pandemic caused a little more confusion over the past year, it’s usually from June 1 through May 31 of the following year. Outlander season 5 last aired in May 2020, well over a year ago — with that, there simply wasn’t any content that was eligible for trophies this time around. That will change next summer with Outlander season 6, provided of course that it premieres in early 2022.
Will next year be the one where the Emmys finally recognize the show beyond the technical categories? It would be nice if they did, but we’ve grown cautious to buy into anything with them. While we do love many of the shows nominated in 2021, one of the big issues is a lack of parity. If you look across the board, series like Ted Lasso, Lovecraft Country, The Crown, Saturday Night Live, and The Handmaid’s Tale dominated the majority of categories. There wasn’t room for a lot of other programming in the end.
With all of this in mind, our advice is always to enjoy a show for the entertainment it gives you. It’s pretty hard to bank on anything else from critics or voters.
Do you want to see Outlander get a little more Emmy love at some point?
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(Photo: Starz.)