By Ryan C. Showers ​​​

The 71st Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced today. It was HBO’s day in the spotlight, leading any other network or platform with 137 nominations overall. Netflix accrued the second most nominations with 117. A week ago, Next Best Picture recorded a podcast with our predictions which you can listen to here.

Here are the big highlights to take away from today’s Emmy nominations...

By Matt Neglia 

​The nominations for the 71st Emmy Awards have been announced and in its final season "Game Of Thrones" leads the way with a record breaking 32 nominations for a single season.

Click below to see the nominations and be on the lookout for our podcast discussing the nominations and predicting the winners.

By Michael Schwartz 

After diving into predictions for Comedy, Drama, and Limited Series races (and giving our final predictions for tomorrow's nominations on the podcast), Next Best Picture breaks down Emmy contenders for the Variety Talk Series category. The category was born when the former Variety Series category split to allow more space for talk series and sketch series to thrive in their own corners. When The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won for ten consecutive years in a row, it made sense to provide breathing room. Since then, we’ve seen repeat showings from one series. But this upcoming Emmy cycle may just be the one to break the chain. Let’s dive in.

By Matt Neglia 
​
Emmy Nominations are only a few days away (July 16th to be exact) so Michael Schwartz, Ryan C. Showers, Tom O'Brien and myself naturally have thoughts on what we feel will be nominated and why. Be sure to check out our predictions on the podcast below and be on the lookout for our next episode where we will be discussing the nominations and give our predictions for the winners.

Thank you so much for listening. You can subscribe to the Next Best Picture Podcast on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, GooglePlay, Tunein, PlayerFM, Acast & Castbox or you can listen down below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. ​​

By Michael Schwartz 

We've taken a look at Best Comedy Series and Best Limited Series. Now, it's time to take a look at the shows which will be competing this year at the Emmys for a nomination in Best Drama Series.

Before "Game of Thrones" even returned to HBO to air its final season, the blockbuster series already had another Emmy win for Drama Series locked down and ready to go....or it seemed. While the final season was met with a divisive reaction, we still think it holds the top place at the moment based on the hype alone. However, with its momentum fading and the uncertainty surrounding whether the complaints from the fandom reached the ears of the Academy, we are starting to wonder if there is another show out there that can beat the HBO goliath.

​Let’s dive into the eight non-"Game of Thrones" series that will be competing for a nomination slot.​

​By Ryan C. Showers ​​

​Despite my intense studying, following, and analyzing the Emmy awards for the past six years, I have never held the limited series/TV movie categories to the same standard which I do the Drama and Comedy races. When I really began to become invested in the Emmys to a similar degree as my investment in the Oscars and film awards, many called it the “golden age” of television, when “Mad Men,” “Game of Thrones,” “Homeland,” “The Good Wife,” “House of Cards,” “Downton Abbey,” and “Breaking Bad” were all fighting for the golden trophies from the Television Academy at full throttle. Heck, during this time, when Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s first season of “True Detective” set the world on fire, HBO made the strategic decision of entering the seven-episode narrative in the Drama series categories, rather than Limited/Miniseries. “True Detective” would have had a guaranteed sweep of every category that year had it proceeded as limited series, instead of only winning the directing achievement in the drama series category. Due to this decision, McConaughey lost to Bryan Cranston in a stunning upset. In my view, HBO made this decision because they didn’t want their prized possession winning the second fiddle, small potatoes, less prestigious categories at the Emmys.

My, how times have changed.

By Jacey Aldredge ​​

​***WARNING***

The following contains spoilers about "Game of Thrones" Season 8 Episode 3.

​​It’s done. Whatever predictions fans may have had for the Battle at Winterfell have come and gone, and for many of us, the 82-minute battle left us shell-shocked, out of breath, and reeling in our seats (or jumping out of them). For better or worse, the Night King is dealt with, and by Maisie Williams’ character Arya no less. Now that we’re halfway through with the final season of “Game of Thrones,” this third episode begs the question: did “Game of Thrones” just secure a Supporting Actress win for the September 22nd Emmys? And, more specifically, did Maisie Williams secure that win? ​

By Michael Schwartz 

The other day, we took a look at comedy series that are in contention for Emmy success. While many of those titles are returning champions, the limited series race brings in a fresh crop. With The Twilight Zone and American Horror Story competing as drama series, the limited series race seems to be as open as ever.

Let’s break down the top contenders.

By Michael Schwartz 

With the 71st Emmy Awards just around the corner, now seems as good a time as ever to take a deep dive into the current crop of contenders. Over the next couple of months, Next Best Picture will break down top contenders across the comedy, drama, and movie/limited series races. Today we will begin with comedy series contenders. Many of these shows are returning entries, while a few new additions will be competing for first-time Emmy favor.

​Let’s take a look at my predicted seven nominees.

By Ryan C. Showers ​​

​It’s that time of year: Television is on fire right now.

​Much like the way the films released in October, November, and December curve upward in quality, giving them prime release dates for award-season consideration, the television universe gets bombarded with the best the industry has to offer about this time of year, in the months of April and May. Each Emmy consideration period begins and ends every June, therefore companies prioritize their best bets for consideration from the Television Academy during this time of the year. This adheres to the long-respected tradition that awards-seeking media are best served when fresh in the minds of voters.