2024 Emmy Contenders for Consideration: From 'Baby Reindeer' to 'Shogun'

After unprecedented dual strikes halted production, television has returned with a bang, offering some truly outstanding programming. While the era of peak TV may be over, breakout hits such as Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” and FX’s “Shōgun” have proven that the medium still has much to offer. The Emmys may only recognize a select few, but there are many other shows that deserve attention. Here, Variety’s television critics Alison Herman and Aramide Tinubu curate a list of shows they believe most deserve the Television Academy’s appreciation this year.

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Baby Reindeer

Comedian Richard Gadd’s “Baby Reindeer” is perhaps one of the most spellbinding series on television in recent years. A seven-part Netflix series based on Gadd’s real-life account of being stalked and harassed for several years, the show is a mix of drama, humor and devastation. The show follows Gadd’s Donny Dunn, a struggling comedian who finds himself in the crosshairs of an unstable woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning). It’s gutting and traumatic — Gadd reveals Donny’s emotional state and the circumstances that allowed the young man to be initially flattered by the unstable woman’s affections. More than a stalker drama, the series is a vulnerable and candid account of abuse, human emotions and mental illness. — Aramide Tinubu

Criminal Record

There is no shortage of cop shows on television, but Paul Rutman’s “Criminal Record” offers something uniquely twisted. The Apple TV+ series begins with an anonymous phone call from a frightened young woman and spirals outward. As Detective Sgt. June Lenker (Cush Jumbo) begins working to identify the caller, she stumbles upon an old murder case spearheaded by Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi). Though the pair should be on the same side, June unearths the racism, negligence and inconsistencies that have long permeated London’s police force. Though a mystery is at the center, “Criminal Record” is about a job that can breed an obsession with power and legacy and all the horrors people indulge in to keep them. — A.T.

Diarra From Detroit

Created by Diarra Kilpatrick, “Diarra From Detroit” is a hilarious and mysterious P.I. BET+ drama centering on a heartbroken schoolteacher trying to solve her insomnia problem. Set in the Motor City, Kilpatrick portrays Diarra, who, following a delightful Tinder date, finds herself on a quest to solve a decades-old missing child’s case. Diarra sleuths her way into a heap of trouble and tries to weasel her way out by doing the absolute most. With a motley crew of friends around her and an estranged husband (Morris Chestnut) with secrets of his own, “Diarra From Detroit” is more than just a refreshing detective story; it’s a series about a Black woman determined to take the reins of her own life. — A.T.

Fargo

At its halfway point, I was a touch ambivalent about the fifth season of Noah Hawley’s “Fargo” on FX. After its conclusion, I am happy to admit I was wrong: the most contemporary version of the Coen-inspired anthology, an extended showdown between Joe Arpaio-esque sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm) and his steely ex-wife Dot Lyon (Juno Temple), is also its best. For most of the season, ancient assassin Munch (Sam Spruell) reads like an erratic wild card. Only in a final conversation between Munch and Dot, set at a prosaic kitchen table, does it become clear each character represents a different idea of debt and what people owe to each other. Roy is convinced Dot owes him eternal loyalty, despite his abuse; Dot’s mother-in-law (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a debt czar herself. But through sheer force of will, Dot forges a kinder, gentler morality. It’s a sight to behold. — Alison Herman

Fellow Travelers

Based on the bestselling novel by Thomas Mallon, Showtime’s “Fellow Travelers” is a sweeping and gutting love story set during some of the most atrocious moments in American history. Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller (Matt Bomer) is a charismatic federal bureaucrat who falls for Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), the boyish new assistant to Sen. Joseph McCarthy (Chris Bauer). Since Hawk blends in, armed with a stoic hypermasculinity and a family, Tim is forced to orbit around him for years. The pair engage in a decades-long love affair that begins at the height of the McCarthy era and comes to a stunning end during the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Though the narrative is compelling, the chemistry between Bomer and Bailey brings an erotic intimacy into this political thriller. — A.T.

Genius: MLK/X

The lives of Civil Rights activists Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X have been examined ad nauseam. However, National Geographic’s outstanding “Genius: MLK/X” manages to depict the two men with different ideologies in brand new lights. With Kelvin Harrison Jr. portraying Dr. King and Aaron Pierre as the Muslim minister, the series follows each man from boyhood through adolescence and racialization until their deaths. More than a surface-level overview, the series offers glimpses into their personal lives, marriages and fears. Their wives, Coretta Scott King (Weruche Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Jayme Lawson), are also central characters, with an entire episode devoted to their respective perspectives, contributions and sacrifices. The elegantly done series serves as a reminder that history echoes loudly in the present. — A.T.

Heartstopper

In its first season, “Heartstopper” centered on the budding friendship between the nerdy and shy Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and the school’s charming rugby captain, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The second season on Netflix showcases the burgeoning romance between the two, their friendships and their fears. It’s a euphoric and vividly accurate depiction of what it means to be a teen, with episodes acting like vividly stunning diary entries. Moving past Charlie and Nick and extending into their close-knit circle, the show encapsulates those beautiful firsts with tender honesty and a blissful sweetness. — A.T.

Masters of the Air

There is no shortage of series and films this year examining the battles of World War II. Yet, “Masters of the Air,” based on historian Donald L. Miller’s account of the 100th Bomb Group, offers something distinct. A vast narrative with countless characters and copious action scenes, the Apple TV+ series usurps the typical war tropes to become a fascinating account of courage, loss and friendship. Maj. Gale “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler) and Maj. John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner) stand at the center of this story that begins with a vast overview of endless air combat and devastating loss. However, as the series settles into itself, it blossoms, reiterating the murderous, gruesome and horrific human effects of war. — A.T.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Though they share a name, the characters played by Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” bear only a tangential relationship to the suburban spies Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made a mid-aughts tabloid sensation in the feature film. Still, this John and Jane are equally of their time, from their post-recessionary desire for a stable, high-paying job at any price to the aesthetic glory of their New York townhouse. If the Amazon Prime Video series began as a metaphor for spousal secrets and mid-life malaise, Glover and co-creator Francesca Sloane turn the concept into a more expansive vehicle. In their episodic adventures, John and Jane experience attraction, conflict, fear of commitment and a few brushes with death. Only the latter feels out of the ordinary as a milestone in their fledgling relationship. — A.H.

One Day

Based on the acclaimed novel by David Nicholls and adapted by Nicole Taylor, Netflix’s “One Day” is a thoughtful but gutting drama about love, friendship and expectations. The series centers on the bond between Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall), who maneuver in and out of each other’s lives for two decades. With a charming chemistry between the two, “One Day” unpacks their decisions and paths, which reverberate across the rest of their lives. An homage to love and friendship, it’s a reminder that while life can be full of romance, it’s not a fairytale. — A.T.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Starz’s “Power” Universe, created by Courtney A. Kemp, has been a force on cable for the last decade. However, no other series in the franchise stands as tall as the ’90s set series “Raising Kanan.” While the series is the origin story for one of the universe’s most infamous villains, Kanan Stark (portrayed by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in “Power” and MeKai Curtis here), this series belongs to Patina Miller. Miller stars as Kanan’s drug queenpin mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas, a force to be reckoned with in a male-dominated industry. Vicious in one breath and virtuous in another, Raq is the sun around which this series orbits. Her choices are also the catalyst for Kanan’s nefarious turn. — A.T.

Reservation Dogs

The TV Academy has one last chance to correct its greatest oversight of the last several seasons: failing to recognize FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” one of the most culturally specific, brilliantly cast and shaggily good-humored teen shows ever made. The third and final season follows the four protagonists as they leave the immediate fog of mourning and take their first steps toward true adulthood. While bittersweet, this transition comes with a sense of completion. Co-creator and showrunner Sterlin Harjo acutely balances the epic sweep of these kids’ inheritance — tradition and trauma alike — with the specific, often comic quirks of their daily lives. It’s a study in closure, both for the characters and the audience. — A.H.

Scavengers Reign

This eerie animated Max show follows the scattered survivors of a spaceship wreck as they navigate an alien planet’s harsh, unforgiving ecosystem. Much of the action is entirely wordless. For minutes at a time, we simply observe the intricate, symbiotic relationships between this world’s flora and fauna, which can turn from awesome to deadly in an instant. But “Scavengers Reign” also tells deeply human stories about its characters, who once worked together on a now-destroyed mining ship. Each of these stranded people went to space for their own reasons, and each are changed in different ways by their struggle to stay alive in such a hostile environment. The show is hypnotic, but it’s also deeply moving. — A.H.

Shōgun

Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s take on James Clavell’s doorstopper, a lightly fictionalized tale of feudal Japan at the dawn of the Tokugawa shogunate, is not the first time the novel has become a blockbuster miniseries. But with stunning production design, meticulous translation and a renewed emphasis on Japanese characters, particularly stoic commander Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) and samurai translator Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), the 2024 “Shōgun” seems fated to go down as the definitive version of an English sailor’s unlikely assimilation into a radically different society. The season concludes with a clever feint that doubles as a statement of purpose. There’s no grand final battle; all those tense conversations in wood-paneled rooms were the real action all along. — A.H.

The Sympathizer

The Korean film auteur Park Chan-wook has cultivated a fruitful side business in English-language TV. First, he took on John le Carré’s “The Little Drummer Girl,” and now he’s adapted a more modern classic espionage novel in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s “The Sympathizer.” Working with co-showrunner Don McKellar, Park applies his sense of off-kilter humor, precise mise-en-scène and perverse violence to the tale of an unnamed spy for North Vietnam (Hoa Xuande) embedded with anti-communist refugees in California after the war. The Captain, as he’s known, is a true chameleon, empathizing with all sides of a conflict that tore apart his homeland. Co-star Robert Downey Jr. is equally versatile as various avatars of America’s racist, neocolonial power structure, from a CIA spook to a director who unwittingly produces propaganda. HBO’s “The Sympathizer” is as deranged as the national psychoses it aims to satirize. Like the Captain, it’s become what it needs to be. — A.H.

Tokyo Vice

In its second season on Max, the sort-of-true story of American journalist Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort) getting mixed up in the Japanese underworld expanded its story to become a holistic portrait of a city on the cusp of a new millennium. In his quest to take down yakuza boss Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida), an arrogant and terrifyingly modern villain for the ages, Jake dives down a rabbit hole of gangsters, diplomats and corruption. But he finds plenty of good in his adopted home, too — especially in Detective Katagiri (Ken Watanabe), with whom he forms a professional odd couple fused together by gruff camaraderie. Few shows feel as transportive as “Tokyo Vice” without the special effects and ample CGI we’ve come to expect from event TV. Why fly on a dragon’s back when you can hit the local yakitori joint? — A.H.

The Traitors

For years, the Emmys’ reality categories have been (justly) dominated by “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” It’s fitting, then, that the drag queen’s most serious competition in years is another hosting performance by a queer man who proudly embraces flamboyance and feigned drama in “The Traitors.” The first season of the Dutch game show’s American spinoff awkwardly paired everyday citizens with experienced performers in the unscripted space. Under Alan Cumming’s watchful eye, his charming brogue and fabulous tartans came alive in Peaock’s Season 2 by going all-in on reality stardom. Let loose in a Scottish castle, an all-star crew of alumni from franchises as disparate as “Real Housewives” and “The Challenge” backstabbed their way to a shocking finale. The murders may be fake, but the entertainment is thrillingly real. — A.H.

Under the Bridge

Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s 2005 nonfiction account, Hulu’s “Under the Bridge” follows the horrific death of 14-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta). After returning to her childhood home in Victoria, British Columbia, to write her novel, Rebecca (Riley Keough) becomes fixated on Renna’s death and fascinated by the group of “friends” the young teen was last seen with. Trying to absolve herself of some past trauma, Rebecca desperately begins seeking humanity in Reena’s killers. Her quest troubles police officer Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone), who can see the racial undertones of the attack so clearly. An examination of cruelty and empathy, the series is wholly absorbing and completely devastating.  — A.T.

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