‘The Last of Us’ is taking over our Emmy odds faster than show’s cordyceps fungus toppled humanity

Sam Eckmann
·3 min read
6

Life is imitating art when it comes to the Emmy chances of HBO’s latest hit series ‘The Last of Us.’ In the show, adapted from the acclaimed video game by developer Naughty Dog, a lethal cordyceps fungus quickly spreads through the human race. The show’s Emmy standings are improving just as rapidly as those shrooms move through their infected victims.

When we opened the prediction center for the 2023 Emmy Award nominations on January 31, “The Last of Us” debuted outside of the top eight predicted contenders for Drama Series. In just three days, the series rocketed up the rankings to sixth place, overtaking popular favorites such as “Yellowstone,” “The Mandalorian,” and “Andor.” In the past two weeks, it has now managed to climb over presumed nominees “House of the Dragon” and “The Crown.” “The Last of Us” now finds itself in a comfortable fourth place standing in our Emmy odds, and is close to overtaking the final season of “Better Call Saul.” Two of our All Star Users and 72 of our regular users are currently predicting the show to win the category.

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It’s understandable that users and pundits would display initial hesitancy over the series’ Emmy prospects. Similarly themed post-apocalyptic tales like “The Walking Dead” never truly tickled Emmy voters, at least not in the major series races. And you could fill a book with the number of acclaimed science fiction and fantasy shows that the Emmys have snubbed. What do “Battlestar Galactica,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Outlander” and “The Walking Dead” have in common? None of these beloved shows were ever nominated for Drama Series.

Awards-watchers may feel more confident in “The Last of Us” because it has taken off in the zeitgeist in a way that few series achieve lately. The show has gained viewers even quicker than it climbed our Emmy odds. The series premiere raked in 4.7 million viewers on its debut night, then episode 2 pulled off a 22% jump in viewership with 5.7 million sets of eyeballs. Every episode thus far has seen an unprecedented week-over-week increase in viewers. Nielsen recently touted that the show was watched for an astounding 837 million minutes between January 27 and 30, far outpacing HBO’s other genre epic (and Drama Series hopeful) “House of the Dragon.” Couple these numbers with a 97% Fresh rating and 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s clear that “The Last of Us” is true “must see TV.”

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In a crowded TV landscape, the buzziest series are the ones best positioned to break through at the Emmys. “Game of Thrones,” “The Mandalorian,” “Squid Game” and “Stranger Things” are all examples of recent Emmy favorites who capitalized on being “watercooler” shows that seemingly everyone devoured and discussed incessantly. “The Last of Us” is in a prime position to follow their footsteps to become Emmy voter’s latest obsession.

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Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

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