Can ‘Star Trek’ finally get back into wide-open Best Drama Series Emmy race with ‘Discovery’ or ‘Strange New Worlds’?

Daniel Montgomery
·3 min read
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“Star Trek” has a storied history with the Emmys, but its recognition has usually come in below-the-line categories. The only times the franchise has made the cut for Best Drama Series were for the original series in 1967 and 1968 and “The Next Generation” in 1994. But this is a wide-open year for dramas at the Emmys, and there are eight slots to fill for Best Drama. Can “Discovery” or “Strange New Worlds” get the franchise into the top race for the first time in 30 years?

Of last year’s nominees for Best Drama Series, only “The Crown” is able to return. “Succession” and “Better Call Saul” ended their runs, while “Andor,” “House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” “The White Lotus” and “Yellowjackets” won’t premiere new episodes in this eligibility period. That leaves seven available slots. It might still seem like an uphill climb for “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds,” whose only nominations to date have come in below-the-line categories. Thus far “Discovery” has been nommed 10 times, winning once for prosthetic makeup and once for visual effects, while “Strange New Worlds” season one only received a single nomination for its sound editing.

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That said, “Discovery” is ending with its fifth season airing this spring, so it could get a farewell hug just like “The Next Generation” got back in 1994 for its final season. As for “Strange New Worlds,” its second season came with a big uptick in critical acclaim, scoring 88 on MetaCritic compared to 76 for season one; it even received Critics Choice Award nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Drama Supporting Actress (Celia Rose Gooding).

The good news for both shows is that the Emmys’ old bias against sci-fi and fantasy shows seems to have vanished thanks to big-budget prestige dramas like “Game of Thrones,” “Westworld” and “Stranger Things.” Recent years have also seen nominations for multiple “Star Wars” spin-offs (“The Mandalorian” and “Andor”), plus the supernatural horror series “Lovecraft Country,” sci-fi dystopias “Severance” and “The Last of Us,” and “House of the Dragon.”

The bad news could be a potential vote split. Unlike previous years when academy members were able to vote for as many contenders as they wanted, now they can only select eight, the same number as will be nominated. Voters could still check off both “Star Trek” shows on their ballots, but some may choose one over the other and save the rest of their limited slots for other programs. If no consensus forms around one of them, both could miss out. Then again, last year both “Star Wars” shows, “Mandalorian” and “Andor,” were on the ballot but didn’t split votes enough to cost “Andor” a nomination. So there is hope for TV’s venerable sci-fi franchise to make a long-awaited comeback.

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