Will The Handmaids Tale steal The Crowns Emmy thunder  again?
After a dominant spring awards season, The Crown looks poised to dominate the Emmys too, finally winning Best Drama Series for the first time after four seasons. If so, the Emmys could withhold the award from The Crown the exact same way they did in 2017, like Lucy taunting Charlie Brown with the football. In the winter of 2016-2017, the first season of The Crown got off to a strong start, standing out from the pack with its expensive production values and prestigious subject matter, exploring the life of Queen Elizabeth II at the start of her reign. It won Screen Actors Guild Awards for stars Claire Foy and John Lithgow and earned a nomination for its ensemble cast. The American Film Institute named it one of the best TV programs of the year. And it won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series. But then a few months later The Handmaids Tale premiered on Hulu and drank its milkshake at the Emmys, winning Best Drama Series and Best Drama Actress (Elisabeth Moss). This Emmy season could be shaping up in a similar way, except The Crown did even better with early awards groups. It was lauded by the AFI again. It won twice at the SAG Awards again (including a victory for its ensemble cast). It won Best Drama at the Golden Globes again. And on top of that it won Best Drama at the Critics Choice, Producers Guild, and Writers Guild Awards  all for the first time. But here comes The Handmaids Tale again, premiering in the spring right before Emmy voting and generating buzz with its own fourth season that advanced its plot in dramatic new ways. The good news for The Crown is that it was so much more dominant on the awards campaign trail in season four than it was in season one, possibly giving it too much momentum for any other show to catch it. Meanwhile, Handmaids has already seen a drop-off at the Emmys. Last year it was nominated 10 times for its third season, which was fewer than it got the previous year when it was only eligible for three orphaned episodes from season two. 2020 was also the first time Moss was snubbed from Best Drama Actress. When voters start moving on from a show, it can be hard to get them back even with a resurgent season. According to the combined predictions of our users, The Crown is the front-runner with 4/1 odds. The Handmaids Tale currently ranks fifth with 17/2 odds, perhaps due to last years relative under-performance, but watch for it to rise in our odds if it has a major uptick in nominations, which is a strong possibility considering how many other shows from the 2020 race are ineligible in 2021 due to COVID-19 production delays. That leaves a lot of empty slots to fill. So theres still a strong possibility that the handmaid steals the crown. PREDICTthe Emmy nominees until July 13  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. Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Dont 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.