The envelopes have all been opened and the statuettes have all been handed out, but there is still plenty of TV to watch! The 76th Annual Emmy Awards took place this past Sunday, handing out top honors to some of TV’s best comedy, drama, and unscripted series, including “Hacks,” “The Bear,” “The Traitors,” “Shōgun,” and more. But if you’re all caught up on this year's nominees and winners, your to-watch list may be looking a little light.
If you’re trying to figure out what to watch next based on some of your favorite Emmy winners this year, check out our recommendations on what to watch next!
What to Watch Next If You Enjoyed This Year’s Emmy Winners:
Related: How to Stream All of the 2024 Emmy-Winners: ‘Baby Reindeer,’ ‘Hacks,’ ‘Shōgun,’ More
Loved “Shōgun”? Watch: “The Last Kingdom” (2015) | Netflix
FX’s 17th-century feudal Japan-set drama dominated the Emmys this year, making history and setting records in the process with its 18 wins of 25 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and Lead Acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai. While “Shōgun” has set the bar for future historical dramas impossibly high, the last decade and a half has been rich for big-budget epics, from “Game of Thrones” to “Vikings,” and near the top of the pile is “The Last Kingdom.”
Like “Shōgun,” the BBC Two and Netflix series gets its source material from fiction (in this case, Bernard Cornwell’s “The Saxon Stories”) and follows Uhtred, who, as a child, was captured by Danish warlord Earl Ragnar. Years later and now a fearless warrior, Uhtred is delivered another devastating blow as his surrogate family/once-captors are killed and sets out for vengeance, having to choose between his birth country and those who raised him. While the series gets off to a slow start, it begins to shine from its third season onward, with beautiful cinematography, political intrigue, sprawling storylines, and great performances, led by Alexander Dreymon. All five seasons, plus the storyline-ending movie “The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die,” are all available to stream on Netflix.
The Last Kingdom
A show of heroic deeds and epic battles with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.
Loved “Hacks”? Watch: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (2017) | Prime Video
If anybody knows a comeback, it’s Deborah Vance, and the upset of this year’s Emmys came as “Hacks” beat out last year’s winner “The Bear” as the season’s best comedy series. And for good reason: there aren’t many shows ever as smart and sharp as the Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder comedy series about comedy from HBO/Max (just don’t ask Smart which).
But the series’ most sister-ly series is another Emmy comedy darling: Amazon Studios’ “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The 22-time winner and 80-time nominee starred Rachel Brosnahan as “Midge,” a 1950s housewife who realizes she has a knack for standup comedy and decides to pursue it as a career. When “Maisel” premiered in 2017, nothing looked like it, with bright and beautiful production design and choreography, not to mention an ensemble cast (Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen, Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub, Kevin Pollak, and more) that made it one of the most fun shows on TV.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
It’s 1958 Manhattan and Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she’s ever wanted - the perfect husband, kids, and Upper West Side apartment. But when her life suddenly takes a turn and Midge must start over, she discovers a previously unknown talent - one that will take her all the way from the comedy clubs of Greenwich Village to a spot on Johnny Carson’s couch.
Loved “The Bear”? Watch: “Fleabag” (2016) | Prime Video
“The Bear” may have lost the Outstanding Comedy Series award this year to “Hacks,” but it’s still Michelin Star quality, setting a new record for most wins in a single season for a comedy with 11 (beating its own record from last year of 10). Season 4 of “The Bear” will probably not be released until next June, unless FX surprises fans with an earlier-than-usual drop, but if you need to satisfy your appetite in the meantime with more character-driven black comedies, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag” is the pinnacle.
While not kitchen-centered (unless you count a guinea pig-themed café), “Fleabag” keeps the heat and hits all of the best qualities of “The Bear”—funny when it matters and heartbreaking when it counts—while leaning much heavier into the dark comedy than “The Bear.” Waller-Bridge stars as the title antihero, battling bad choices, grief, and loss amidst family drama and other tumultuous relationships, including a Hot Priest as played by Emmy nominee Andrew Scott. The two-season series, which also starred Olivia Colman, Sian Clifford, Brett Gelman, and more, ended five years ago, but our love for it will never pass.
Fleabag
A portrait into the mind of a dry-witted, sexual, angry, porn-watching, grief-riddled woman, trying to make sense of the world. As she hurls herself headlong at modern living, Fleabag is thrown roughly up against the walls of contemporary London, with all its frenetic energy, late nights, and bright lights.
Loved “Fargo”? Watch: “True Detective: Night Country” (2014) (And Vice-Versa) + “Justified” (2010) | Max, Hulu
Maybe it’s cheating, but FX’s “Fargo” and HBO’s “True Detective” feel like true companion series, with self-contained seasons and story arcs, new ensemble casts, and some ups and downs in consistency. But both Emmy winners this year, the crime anthologies have returned to glory.
On one hand, you have the dark comedy “Fargo,” based on the Coen Brothers film of the same name. The most recent fifth season starred Juno Temple, Sam Spruell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Rysdahl, Joe Keery, Richa Moorjani, and Lamorne Morris, who won the Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series statue this year for his work. On the other hand, the crime anthology drama “True Detective” has had its ups and downs, exploding into popularity with its Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson two-hander premiere season before sliding down some icy paths… but thankfully to the series’ Alaska-set most recent installment, “True Detective: Night Country” which earned Jodie Foster her first Emmy Award in the show’s return to form.
If you’re all caught up on both series, though, FX’s beloved Appalachia-set “Justified,” starring tough-as-nails Timothy Olyphant (plus, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Jacob Pitts, and more) feels like it belongs in the same universe as both.
True Detective
An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.
Fargo
A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.
Justified
A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story “Fire in the Hole.” Leonard’s tale centers around U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of Kentucky, a quiet but strong-willed official of the law. The tale covers his high-stakes job, as well as his strained relationships with his ex-wife and father.
Loved “The Morning Show”? Watch: “The Good Wife” (2009) | Paramount+ With Showtime
While the most comparable series and obvious predecessor to Apple TV+’s Emmy-winning “The Morning Show” is the groundbreaking “Murphy Brown,” starring Candace Bergen, you’ll have to rent or buy the series if you want to watch. But if you’re seeking out another female-led drama with links to real-life political events, plenty of scandal, and an excellent cast including Julianna Margulies, CBS’s “The Good Wife” is the best place to go.
Like “The Morning Show,” “The Good Wife” follows the aftermath of sexual scandal, as Margulies’ Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State’s Attorney, returns to her career in law after the events of a public sex and political corruption scandal involving her husband. The seven-season legal drama was a standout for CBS and spawned the critically acclaimed spinoff “The Good Fight” amongst a lineup of procedurals. In addition to Margulies Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Graham Phillips, Makenzie Vega, and Christine Baranski, and Emmy-winning host of the Emmy-winning “The Traitors” Alan Cumming co-starred.
The Good Wife
Alicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband’s very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.
Loved “Baby Reindeer”? Watch: “I May Destroy You” (2020) | Max
There will be plenty more to come from “Baby Reindeer” series creator/star Richard Gadd, who just inked a first-look deal to create more projects for the streamer. But while you’re waiting, if you’re looking to continue to ride the adrenaline high of the Emmy-winning limited series, Michaela Coel’s near-perfect black dramedy “I May Destroy You” ticks all the boxes. While similar in style and tone to “Baby Reindeer,” the story follows Coel’s Arabella, a young writer in the public eye who seeks to rebuild her life after being raped as she tried to piece together broken memories to figure out what happened.
Coel famously wrote 191 drafts of the limited series before it made it to HBO, and the work shows: it was consistently named one of the best series of 2020 and has been ranked as one of the best TV series of all time by Rolling Stone, Variety, Time Out, and more.
I May Destroy You
Set in London, where gratification is only an app away, the story centers on Arabella, a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy, and a burgeoning writing career. But when her drink is spiked, she must question and rebuild every element of her life.
Loved “The Crown”? Watch: “Victoria” (2016) | PBS Masterpiece (via Prime Video)
After the popularity of ITV and PBS’s “Downton Abbey,” the double doors were wide open for the boom of British regency and period dramas that exist today, including “The Gilded Age,” “Bridgerton,” and “The Crown,” which took home the Emmy this weekend for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Princess Diana portrayer Elizabeth Debicki.
Going back further down the royal line from Queen Elizabeth, though, you’ll find another ITV/PBS period drama: “Victoria,” starring Jenna Colman as Queen Victoria from her early life through her political responsibilities and her relationship with husband Albert (Tom Hughes). The three-season series, anchored by its strong performances, will hopefully fill the “Crown”-sized hole in your watch list, but be warned: the series ends on a cliffhanger, and there will be no fourth season.
Victoria
The story of Queen Victoria, who came to the throne at a time of great economic turbulence and resurgent republicanism – and died 64 years later the head of the largest empire the world had ever seen, having revitalised the throne’s public image and become “grandmother of Europe”.