The

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series represents excellence in the category of limited series that are two or more episodes, with a total running time of at least 150 minutes.

Criteria

The program must tell a complete, non-recurring story, and not have an ongoing storyline or main characters in subsequent seasons.

Background

The category began as the Outstanding Drama/Comedy – Limited Episodes in 1973. Prior to that year, limited series and miniseries were entered in the same category as continuing series for Outstanding Series – Drama. According to a 1972 newspaper article in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', this change might be due to the then recent entry of a number of British produced limited series that were competing with American produced continuing series in the same pre-existing category. The category was renamed Outstanding Limited Series in 1974, and later Outstanding Miniseries in 1986. In 1991, the Outstanding Miniseries category was merged with Outstanding TV Movie, then called Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special, to form Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special and Miniseries, and the number of nominees increased from five to six. For that year, two miniseries had competed with four "made-for-television movies". The decision was reversed in 1992. In 2011, due to a low number of eligible miniseries in recent years, the categories were again merged as Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, before reverting in 2014, following an influx in limited series following the critically and commercial popularity of the FX

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

''. A year later, the name of the awards category was changed to Outstanding Limited Series, and the rules were made to distinguish that category from that of a movie by having the work have at least two episodes, and from that of a regular series by having no more than five episodes. The 2015 rule change allowed more short-seasoned cable TV programs to compete, while prior rules had forced the same programs to compete in the same category with full seasons network programs. What has been unique about this award in recent years (and even so today) is that there is almost always at least one nominee originating from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. For example, the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

winner was '' The Lost Prince'', which happened to be that year's British entry. The 2006 winner, ''

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

'', was also a British miniseries, although it was a co-production with American television network

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. Likewise, the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

winner, ''

Chernobyl Chernobyl, officially called Chornobyl, is a partially abandoned city in Vyshhorod Raion, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, to the north of Kyiv and to the southwest of Gomel in neighbouring Belarus. ...

'', was a co-production of British and American companies (in this case,

Sky UK Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...

and

Milestones

Before the inaugurated category in 1973, '' The Life of Leonardo da Vinci'' marked the first non-English language television program to be nominated.

Winners and nominations

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Programs with multiple wins

;3 wins * ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. Broadcast on ITV between 1991 and 2006, it stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater Lo ...

'' ;2 wins * '' American Crime Story''

Producers with multiple awards

;6 awards * Tom Hanks ;5 awards * Gary Goetzman ;4 awards * Rebecca Eaton * Steven Shareshian ;3 awards * Stan Margulies * Steven Spielberg * Tony To ;2 awards * Scott Alexander * Erik Bork * David Coatsworth * Brad Falchuk * Sally Head * Nina Jacobson * Larry Karaszewski * Paul Marcus * Ryan Murphy * Chad Oakes * Brad Simpson * George Stevens Jr. * Chip Vucelich * David L. Wolper * Alexis Martin Woodall * Graham Yost

Programs with multiple nominations

Totals include continuing series, but not sequels as is the case with '' Cranford'' and '' Return to Cranford'', ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

'' and '' Roots: The Next Generations'', and others. ;5 nominations * ''

'' ;4 nominations * ''

'' * '' Fargo'' ;3 nominations * ''

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and ...

'' ;2 nominations * ''

The Adams Chronicles ''The Adams Chronicles'' is a thirteen-episode miniseries by PBS that aired in 1976 to commemorate the American Bicentennial. Synopsis The series chronicles the story of the Adams political family over a 150-year span, including John Adams (dr ...

'' * '' American Crime'' * '' American Crime Story'' * ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...

'' * ''

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

'' * '' Luther'' * '' McCloud''

Producers with multiple nominations

;12 nominations * Rebecca Eaton ;8 nominations * Robert Halmi Sr. ;7 nominations * Stan Margulies * Ryan Murphy * Alexis Martin Woodall ;6 nominations * Brad Falchuk * Delia Fine * Tom Hanks * Frank Konigsberg ;5 nominations * Gary Goetzman * Suzanne de Passe * Chip Vucelich * Joan Wilson * David L. Wolper ;4 nominations * Andrew Benson * Bradley Buecker * Joyce Eliason * Suzanne Girard * Dante Di Loreto * Dyson Lovell * Tim Minear * Chad Oakes * Steven Spielberg * Peter Sussman * Jac Venza ;3 nominations * Tim Bevan * Colin Callender * John Cameron * Marvin J. Chomsky * Kirk Ellis * George S. J. Faber * Preston Fischer * Michael Frislev * Ed Gernon * Brian Grazer * Noah Hawley * Richard Heus * Polly Hill * Dirk Hoogstra * Ron Howard * Glenn Jordan * Warren Littlefield * Neil Meron * Lorenzo Minoli * Nina Kostroff Noble * Alan Poul * Jonathan Powell * David W. Rintels * David A. Rosemont * John Ryan * Jennifer Salt * Larry Sanitsky * Jessica Sharzer * David Simon * Tony To * Kim Todd * Michael Wearing * Reese Witherspoon * Ethel Winant * Mark M. Wolper * James Wong * Craig Zadan ;2 nominations * Gerald W. Abrams * Andrew Adelson * Scott Alexander * Phillip Von Alvensleben * Susan Baerwald * Eric Bercovici * William Beaudine Jr. * Jay Benson * Kenneth Biller * Sue Birtwistle * Erik Bork * Richard Brams * Andrew Brown * Michele Buck * Francie Calfo * Mark Carliner * Robert W. Christiansen * Jack Clements * David Coatsworth * Fred Coe * Ethan Coen * Joel Coen * Francis Ford Coppola * Robert Costello * Suzanne Coston * Dan Curtis * Edward K. Dobbs * Nancy Dubuc * Howard Ellis * Laura Fattori * Gregg Fienberg * Bill Finnegan * Daryl Frank * Scott Frank * John Frankenheimer * Fred Fuchs * Phillippa Giles * Michael Gleason * Robert Greenblatt * Robert Halmi Jr. * Dean Hargrove * Andy Harries * Kate Harwood * John Hawkesworth * Sally Head * Julie Hébert * Keith Huff * Joseph Incaprera * Nina Jacobson * David Janollari * Barry Jenkins * James Cellan Jones * Larry Karaszewski * Virginia Kassel * Diana Kerew * Roland Kibbee * Ann Kindberg * Steven King * Glen A. Larson * Lindsay Law * Stacy A. Littlejohn * Jerry London * Michael Mann * Martin Manulis * Paul Marcus * Armistead Maupin * Michael J. McDonald * Ian McDougall * John McRae * Emilio Nunez * Charles Pattinson * Samuel Paul * David V. Picker * Noah Pink * Susan G. Pollock * Gigi Pritzker * Michael Prupas * Gerald Rafshoon * Lynn Raynor * Ken Riddington *

John Ridley John Ridley IV (born October 1, 1964) is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for '' 12 Years a Slave'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunn ...

* Rick Rosenberg * Nathan Ross * Edgar J. Scherick * Ridley Scott * Tony Scott * Rachel Shane * Sam Sokolow *

Diana Son Diana Miae Son is an American playwright, television producer, and writer. She is known for her work on '' American Crime'', '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', '' Southland'', and '' Blue Bloods''. She, along with Brian Yorkey, has also served as ...

* Carolyn Strauss * George Stevens Jr. * Joan Sullivan * Lori-Etta Taub * Kevin Tierney * Jean-Marc Vallée * Dan Wigutow * Robert M. Williams Jr. * Oprah Winfrey * Graham Yost * David W. Zucker

Total awards by network

* HBO – 14 * NBC – 10 * PBS – 10 * ABC – 5 * FX – 3 * Netflix — 3 * Syndicated – 2 * A&E – 1 * AMC – 1 * CBS – 1 * Syfy – 1 * TNT – 1

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primetime Emmy Award For Outstanding Miniseries

Miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

Awards established in 1973