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. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

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.Link
via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

. 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'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', 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 The Primetime Emmy Award 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 compl ...

, 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 excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

series '' American Horror Story''. 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 northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. For example, the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

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 Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

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

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

winner, ''

Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about n ...

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

Sky UK Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

and HBO).

Winners and nominations

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Programs with multiple wins

;3 wins * '' Prime Suspect'' ;2 wins * ''

American Crime Story ''American Crime Story'' is an American anthology true crime television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Simpson. The seri ...

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 focusing ...

'' and '' Roots: The Next Generations'', and others. ;5 nominations * '' Prime Suspect'' ;4 nominations * '' American Horror Story'' ;3 nominations * '' Fargo'' * ''

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, radio and television programmes, an ...

'' ;2 nominations * '' The Adams Chronicles'' * '' American Crime'' * ''

'' * ''

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

'' * ''

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 future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

'' * ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...

'' * '' 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 * 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 Julie Hébert (sometimes credited as Julie Hebert) is an American writer/director of theater, film and television. Biography Julie Hébert grew up in a small town on the Louisiana coast and many of her plays are set there. After college she mo ...

* Keith Huff * Joseph Incaprera * Nina Jacobson * David Janollari * 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 * Rick Rosenberg * Nathan Ross * Edgar J. Scherick * Ridley Scott * Tony Scott * Rachel Shane * Sam Sokolow * Diana Son * Carolyn Strauss * George Stevens Jr. * Joan Sullivan * Lori-Etta Taub * Kevin Tierney * Jean-Marc Vallée * Dan Wigutow * Robert M. Williams Jr. * Oprah Winfrey * Reese Witherspoon * Graham Yost * David W. Zucker

Total awards by network

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

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primetime Emmy Award For Outstanding Miniseries

Miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

Awards established in 1973

Criteria

Background

Winners and nominations

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Programs with multiple wins

Producers with multiple awards

Programs with multiple nominations

Producers with multiple nominations

Total awards by network

See also

Notes

References