The Handmaid’s Tale won the Emmy award for Outstanding Drama Series Sunday, capping off an award-laden run that also saw the show take home prizes for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Directing, Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Writing. It was an impressive showing for the series, and an even more important statement from Hulu, which has been trying to establish its original-content bona fides in the face of critical successes from Netflix and Amazon.
The show was up against a field of impressive television shows in a category dominated this year by streaming services. Netflix’s The Crown, House of Cards, and Stranger Things were all nominated for Outstanding Drama Series. On the cable side, HBO’s Westworld and AMC’s Better Call Saul were also up for the award, as was NBC’s family drama This Is Us. Stranger Things and Westworld were two of the most-nominated shows this year, with Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s science-fiction drama earning 22 nominations, and 18 nominations going to the Duffer brothers’ ode to Stephen King and Steven Spielberg. In the end, however, both Westworld and Stranger Things were shut out on Sunday evening.
The Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller took his acceptance speech as a moment to issue a creative call to arms, a call echoed by other speeches throughout the politically charged Emmys ceremony. “It’s been lovely,” Miller said. “Go home and wrap it up. We have a lot of things to fight for.”