Ultimate Emmys Bracket: Can Drag Race Wrest the Spotlight from Pose?

In the days leading up to the 2019 Emmy Awards, we're pitting the 26 shows with the most nominatations against each other to determine Primetimer readers' favorite Emmy-nominated series of the year. Full details in our kick-off post. 

On to the next set of match-ups in round one... (Seed number appears before show title)

Round 1, Match 5

Killing Eve
Network: BBC America
Nominations: 9, including Outstanding Drama Series

What, is Sandra Oh’s mere presence not enough for you? In Killing Eve’s second season, Emmy has decided there was more to the show than just Oh (Season 1 nabbed nominations for just her and the now-departed Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing). Now that the series has fully arrived by Emmy standards, take a look at most of its competition, we can’t let the boys have this one so easy! Of all of Killing Eve’s nine nominations, the majority of the nominees — from its cast to its writers and producers  — are women.

Succession
Network: HBO
Nominations: 5, including Outstanding Drama Series

With Game of Thrones now complete, HBO has a new war of the wills slowly taking dominance over the network and the proverbial water cooler. You can feel it in the air that Succession is quickly becoming the show of the moment: the bickering, the boardrooms, the backstabbing. With its second season airing now, Emmy would certainly score cool points by rewarding Season 1.

The Matchup: Fast forward to a year from now, and Succession might have a much higher nomination count. For now, however, the show somehow came up empty in the acting categories. Is this worthy of being avenged? There's still a lot to love (and vote for). Also, can Killing Eve overcome a second season that many saw as a letdown?

Vote now for who should advance to Round 2:

Primetimer Ultimate Emmys Bracket Round 1, Match 6

'RuPaul's Drag Race' vs. 'Pose'

— Primetimer (@primetimercom) September 13, 2019

 

RuPaul's Drag Race
Network: VH1
Nominations: 9, including Outstanding Reality Competition Series

It can’t be understated how cool it is that RuPaul’s Drag Race has seemingly become Emmy’s new normal when it comes to reality television. And this dominance isn’t slowing down any time soon. This season’s crowning of the avant garde Yvie Oddly assured diehards that the show still has love for the unconventional, even as it's increasingly embraced by the mainstream.

Pose
Network: FX
Nominations: 6, including Outstanding Drama Series

Despite Pose’s place in the zeitgeist and its deeply emotional first season, it feels like this year’s "Little Emmy Engine That Could." Rest assured, there would be no more rewarding victory on Emmy night than seeing Pose pull off that Best Drama win, both for representation of queer people of color on television, and for a great series that not enough people are watching. As for it’s competition in this bracket, there wasn’t a Drag Race lipsync all season that compared to Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez singing “For All We Know” and “Home” in episode six.

The Matchup: For starters, yes the random pairing of these two shows is a crime against queer culture! But this isn't just about pitting TV shows against each other. ...Well, yeah, it is. But this accident of seeding is what the bracket is all about. Compelling matchups and hard choices! Does Drag Race's turbulent 11th season come out ahead of Pose's groundbreaking debut? Or does the Ryan Murphy-produced show score 10s across the board?

Vote now for who should advance to Round 2:

Primetimer Ultimate Emmys Bracket Round 1, Match 5

'Killing Eve' vs. 'Succession'

— Primetimer (@primetimercom) September 13, 2019

Watch for more matches in the coming days (and follow us on Twitter and/or like us on Facebook for direct access to the polls as they're released). 

Chris Feil is a freelancer writer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His previous work can be found at Vulture, Vice, Paste, and The Film Experience. Follow him @chrisvfeil on Twitter.