Don’t make the Dragon Queen angry, you wouldn’t like her when she’s angry. Last week we asked Emmy fans like you to fess up and admit which of this year’s 15 nominated dramas and comedies they’d never watched before, and “Game of Thrones” shockingly topped the list at 22%.
HBO’s fantasy epic recently signed off the airwaves after eight seasons, making it the longest-running program nominee at this year’s ceremony. “Game of Thrones” has already won Best Drama Series three times (2015-16 and 2018), with a fourth and final victory possibly on the horizon. Now that the ratings behemoth is in the Emmy record books for earning 32 nominations in a single season, might these late-comers finally tune in?
SEE 2019 Emmy nominations complete list: All the nominees for the 71st Emmy Awards [UPDATING LIVE]
Among this year’s nominations, “GoT” is up for Best Drama Writing (“The Iron Throne”) and Best Drama Directing (“The Last of the Starks,” “The Long Night” and “The Iron Throne”). In addition, 10 cast members have been recognized for their work in Season 8: leads Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington, supporting players Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Alfie Allen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage, and guest star Carice van Houten.
Dinklage is the only “Game of Thrones” performer to win an Emmy Award for his work on the show — actually, he took home three in 2011, 2015 and 2018. According to Gold Derby’s racetrack odds, Dinklage is once again the favorite to win Best Drama Supporting Actor. That would give him the all-time record in this category, as he’s currently tied with Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”) at three wins.
The only other program nominee to earn double-digits in our poll is “Better Call Saul,” with 16% of Emmy fans saying they’ve never watched the AMC drama. “Better Call Saul,” a spinoff of “Breaking Bad,” received nine Emmy nominations this year including series, actor (Bob Odenkirk), supporting actor (Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito), guest actor (Michael McKean) and writing.
Here is how all 15 nominees for Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series fared in our survey that asked people to admit which shows they’d never seen before:
“Game of Thrones” (HBO) — 22%
“Better Call Saul” (AMC) — 16%
“Bodyguard” (Netflix) — 9%
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop) — 9%
“Succession” (HBO) — 9%
“Pose” (FX) — 7%
“Ozark” (Netflix) — 5%
“Fleabag” (Amazon) — 4%
“Killing Eve” (BBC America) — 4%
“Barry” (HBO) — 3%
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon) — 3%
“Russian Doll” (Netflix) — 3%
“This Is Us” (NBC) — 3%
“Veep” (HBO) — 2%
“The Good Place” (NBC) — 1%
PREDICT the Emmys now; change them until September 22
Be sure to make your Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before winners are announced on September 22. And join in the fun debate over the 2019 Emmys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
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