It was a big night at the Emmy Awards on Sunday, and that included some major wins for the sci-fi-fantasy genre!
It’s always stuck in the craw of sci-fi/fantasy/superhero fans that the big award shows tend to ignore these beloved genres. Sure, we've seen exceptions at the Emmys with a series as big as Game of Thrones or as a performance as great as Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black. But these end up being far and few between.
Thankfully for genre fans, the 77th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14 provided some wonderful wins, a few pretty surprising, to prove that when the show is great, even the prestigious award shows can’t turn a blind eye to it!
Sci-fi/fantasy wins at the 2025 Emmys
One of the top winners was Severance. Apple TV+’s acclaimed mind-bending drama about a group of office workers who split personalities between their working and personal lives got even better in season 2.
While the show lost Outstanding Drama Series to The Pitt, it did pick up two major awards. Britt Lower, who plays Helly R, won Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
After some outrage over the fact that he was ignored for the show’s first season, Tramell Tillman, who plays Seth, won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama, a great moment for the actor as he became the first Black performer to win the award.
Also, Merritt Wever took home her third Emmy at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards last week, this time for Outstanding Guest Actress for her turn as Gretchen George.
Most of the Outstanding Limited Series awards went to the breakout British hit Adolescence. The outlier was Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, which went to Cristin Milioti for her stunning performance as Sofia Falcone in The Penguin. Most had cited Milotti as the best part of the show, and her exuberant acceptance speech was a highlight of the evening.
Another highlight was Tony Gilroy taking Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the Star Wars show Andor. It was a surprise given his competition from big shows like The Pitt and The White Lotus. But it was a welcome one for fans of the hit series, which wrapped up its two-season run in wonderful fashion.
Another genre show nicely recognized was Netflix’s Arcane, as the wild steampunk animated series took the Outstanding Animated Program Award.
The Last of Us was shut out of any major wins, as well as Black Mirror, proving that not every genre show can get the recognition from Emmy voters.
Hopefully, this can start a trend for award show voters in the future to give genre shows more of a chance. As we know, sci-fi/fantasy stories can be just as compelling—if not more—than regular dramas and comedies.