Netflix’s Ted Sarandos once famously declared, way back in 2013, that Netflix was going to try to become HBO faster than HBO could become Netflix. And sure enough, Netflix set about ramping up the quality of its original TV shows and movies in order to compete with HBO’s prestige, while HBO likewise accelerated its volume to try and match Netflix’s vast library. More than a decade later, however, I certainly couldn’t have predicted what now feels increasingly inevitable: That it’s FX, rather than Netflix, that’s starting to feel like the new HBO.
The 76th Emmy nominations, announced on Wednesday, really brought this into stark relief for me. For the first time in almost 30 years, HBO came in third in terms of its number of nominations — 91, compared to Netflix (in first place this year, with 107 noms).
Pulling ahead of HBO this year, in second place, was FX. It scored 97 nominations, including 25 for the drama Shogun — which, in many ways, feels like a successor to Game of Thrones on the basis of everything from its scale to production value, epic story, and must-watch status.
And speaking of must-watch TV series right now, another is obviously FX’s The Bear, which pulled in a record-breaking 23 nominations, the most ever for a show in the comedy category. Other FX shows contributing to FX’s Emmy nods include Fargo, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, and Welcome to Wrexham.
I may be in the minority on this, but HBO and its companion streamer Max feel less essential to me than they have in quite a while. House of the Dragon is fine, for example, but I had high hopes for Kate Winslet’s new dictator drama The Regime (and ultimately felt disappointed). I do love, however, that Max is the home of the spectacular (albeit now years-old) mafia drama Gomorrah. With FX, meanwhile, you get shows like Atlanta, Reservation Dogs, The Old Man (one of my personal favorite spy shows), Justified, Fargo, Shogun, The Americans, and The Bear, to name just a few.
Talk about a top-tier list of TV gems.
“The thing that I’m proud of is, we don’t field that large of a team,” FX boss John Landgraf said in an interview with Variety after his network’s haul of Emmy nominations was announced. “What we lack in volume we try to make up for in love and dedication. The level of care and attention and personal commitment we put behind each individual show and each individual creator work. It’s their work. It’s not ours. We’re here to try to lift them up.”
In terms of exciting FX titles still to come, the network has teed up an Alien series that will serve as a prequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Also, Season 2 of Shogun is expected to go into production sometime in 2025.
Back in the day, HBO was known as a home for prestigious and audaciously creative television, with the HBO brand alone conveying a sense of prestige and quality. Not to say that it doesn’t anymore, but FX just feels more essential to me right now than HBO (and its corresponding streamer Max) does.
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