Amazon’s Fallout series has been a huge success, and as it turns out, critics like it too. The series has been nominated for 16 Emmy Awardsincluding a couple of large ones: Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Walton Goggins.
Most of the categories Fallout is nominated for are for awards that are typically given off-camera — like “Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)” or “Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour),” categories most of us have probably never even heard of. But it’s also nominated for Special Visual Effects, Stunt Performances, and Writing for a Drama Series, which can’t be taken lightly.
The highlight has to be the nomination for Best Drama Series, which is great, but unfortunately I don’t think the show has a chance of winning. The competition is stiff, including Shogun — “a show about a guy who’s so bad in boats that he crashes in Japan” in the words of our own Joshua Wolens, which, okay, okay, although I don’t think it really captures the essence of the matter — as well as 3 Body Problem, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Slow Horses, The Crown, The Gilded Age and The Morning Show. I won’t pretend to have watched any of them, but the general opinion is that Shogun is the one to beat, and it won’t be beaten.
Goggins has a similarly tough time in the leading actor category. Other nominees include Idris Elba for Hijack, Donald Glover for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Gary Oldman for Slow Horses, Hiroyuki Sanada for Shogun and Dominic West for The Crown. Again, I haven’t watched, I don’t know, but that’s one hell of a sexy lineup.
There seems to be some confusion about the number of categories Fallout is nominated in: Amazon says there are 17, but Emma’s website says 16.
Regardless of the number, Bethesda is just cheerful to be here: the studio tweeted that it was “humbled and grateful that our show was recognized.”
As someone who’s been in the industry long enough to remember Uwe Boll slamming Lowtax for going on too much about his films, it’s a little demanding for me to believe I’m saying this, but Fallout’s impressive Emmy win is nothing recent for a video game adaptation.
Arcane, an animated series based on League of Legends, became the first series based on a game to win an Emmy in 2022, while The Last of Us won a whopping eight Emmys in 2023. Even if Fallout misses out on the top categories with 16 nominations, I think there’s a good chance it will keep the streak going in 2024.
The 2024 Emmy Awards will take place on September 15.
