HBO Submitting True Detective As A Drama Series, Rather Than Miniseries At The Emmys

Well, the 2014 Emmys just got very interesting. The general consensus around the water cooler seemed to be that two categories were all but guaranteed: Breaking Bad would win for Best Drama Series, and Bryan Cranston would win for Best Actor. The show’s final season was met with near universal praise, and what better way to honor it, and Heisenberg himself, than give it two more statues?

Unfortunately for AMC, it looks like their perfect Emmy night may be interrupted as True Detective is set to throw a Rush Cohle-sized wrench into their plans. HBO has announced that they won’t be submitting their crime thriller in the miniseries category, which it would undoubtedly dominate. Instead, they’re aiming for the fences and submitting the show as a drama series. 

That means it will (probably) go against such heavyweights as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Homeland and House of Cards. That also means that the best actor category will be highly competitive this year. Matthew McConaughey will undoubtedly be nominated, as will Cranston. Jon Hamm is likely a shoe-in, and then there’s True Detective co-star Woody Harrelson. That doesn’t leave much room for other contenders, like Michael Sheen in Masters of Sex or Kevin Spacey for House of Cards. Also, while Jeff Daniels didn’t really deserve to win last year, there’s always a chance that he’ll get nominated again for The Newsroom. 

And that’s just the Best Actor and Best Drama categories. How about Best Writing and Best Directing? I don’t see a scenario where Nic Pizzolato and Cary Fukanaga don’t take home gold statues.

Needless to say, HBO has really shaken things up this year. Time may be a flat circle, but this is a face-off that we won’t be seeing again. True Detective is an anthology, and Breaking Bad has wrapped, meaning this is our one and only Rust Cohle/Walter White championship match. With only five nominees in each category, we’re looking at a nail-biting awards show come August, and by making this move HBO has made one thing clear: they’re not going to let us stop talking about True Detective any time soon.