The only thing television fans may love as much as watching their favorite shows is seeing the cast and crew behind those programs win awards for their work. Of course, there is no greater recognition in television than the Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be held for the 70th time on Monday, Sept. 17.
Each year the Emmy Awards are presented to “recognize excellence within various areas of television and emerging media,” according to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Excellence presents itself in programs both large and small, including many individual television events that aired over the past year. The most highly anticipated awards will be those coveted by the series viewers love the most.
24/7 Wall St. has identified the 40 most popular Emmy-nominated shows, based on the number of user ratings on the movie and television info site Internet Movie Database (IMDb) as well as the number of views each show’s Wikipedia page has received over the past year. These are the programs that audiences are most interested in, and are most invested in.
Click here to read the 40 most popular Emmy-nominated shows.
Click here to read our detailed findings and methodology.
40. Adventure Time
> IMDb rating: 8.6
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 7 wins / 13 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 1.6 million
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39. A Series Of Unfortunate Events
> IMDb rating: 7.9
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 1 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 1.9 million
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38. Saturday Night Live
> IMDb rating: 8.1
> Current nominations: 21
> Past Emmy performance: 54 wins / 221 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.1 million
37. Silicon Valley
> IMDb rating: 8.6
> Current nominations: 7
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 33 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 1.6 million
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36. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
> IMDb rating: 8.7
> Current nominations: 14
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.5 million
35. Scandal
> IMDb rating: 7.8
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 6 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.0 million
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34. The Americans
> IMDb rating: 8.4
> Current nominations: 4
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 14 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.0 million
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33. Curb Your Enthusiasm
> IMDb rating: 8.7
> Current nominations: 4
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 39 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 1.9 million
32. Twin Peaks
> IMDb rating: 8.5
> Current nominations: 9
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 18 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.4 million
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31. Altered Carbon
> IMDb rating: 8.2
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.1 million
30. Marvel’s The Defenders
> IMDb rating: 7.5
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 3.2 million
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29. Ozark
> IMDb rating: 8.3
> Current nominations: 5
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 3.5 million
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28. Will & Grace
> IMDb rating: 7.2
> Current nominations: 5
> Past Emmy performance: 16 wins / 83 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.7 million
27. Mr. Robot
> IMDb rating: 8.6
> Current nominations: 4
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 8 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 1.8 million
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26. Roseanne
> IMDb rating: 7
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 4 wins / 25 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 3.9 million
25. Marvel’s Jessica Jones
> IMDb rating: 8.1
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 1 wins / 2 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.8 million
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24. The Blacklist
> IMDb rating: 8.1
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 1 wins / 5 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.9 million
23. The End Of The F***ing World
> IMDb rating: 8.2
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 4.1 million
22. Family Guy
> IMDb rating: 8.2
> Current nominations: 3
> Past Emmy performance: 6 wins / 22 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.1 million
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21. South Park
> IMDb rating: 8.7
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 4 wins / 17 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.0 million
20. Once Upon A Time
> IMDb rating: 7.8
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 6 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 3.1 million
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19. Vikings
> IMDb rating: 8.6
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 11 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.1 million
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18. Shameless
> IMDb rating: 8.7
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 3 wins / 12 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 3.7 million
17. Gotham
> IMDb rating: 7.9
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 1 wins / 10 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 3.2 million
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16. Homeland
> IMDb rating: 8.4
> Current nominations: 3
> Past Emmy performance: 8 wins / 36 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.4 million
15. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
> IMDb rating: 8.4
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 7 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 4.5 million
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14. Marvel’s The Punisher
> IMDb rating: 8.7
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 4.6 million
13. This Is Us
> IMDb rating: 8.8
> Current nominations: 8
> Past Emmy performance: 2 wins / 10 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 5.2 million
12. Modern Family
> IMDb rating: 8.5
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 22 wins / 80 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.5 million
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11. The Simpsons
> IMDb rating: 8.7
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 32 wins / 87 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 2.8 million
10. Star Trek: Discovery
> IMDb rating: 7.4
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 5.8 million
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9. American Horror Story: Cult
> IMDb rating: 8.1
> Current nominations: 7
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 4.7 million
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8. Mindhunter
> IMDb rating: 8.6
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 6.3 million
7. Rick And Morty
> IMDb rating: 9.3
> Current nominations: 2
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 5.4 million
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6. The Handmaid’s Tale
> IMDb rating: 8.6
> Current nominations: 20
> Past Emmy performance: 8 wins / 13 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 9.4 million
5. 13 Reasons Why
> IMDb rating: 8.1
> Current nominations: 1
> Past Emmy performance: 0 wins / 0 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 8.4 million
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4. Westworld
> IMDb rating: 8.9
> Current nominations: 21
> Past Emmy performance: 5 wins / 22 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 5.7 million
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3. The Big Bang Theory
> IMDb rating: 8.2
> Current nominations: 3
> Past Emmy performance: 10 wins / 49 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 5.5 million
2. Stranger Things
> IMDb rating: 8.9
> Current nominations: 12
> Past Emmy performance: 5 wins / 18 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 15.2 million
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1. Game Of Thrones
> IMDb rating: 9.5
> Current nominations: 22
> Past Emmy performance: 38 wins / 106 nominations
> Wikipedia page views (1 yr.): 12.7 million
Detailed Findings
While our ranking of the most popular Emmy-nominated shows is not based on the actual ratings these shows have on IMDb, it’s perhaps unsurprising that many of the most popular programs have exceptionally high marks. All but eight of the shows have user-generated scores of 8/10 or more. Two of the programs – “Game of Thrones” and “Rick and Morty” – have numbers greater than 9/10.
Many of the most popular shows nominated for Emmy Awards this year are relatively new series. More than a quarter of the shows on our list have no nominations before this year, with a further seven shows having fewer than seven prior nominations each.
Other shows are prime-time staples with rich Emmy histories. The comedies “Will & Grace” and “The Simpsons,” both 2018 nominees, have each been on television for years, have won 48 Emmy Awards combined and continue to be hugely popular with viewers. “Saturday Night Live” has been on-air for more than four decades and continues to be recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its perceived excellence.
Methodology
To identify the 40 most popular Emmy-nominated shows, 24/7 Wall St. developed an index based on the number of IMDb ratings and Wikipedia page views for TV shows nominated for at least one Emmy Award. Overall ratings for TV series were used for episodes nominated separately. Total Wikipedia page views cover the year leading up to and including Aug. 1.
A nonprofit organization, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the Television Academy) runs the Emmy Awards, an annual event. This year, 224 programs received at least one nomination. Past Emmy wins and nominations were obtained from the Emmy website.
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