Drama Series 2021 Emmys Predictions & Contenders

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie McShane (Bloodline) and Reggie Lee (All Rise) have been tapped for recurring roles opposite Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Neve Campbell in The Lincoln Lawyer, Netflix’s upcoming drama series from David E. Kelley and A+E Studios based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling novels.

EXCLUSIVE: LisaGay Hamilton has been tapped for a key recurring role opposite Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in The Lincoln Lawyer, Netflix’s drama series based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling novels, from David E. Kelley and A+E Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: Camping alumna Ione Skye is set for a recurring role in NBC’s upcoming drama series La Brea.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+ has given a series order for Now and Then, a drama that will be shot in Spanish and English. The thriller hails from Bambú Producciones and creators Ramón Campos, Teresa Fernández-Valdés and Gema R. Neira, the team behind the Spanish series Velvet, Cable Girls and Gran Hotel. Gideon Raff (The Spy, Homeland) will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.

AMC and UK’s Alibi have rounded out the the three leads of crime drama series Ragdoll, with Henry Lloyd-Hughes (The Irregulars, Killing Eve) and Thalissa Teixeira (Too Close, Trigonometry) joining previously announced Lucy Hale. The series, which begins production today in London, hails from Sid Gentle Films, the British production company behind Killing Eve. Toby MacDonald (Old Boys, The Duchess) and Niall MacCormick (The Victim, The Song of Lunch) will direct.

Netflix has announced a crop of upcoming projects in Spain, including three new drama series, two original films, and a pair of reality shows.

A television series based on the life of Audrey Hepburn is in the works.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh McKenzie (Filthy Rich, Five Bedrooms) and Chloe De Los Santos (Fam Time, Tidelands) are set as series regulars in NBC’s upcoming drama series La Brea.

More than a decade ago, HBO premiered the drama series, “In Treatment.” The show was positioned in an interesting time in the network’s history. The half-hour drama came after HBO became synonymous with “prestige” due to shows like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire.” However, the series was about 5 years too early, before folks like Netflix and other streaming services would become household names on the back of more recent prestige series.

EXCLUSIVE: The Baker and the Beauty alum Carlos Gomez and Anja Savcic (Loudermilk) are set for recurring roles on David E. Kelley’s hit freshman ABC drama series Big Sky. Zoë Noelle Baker (The Haunting Of Bly Manor) also recurs in the crime thriller created by Big Little Lies‘ Kelly based on C.J. Box’s book.

Netflix has set June 18 for the worldwide release of Season 4 of its popular Spanish YA drama series Elite.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAbout Premium Content (APC) has boarded “Ever After,” a relationship drama produced by the award-winning Italian banner Indigo Films (“La Grande Bellezza,” “Youth”) in the run up to MipTV. “Ever After,” created by Giacomo Bendotti (“The Stolen Caravaggio”), is a six-part Italian drama series portraying a broken couple.

The Comedy and Drama Series categories are filled with questions about what programs will fill out the eight slots allotted for each, but the Limited Series race is a battle royale for just five nominees. It’s so competitive there are arguably only two locks, “The Queen’s Gambit” and “WandaVision.” And there are two “should be” locks in “I May Destroy You” and “Small Axe,” but, sadly, neither is guaranteed to make the five.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading producers Tony Ayres and Belinda Chayko have assembled an extraordinary Australian cast for Fires, a drama series that presents personal tales from the front lines of the country’s recent catastrophic fire season.The series, which is now shooting in Victoria state is produced by NBCUniversal -backed Tony Ayres Productions and Matchbox Pictures. Australian Broadcasting Corporation is on board as local broadcaster.

Antonio Ferme editorThe 2021 Yale Drama Series Prize has been awarded to Rachel Lynett for her play “Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson).” The work was chosen from several entries by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel.Set in the fictional world of a post-second Civil War, the play showcases an all-Black state called Bronx Bay that is established in order to protect “Blackness.” As Jules’ new partner, Yael, moves into town, community members argue over if Yael,

EXCLUSIVE: Michelle Veintimilla (The Baker and the Beauty) and Sebastian Roché (The Man in the High Castle) are set for recurring roles on David E. Kelley’s hit freshman ABC drama series Big Sky. Both will be introduced in the back half of Season 1.

Barring a last-minute deluge of contenders premiering in time, the race for a 2021 Comedy Series nomination is wide, wide open. Granted, “Ted Lasso” is the easy frontrunner to win it all, but out of the expected eight nomination slots there are only six likely nominees and even that might be a stretch.

The Comedy and Drama Series categories are filled with questions about what programs will fill out the eight slots allotted for each, but the Limited Series race is a battle royale for just five nominees. It’s so competitive there are arguably only two locks, “The Queen’s Gambit” and “WandaVision.” And there are two “should be” locks in “I May Destroy You” and “Small Axe,” but, sadly, neither is guaranteed to make the five.

EXCLUSIVE: Landmark Studio Group (Willy’s Wonderland, Safehaven, Trigger Point), a Chicken Soup For The Soul Entertainment company, is developing Heartbeat (working title), a 10-episode one-hour original drama series, from husband-and-wife DJ couple Kiss (Jakissa Taylor-Semple) and M.O.S. (Masud Semple), loosely based on the couple’s own rise to celebrity DJ status. Production is expected to begin in Q4 2021.

EXCLUSIVE: The Chi alum Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine has been tapped for a heavily recurring role opposite Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in The Lincoln Lawyer, Netflix’s drama series based on Michael Connelly bestselling novels, from David E. Kelley and A+E Studios.