Emmy Award-winning series Atlanta and The Handmaid's Tale lead the list of original content premiering during the last full week of summer.

FX’s Atlanta will debut its fourth and final season on September 15. The series stars Emmy-winning actor Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, LaKeith Lee Stanfield and Zazie Beetz. 

Hulu on September 14 will launch the fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, which stars Elisabeth Moss in her Emmy-winning lead role. The series also stars Samira Wiley, Yvonne Strahovski, and Ann Dowd.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of September 12 to September 18 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

September 12 – War of the Worlds (returning series) – Epix

September 14 – Sins of Our Mother (miniseries) – Netflix

September 15 – Vampire Academy (drama) – Peacock

September 16 – Goodnight Mommy (movie) – Prime Video

September 16 – Los Espookys (returning series) – HBO

September 18 – SEAL Team (returning series) – Paramount Plus

Hulu has signed on for a sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Season five premieres September 14. 

The dystopian drama is based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Elisabeth Moss plays June. 

“We have a very exciting announcement to bring you today,” Moss teased on social media as the cast announced the sixth season. “In season five, you’ll see how some sins can’t be washed away,” the teaser goes. For season six, Moss said, “You’ll just have to wait and see.” 

The Handmaid’s Tale won the top drama Emmy in 2017, and was nominated in 2018 and 2020.  

Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella and Madeline Brewer are also in the cast. 

The Handmaid’s Tale is executive produced by Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Eric Tuchman, John Weber, Frank Siracusa, Sheila Hockin, Kira Snyder and Yahlin Chang. The series is produced by MGM Television. ■

Recycling intellectual property remains all the rage. The adaptation of movies, novels, comics and graphic novels continues to make up most of subscription streaming services’ “original” content, and this week is no exception. Disney Plus is coming out with a live-action adaption of Pinocchio. The 1881 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio inspired Disney’s 1940 animated movie, which inspired the latest rendition of the story about a wood carver and his puppet. Three separate novels inspired  Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Peacock’s Last Light, and Starz’s The Serpent Queen. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Cobra Kai stems from the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and Showtime’s new series American Gigolo is rooted in the 1980 eponymous Paul Schrader film. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton do have an original interview format show debuting for Apple TV Plus called Gutsy, but even that show is based on a book the mother and daughter published three years ago. 

Pinocchio (Sept. 8, Disney Plus)

This live-action retelling of Disney's 1940 animated classic stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto, a wood carver who creates the puppet Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), whom he treats like a son. From director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump), the film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, who serves as Pinocchio’s guide and his conscience when he becomes human. Interestingly, Zemeckis’s Pinocchio is one of two remakes of the 1881 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio written by Italian author Carlo Collodi. Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s stop-motion animated adaptation of Pinocchio will be released on Netflix on December 9.

The Good Fight – Season 6 (Sept. 8, Paramount Plus)

The sixth and final season of the legal spinoff of The Good Wife will once again tackle current events. While Season 5 featured a plot line about the January 6 insurrection, Season 6 will find Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) in a state of anxiety over the overturning of Roe v. Wade, threats to voting rights and the possibility of a civil war. “The series is sharper and more incisive than it's ever been, and it clips along at a brisk pace so that each episode never loses its momentum,” wrote New.com.au’s Wenlei Ma about the fifth season.

Last Light (Sept. 8 Peacock)

This dystopian five-part thriller series is based on Alex Scarrow’s eponymous international best-selling novel. Matthew Fox stars as oil engineer Andy Yeats who, while on a work trip in the Middle East, discovers that the world’s oil supply is in danger due to an infectious agent.  Within a few days of the discovery, society unravels while Yeats desperately attempts to reconnect with his family. The series marks Fox's return to television after a 12-year hiatus.

Cobra Kai – Season 5 (Sept. 9, Netflix)

In the latest installment of Cobra Kai, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) teams with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and friends to take down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who now has complete control of the Cobra Kai dojo and is planning to expand the dangerous “No Mercy” karate creed across the San Fernando Valley. The series is set 30 years after The Karate Kid movie (1984). The reboot premiered on YouTube in 2018 but was later acquired by Netflix in 2020 after YouTube stopped producing original scripted content. Cobra Kai has received eight Emmy nominations, including two this year for stunt coordination and sound editing. Critics have consistently praised the series. “Frankly, topnotch revivals are so rare that it seemed inevitable Cobra Kai would experience a misstep or simply run out of gas,” wrote CNN.com’s Brian Lowry in the run-up to Season 4.

American Gigolo (Sept. 9, Showtime)

This 10-episode series is an adaptation of the 1980 Paul Schrader film that stared Richard Gere as a male escort Julian Kaye. The series, starring Jon Bernthal as Kaye, kicks off with Kaye being released from prison after 15 years for a murder he didn’t commit. We follow Kaye as he navigates his relationships with his former lover, his troubled mother, and the people who betrayed him. Meanwhile, Detective Sunday (Rosie O’Donnell) continues investigating the murder that sent Kaye to prison and eventually unearths a conspiracy. The pilot was written and directed by Ray Donovan’s David Hollander. 

Gutsy (Sept. 9, Apple TV Plus)

This eight-part documentary series follows former Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, as they speak with prominent women, including Dr. Jane Goodall, Gloria Steinem, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, Kim Kardashian and Goldie Hawn. The series is based on Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's 2019 title, The Book of Gutsy Women. "Say what you will about Hillary Clinton — and people have been saying what they will about Hillary Clinton for decades upon decades — it’s difficult to fathom how anyone can deny the power and the inspiration found in the stories told in Gutsy," wrote The Chicago Sun Times’ Richard Roeper.

The Serpent Queen (Sept. 11, Starz)

Following the success of Elizabeth York-themed The White Princess and The Spanish Princess, which was focused on Catherine of Aragon, Starz has made yet another series about past royalty. This time around, the focus is Catherine de Medici. The eight-episode series based on Leonie Fried’s book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France was written and executive produced by Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road).  Samantha Morton (The Walking Dead) stars as de Medici, one of the most powerful and influential women of the 16th century. The series will chronicle de Medici’s marriage and her unlikely rise to power. “Catherine isn’t a particularly good person, but The Serpent Queen doesn’t ask her to be; rather than whitewash her worst traits, the show re-contextualizes them as a necessary fact of her survival,” wrote Paste Magazine’s Lacy Baugher Milas.

The Handmaid’s Tale - Season 5 (Sept 14., Hulu)

Based on Margaret Atwood’s eponymous 1985 novel, the series takes place in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the United States. Starring Elisabeth Moss as a former handmaid, June, the series launched in 2017. Its first season won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 13 nominations. The drama's fifth season focuses on June and the consequences she must pay for killing Gilead’s Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). “Female heroines can be in short supply on screen, but Moss has a knack for making them real, no matter the stakes,” wrote the Sydney Morning Herald’s Louise Rugendyke about season four. ￭

Season five of The Handmaid’s Tale starts on Hulu September 14. Hulu will offer two episodes that day, with new ones coming out on subsequent Wednesdays.

Elisabeth Moss plays June. Margaret Atwood wrote the novel that inspired the series. The Handmaid’s Tale won the top drama Emmy in 2017, and was nominated in 2018 and 2020.

Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella and Madeline Brewer are also in the cast.

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a dystopian America ruled by the theocratic Republic of Gilead. Comprised of religious fundamentalists, this new America views women as property, with the sole purpose of producing babies. The new season sees June, Luke and Moira continue their search for Hannah while the resistance fights Gilead’s growing influence in Canada. ■

Apple TV Plus gives viewers its first look at its upcoming thriller series Shining Girls, starring Elisabeth Moss and premiering April 19 on the streaming service. 

According to Apple TV Plus, the series -- based on Lauren Beukes’ best-selling novel Shining Girls -- follows Kirby Mazrachi (Moss) as a Chicago newspaper archivist whose journalistic ambitions were put on hold after enduring a traumatic assault. When Kirby learns that a recent murder mirrors her own case, she partners with seasoned, yet troubled reporter Dan Velazquez (played by Wagner Moura), to uncover her attacker’s identity. 

Phillipa Soo, Amy Brenneman and Jamie Bell also star in the series, which is executive produced by Moss, Beukes, Lindsey McManus. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, Michael Hampton, Michelle MacLaren, Rebecca Hobbs, Daina Reid and Alan Page Arriaga.

From Ted Lasso’s relentless optimism to The Underground Railroad’s devastating storytelling, from Bridgerton’s frothy romance to The Handmaid’s Tale’s wrenching violence, this year’s Emmy-nominated shows all reflect the constantly changing culture in their own unique ways. In a time where audiences mostly consume their entertainment on demand from their homes, these are the shows that stood out.

The outstanding drama nominees reveal the true range of television in 2021, with romance, science fiction, superheroes, family drama and historical drama all in play. 

Stacked Field for Drama 

Netflix’s The Crown — with 24 nominations in 2021, including for outstanding drama series — is the favorite to finally win the top drama Emmy after the show has been nominated for each of its four seasons. Season four began telling the tortured story of Prince Charles and Princess Diana with lead actor and actress nominees Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin channeling their royal counterparts through nuanced performances. 

While season four of The Crown is set in London in the ’80s, the story it told was remarkably resonant, especially as Charles and Diana’s son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, struggled to redefine their own relationship with Buckingham Palace. 

Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian, in season two, tied The Crown with 24 nominations, many of which are in the craft and technical categories.

Coming in with 21 nominations is Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a show that continues to feel prescient as politics divides the country. The Handmaid’s Tale was named outstanding drama in its first season, which premiered in April 2017.

“The Handmaid’s Tale came to life as we were seeing the rise of the far right throughout the world, and then [Donald] Trump made it to the White House,” executive producer Warren Littlefield said. “Hulu decided that they had a show that spoke to the moment and they promoted us in the Super Bowl. In many ways, we’ve been seen as a voice of the resistance against what we were experiencing here in the U.S. and what people were feeling throughout the world.”

In season four, Handmaid Offred (star and executive producer Elisabeth Moss) is dealing with the ramifications of helping many of Gilead’s children escape across the border to Canada and trying to escape herself, even though that means leaving her own children. 

“June’s journey to freedom as she is getting through that compound where bodies are just desperate to get out — when that boat pulls away, in our visual narrative, people are throwing themselves to try and touch that freedom, which June is fortunate enough to get,” Littlefield said. “We’re living a version of that as we look at Afghanistan and realize what all those people are going through. We don’t predict the future … [but] we seem to echo the world that we inhabit. I hope we bring a sense of the fight against those who oppress us and against authoritarian regimes, both foreign and domestic.” 

Also nominated for best drama series are Netflix’s Bridgerton, HBO’s Lovecraft
Country, FX’s Pose, Amazon’s The Boys and NBC’s This Is Us, which returns to the category after missing in 2020. All  of those shows in their own ways deal with issues of race, class, identity and social justice.

Lead actress in a drama series is a stacked category, including awards heavy-hitters Olivia Colman, playing Queen Elizabeth in The Crown, and The Handmaid’s Tale’s Moss, who won the Emmy in this category in the show’s first season. Even with those two in the mix, the front-runners are two Emmy newcomers: The Crown’s Corrin, who won the Golden Globe, and Pose’s M.J. Rodriguez, who made history as the first transgender actress to be nominated in this category. Also nominated are In Treatment’s three-time Emmy winner Uzo Aduba and Lovecraft Country’s Jurnee Smollett.

Josh O’Connor, like his Crown counterpart Emma Corrin, has a good shot at taking the win for lead actor in a drama series, with Billy Porter of FX’s Pose, a former winner in this category, also considered a contender. Bridgerton’s instant star, Regé-Jean Page, could also grab a win here. Also nominated are Perry Mason’s Matthew Rhys, who won an Emmy in 2018 for FX’s The Americans; Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors, who is about to star as the next major villain in the Marvel Universe; and two-time Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown for This Is Us.

‘Lasso’ a Comedy Favorite

Apple TV Plus’s sunny sensation Ted Lasso is almost the universal pick to sweep the comedy categories. Like Schitt’s Creek last year, Ted Lasso, which was developed out of a popular branded content piece for NBC Sports, provided audiences with a much-needed break from the unrelenting bad news of politics and the pandemic. 

Also nominated outstanding comedy series are ABC’s perennially nominated Black-ish; Netflix’s Cobra Kai, which it picked up from YouTube and just renewed for season five ahead of the season four debut; Netflix’s Emily in Paris; Hulu’s Pen15 and Netflix’s The Kominsky Method. 

All that Lasso love also puts series star, co-creator and executive producer Jason Sudeikis in the hot seat to repeat his Golden Globe victory with an Emmy. Much of Lasso’s supporting cast is also nominated, including Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, co-creator Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammad and Jeremy Swift.

Joining Sudeikis in the lead actor in a comedy category are Black-ish’s Anthony Anderson, Kenan’s Kenan Thompson, Shameless’s William H. Macy and The Kominsky Method’s Michael Douglas. 

A late entry to the comedy field is HBO Max’s Hacks, starring lead actress nominee Jean Smart and supporting actress nominee Hannah Einbinder. Hacks, about an aging comedian and the cynical young woman who helps her freshen her act, premiered on HBO Max on May 13, just before the Emmy eligibility deadline closed on May 31. Nominated alongside Hacks is HBO Max sibling The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco. 

Besides Smart and Cuoco, also nominated are Black-ish’s Tracee Ellis Ross, Shrill’s Aidy Bryant and Mom’s Allison Janney, a previous winner for this role. Side note: Saturday Night Live cast members past and present cleaned up at this year’s Emmy nominations, with Thompson and Bryant also nominated in the supporting categories for Saturday Night Live, along with Bowen Yang, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong. Filling out the supporting actor category is Hacks’s Carl Clemons-Hopkins and The Kominsky Method’s Paul Reiser. On the actress side is Rosie Perez for The Flight Attendant.

Because of their limited purviews, limited series are often the most incisive of the scripted series, telling intense stories quickly and with purpose.

Limited series is the only one of the major three series categories that seems to be a true toss-up. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit won Golden Globes for limited series and for lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy. But the chess-focused drama didn’t have to face HBO’s I May You Destroy You, which won a Peabody and was considered by many critics to be 2020’s best show but was ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press, or HBO’s Mare of Easttown, which offered powerhouse performances from a trio of actresses: Kate Winslet in the title role, Jean Smart as Mare’s mom and Julianne Nicholson as Mare’s best friend. 

All three series — as well as Amazon’s The Underground Railroad, based on Colson Whitehead’s best-selling novel and created, directed and executive produced by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), and Disney Plus’s genre-bending WandaVision — are in the mix for the win.

‘Mare’ a Complex Contender

Mare of Easttown, starring and executive produced by Kate Winslet, tells the story of a woman who’s lived her whole life in a blue-collar town in Pennsylvania and has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a detective. As the story unfolds, so does the trauma that Mare has had to endure as she married and raised children herself. The story also includes many twists and turns as Mare tries to solve two cases that have affected her personally.

“It’s never been on my mind to make something relevant, it’s not how I go about crafting stories,” show creator Brad Inglesby said. “What I try to do is write something, a character, a world with as much honesty as I can and as many specifics as I can and hope that if I’ve achieved that, then the honesty of that world will come through and impact people emotionally. What we were always trying to do with Mare was to make it as honest a portrait of a community as we could. We feel that if we portray people with honesty and complexity, then the audience will believe in these people, believe in this place and get immersed in the world.” 

Four out of five of this year’s limited-series nominees are heavily driven by the performances of their lead actresses: I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel, Mare’s Kate Winslet, The Queen’s Gambit’s Anya Taylor-Joy and WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen are all nominated, as is Cynthia Erivo for Nat Geo’s Genius: Aretha. 

Among the men, only WandaVision’s Paul Bettany is nominated along with the series in which he starred. Also nominated are Hamilton’s Lin Manuel-Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr., The Undoing’s Hugh Grant and Halston’s Ewan McGregor.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, will air Sunday, Sept. 19, on CBS. 

Season four of The Handmaid’s Tale starts on Hulu April 28. There are 10 episodes. 

Elisabeth Moss plays June. In the new season, June strikes back against Gilead as a fierce rebel leader, but the risks she takes bring dangerous new challenges. June’s quest for justice and revenge threatens to consume her and destroy her most cherished relationships.

Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella, Madeline Brewer, O-T Fagbenle, Amanda Brugel and Bradley Whitford are also in the cast. 

The Handmaid’s Tale, based on a novel by Margaret Atwood, won the top drama Emmy in 2017. It was also nominated in 2018 and 2020. 

It is executive produced by Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Eric Tuchman, John Weber, Frank Siracusa, Sheila Hockin, Kira Snyder and Yahlin Chang. The series is produced by MGM Television and internationally distributed by MGM.  

The return of several long-running series help usher in the month of May on television this week. 

Hulu on April 28 will bring back its Emmy-winning series Handmaid’s Tale for its fourth season. Star Elisabeth Moss returns to the series, which has already been renewed for a fifth season. 

Returning for its third and final season is Fx’s drama series Pose. The series about New York City’s drag ball culture scene debuts May 2. Also debuting that day is the third season of Starz’s provocative anthology series The Girlfriend Experience.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of April 26 to May 2 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

 April 26 -- Exposure (reality) -- Hulu

April 26 -- In Search of Darkness: Part 2 (documentary) -- Shudder

April 29 -- The Big Show with Bethenny (reality) -- HBO Max

April 29 -- Things Heard and Seen (movie) -- Netflix

April 30 -- The Mosquito Coast (drama) -- Apple TV Plus

April 30 -- The Mitchells vs The Machines (animation) -- Netflix

April 30 -- Without Remorse (action) -- Prime Video

Hulu Thursday released the latest trailer for its Emmy-winning drama series The Handmaid's Tale. 

The 10-episodse series, which stars Elisabeth Moss, returns for its fourth season with three episodes premiering on April 28. Moss returns as June, whose quest for justice and revenge threatens to consume her and destroy her most cherished relationships, according to Hulu. 

Read also: Hulu Orders Series About Mike Tyson 

The streaming service also debuted a trailer for the final season of its comedy series Shrill, which returns May 7. The comedy series stars Aidy Bryant, who in the new season feels like things are finally falling in place given her newfound momentum at work and her breakup with boyfriend Ryan, played by Luka Jones, according to the streaming service.

Lolly Adefope, Ian Owens and John Cameron Mitchell also star in the series, which will debut all eight episodes on May 7, said Hulu.

Animated series Marvel's M.O.D.O.K. will debut May 21 with all 10 episodes. The series follows supervillian M.O.D.O.K., who after years of setback and failures trying to conquer the world is set to confront his greatest challenge, according to the service. 

The series stars Patton Oswalt, Melissa Fumero, Aimee Garcia, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ben Schwartz, Beck Bennett, Jon Daly and Sam Richardson.

The 2010’s ushered in a new era of original scripted television series created and distributed by an unprecedented number of distribution outlets, all looking to attract viewers anxious to watch content at their leisure across numerous platforms. Heading into 2019 nearly 500 scripted series could be accessed on broadcast, cable and digital streaming platforms.

Here’s a look at five shows on cable and streaming services that helped define the decade though a mix of excellence via ratings, industry awards and cultural influence.

Game of Thrones -- HBO (2011-2019)

HBO’s titanic fantasy series arguably drew more combined viewership, media coverage and social media activity --both positive and negative -- than any other show during the decade. What is not in dispute is the record 59 Emmy Awards the show won over its eight-season run.

Related: HBO, Amazon Prime Rule Emmy Awards Telecast 

Atlanta -- FX (2016 to present) 

Comedian/rapper/musician/producer in Donald Glover created a show that presents a sometimes complex but most times comedic slice of African-American life that had never existed on TV before. The result is a groundbreaking show that has earned critical acclaim and several Emmy Awards, including Glover’s Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series statuette -- the first awarded to an African-American.

Stranger Things -- Netflix (2016 to Present) 

While streaming service Netflix’s ambitious run at producing original scripted series began in earnest with such critically-acclaimed hits as House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, it was a 1980’s-based, sci-fi thriller full of monsters and young, teen protagonists that gave Netflix a pop culture hit perfectly suited for binge viewing. 

Power -- Starz (2014-2020) 

Starz’s provocative series from executive producers Courtney Kemp and 50 Cent about a drug dealer looking to escape the world of crime and go legit found a fervent and loyal audience early and helped to dismiss the myth that a show with a predominantly African-American cast couldn't draw solid ratings numbers on premium cable television.

American Horror Story -- FX (2011 to Present) 

The series became the poster child for the resurrection of the anthology series genre with its creative ability to scare up a new story each season. American Horror Story paved the way for the success of other anthology series including HBO’s True Detective, AMC’s The Terror, Nat Geo's Genius and FX’s own American Crime Story, Fargo and Feud.

Honorable Mention:

The Walking Dead -- AMC (2010 to Present) -- The most-watched show on cable during the first half of the decade, the zombie-themed series drew a basic cable record 17.3 million viewers for its season five premiere in 2014.

Veep -- HBO (2012-2019) -- Among the most celebrated TV comedies of the decade, the series won 11 Emmy awards, including a record six straight best comedy actress statuettes for series star Julia Louis-Dreyfus from 2012 to 2017.

The Handmaid’s Tale -- Hulu (2017 to Present) -- The dark drama series arguably put the nascent streaming services on equal footing with broadcast networks and cable services by winning the digital platform's first drama series Emmy in 2017. 

Mirroring cable years earlier, where the TV shows considered “cool” and “trendy” were housed on cable, the digital streamers have become a haven for the crème of the crop, so to speak. As with cable (excluding exceptions like Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, The Sopranos and Sex and the City), original streamed content does not necessarily attract a wide audience. But when you think of the top TV shows today, quality matters, not audience size. And the quality content, those “cool” and “trendy” shows being streamed, include dramedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag on Amazon Prime; Stranger Things, Russian Doll and GLOW on Netflix; and The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

The first streamed shows that demonstrated why subscription-based streaming was a force to reckon with, both in 2013, were political drama House of Cards and prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black. House of Cards drew immediate attention for signing then A-list actor Kevin Spacey in the lead role, which opened the floodgates to other big names jumping on the digital bandwagon. And Orange Is the New Black, set at a minimum-security federal prison, demonstrated why digital could take creative risks and dare to be different. There were fewer restrictions.

Then there is the example of an acclaimed entry like Netflix comedy The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which was originally planned for NBC but shifted to the streamer after it got a better offer.

While the assumption is an outlet like Netflix might attract fewer proverbial eyeballs than a broadcast network (there are no audience metrics available to support any of the current streamers, after all), the two immediate advantages of streaming are the potential critical acclaim and the unrestricted storytelling. With accolades comes attention, at least via the critics who write about original content and the viewers who are commenting on social media. And that begs the question…just how do these shows on the digital streamers break out of the pack in an era flooded with original content? 

“The obvious answer is concept and execution of each individual series,” said Robert Russo, president of consulting firm RNR Media. “Original content on the streamers also produce far fewer episodes per season than broadcast and can run at any length per episode, which is more conducive to quality and creativity. Casting big names can make all the difference.”

Recently launched Apple TV+ created early buzz for new drama The Morning Show from the casting of Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell and Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon. 

“It’s finding great ideas, great content; things that will ignite us and make us want to watch it; make us want to talk about it; and make us want to be those people and be in those situations,” said Mike Tankel, partner/optimist at marketing and development firm To Be Continued.  “But too many people rush to production and without adequately thinking about how to get the audience talking about it. What do we need to do to stand out? How do we market and brand it?” 

Tankel cites a recent event for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in Los Angeles where chosen restaurants were offered deli sandwiches at prices comparable to the 1950s-set series. “It was brilliant from a marketing strategy and the whole town was talking about it,” said Tankel. “I am sure that brought more people to check out the show.”

“A good writer knows how to find characters within the show that are not necessarily the talent,” he added. “So, the deli setting on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, where they have their little sessions and see all the agents, has basically became a character on the series.”

Amazon Prime, meanwhile, recently offered a private screening of the third season premiere of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, followed by a Q&A with series stars Rachel Brosnahan and Tony Shalhoub in New York City. And two recent live events capitalized on the growing ComicCon brand: BravoCon, which showcased the network’s top series in New York City; and SopranoCon in New Jersey, which was tailed to beloved HBO drama The Sopranos.

“What we try to do is take marketing and move it into the development phase so that you think about the audience, you think about the characters, you think about the places,” said Tankel. “The coffee shop on Friends is a character; the deli on Mrs. Maisel is a character. And giving these audiences these live experiences is an added incentive.”

The critics, of course, remain vital to getting a TV series noticed.

“With all this content out there, I would change the term critic to navigator,” said Tankel. “We don’t have a way of looking and seeing everything that is available without these navigators. We need someone to shed some light and say ‘check this out.’ It’s the take on the story, who it impacts, and how it makes us feel.”

“Then, of course, there is social media,” added Russo, ”which can give anyone a voice."

Fans of several popular drama series will be tuning in this week for new episodes as the summer TV season begins to heat up.

On Sunday (June 9), HBO’s Big Little Lies and TNT’s drama series Claws will return for new seasons, while The Handmaid’s Tale comes back on Tuesday (June 4) for its third season.

Also, the Kiefer Sutherland-starrer Designated Survivor debuts on Netflix Friday (June 7) after two seasons on ABC.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting this week on cable networks and streaming services:

June 4 -- Jonas Brothers: Chasing Happiness (movie) -- Prime Video

June 5 -- Black Mirror (returning anthology series) -- Netflix

June 6 -- The Cold Blue (documentary) -- HBO

June 6 -- Hero Ink (reality) -- A&E

June 7 -- I Am Mother (movie) -- Netflix

June 7 -- XY Chelsea (documentary movie) -- Showtime

"Things are good at Hulu," Peter Naylor, senior VP of advertising sales at the programmer, said Monday, citing an expanding base of subscribers watching the service longer than they did a year ago.

"We're going to the market with a growing audience," Naylor told B&C senior content producer Jon Lafayette in a keynote chat at the NewBay Advanced Advertising event in New York when asked about the service's prospects headed into the upfront auctions of commercial hours. Versus a year ago, he said, subscribers who get Hulu's ad-supported offerings are up 40% and their engagement with the service is up 49%, though he did not give out the specific numbers. “We’re having more people watching for more time than ever,” he said. The median viewer age is 31, he said, and Hulu's IP-based platform lends itself to targeting viewers by household or by separate profiles within the home.   

At last year's upfront presentation, Lafayette noted, Hulu introduced its Hulu with Live TV (virtual MVPD) offering with a mix of channels for $39.99 per month. Naylor said subscribers getting that service also get the subscription video-on-demand service for which Hulu charges $7.99 when sold separately, with ad support. Hulu has found that "over half of the consumption in the quote-unquote live product is actually on demand," he said. While events, sports, news and series occasions like the finale of The Bachelor are watched live, viewers are happy to watch scripted fare at unscheduled times. "What that tells me is the fugure of TV is a blend of live and on demand,” he said.

Hulu's 2018 upfront will take place at the recently branded Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden and will feature announcements of new shows and celebrity appearances and more of an emphasis on Hulu's advanced advertising capabilities.

He cited a recent promotion with Fandango that enabled Hulu customers watching a commercial for the Tomb Raider raider movie in theaters to buy a ticket via remote. Asked if it sold a lot of tickets, Naylor said "a lot might be a generous description," but said the effort was part of educating audiences to expect to be able to interact directly with advertising -- as marketers used to wish for using the classic example of buying the sweater Jennifer Aniston was wearing in Friends. 

Naylor also said The Handmaid's Tale, the breakthrough original drama that returns for a second season in late April, will have dedicated sponsors this time after picking up Emmy and Golden Globe awards for its first season. Hulu licenses most of its shows and can't sell ads directly against them, Naylor said, but can do so for its originals.

Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale scripted two Writers Guild Awards wins during last night’s ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles, the organization announced Sunday.

Hulu’s freshman drama picked up awards in the best Drama Series and best New Series categories --one of two shows to win multiple awards, including CBS’ 60 Minutes, according to the organization.

Hulu, HBO, NBC, CBS, and PBS also won multiple awards during the event, which was hosted byEmmy and Grammy-winning actor-writer-comedian Patton Oswalt (Happy!,) on the West Coast and Amber Ruffin (Late Night with Seth Meyers) on the East Coast, said WGA officials.

WGA AWARDS WINNERS IN TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA

DRAMA SERIES

The Handmaid’s Tale -- Hulu

COMEDY SERIES

Veep -- HBO

NEW SERIES

The Handmaid’s Tale -- Hulu

ORIGINAL LONG FORM

Flint -- Lifetime

ADAPTED LONG FORM

Big Little Lies -- HBO

ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA

“Starboy” -- go90.com

ANIMATION

“Time’s Arrow” (BoJack Horseman) -- Netflix

EPISODIC DRAMA

“Chicanery” (Better Call Saul)--AMC

EPISODIC COMEDY

“Rosario’s Quinceanera” (Will & Grace)-- NBC

COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -- HBO

COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES

Saturday Night Live -- NBC Universal

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS

39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors -- CBS

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Hollywood Game Night -- NBC

DAYTIME DRAMA

General Hospital -- ABC

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS

“An American Girl Story – Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance” (American Girl) -- Amazon

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS

“Confronting ISIS” (Frontline) -- PBS

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

“The Great War, Part II” (American Experience) -- PBS

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

“White Helmets” (60 Minutes) -- CBS News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“Chief of Chobani” (60 Minutes) -- CBS News

DIGITAL NEWS

“The Super Predators” -- Huffingtonpost.com

HBO continued to sizzle on the TV awards front Thursday, dominating the Critics' Choice Awards in a fashion similar to its Golden Globes Awards performance this past Sunday. 

HBO won six Critics' Choice Awards during Thursday night’s ceremony which aired on the CW, doubling Hulu and NBC’s three awards, according to The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

RELATED: HBO Leads Golden Globes Award Winners 

Also mirroring its strong Golden Globes Awards performance was HBO’s Big Little Lies, which took home four Critics' Choice Awards -- including the statuette for Best Limited Series – leading all shows. 

Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale also repeated their Golden Globes victories with Critics' Choice Awards wins in the Best Comedy Series and Best Drama Series categories, respectively.

HBO's The Wizard Of Lies won the Critics' Choice Award for Best TV Movie, according to the BFCA and the BTJA. 

The Critics’ Choice Award Winners in the Television Category:

BEST COMEDY SERIES – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Ted Danson, The Good Place, NBC

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES – Walton Goggins, Vice Principals, HBO

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES – Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory, CBS

BEST DRAMA SERIES – The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us, NBC

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES – David Harbour, Stranger Things, Netflix

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES – Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu

BEST LIMITED SERIES – Big Little Lies, HBO

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TV – The Wizard of Lies, HBO

BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES – Ewan McGregor, Fargo, FX

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES – Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies, HBO

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES – Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies, HBO

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES – Laura Dern, Big Little Lies, HBO

BEST TALK SHOW – Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ABC

BEST ANIMATED SERIES – Rick and Morty, Adult Swim

BEST UNSTRUCTURED REALITY SERIES – Born This Way, A&E

BEST STRUCTURED REALITY SERIES – Shark Tank, ABC

BEST REALITY COMPETITION SERIES – The Voice, NBC

BEST REALITY SHOW HOST – RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race, VH1

HBO rebounded from a Golden Globes shutout last year to lead the 75th annual Golden Globes awards winners in the television category, announced Sunday night.

Read More: Complete Coverage of the 2018 Golden Globes

Led by its limited series Big Little Lies, HBO won four Golden Globes during NBC's live ceremony telecast, hosted by Seth Meyers. Streaming services Amazon and Hulu both won two Golden Globes awards, with FX, NBC and Netflix garnering one award each, according to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Big Little Lies’ four awards doubled the count generated by second place finishers, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hulu’sThe Handmaid’s Tale. The streaming shows won the Golden Globe awards for best comedy and best drama series, respectively, marking the first time shows from streaming services swept the coveted awards. 

Elisabeth Moss followed up her recent Emmy Award win for best actress in a drama series with a Golden Globe in the category, while Sterling K. Brown won the Globe award for best performance by an actor in a drama, matching his Emmy award in the category.

Related | Golden Globes 2018: Elisabeth Moss Takes Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series

Oprah Winfrey --who was awarded the Cecil B. deMille Award during the ceremony -- summed up the sentiments of many Globe winners who spoke in support of the #MeToo movement by saying she's been inspired by all the women who have told their stories regarding sexual harrassment.

“Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we have,” she said. “A new day is on the horizon.”

2018 Golden Globe Winners In The Television Category:

Best Television Series -- Drama
The Handmaid’s Tale – Hulu

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series –Drama
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC) 

Best TV Series – Musical Or Comedy
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amazon

Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series – Musical Or Comedy
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Aziz Ansari, Master of None (Netflix) 

Best TV Limited Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Big Little Lies – HBO

Best Performance By an Actress In A Limited-Series or A Motion Picture Made For Television
Nicole Kidman. Big Little Lies (HBO) 

Best Performance By an Actor In A Limited-Series or A Motion Picture Made For Television
Ewan McGregor –Fargo (FX)

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Series, Limited Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Laura Dern – Big Little Lies (HBO) 

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Series, Limited Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television
Alexander Skarsgard – Big Little Lies (HBO)

Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale continued its hot awards streak, winning the Golden Globe for best drama in a very competitive category.

Read More: Complete Coverage of the 2018 Golden Globes

The freshman series beat out four drama series that were nominated for last year’s Golden Globe Award, including Netflix’s The Crown and Stranger Things, HBO’s Game Of Thrones, and NBC’s This Is Us.

Related | Golden Globes 2018: HBO Leads Awards Winners

The Handmaid’s Tale’s Golden Globe win is its second major TV awards win following its Emmy Award for best drama. It’s also the second Globes win for the series, following Elisabeth Moss’s win earlier in the evening for best actress in a drama.

Read More: Complete Coverage of the 2018 Golden Globes

Elisabeth Moss won the Golden Globe Award for best actress in a drama category, the first of three female-led TV categories announced during the early part of the live ceremony.

Moss, who stars in Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, beat out Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe, The Crown’s Claire Foy, The Deuce’s Maggie Gyllenhaal, and 13 Reasons Why’s Katherine Langford for the coveted statuette.

Related | Golden Globes 2018: HBO Leads Awards Winners

Nicole Kidman took home the first Golden Globes Award in the television category for her role in HBO’s Big Little Lies. Kidman won the best performance by an actress in a limited series or motion picture, beating out fellow Lies star Reese Witherspoon as well as Jessica Lange (Feud: Bette and Joan) and Jessica Biel (USA’s The Sinner).

Kidman adds a Golden Globe statuette to her Emmy Award for her role as Celeste Wright in the limited series.

Rachel Brosnahan, star of  Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, was the surprise winner in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series, besting Better Things’ Pamela Adlon, GLOW’s Alison Brie, Insecure’s Issa Rae and SMILF’s Frankie Shaw.

On April 26, 2017, America woke up to news of whether national security adviser Michael Flynn was lying about business dealings with Russia, President Donald Trump threatening a federal government shutdown tied to Mexico border-wall funding and the United States moving a controversial missile defense system to South Korea to protect us from North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear threat.

That same evening, the images a wide swath of Americans saw before bed came from the premiere of the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale, about a young wife and mother (Elisabeth Moss) captured and separated from her family, and forced to be a part of a dystopian world where women have no rights and are forced to bear children for the country’s leaders. That’s what they watched — and binged — by choice.

The desire to experience the things that will frighten us is a longstanding, profitable phenomenon that goes back to radio. But why does it not abate when life itself is as scary as what we’re watching?

Related: Millennials Troubled by Trump, GOP

In the months since The Handmaid’s Tale premiered, we’ve experienced deadly wildfires, deadly hurricanes, a deadly shooting in Las Vegas, a deadly white supremacist rally in Virginia and antics in Washington that make one’s head spin. And in that time, while Hulu doesn’t publish viewing totals, The Handmaid’s Talewon Outstanding Drama Series at this year’s Emmys, becoming the first streaming series to do so.

The practice of watching stalwart fright-fests when the world feels on shaky ground gets an even greater test now as Halloween spells new seasons of TV’s most popular series, The Walking Dead(which premiered Sun., Oct. 22 on AMC, to 11.4 million viewers), and one of last year’s true breakout hits, Stranger Things, which premiered Oct. 27 on Netflix. (For more on Halloween programming plans, read Digital Platforms Are Feeling the Fear.)

They’re hardly alone: American Horror Story: Cult, running on FX, directly relates to the country’s political climate, and Netflix’s new Mindhunter explores the mind of a serial killer in the 1970s in ways that seems strangely prescient. We’re also still watching the uncomfortably realistic scares on Westworld (HBO) and House of Cards (Netflix), and this in a year when Get Out was the most talked-about film of the summer, and It, Stephen King’s tale of a murderous clown that lives in a gutter, swept up at the box office.

In most cases, there is a strange safety net that comes with experiencing these scares and knowing they’re not real. It’s a feeling even more in demand right now, when a number of Americans are seeking a level of control and a greater degree of hope about the world around them.

“We’re all looking for escape, especially these days,” media consultant Bill Carroll said. “Things are so uncertain; every day there are new issues and television provides that escape. I guess to a degree it’s fiction-scary vs. fact-scary. A lot of things are concerning in everyday life and the circumstances we’re dealing with, but this is a way to deal with that in a safe environment.”

The Fright Stuff
The power of scary content to provoke a reaction, especially at this time of year, hearkens back to media’s most infamous script, Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds radio drama, which took place exactly 79 years ago, on Oct. 30, 1938.

The Mercury Theatre on the Air Halloween episode was so realistic — much of it presented as a series of news bulletins interrupting a radio show — that a number of Americans fled from their homes to escape an attack from Mars.

Its prescience in today’s age is uncanny; with 20/20 hindsight that drama was both the very essence of so-called fake news, and the seed of how word-of-mouth, hearsay and rumor — so prevalent on social media — can inspire a terrifying reaction.

“There’s the suggestion that if only there had been better communication then — but no! People would have just found the rumors faster,” said Walter Podrazik, television curator at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago and co-author of Watching TV, a book on the history of television. “Social media, and the ability to instantly communicate with someone, now puts the echo chamber effect in.”

The “widespread panic attack” plot line, especially right there on the street where you live, has long been a television staple. One can argue that the famed Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” is something of a sequel to Welles’s program, this time with the aliens actually landing and talking about how easy it is to control earthlings.

In a sense, it doesn’t even matter what the evil is or how it came to be; it’s more about how we react, and how the horror reflects the times, much as the original Night of the Living Dead is about as perfect a reflection of the year it came out — 1968 — as any other living document.

And now, in an age of unease where nobody can be entirely sure of anything, other than that all your personal information was probably stolen in the Equifax hack, it’s easy enough to believe danger may be imminent. Somehow that makes watching people just like us go through these situations on a screen large or small both cathartic and instructive.

The enticement of watching horror that “hits too close to home” is certainly part of the reason fans were so eager for last Friday’s return of Stranger Things. Even though 12-year-old Will Byers has returned from the “Upside Down” dimension where he’d been held after meeting up with the Demogorgon monster, all is clearly not well. But the seed of the appeal for fans of big scares comes courtesy of watching Will, his three best friends and their new E.T.-like telekinetic friend, Eleven.

Related: 'Stranger Things' Caps Dramatic Night for Netflix at SAG Awards

In a world where our news feed gives us constant updates on threats of nuclear war, election interference and real-life uncertainty about health care and taxes, there’s a certain odd comfort in watching the most vulnerable among us gain courage and prevail in small-town America — especially when they’re battling evil-minded adults concocting mysterious things in the local laboratory.

“Kids and young teens are usually powerless. They do not control the leaders of government or school, so if they know something, trying to convince the powers that be is infinitely challenging,” Podrazik said. “They’re usually greeted with, ‘Go away, kid; come back when you grow up.’ We look to horror to be reminded of how frightening a situation can be, even in the relative safety of the mall or your own neighborhood — where that safety is a little bit of an illusion.”

Added Carroll: “There’s so much we don’t have control over in the political realm or now in the physical realm with California wildfires, trouble down South, and there’s so much in our environment we have no control over and nothing to do with, and there’s a certain catharsis that can happen in experiencing these scary things but then knowing in the end, in this case, we’re actually safe.”

Living To Tell the ‘Tale’
There are probably some Americans who believe we’re on a path to some dystopian nightmare society a la The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s hard to blame them, one year after the popular rallying cry for many women has tragically shifted from “I’m With Her” to #MeToo. But among the positives of watching June/Offred (Elisabeth Moss, herself an Emmy winner) on the series is her embodiment of courage and the never-lost idea that her single objective, come what may, is to reunite with her husband and her daughter, against a frightening collection of odds.

And while the trappings of the totalitarian Christian Gilead state, established after a fictitious U.S. civil war, may produce an “It could happen!” outcry on Facebook, the truth is, it hasn’t. And so when we watch June make every move possible to ultimately get her wish, as bad as things get, we’re inspired to be following a script on this side of the screen.

“Drama is therapy,” Podrazik said. “It’s an opportunity to help us collectively better articulate what we’re grappling with and that’s one of the things I love about TV. It’s happening right in your personal space and that sometimes makes the fright go a little deeper and lets the opportunity for thoughtful reflection and catharsis play out more.”

‘Dead’ Set on Hope
The Walking Dead, meanwhile, faced a real, unintended conundrum. On Oct. 23, 2016, with Election Day only two weeks away and the country in a state of impossible tension, TV’s most popular series premiered season 7, concluding a cliffhanger in perhaps the most awful, gruesome method possible. The cunning and evil Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) ultimately kills Glenn (Steven Yeun), the moral center of the entire series. And though it garnered 17.03 million viewers, it’s second-highest viewing total ever, the one-two punch of an ugly presidential campaign and an even uglier skull-breaking killing could only be termed a case of overkill.

Related: AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Return Slays Social Media

Did the election results and the malaise and outrage in many quarters that followed somehow contribute to the series posting viewing totals that ultimately slipped to a little more than 10 million per episode? It couldn’t have helped; neither did the plot lines, which showed a kind of shock and hopelessness.

But a funny thing happened on the way to season eight of the series. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the forces of Alexandria have gotten their mojo back, fueled by a greater purpose, deeper strategy and, yes, a thirst for revenge that would rival the appetites of the walkers themselves.

And more than that, there’s a return to hope, much like in a country that is a little tired of waiting for something to happen — good or bad — and has resolved to both deal with natural tragedies and get out the vote in some crucial off-year elections. On The Walking Dead, people of very different backgrounds and races are coming together with a sense of purpose to deliver hope. As Rick puts it in the season premiere, “This is our land, by right, and anyone else who would find common ground, it’s their right, too. Keep our faith in each other, and if we can hold onto that, the future is ours; the world is ours.” And that’s something worth watching play out, even while wincing as thousands of walkers clamor for more blood.

“These tales, scary as they might be, demand that individuals rise to the occasion and not only fight off the hordes, but keep their own humanity — as best as they can — while facing off against others who have exploited the situation for their own power grab,” Podrazik said. “Why do we fight? Because that’s what elevates our own personal situations. And if we’re using horror as a departure from everyday life, part of the reason that works is, at least in these situations, there are moments of hope. And individuals can make a difference.”

HBO generated the most hardware during Sunday’s 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, but it was Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale that made the most noise during the live ceremony.

Read More: Complete coverage of the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards

The Handmaid’s Tale won five awards during the CBS telecast – tying HBO’s limited series Big Little Lies for the most primetime Emmy wins -- including best drama series honors and a best drama actress statuette for series star Elisabeth Moss. The Handmaid's Tale became the first series from a streaming service to win an Emmy for Best Drama Series.

Overall, HBO won 10 awards to lead all networks – including a historic win for Julie Louis-Dreyfus, who earned a record sixth straight Emmy statuette in the best actress in a comedy series category for her role as Selina Meyer in the network’s series Veep. The series also won its third consecutive Emmy in the best comedy series category.

NBC won six Primetime Emmy Awards – paced by four wins for Saturday Night Live -- followed by Hulu (five awards), Netflix (four awards) and FX Networks (two awards).

Shows winning two primetime Emmy Awards include FX’s Atlanta, which won two awards for series star Donald Glover (Outstanding Actor in A Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series). HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, which was a repeat winner in the Variety Talk Series category; and Netflix’s Black Mirror: San Junipero, which won for Outstanding Television Movie.

Three of the top five Emmy-nominated series – HBO’s Westworld, Fx’s FEUD: Bette And Joan, and Netflix’s Stranger Things – failed to win Primetime Emmy Awards.

List Of Primetime Emmy Awards Winners

Best Comedy:Veep (HBO)

Best Actor, Comedy: Donald Glover, Atlanta (FX)

Best Actress, Comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep(HBO)

Supporting Actor, Comedy: Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Supporting Actress, Comedy: Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Directing for a Comedy Series: Donald Glover, Atlanta (“B.A.N.”) (FX)

Writing for a Comedy Series:Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, Master of None (“Thanksgiving”) (Netflix) 

Best Drama:The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Best Actress, Drama: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Best Actor, Drama: Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us (NBC)

Supporting Actor, Drama: John Lithgow, The Crown (Netflix) 

Supporting Actress, Drama: Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Writing for a Drama Series: Bruce Miller, The Handmaid’s Tale (“Offred (Pilot)”) (Hulu)

Directing for a Drama Series: Reed Morano, The Handmaid’s Tale (“Offred (Pilot)”) (Hulu)

Best Limited Series: Big Little Lies (HBO)

Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie: Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies (HBO)

Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie: Riz Ahmed, The Night Of (HBO)

Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie: Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies (HBO)

Supporting Actress, Limited Series or a Movie: Laura Dern, Big Little Lies (HBO)

Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Drama: Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror: San Junipero (Netflix)

Directing For a Limited Series: Jean-Marc Vallée, Big Little Lies (HBO)

Reality Competition Program: The Voice (NBC)

Television Movie: Black Mirror: San Junipero (Netflix)

Variety Talk Series: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO) 

Variety Sketch Series: Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Directing for a Variety Series: Don Roy King, Saturday Night Live (“Host: Jimmy Fallon”) 

Writing for a Variety Series: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO)

 Source: New York Times

It was a big night for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, which took home Emmy Awards in two of the three major drama categories.

Read More: Complete coverage of the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards

The series won the Emmy for best drama -- the first win in the category for a streaming series -- topping veteran drama shows Better Call Saul (AMC) and House Of Cards (Netflix) as well as Netflix freshman series The Crown and Stranger Things. The category was devoid of last year's winner, HBO's The Game Of Thrones, which didn't qualify for Emmy consideration this year.

The Handmaid's Tale star Elisabeth Moss also won the Emmy for lead actress in a drama, besting newcomers Claire Foy (Netflix’s The Crown) and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld) as well as veterans Viola Davis (ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder), Keri Russell (FX’s The Americans), and Robin Wright (House of Cards).

In a surprise, The Handmaid’s Tale’s Ann Dowd won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama award.

Read More: Complete coverage of the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards

Dowd beat out her fellow series star Samira Wiley for the award along with Uzo Aduba (Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black), Millie Bobby Brown (Netflix’s Stranger Things), Chrissy Metz (NBC’s This Is Us), andThandie Newton (HBO’s Westworld)

Dowd's win was the third of the night for The Handmaid's Tale following wins in the Outstanding Writing and Directing for a Drama Series categories.  

Amid the official unveiling of its new live streaming service, Hulu on Wednesday announced the renewal of its original drama series The Handmaid’s Tale for a second season during its upfront presentation in New York. 

Season two of the series, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood, will launch in 2018, according to the network. “The response we’ve seen to The Handmaid’s Tale in just one week since its premiere has been absolutely incredible," said senior vice president and head of content Craig Erwich in a statement. "It has been an honor to work with this talented team of cast and creators to develop a series that has struck such a chord with audiences across the country.”

In other upfront news, Hulu said it has secured exclusive streaming rights to FX’s original comedy series Atlanta. The first season of the Golden Globe award-winning series starring Donald Glover will become available to Hulu subscribers ahead of its second season premiere in 2018, with subsequent seasons becoming available to stream on Hulu following their run on FX, said company officials. 

Hulu also announced the greenlighting of two new series: Marvel’s Runaways – based on the popular comic book series; and The First (working title), a drama set in the near future about the first human mission to Mars.

Ads for shows from cable networks and streaming services were among the bevy of commercials that aired during last night’s thrilling Super Bowl LI game on Fox.

AMC’s The Walking Dead, Netflix’s Stranger Things, National Geographic’s Genius and Hulu/MGM Television's The Handmaid's Tale were among the commercials running during the big game, in which the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.

The overtime period allowed Fox to air four additional in-game spots, according to BroadcastingCable.com. Fox generated revenue of $509.6 million during the game, according to research company iSpot.TV.

Here were some of the cable show ads that aired during the Super Bowl:

AMC’s The Walking Dead

Netflix’s Stranger Things

National Geographic’s Genius

Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale