‘Westworld’ and ‘Stranger Things’ led 69th Emmy drama noms
The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards opened with Westworld and Saturday Night Live each collecting 22 nominations, while Stranger Things followed closely in the drama field with 18 nods that included a Guest Actress nod for Shannon Purser as fan-favorite Barb. Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Netflix’s The Crown each earned 13 nominations, underscoring the depth of prestige series that year. Disappointment lingered over the absence of The Leftovers and Insecure, yet BoJack Horseman landed its first nomination for Kristen Schaal and Carrie Fisher earned a posthumous nod for Catastrophe.
Drama Series
Better Call Saul (AMC) The Crown (Netflix) The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) House of Cards (Netflix) Stranger Things (Netflix) This Is Us (NBC) Westworld (HBO). The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu) won Outstanding Drama Series.
Comedy Series
Atlanta (FX) Black-ish (ABC) Master of None (Netflix) Modern Family (ABC) Silicon Valley (HBO) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) Veep (HBO). Veep (HBO) won Outstanding Comedy Series.
Limited Series
Big Little Lies (HBO) Fargo (FX) Feud: Bette and Joan (FX) The Night Of (HBO) Genius (National Geographic). Big Little Lies (HBO) won Outstanding Limited Series.
Drama Actress
Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder) Claire Foy (The Crown) Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) Keri Russell (The Americans) Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld) Robin Wright (House of Cards). Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale) won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Drama Actor
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) Anthony Hopkins (Westworld) Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) Matthew Rhys (The Americans) Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan) Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us). Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Comedy Actor
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) Aziz Ansari (Master of None) Zach Galifianakis (Baskets) Donald Glover (Atlanta) William H. Macy (Shameless) Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent). Donald Glover (Atlanta) won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
Comedy Actress
Pamela Adlon (Better Things) Tracee Ellis-Ross (Black-ish) Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie) Allison Janney (Mom) Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep). Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Ceremony and Host
The ceremony took place on September 17, 2017. Stephen Colbert hosted the broadcast, steering the evening with a mix of topical humor and Emmy-night tradition that kept the pace brisk across nearly three hours of live television.
Major Award Winners
The Handmaid’s Tale claimed Outstanding Drama Series, Big Little Lies took Outstanding Limited Series, and Veep secured Outstanding Comedy Series. Those victories capped a night that rewarded both established network franchises and the newer streaming arrivals that had reshaped the ballot.
Historic Firsts and Milestones
The Handmaid’s Tale became the first streaming drama to win Outstanding Drama Series. Donald Glover earned the first directing Emmy awarded to an African-American in the comedy category, and Lena Waithe became the first African-American woman to win for comedy writing. Each milestone marked a visible shift in who received recognition on the Emmy stage.
Awards by Network and Platform
HBO finished with 29 total wins, Netflix collected 20, and Hulu celebrated its first web-series drama victory through The Handmaid’s Tale. The numbers confirmed how quickly streaming platforms had moved from underdogs to consistent Emmy powerhouses by 2017.
The evening closed with clear signals that the industry had entered a new phase where streaming and traditional outlets competed on equal footing. Viewers walked away with a sharper sense of which series had translated nomination heat into actual trophies and which performers had cemented their place in Emmy history.
