Stranger Things is the biggest English-language show in the history of Netflix; subscribers have watched over 1.1 billion hours of the current season. But mass popularity does not always equal critical praise or awards.
This year when the Emmy nominations were announced, Stranger Things received 13 nominations. While it was included in the Outstanding Drama Series category — basically the top prize of the entire year — it was otherwise shut out of the key categories. It received zero nominations for writing or directing, and none of its outstanding and very large ensemble of actors were singled out for recognition.
Instead, its 12 other nominations came in technical categories honoring achievement in areas like makeup, production design, editing, and stunts. Here’s the full list of the show’s 2022 Emmy nominations:
- Outstanding Drama Series
- Outstanding Production Design For a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program
- Outstanding Casting For a Drama Series
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For a Drama
- Outstanding Period and/or Character Hairstyling
- Outstanding Period and/or Character Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup
- Outstanding Music Supervision
- Outstanding Sound Editing For a Comedy or Drama Series
- Outstanding Sound Mixing For a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie
- Outstanding Stunt Coordination
- Outstanding Stunt Performance
(Those are some specific award categories.)
Stranger Things has been nominated for dozens of Emmys to date, winning seven — all in those technical categories like Main Title Design and Sound Editing. The Duffer brothers, Millie Bobby Brown, and David Harbour have all been nominated in the past for their writing, directing, and acting work, but none picked up new nominations for the 2022 season. But they’ll get at least one more chance with Season 5, which is expected to be Stranger Things’ farewell season.
The winner in these and every Emmy category will be announced in early September. In the meantime, all of Stranger Things Seasons 1 through 4 are now streaming on Netflix.
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