2024 Emmy Predictions: Best Animated Program
Less than a year after achieving its record 12th Best Animated Program Emmy win (and first for one of its “Treehouse of Horror” specials), “The Simpsons” is officially back in the running for the same award. For months leading up to the 2024 nominations announcement, the Fox staple was this category’s default frontrunner, but that distinction now very clearly belongs to Disney+’s extremely well-received “X-Men ‘97.”
This year’s animated program lineup is the first since 2010 to include three new shows, with the others besides “X-Men ‘97” being Netflix’s “Blue Eye Samurai” and Max’s “Scavengers Reign.” Joining “The Simpsons” on the veteran side is fellow Fox series “Bob’s Burgers,” which could now snag its third victory here.
In order to determine the likeliest outcome of this puzzling race, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to make your predictions in this and 30 other Creative Arts Emmy categories by September 7.
“Blue Eye Samurai” (Netflix)
Episode: “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride”
Current drama lead nominee Maya Erskine (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) stars on this adult action series as Mizu, a mixed-race 17th century Japanese warrior driven by a plan of vengeance. In the first season’s fifth installment, she experiences a mid-battle flashback of her time as the reluctant wife of a disgraced samurai and subsequently discovers a renewed sense of strength.
“Bob’s Burgers” (Fox)
Episode: “The Amazing Rudy”
Having initially been recognized for its second season, “Bob’s Burgers” has earned spots in all of this category’s last 13 consecutive lineups. Following triumphs in 2014 and 2017, the irreverent series is seeking this honor for an episode in which secondary character Rudy Steiblitz unexpectedly strengthens his friendship with classmate Louise Belcher after taking refuge from his stress-inducing parents at her family’s restaurant.
“Scavengers Reign” (Max)
Episode: “The Signal”
Max’s first nomination in this category comes for this single-season series about a destroyed interstellar cargo ship’s surviving crew members. The first of 12 episodes introduces five dispersed main characters who gradually regain their bearings and begin to focus on ensuring their long term survival.
“The Simpsons” (Fox)
Episode: “Night of the Living Wage”
America’s longest-running scripted primetime series first competed for and won this award in 1990. In its submitted 35th season installment, housewife Marge begins working for a ghost kitchen to cover a sudden family expense and ends up forming a union in order to secure fair wages for herself and her colleagues. While many of the iconic show’s 768 episodes are Marge-centric, this is technically the first one of them ever placed in contention for this honor.
“X-Men ’97” (Disney+)
Episode: “Remember It”
Although it maintained a large Saturday morning audience for five seasons, Fox’s “X-Men: The Animated Series” never attracted any kind of awards attention. Now, it is poised to be vindicated by the success of this primetime continuation, the first season of which streamed from March to May. In its fifth episode, a love triangle involving mutant superhumans Rogue, Gambit, and Magneto reaches its breaking point as Rogue makes a severely consequential choice.
So, what will win the 2024 Emmy for Best Animated Program? It’s important to examine this lineup in the context of the category’s 45-year history and note the evidence that voters now strongly prefer animated shows imbued with adventure and emotional resonance rather than those structured around crude humor. Not all of the current options are family friendly, but there is an obvious contrast between them and some of the former winners that were overlooked this year.
Except for last year when none were nominated, the TV academy has recently demonstrated a clear affinity toward new continuing animated series. Given the especially warm public reception to “X-Men ‘97” and “Blue Eye Samurai’s” secure status as the likeliest spoiler, betting on either veteran candidate is unwise in this case.
PREDICT the Creative Arts Emmy winners through September 7
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