00:00As we count down to the 2018 Emmys, The Hollywood Reporter's awards analyst Scott
00:04Feinberg wonders how the TV Academy feels this year about shows that ended, or were
00:08canceled, before voting for the awards ceremony began. Series such as FX's The
00:13Americans, Showtime's Episodes, ABC's Scandal, IFC's Portlandia, Hulu's Casual and
00:19Fox's New Girl all ended on their own terms in the past year, while ABC's Roseanne
00:23was canceled abruptly in the wake of a racist tweet from the show's star. So, can
00:27sentimentality or even pity lead to Academy members offering fond farewells in the
00:31form of statuettes? Here, we take a look at the shows that have taken home the prize
00:35after making their final on-screen bows, and which series have the potential to repeat
00:39history. This is your Emmy update from The Hollywood Reporter News. Exit wins for
00:43series have happened very rarely at the 69 Emmy ceremonies, Feinberg points out. Four
00:48times with dramas, Playhouse 90 in 1960, Upstairs Downstairs in 1977, The Sopranos in
00:542007, and Breaking Bad in 2014, and five times with comedies, The Dick Van Dyke Show in
00:591966, My World and Welcome to It in 1970, The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1977, Barney
01:05Miller in 1982, and Everybody Loves Raymond in 2005, Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston,
01:10Aaron Paul and Betsy Brandt in 2014, Mad Men's Jon Hamm in 2015, and Downton Abbey's
01:15Maggie Smith in 2016. And in 2015, for Jon Stewart's final season as host, The Daily Show won
01:21Best Variety Talk series. Of the shows that wrapped up this year, the one with the most
01:25Emmy potential, according to our analyst, is The Americans, which has been regarded as
01:29one of the finest examples of the peak TV era. Despite the critical success of the show,
01:34however, the FX series has only once been nominated for Best Drama Series in 2016,
01:38while stars Kerry Russell and Matthew Rhys have been nominated just twice in 2016 and 2017.
01:44So far, the only wins have been for Margot Martindale, who took home the awards for
01:48guest actress in 2015 and 2016. Time will tell if that changes this year for the show's final
01:53season that critics have called near-perfect. The presumptive favorite in the drama category,
01:57says Feinberg, is HBO's Game of Thrones, which is eligible again this year after a season away.
02:03Thrones is following the lead of two previous winners, Breaking Bad and HBO's The Sopranos,
02:07by splitting its final season into two parts that will compete in different years.
02:11The Sopranos and Breaking Bad won for both segments, which suggests that TV Academy members may
02:16respond generously to strong shows coming to an end. Next year, as our analyst points out,
02:21that will be the case for not only Thrones, but also for HBO's Veep, Netflix's House of Cards,
02:26and, according to unconfirmed reports, Showtime's Homeland.
02:29To read more from Scott Feinberg's column, head to THR.com slash The Wraith and tell us,
02:33which exiting series do you feel deserves to win an Emmy? Let us know in the comments.
02:38For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
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