Queen Sugar

OWN

Adapted by Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey, the family drama didn’t make an impression on SAG or Golden Globe voters. But Emmy voting coincides with promos for season two, so things could change.

The ’80s paranormal thriller was the most-talked-about show last summer, minting pop culture darlings out of its young cast and scoring one promising kudo: the TV drama ensemble prize at the SAG Awards. Voters likely won’t write it off as genre fluff.

Westworld

HBO

The trippy dystopian drama isn’t an unnatural choice for GoT‘s Emmy heir. Both hail from HBO, boast sprawling casts and look like they cost $100 million (they do). Westworld averaged a record 12 million viewers an episode, a best for a first-year HBO show. At the very least, expect it to fill GoT‘s vast creative arts shoes.

How the Other Races Stack Up

Comedy Series 

Unseating Modern Family in 2015 and never looking back, Veep faces its biggest challenge yet: life imitating art. Critics still adore the Beltway farce, but Donald Trump’s complicated presidency has many wondering what place HBO’s all-too-real satire has in the current climate. ABC’s Black-ish continues to gain heat on the broadcast side, while its sibling Modern Family has yet to go a year without a series nom. There’s also lingering love for Netflix’s Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, HBO’s Silicon Valley and Amazon’s Transparent. The biggest threat could be new blood: Donald Glover’s Atlanta (FX) heads into voting on a wave of acclaim and affection.

Variety Talk

Election aftermath could swing the battle among late-night talkers. John Oliver took the top prize last year, the first without The Colbert Report or The Daily Show among the nominees. Stephen Colbert got shut out in his first run replacing David Letterman, but the past year has seen his ratings and relevance surge as he rails nightly at the Trump administration. Jimmy Fallon, in turn, has lost some steam. Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden and Bill Maher remain in play, as does unexpected 2016 nominee Jerry Seinfeld (for Crackle’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee). Samantha Bee’s weekly TBS show was snubbed last year, but praise for late-night’s female outlier grows constantly.

Limited Series

Before Game of Thrones‘ unexpected absence, the limited race was on track to becoming the biggest (and most prestigious) wild card category. This year sees no shortage of A-list options, with previous shoo-in anthologies (FX’s American Horror Story) no longer guaranteed a slot. The fact that Ryan Murphy doesn’t have a follow-up this year to 2016 winner The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story opens things up. HBO’s Big Little Lies and The Night Of, FX’s Fargo and Feud (also Murphy’s), and ABC’s American Crime all top critics’ and prognosticators’ «best of» lists. Also not out of the running: Nat Geo’s Albert Einstein bio series Genius and Netflix’s Gilmore Girls revival.

Gone But Not to Be Forgotten

The Leftovers (HBO)

Season one of Damon Lindelof’s dark spin on a Rapture-esque event angered a lot of TV types still stewing over the showrunner’s Lost finale. Leftovers‘ sophomore run had most of them singing a friendlier tune. But the creative resurgence yielded zilch when 2016 noms came out. Now about to wrap its third and final season June 4, the series has one last shot at making its first (and last) Emmy impression.

Girls (HBO)

Lena Dunham’s career-making comedy concluded April 16 after six seasons, 62 episodes and likely a greater number of artistic nude scenes. Emmy love has waned since it got consecutive series nominations for its first two seasons (2012 and 2013), but voter nostalgia and critical acclaim for its final season are enough to put it back in the conversation — and maybe even the acting, directing and writing races.

Bates Motel (A&E)

This moody update of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho ended with a bang (and several lethal knife slices) on April 24. Mainstream acclaim always was out of reach, save for a 2013 Emmy nomi­nation for lead actress Vera Farmiga, though strong praise has followed it from the start. Going full Psycho in season five — hello, Rihanna re­imagining Janet Leigh — might be the trick to finally getting TV Academy love.