As Emmy Eligibility Ends, Different Awards Our bodies Assist ‘I Could Destory You’

The Emmy eligibility window is ending, but there are many alternative awards for me.

It's finally (almost) there.

Monday, May 31st, the 2020-2021 Emmy Award admission period ends, when Peak TV's fire hose will stop for a brief moment before resuming immediately. (Don't worry about resuming just yet. That is the problem you will have in the future.)

And while there were some high profile releases in the final moments of May, including the return of HBO's "In Treatment" and Netflix's "Master of None," this week the main source of Emmy buzz came in the form of external award panels.

We're starting with the 2021 BAFTA TV Craft Awards, given by the British Academy and honoring the best behind-the-scenes work in the industry. At an event featured on the organization's social media channels, there were some big winners who could give their shows a boost when it comes to the July Emmy nominations.

It was Steve McQueen's "Little Ax" who emerged as the big winner of the night, receiving top honors in five categories including costume design, screenplay casting, makeup and hair design, production design, and photography and lighting. But on the heels of the anthology series was Michaela Coel's "I May Destroy You," which won three categories including: Author: Drama, Director: Fiction, and Editing: Fiction.

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While Small Ax won most of the awards, there is an argument that Coels awards – she won for the writer and shared directing with Sam Miller – came in direct competition with McQueen himself. However, the BAFTAs have a number of other winners to announce, including Actors and Full Series (which will take place on June 6th), and it will be fascinating to see which mini-series (as they are still called within the organization) come top Stand.

It's good to see that both series are doing such strong performances with BAFTA as they both compete in the Limited / Anthology Series categories at the Emmys, which are becoming some of the most competitive areas of the year. While both "Small Ax" and "I May Destroy You" ideally make it into two of the five nomination slots, it's not a sure thing. Hence, any buzz, regardless of its source, is cause for celebration.

As for the other awards making waves this week, the National Academy of Arts and Sciences of Television announced the nominations for the 48th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Tuesday, with soap operas leading the nominees, including "General Hospital" at 21, “The Young and the Restless” and “Days of Our Lives” with 11 each and “The Bold and the Beautiful” with nine each.

While the Daytime Emmy Awards have nothing to do with the Primetime Emmy Awards, they provide an interesting window into the rest of the television industry, especially now that after years of oversight by the Academy of Television Arts, children's programming has become the purview of NATAS and Sciences.

But if you're here curious to see which of these kids' shows left their mark, prepare to be disappointed. While Tuesday's announcement included some categories in which kids 'shows compete against each other, it didn't include the categories specific to kids' shows. The nominations for the Daytime Children's Programming & Animation Emmy Awards and the Daytime Lifestyle Programming Emmy Awards will be announced on Monday June 28th.

Early nominations in general categories are earning youth-focused shows, including three Netflix players: "Trinkets" and "Julie and the Phantoms," each of which won seven nominations, and "Dash & Lily," which earned six. IndieWire favorite "The Babysitter's Club" received a single nomination for "Outstanding Costume Design / Styling" but will hopefully perform better in June.

Tune in next week when IndieWire delves into Emmy coverage first, featuring interviews with some of television's greatest talent and the return of the Awards Spotlight series.

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