Emmys 2020: Will Outlander Season 5 be eligible for nominations?

Off the back of the Emmys 2019 snub, all eyes are on the Emmys 2020. Will Outlander Season 5 be eligible for nominations for the 2020 awards?

Outlander was snubbed at the Emmys 2019 nominations. Despite landing five nominations at the Saturn Awards the day before, the show received no nominations at all in the Emmys, not even for the costume design! However, eyes are now on the Emmys 2020.

With no premiere date yet for Season 5, many fans are curious about whether the show will even be eligible for next year’s awards nominations? This will depend on when the show eventually premieres.

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Filming is underway right now. It’s extremely unlikely that the show will premiere at the end of this year. The filming didn’t start until April 2019 and is scheduled to continue until the end of the year. There are then months of post-production work to get through, which will take the production team into the start of 2020, more than likely.

So, we’re looking at early to mid-2020 for a release date. Which is why the eligibility for the Emmys 2020 is up for debate.

Shows/episodes have to air before June 1 to be considered for that year’s Emmys. So for the Emmys 2019, shows and episodes needed to air between June 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019. For the 2020 Emmys, shows will need to have episodes airing between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020.

It doesn’t have to be a full season. For example, The Handmaid’s Tale had three episodes of Season 2 air in June 2019. It was eligible for nominations in both the 2018 and 2019 Emmys because of this. STARZ may want to use this to its advantage next year considering Droughtlanders can be long.

As long as Season 5 premieres before June 1, 2020, the season will be eligible for the Emmys 2020. Leaving it to around April or May 2020 could be a good thing for the show for nominations. The episodes will be fresh in the minds of the Emmy voters. If you look at the list of shows that received nominations this year you’ll see that many like Game of Thrones, Veep, and Killing Eve all had episodes air between March and May this year.

The whole season won’t have to air before June 1. Having some episodes air after June 1 would then allow those episodes to be eligible for the 2021 Emmys. It would be tougher but The Handmaid’s Tale proved that it works well.

What do you think of the Emmys 2019 snub? Would you like to see some nominations at the 2020 Emmys? Let me know in the comments below.

Outlander Season 5 is still filming and expected to air sometime in the first half of 2020. Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates and news.