Outstanding Drama Series at the 2014 Emmys Was Unbelievably Stacked

The 2024 Emmy Awards feel like a foregone conclusion already. Ahead of the event on September 15, hit series like The Bear and Shōgun already cleaned up at the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony, with the latter winning more awards than any drama in history. Both of these shows are very deserving of their crowns in both the comedy and drama categories (even if some people don’t think The Bear is funny). For awards show geeks, though, the lack of competition can make the Emmys a lackluster experience. It forces folks who enjoy the history of TV trophies to go back in the annals of the medium and look longingly at a time when the winners were unknown up to the last second. 

It’s been a decade since the most unforgettable collection of series in history congregated in the Outstanding Drama Series category in 2014. Take a look at these nominees 10 years ago if you don’t remember the GOAT-ness of the night:

• Breaking Bad (Season 5, Part 2)
• Downton Abbey (Season 4)
• Game of Thrones (Season 4)
• House of Cards (Season 2)
• Mad Men (Season 7, Part 1)
• True Detective (Season 1)

When we talk about the Golden Age of Television, this is the reason for the wistful nostalgia. There are plenty of excellent stories on the small screen right now, but nothing worthy of this type of adulation. Not only are these six of the greatest shows of all time, but this category featured three of these series at their pinnacle. Breaking Bad’s final eight episodes, Game of Thrones’ fourth season, and True Detective’s maiden case would top any list of the greatest seasons in TV history. To have them fight for single-year supremacy must have had the TV gods laughing down upon us. 

Breaking Bad’s last act is a high-wire operation performed with surgical precision by every person involved in the production. Creator Vince Gilligan and his team left no stone unturned and nary a meth lab undiscovered. Every twist and turn of season 5’s second part was equal parts calculated and spontaneous, eliciting shock and emotion unequaled at this point in history. The season included what many critics name the greatest episode ever made, “Ozymandias.” Other fantastic hours such as “Confessions” (my personal favorite) and “Granite State” were thorough character portraits that invaded the minds and revealed the motivations of those we loved for years, daring us to turn our backs on the protagonists such as Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). 

Game of Thrones wasn’t quite the phenomenon it would turn into just a couple of years later, but its fourth season served as the most convincing of its grandeur and dynamic fireworks. On the heels of the Red Wedding in season 3, the HBO megahit continued to take daring chances by killing off main characters, introducing new superstars like Pedro Pascal, and redefining the ability of an ensemble cast to work in perfect unison. Game of Thrones season 4 is the best piece of fantasy on-screen since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Its excellence contributed to the disappointment of later seasons because the writers set an impossible standard they could never reach again. 

The same could be said about True Detective. The last three seasons of this mystery crime drama are above average, engaging, and unique. Still, the first set starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson is the stuff of legend. These two film legends checked their egos by detouring to TV (it helped that Harrelson had been a fixture on Cheers), proving that serialized storytelling is truly capable of being even more captivating than its theatrical older sibling. Since True Detective season 1, Academy Award-winning performers such as Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Nicole Kidman have followed McConaughey and Harrelson’s path by adding to the television legendarium. 

All of these shows created such rabid fandom that the announcement of who would win felt like a sporting event. Superfans wanted their favorite series to get the statuette, but only one could get etched into the history books in perpetuity. Breaking Bad was the winner of the category, a decision that still looks good after 10 years of reflection. It’s almost too good to be true that the academy had such a Sophie’s choice, but they hit the home run anyway. I suppose if the quality of TV was so divine, the critics following the series had to up their analysis, too!

At the end of the day, many fans don’t remember or care who won an Emmy. Better Call Saul went 0 for 53, while The Idol took home a prize this weekend for Outstanding Choreography. This bit of sinful irony makes it hard to take any of these voters seriously. I suppose that means we need to appreciate the 2014 Outstanding Drama Series category even more. It’s a tribute to a bygone era of television that we’ll only get to experience in reruns on streaming and online chatter like right here. Like Tony Soprano said, “Remember the good times.”