Will ‘Reservation Dogs’ finally turn years of prestige and critical acclaim into Emmys?

The FX series “Reservation Dogs” has had a thoroughly impressive awards run even though it was only on the air for three seasons. The strange part is that those awards never included Emmys. For its first two seasons the show only received a single Emmy nom: Best Sound Editing in 2023 for the episode “This is Where the Plot Thickens.” But the stars may have aligned for the series to finally be recognized this year for its third and final season.

“Reservation Dogs” tells the story of Native American teenagers growing up on an Oklahoma reservation. Co-created by Oscar winner Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit“) and critically hailed from the very beginning, the show was a hit (almost) everywhere it went. It received nine Critics Choice nominations, including Best Comedy Series for all three seasons (2022-2024). It earned six Television Critics Association noms including Best Achievement in Comedy for all three seasons (2022-2024) and Program of the Year in 2024. It was a 2022 Golden Globe nominee for Best Comedy Series.

It also won the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series and the Independent Spirit Award for Best New Scripted Series. It was one of the AFI’s top TV programs of the year for three years running (2022-2024). It picked up four Writers Guild nominations and a 2022 Peabody Award. It has even earned seven of our own Gold Derby TV Award nominations including Best Comedy Series in 2022 and 2023 (voting for this year’s Gold Derby Awards is currently underway).

How on Earth does a show with that kind of track record miss at the Emmys? Well, maybe this year it won’t. Of last year’s eight nominees for Best Comedy Series, only three are eligible to return: defending champion “The Bear,” “Abbott Elementary” and “Only Murders in the Building.” That opens up five slots. According to our racetrack odds, we can expect past Comedy Series nominees “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks” and “What We Do in the Shadows” to take three of those slots, leaving two up for grabs. Of the remaining eligible shows, nothing has built up the kind of awards prestige that “Reservation Dogs” has — except maybe “Frasier,” but revivals of old favorites haven’t done that well at the Emmys, as evidenced by “Will and Grace’s” recent shortfall.

That may be why “Reservation Dogs” ranks seventh in our combined predictions with 14/1 odds, placing it among the likely nominees, while stars Devery Jacobs and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai are on the bubble for lead acting nominations. Is this finally the opportunity the show needs, on its last go round, to make the cut at TV’s premier honors?

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