When the cast of “Succession” marched to the Emmy stage on Monday night to collect their statues for the show's final season, they took it as their final opportunity to say goodbye.
After kissing his co-star Brian Cox on the lips, Kieran Culkin gave a tearful speech and accepted the award for Best Actor in a Drama. Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook, who each also won acting awards, paid loving tribute to their fellow actors. And Jesse Armstrong, creator of “Succession,” capped the evening by accepting the award for best drama for the third and final time and declaring, “We can leave the stage now.”
Everything about Monday night's Emmy Awards created an end-of-era feeling. “Succession” was one of many nominated series with farewell seasons, joining a list that included “Ted Lasso,” “Better Call Saul,” “Barry,” “Atlanta” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
But that wasn't the only reason Monday night had an elegiac theme. The ceremony felt in many ways like a bookend to the so-called peak TV era.
From 2010 to 2023, the number of television programs in the United States increased almost every year, reaching 599 scripted television shows last year.
These heights may never be reached again.
For more than a year, studios and broadcasters – including streaming giants like Netflix, cable giants like HBO and FX, and broadcast networks – have been putting the brakes on ordering new series. Executives worried about their streaming services losing money, customers canceling cable and a weak advertising market are instead placing more emphasis on profitability. The months-long strikes by screenwriters and actors last year also contributed to the slowdown.
With a more frugal approach, there is widespread fear across the industry about the consequences of a recession.
The list of Emmy nomination submissions provides an overview. According to the Television Academy, which organizes the awards, the number of dramas that networks and studios submitted for the Emmy fell 5 percent. Submissions for limited series fell 16 percent and comedies fell 19 percent.
There was a lot of fear at Monday night's afterparties about how much thinner the lineup would be at the next Emmys.
Some television genres seem to be in danger in some ways. Limited Series – Shows with six to ten episodes that became a sensation in the last decade, especially after the debut of “True Detective” in 2014, the premiere of “American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson” in 2016 and the launch of “Big Little Lies” — were a hallmark of the Peak TV era. The shows were characterized, among other things, by big stars and lavish budgets.
The final award given at the 2021 Emmys was the statue for best limited series. This had long been an award for best drama and signaled to organizers that this category had become television's most prestigious prize.
No longer.
As programming budgets have been cut, executives now see significantly less benefit in committing generous resources to a show that ends after a few weeks.
Again, investing in series with many seasons is a much bigger priority. And there's a good chance that television will become very similar to the television of a few decades ago.
Executives at Max, the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service formerly known as HBO Max, are on the hunt for a medical drama. “Suits,” a 2010s USA Network drama, became an unexpected streaming hit last summer after millions of people began watching reruns of the series on Netflix. “Next year you’ll probably see a number of legal shows,” Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said at an investor conference last month.
Hulu recently commissioned a project from star producer Ryan Murphy that tells the story of a divorce law firm made up entirely of women.
Of course, quality television from the Peak TV era will not disappear. “The Bear,” the best comedy winner and already the all-time favorite for the next Emmys, will return. Also returning are “Abbott Elementary,” the popular ABC sitcom, and “The Last of Us,” HBO’s hit video game adaptation that won an Emmy.
The very origins of “Succession” seem tailor-made for the new television age. When HBO executives ordered the series, they wanted to put a new twist on a classic television genre – a family drama – but had low expectations. The series didn't have the budget of Game of Thrones or Stranger Things. It was bright on the stars. Armstrong wasn't yet a brand name. And yet it became a hit.
When Armstrong was asked at a press conference less than an hour after the Emmys ended what he would move on to next, he declined.
Instead, he thought about the past.
“I don’t expect this group of people to ever repeat themselves,” he said, of “Succession.” “I hope to do interesting work for the rest of my life. But I feel like I may never be involved in something as good again.”