Better Call Saul Deserved Better: 53 Emmy Nominations And Not A Single Win
"Better Call Saul" is officially one of the best Emmy-losing shows of all time. During Monday's 75th Primetime Emmys telecast, the acclaimed AMC series went home empty-handed for the sixth season in a row, bringing its tally up to an impressively depressing zero wins and 53 losses. According to Variety, that means the drama has the worst Emmys track record of any nominee in the award show's history.
Emmy voters clearly have a penchant for acknowledging the "Breaking Bad" prequel enough to nominate it in several key categories, yet leave it out in the cold when the time comes to actually hand out trophies. Most recently, the show earned nods for stars Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk, as well as writers Peter Gould and Gordon Smith. "Better Call Saul" also made it into the competitive Outstanding Drama Series category — as it has every year since its release. The specific episodes honored with nominations this year include some of the series' absolute best, like the nerve-shredding, climactic mid-season premiere "Point and Shoot," and the beautifully crafted, powerfully redemptive series finale, "Saul Gone."
So what's the problem here?
Why won't the Emmys give Better Call Saul some love?
What do the Emmys have against "Better Call Saul," if anything? There's really no way to know, though it's certainly possible to speculate. For one thing, Emmy voters may have felt they already awarded "Breaking Bad" enough for both shows, despite the fact that the two masterpieces are not the same at all. For another, much of the series' run overlapped with that of "Succession," a towering achievement of a series that sucked up much of the space in the drama categories of every major award show. "Succession" has such sharp, showy writing and such a stacked cast that it's nearly impossible to compare to something as subtle and slow-burning as "Better Call Saul." Seehorn's and Odenkirk's performances are perfectly controlled and their character arcs unspool slowly, with fewer big, memorable blow-up moments than "Succession" affords its ensemble.
Of course, even with a dramatic behemoth like "Succession" as its competition, there are clearly instances in which "Better Call Saul" should have won. Its precise, gorgeous direction, super-sharp editing, and career-best performances from supporting stars like Michael McKean, Jonathan Banks, and Giancarlo Esposito all deserve recognition. "Better Call Saul" also has the unique distinction of being lauded as the best prequel TV show of all time, meaning that by the time the Emmys starts setting up reunions for its next big birthday, it wouldn't be surprising if the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences chose to honor "Better Call Saul" the same way it paid homage to shows like "Ally McBeal," "Game of Thrones," and "I Love Lucy" during the telecast.
The show is a winner, trophies or not
The Emmys may have refused to give "Better Call Saul" its flowers while the show was around, but the story of Saul Goodman has still managed to solidify its place in TV history in real time. Other vital shows, like "The Leftovers" and "The Wire," earned a paltry amount of nominations in the first place, and the old adage that it's an honor to be nominated does hold true — especially in the extra-crowded era of streaming saturation. Plus, "Better Call Saul" has won Peabodies, Critics Choice awards, Satellite awards, AFI awards, WGA awards, an NAACP award, and more. The show has earned spots on lists of the best TV shows of all time for esteemed outlets. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show's critical score started at 97% positive and only went up across its seven-year run.
As nagging as the repeated losses are, no one needs the Emmys to know that "Better Call Saul" is great. The show's cast and crew have said as much many times over, including as recently as yesterday. "Emmys tomorrow but I already won gold when I got teamed up with this group of good, talented, hard-working people!" Odenkirk posted on X ahead of the show. Last year, in the wake of her nomination, Seehorn expressed her gratitude, too. "The reception by critics and fans of the show, and then of my character and my performance—I don't really think I can express my gratitude for that," she told Vanity Fair.
"Better Call Saul" may be a record-breaking Emmy loser, but all of us who got to see it unfold over the course of 63 magnificent, exhilarating, painful, powerful episodes should count ourselves the real winners.