History[edit]

Since its institution in 1951 the award has changed names many times in its history. It was first called Best Dramatic Show from 1951 to 1954, then Best Dramatic Series in 1955 and 1956. In 1957, no specific award for drama was given, but in 1958 the category was split into two separate categories, Best Dramatic Anthology Series, and Best Dramatic Series with Continuing Characters with a winner selected from each category. The following year, the category was differently split into two separate categories, Best Dramatic Series – Less Than One Hour. In 1960, the name was changed yet again to Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama; this name was kept from 1960 to 1964. In 1966, it had its sixth name change to Outstanding Dramatic Series or Outstanding Series-Drama; this was used from 1966 until recently, when it became Outstanding Drama Series.


In 1988, Rumpole of the Bailey (PBS) was initially nominated in the Outstanding Miniseries category^[3][4] but the Academy ruled that the nomination was not valid a few days later^[5] and later allowed the program to compete in the Outstanding Drama Series category.^[6][7]


Since 2000, every single winner has been a serial drama: The West Wing (2000–2003), The Sopranos (2004, 2007), Lost (2005), 24 (2006), Mad Men (2008–2011), Homeland (2012), Breaking Bad (2013–2014), Game of Thrones (2015–2016, 2018–2019), The Handmaid's Tale (2017), Succession (2020, 2022-2023), and The Crown (2021). Since the advent of Hill Street Blues in 1981, every winner has had some serialized arcs with the exception of Law & Order.^[A] The majority of these shows have won between their first and fifth seasons. Only two shows' sixth seasons have won (both HBO shows): The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, two shows' seventh seasons have won: Law & Order and Game of Thrones and one show's eighth season has won: Game of Thrones.