Emmys: Netflix’s ‘The Perfect Couple’ Will Compete in Drama Categories, Not Limited/Anthology (Exclusive)

Here's an Emmys surprise for you.

The Perfect Couple , the six-episode Netflix murder-mystery starring Nicole Kidmanthat was a huge hit for the streamer upon its release on Sept. 5, 2024, is being submitted for Emmys consideration not in the limited/anthology series categories, where most pundits assumed it would compete, but rather in the drama series categories, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

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That's because "Queen of the Beach Read" Elin Hilberbrand, from whose 2018 bestselling novel Jenna Lamiacreated and Susanne Bierdirected the show, has written additional books that could also be adapted into an additional season or seasons. Netflix declined to comment on that possibility but confirmed the aforementioned submission decision.

It all makes sense, given just how popular The Perfect Couple was. Indeed, the show spent six weeks in the service's global top 10 of English-language TV shows; broke into the top 10 TV shows in 92 countries; and was the service's second-most watched TV title of the second half of 2024, with 75.1 million views from release through Dec. 31.

Critics were mixed on it — it's at 65 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — so it probably would have faced an uphill climb at landing a series nom on either side of the ledger. But competing as a drama series, rather than as a limited series, could improve the prospects for Kidman, a TV Academy favorite who has twice been Emmy-nominated for acting (she was up for best actress in a limited/anthology series or TV movie for Hemingway & Gellhorn in 2012 and for Big Little Lies in 2017 and won).

And it could also help her co-stars, including Liev Schreiber, who, back in January, won the best supporting actor in a limited series or TV movie Critics Choice Award for his performance on the show and previously received four acting Emmy nominations, three for Ray Donovan ; and Dakota Fanning, an Emmy nominee last year for Ripley .

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