Here's why 'The Handmaid's Tale' wasn't snubbed for a Best Drama Emmy

One formerly huge contender for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy was missing from the 2019 Emmy nominations announcement, but it's not because of a snub. Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale absence from Best Drama, which it won in 2017 and was nominated for in 2018, is simply a consequence of the Television Academy's quirky rulebook.

In order to be eligible for Emmys in 2019, all television shows must have aired their seasons between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019. The Handmaid's Tale Season 3 premiered on June 5 2019, missing the cutoff for series consideration but was able to submit the three final episodes on Season 2 for consideration under the "hanging episodes" rule, which allows shows to submit episodes that fall out of eligibility if screeners are provided to the Television Academy within the deadline.

That's how the final three episodes of The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 were able to pack an eleven-nomination punch in the 2019 Emmys, which the entirety of Season 3 was ineligible for consideration.

The nominations include Guest Actor and Actress recognition for Bradley Whitford and Cherry Jones, who play Commander Lawrence and June's mother Holly Maddox respectively, as well as nine others in Directing, Writing, Production Design, Cinematography (two Cinematography nods, actually), Sound Mixing, Editing, Costume Design, and Music.

Not bad for a show that came through on a technicality.