2026 Emmy predictions: best limited series

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It’s a tight three-way race at the top, with a second helping of “Beef,” which won eight Emmys for its first serving, barely ahead of Richard Gadd’s “Baby Reindeer” follow-up, and a suburban noir with abundant heart from Steven Conrad, the maker of “Patriot.”Glenn Whipp says, “ ‘DTF St.Louis’ is the standout limited series, a murder mystery in form that’s really about suburban loneliness, particularly the isolation that can cripple middle-aged men.”While Lorraine Ali calls “Half Man” “the series to watch in this race,” not all of her Buzzy buddies are as enthusiastic: “I fear that ‘Half Man,’ Richard Gadd’s aggressively unpleasant follow-up to ‘Baby Reindeer,’ will get a knee-jerk nomination here,” says Kristen Baldwin, “but that vote would be better spent on PBS’ superb adaptation of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ or Riz Ahmed’s ‘Bait.’ ”Tracy Brown says, “Recent trends suggest this race might come down to voters’ appetites for bleak British miniseries” such as “Half Man,” but “ ‘Adolescence’ co-creator Jack Thorne’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ adaptation was a bit more in my lane so I’ll give it the edge.”The twice-cooked “Beef” isn’t to all the panelists’ tastes, either.

Matt Roush says it “left me cold but probably has a better chance than the streamer’s terrific historical drama ‘Death by Lightning.’ ”More predictions: Limited / TV movie actor | Limited / TV movie actress1.“Beef”2.“Half Man”3.

“DTF St.Louis”4.

“Love Story: John F.Kennedy Jr.

and Carolyn Bessette”5.“All Her Fault”6.

“The Beast in Me”7.“Bait”8.

“Lord of the Flies””Los Angeles TimesLorraine Ali1.“Half Man”2.

“Bait”3.“DTF St.

Louis”4.“All Her Fault”5.

“The Beast in Me”“ ‘Half Man’ is the series to watch in this race, but what should you watch on your...