Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie

This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie, which has been awarded since 1992. The category was originally called Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special.^[1]

In 1991, Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special category was merged with Outstanding Miniseries category to form Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special and Miniseries and the number of nominations increased from five to six.^[2] For this year, two miniseries had competed with four "made for television movies". The following year, 1992, the new category was split to re-form the Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Made for Television Movie categories.

In 2011, the category was merged with the Outstanding Limited Series category to create the Outstanding Miniseries or Movie category.^[3] However, in 2014, the decision was reversed, and the separate Miniseries and Television Movie categories were reinstated.^[4] Rules were also changed in 2019 requiring at least a 75-minute runtime for movies to be eligible.^[5]

In the history of this category, there has been four incidents of ties. The first occurred in 1976 when Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years tied with Sybil, the second occurred in 1989 when Day One tied with Roe vs. Wade, the third occurred in 1990 when Caroline? tied with The Incident, and the fourth occurred in 1993 when Barbarians at the Gate tied with Stalin.

In the 1950s and 1960s, anthology series were typically nominated in Drama Series categories. A resurgence of anthology series such as Black Mirror led individual episodes to be nominated for Outstanding Television Movie. Black Mirror won in 2017 with "San Junipero" and in 2018 with "USS Callister".^[6] In 2018, rule changes restricted the category to runtimes of at least 75 minutes.^[7]Black Mirror won again in 2019 with the interactive film Bandersnatch, which has a variable runtime, nominally 90 minutes.^[8] Netflix petitioned for "Smithereens" to be submitted in the category in 2020, despite a 70-minute runtime. This was initially allowed, but it was later entered as Outstanding Drama Series instead.^[9][10]

Critics for IndieWire disagreed with ATAS's decisions that Black Mirror fell within the Television Movie scope, as it is episodic.^[8][11]Variety's Michael Schneider noted that it was unclear where else the fifth series could have been nominated due to Drama Series and Limited Series requirements.^[9] In 2021, the Limited Series category was renamed Limited or Anthology Series.^[6]

Totals include continuing series, but not sequels or revivals as is the case with Eleanor and Franklin and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years alongside both the Death of a Salesman 1967 and 1985 versions of Death of a Salesman, and others.

• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie
• TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials
• Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film

• Primetime Emmy Awards