Emmy Confusion: Why ‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Not Eligible But Fellow Acquisition ‘Lord Of The Flies’ Is & Why Hulu’s…

HBO Max famously acquired Heated Rivalry for the U.S. three weeks before the Canadian hockey series was to premiere on local streamer Crave. Starting off as a guilty pleasure, the romantic drama went on to became a worldwide obsession — and a critical darling, recently breaking Canadian Screen Awards records by winning 16 awards, including Best Drama Series and Best Lead Performer (Hudson Williams). While picking up a few awards in the U.S. too, including a Peabody, a GLAAD Award and TV Academy Honors Award, Heated Rivalry has been ruled ineligible to compete at the TV Academy-administered Emmy Awards.

In a similar situation, Netflix acquired British-Australian limited series Lord Of the Flies for the U.S. as it was debuting on the BBC. Jack Thorne’s adaptation of the classic novel is one of Netflix’s main contenders at the Emmys this year.

The differentiating factor? The BBC-Stan co-production Lord of the Flies comes from a British production company, Eleven, which is owned by an American studio, Sony Pictures Television, with Sony also handling the series’ U.S. distribution, rendering it eligible for the Emmys, according to a Television Academy spokesperson. Heated Rivalry is produced and distributed by Canadian conglom Bell Media with no U.S. ownership, so it did not meet the Emmys’ foreign production eligibility criteria.

There is a path to change that. Prime Video was in a similar position to HBO Max when, in May 2016, it acquired Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s British comedy Fleabag. Like with Heated Rivalry and Lord Of the Flies, the Amazon streamer bought a completed season, weeks away from its premiere on the BBC. Because it was a British production, Fleabag‘s first season, which streamed on Prime Video in the U.S., did not qualify for the Emmys. But Amazon Studios came on board as co-producer for Season 2, which made it eligible, per the TV Academy spokesperson. Fleabag‘s second installment won six Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Writing, Directing and Lead Actress for Waller-Bridge.

That won’t happen for Heated Rivalry, created and executive produced by Jacob Tierney. Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, told Deadline in January that his company has no plans to board the Canadian series as co-producer.

“There is no reason,” he said. “This is obviously a very successful creative collaboration between Jacob and Crave. I see no reason why we would be involved creatively. I’m thrilled to have it on our platform, and I’m very happy to be the licensee in a lot of big markets around the world. So I’m very happy, and I’m excited to see whatever they come up with for Seasons 2 and 3.”

Heated Rivalry could compete at the International Emmys where it would face Rivals, reigning Drama Series winner. In another Emmy conundrum, the Disney+/Hulu original is being submitted to International Emmys, not the U.S. Emmys. This is not an eligibility issue — Rivals is not an acquired series originally produced for a foreign outlet but a show commissioned by an American streamer. There are a number of British series made by UK production companies for U.S. platforms that have done very well at the Emmys, including Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.

It was a choice, I hear. When Season 1 was released on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally in October 2024, it didn’t get a lot of awards attention despite strong reviews (95% on Rotten Tomatoes). Based on early indicators that Rivals was not getting awards traction in the U.S. and with its Emmy nomination prospects looking slim, Hulu opted to submit the series starring David Tennant, Aidan Turner and Alex Hassell to the International Emmys instead. The move worked and Rivals was not only nominated but won Drama Series.

If a series chooses to go with International Emmys, it needs to petition the TV Academy for permission to re-designate itself as eligible for the U.S. Emmys. I hear Disney would instead stick with International Emmys for Season 2 of Rivals, whose reviews are even stronger at 97% Rotten Tomatoes. The criminally under-appreciated in the U.S. series just wrapped the first half of Season 2 with one of the most compelling episodes of television released so far this year.