The first season of The Handmaid’s Tale won eight Primetime Emmy Awards. That total came at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2017, where the series became the first streaming program to win Outstanding Drama Series.
The show also earned major individual awards. Elisabeth Moss won Outstanding Lead Actress, Ann Dowd won Outstanding Supporting Actress, and Bruce Miller won for writing the pilot episode, “Offred.” Reed Morano won Outstanding Directing for the same episode.
The eight-win total includes awards presented across the Primetime Emmy ceremony and the Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies. A common mix-up is counting only the headline awards announced during the main telecast, which produces a smaller number. The series received 13 nominations for its first season, making its eight victories especially notable.
The achievement helped establish Hulu as a major television producer and marked an important milestone for streaming services competing with traditional broadcast and cable networks.