Spectacular design has become TV's secret weapon – and the Emmy nominations prove it

Scene from The Penguin. A man with slicked-back brown hair and a scarred face wears a black and purple plaid suit jacket with a black bow tie, looking directly at the viewer with a serious expression.

I've been banging on about this for years, but the 2025 Emmy nominations have finally given me the vindication I've been craving. After scrolling through this year's production design categories, one thing is crystal clear: if you're not investing serious money and creative energy into your sets, you're basically throwing darts blindfolded at the TV landscape.

The evidence is staring us right in the face. The Penguin didn't swagger into Emmy contention with 24 nominations because Colin Farrell can do a decent Brooklyn accent in prosthetics. It's there because HBO understood that Gotham's grimy underworld needed to feel like a character itself; one that audiences could practically smell through their screens.