HBO Max Dominates Gotham TV Awards as Netflix’s 22 Nominations Come Up Short

HBO Max showed up to the Gotham TV Awards and basically took the keys. Five wins on the night, despite Netflix rolling in with a eye-popping 22 nominations. The whole thing went down Monday at Manhattan's Cipriani Wall Street and, yes, it felt like an early read on where Emmy season might be heading in September.

HBO Max runs the table

The headline is simple: HBO Max walked out with the most trophies and the only series to double-dip. 'DTF St. Louis' scored two big ones — Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and Outstanding Supporting Performance for David Harbour — making it the only show of the night with multiple wins. On top of that, HBO Max also nabbed Breakthrough Comedy Series for Rachel Sennott's 'I Love LA.' Stack it all up and the platform finished with five awards, comfortably out in front.

Netflix had the nominations, not the wins

On paper, this was Netflix's night to flex: 22 nominations, leading everyone by a mile. In practice, not so much. Most of that buzz didn’t convert, and Netflix ended up shut out where it counted most. The gap between being nominated and actually winning was hard to miss.

• HBO Max: 5 trophies overall, including two for 'DTF St. Louis' (Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series; Outstanding Supporting Performance for David Harbour) and Breakthrough Comedy Series for Rachel Sennott's 'I Love LA.'

As far as awards-season optics go, this is the kind of night that plants a flag. The Gothams are a tune-up, not the finish line, but if you are looking for momentum heading into Emmy voting, HBO Max has it — and Netflix has some regrouping to do.