The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)

*The Handmaid's Tale*
The Handmaid's Tale
Genre	Tragedy; Dystopia;
Created by	Bruce Miller
Based on	The Handmaid's Tale; by Margaret Atwood
Starring	Elisabeth Moss; Joseph Fiennes; Yvonne Strahovski; Alexis Bledel; Madeline Brewer; Ann Dowd; O-T Fagbenle; Max Minghella; Samira Wiley; Amanda Brugel; Bradley Whitford; Sam Jaeger; Ever Carradine;
Composer	Adam Taylor
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	66 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Bruce Miller; Warren Littlefield; Reed Morano; Daniel Wilson; Fran Sears; Ilene Chaiken; Elisabeth Moss; Mike Barker; Eric Tuchman; Yahlin Chang; Sheila Hockin; John Weber; Kim Todd; Frank Siracusa; Dorothy Fortenberry;
Producers	Nina Fiore; John Herrera; Kim Todd; Joseph Boccia;
Production locations	Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area; Washington, D.C.;
Cinematography	Colin Watkinson; Zoë White; Stuart Biddlecombe; Nicola Daley; Stuart Campbell;
Running time	41–65 minutes
Production companies	Daniel Wilson Productions, Inc.; The Littlefield Company; White Oak Pictures; Toluca Pictures; MGM Television;
Original release
Network	Hulu
Release	April 26, 2017 –; May 27, 2025
	Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Handmaid's Tale is an American dystopian television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The series was ordered by the streaming service Hulu as a straight-to-series order of ten episodes, for which production began in late 2016. The plot features a dystopia following a Second American Civil War wherein a theonomic, totalitarian society subjects fertile women, called "Handmaids", to child-bearing slavery.^[3]^[4]

The series premiered on April 26, 2017, and was renewed for five additional seasons, with the sixth and final season premiering on April 8, 2025.^[5] Its first season won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 13 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. It was the first show produced by Hulu to win a major award and the first series on a streaming service to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. Elisabeth Moss was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series.

In September 2019, Hulu and MGM announced they were developing a sequel series based on Atwood's 2019 novel, The Testaments.^[6]

^ Craven, TinaMarie (August 27, 2019). "The Handmaid's Tale' returns with a ruthless third season". The Ridgefield Press. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020. The Handmaid's Tale certainly amped up the tragedy porn aspect of the series, episode after episode beats down the viewer, leaving them gutted and disheartened.
^ Charlton-Dailey, Rachel (July 17, 2017). "The Handmaid's Tale is supposed to be about silenced women – so why are the men suddenly driving the story?". Metro. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020. The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian tragedy The Handmaid's Tale was long awaited, and it has delivered to fans old and new.
^ Patten, Dominic (July 2, 2020). "'The Handmaid's Tale's Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Other Cast & EPs On Dystopian Leadership & Change". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022. Moss notes of her June character and the pivotal role she has taken this past season in the Mayday resistance movement against totalitarian and theonomic government of Gilead.
^ Bradley, Laura (May 2, 2018). "The Handmaid's Tale: Why Offred's Latest Heartbreak Is the Most Devastating Yet". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2018. In its third installment, however, the drama digs even deeper into the emotional toll Gilead has taken on everyone—both those left in what was once the United States and those who've made it out. The lives and dreams that each character lost to this totalitarian regime have been laid out in excruciating detail before—but this week, the show lays those losses bare with more subtlety than perhaps any other episode. ... (In richer households, handmaids do the childbearing, Wives raise the children, and Marthas do the housework. Econowives, in contrast, "have to do everything; if they can.")
^ Roots, Kimberly (February 12, 2025). "The Handmaid's Tale's Final Season Sets Premiere Date, Releases First Trailer — Here's Everything We Know". TVLine. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
^ Petski, Denise (September 4, 2019). "Margaret Atwood's 'Handmaid's Tale' Book Sequel 'The Testaments' In The Works By MGM TV & Hulu". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.

[1] Craven, TinaMarie (August 27, 2019). "The Handmaid's Tale' returns with a ruthless third season". The Ridgefield Press. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020. The Handmaid's Tale certainly amped up the tragedy porn aspect of the series, episode after episode beats down the viewer, leaving them gutted and disheartened.

[2] Charlton-Dailey, Rachel (July 17, 2017). "The Handmaid's Tale is supposed to be about silenced women – so why are the men suddenly driving the story?". Metro. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020. The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian tragedy The Handmaid's Tale was long awaited, and it has delivered to fans old and new.

[Patten2020-3] Patten, Dominic (July 2, 2020). "'The Handmaid's Tale's Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Other Cast & EPs On Dystopian Leadership & Change". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022. Moss notes of her June character and the pivotal role she has taken this past season in the Mayday resistance movement against totalitarian and theonomic government of Gilead.

[4] Bradley, Laura (May 2, 2018). "The Handmaid's Tale: Why Offred's Latest Heartbreak Is the Most Devastating Yet". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2018. In its third installment, however, the drama digs even deeper into the emotional toll Gilead has taken on everyone—both those left in what was once the United States and those who've made it out. The lives and dreams that each character lost to this totalitarian regime have been laid out in excruciating detail before—but this week, the show lays those losses bare with more subtlety than perhaps any other episode. ... (In richer households, handmaids do the childbearing, Wives raise the children, and Marthas do the housework. Econowives, in contrast, "have to do everything; if they can.")

[5] Roots, Kimberly (February 12, 2025). "The Handmaid's Tale's Final Season Sets Premiere Date, Releases First Trailer — Here's Everything We Know". TVLine. Retrieved February 12, 2025.

[6] Petski, Denise (September 4, 2019). "Margaret Atwood's 'Handmaid's Tale' Book Sequel 'The Testaments' In The Works By MGM TV & Hulu". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.

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