By law, women in Gilead are forced to work in very limited roles, including some as natal slaves, and they are not allowed to own property, have careers, handle money, or read. Society is organized by power-hungry leaders along with a new, militarized, hierarchical régime of religious fanaticism and newly created social classes, in which women are brutally subjugated. In a world where fertility rates have collapsed as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and environmental pollution, the totalitarian, theonomic government of Gilead establishes rule in the former United States in the aftermath of a civil war. Elisabeth Moss was also 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.

It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. It is the first show produced by Hulu to win a major award as well as the first series on a streaming service to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series. The Handmaid's Tale 's first season won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 13 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. In September 2022, ahead of the fifth season premiere, the series was renewed for a sixth and final season. In December 2020, ahead of the fourth season premiere, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on September 14, 2022. In September 2019, it was announced that Hulu and MGM were developing a sequel series, to be based on Atwood's 2019 novel The Testaments.

In July 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on April 27, 2021. The first three episodes of the series premiered on Apthe subsequent seven episodes were released every Wednesday. 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.

The series was ordered by the streaming service Hulu as a straight-to-series order of 10 episodes, for which production began in late 2016. The Handmaid's Tale is an American dystopian television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. 5.1 surround sound ( Blu-ray, digital purchase).

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