On Sunday night, The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will honor the best in U.S. prime time television programming. Here are my predictions for these categories:
(Lines from Bovada)
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Veep (HBO) -375
Atlanta (FX Networks) +300
Black-ish (ABC) +1600
Master of None (Netflix) +2500
Modern Family (ABC) +4000
Silicon Valley (HBO) +4000
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix) +5000
Prediction: Veep — Veep is set to release a seventh season in 2018 and it’s stronger than ever. Atlanta is a series that focuses on two cousins working their way through the Atlanta rap scene amid drama and family pressure. It’s Veep’s closest competition and debuted in 2016, but there hasn’t been an episode this year yet. Even though it’s back in 2018, I don’t think it can bump Veep from a Primetime Emmy Awards win.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Stranger Things (Netflix) +150
This Is Us (NBC) +250
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) +350
The Crown (Netflix) +450
Westworld (HBO) +1500
Better Call Saul (AMC) +3300
House of Cards (Netflix)+4500
Prediction: This is a close one. Stranger Things is a well-done science fiction horror series on Netflix. NBC’s This Is Us is a tissue-grabbing, emotional basket case of a drama that is one of the most well-written shows I’ve watched on television in a long time. The Handmaid’s Tale is on Hulu and is a dystopian based show where handmaids are used for their ability to bear children. All great shows, but I’m going to go with the series that had me, uhhhhh ….. the entire country, talking, laughing and crying this season and that’s This Is Us.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Donald Glover (Atlanta) -300
Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent) +350
William H. Macy (Shameless) +800
Aziz Ansari (Master of None) +1500
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) +2500
Zach Galifianakis (Baskets)+6600
Prediction: Donald Glover. As much as we haven’t seen anything from him this year, his performance in Atlanta earned him the Primetime Emmy Awards nomination and, my prediction, the win. Zach Galifianakis would be an absolutely upset in this category obviously, but his quirky performance in Baskets this year and the repetition of the nominations might make this category a little more dark-horse interesting. But the Emmys need a new writer because they’ve become way too predictable in their nominations and winners list.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) -175
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) +225
Anthony Hopkins (Westworld) +500
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) +3300
Matthew Rhys (The Americans) +4000
Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us)+4000
Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan)+5000
Prediction: Sterling K. Brown. His character on This Is Us, Randall Pearson, had a tumultuous year alongside his dying father as well as his own emotional breakdown trying to hold his family and career together. It made for riveting television that is worthy of this Primetime Emmy Awards award.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) -600
Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish) +450
Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie) +1400
Allison Janney (Mom) +2800
Pamela Adlon (Better Things) +5500
Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) +5500
Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)+4000
Prediction: Man, I really want Lily Tomlin to win this. Julia has won five years in a row! We get it, you’re good at what you do, but there are others who are just as good. If you watch Grace and Frankie, you will absolutely LOL with her performance of Frankie. The predictable Emmys will have me say put your money on Julia, but I’m going to go longshot on this one and say Lily will take it. (Why not Jane Fonda? She was good on the same show, but it definitely was Lily’s year.)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) -400
Claire Foy (The Crown) +250
Viola Davis (How To Get Away With Murder) +2800
Robin Wright (House of Cards) +4000
Keri Russell (The Americans) +5000
Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld) +2800
Prediction: Not more than one category is too close to call this year. Oy. I don’t see a runaway in this one. Elisabeth Moss will win it, Handmaid’s down (see what I did there?).
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO) -225
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (TBS) +280
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS) +500
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) +2000
Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO) +6600
The Late Late Show With James Corden (CBS) +6600
This category is closer in a matchup of the top two than the Mayweather v. McGregor fight was. While again I think that the Emmys will be completely predictable (that’s what a prediction is right?) and Oliver will walk away with it, I’m going to put my money on Samantha. “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” is the first female-fronted series to be nominated in the relatively new Outstanding Variety Talk Series category. It belongs to her.
And the Primetime Emmy Awards go to ….. Enjoy the show!
