Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! With the 67th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS mere days away, Emmy speculation is off the charts! Fun Fact: Even Vegas is weighing in with [this online sportsbook] pitting MAD MEN and GAME OF THRONES against each other as strong favorites. With a solid combination of old favorites and new faces it’s going to be difficult to pin down the nights winners. Fortunately, I love a challenge. So without further ado here are my two cents on how the night is going to play out…
Outstanding Drama Series
HOUSE OF CARDS (Netflix)
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix)
MAD MEN (AMC)
HOMELAND (Showtime)
DOWNTON ABBEY (PBS)
BETTER CALL SAUL (AMC)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Any show but the hot mess that has become HOUSE OF CARDS.
Will Win: MAD MEN, if Emmy Voters don’t jump at the opporutnity to award this “Cable Ace” we’ll eat our vintage stylish 60’s era Don Draper hat!
Should Win: GAME OF THRONES, this HBO series has not only redefined what viewers demand from their premium cable television shows, it defies convention by continually getting better with age.
Outstanding Comedy Series
MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
VEEP (HBO)
LOUIE (FX)
TRANSPARENT (Amazon)
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT (Netflix)
PARKS AND RECREATION (NBC)
SILICON VALLEY (HBO)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Any show but MODERN FAMILY, which much to our chagrin, has aged about as gracefully as their once adorable pint-sized kiddie contingent.
Will Win: TRANSPARENT may not have been the most laugh-out-loud comedy of the bunch, but it is the kind of conversation starter that can not only change lives and attitudes, but reinforce the importance of television as a medium.
Should Win: In a crowded field of complex and oftentimes dark and dramatic “comedies,” we’d be happy to see a show that prioritizes funny walk away with a statue. See: VEEP, SILIVON VALLEY and/or PARKS AND RECREATION
Outstanding Actress in Comedy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Rec)
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback)
Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Any actress whose title character doesn’t start with Nurse and end with Jackie.
Will Win: With a Peabody Award-winning television show and hit movie under her belt, its Amy Schumer’s world and we’re just living in it (Bonus Points: Real life friends with Jennifer Larence, I mean if that isn’t award worthy what is!)
Should Win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus may play President on TV but she’s the first lady of funny in our heart.
Outstanding Actor in Comedy
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Anthony Anderson (Blackish)
Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)
Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth)
William H. Macy (Shameless)
Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Don Cheadle, who talents are going to waste on the silly and insignificant HOUSE OF LIES.
Will Win: Despite a resume littered with memorable characters, Jeffrey Tambor gave a performance of a lifetime.
Should Win: Have you seen TRANSPARENT?
Outstanding Actress in Drama
Robin Wright (House of Cards)
Taraji P. Henson (Empire)
Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder)
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Robin Wright, Seriously. What is up with shows that start with “House of…” this season?
Will Win: Taraji P Henson may not have given the most traditionally “dramatic” performance, but Emmy voters will want to recognize last season’s biggest (only?) broadcast hit. Also. Cookie FTW!
Should Win: Each and every week of ORPHAN BLACK is a master class on acting thanks to the talent of Tatiana Maslany. Also. Canada FTW!
Outstanding Actor in Drama
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)
Kyle Chandler (Bloodline)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Jeff Daniels. And yes, in case you’re wondering, we’re still angry about what Aaron Sorkin delivered with THE NEWSROOM. Awful. Simply awful.
Will Win: Jon Hamm cannot go down in history as the Susan Lucci of Primetime Emmys.
Should Win: Jon Hamm was a major part of the success that was MAD MEN and desereves to go down in history as an Outstanding Actor in a Drama series.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in Comedy
Niecy Nash (Getting On)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Allison Janney (Mom)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)
Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent)
Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Julie Bowen, whose father/daughter work storyline is the worst thing to happen to MODERN FAMILY since those once adorable kids went through puberty.
Will Win: Allison Janney is da bomb!
Should Win: Allison Janney is also The Jackal!
Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy
Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Adam Driver (Girls)
Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Tony Hale (Veep)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Adam Driver who inexplcibaly managed to get recognized over series creator, star, writer, director Lena Dunham!
Will Win: Tituss Burgess is the best thing to come out of the mind of Tina Fey since her Sarah Palin impersonation.
Should Win: Keegan-Michael Key, if for no other reason than to see him accept his trophy as President Obama’s Anger Translator.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey)
Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black)
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Christine Baranski. With apologies to our favouurte CBS series, our least favourite season of THE GOOD WIFE does not an award winner make.
Will Win: Lena Headey layers what in other hands could have been a cartoonish character into a deliciously sympathic villain.
Shoudl Win: If Lena Headey doesn’t walk away a winner, it will be Emmy Voters who will be forced to do a walk of shame.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)
Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline)
Jim Carter (Downton Abbey)
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Michael Kelly (House of Cards)
Alan Cumming (The Good Wife)
Who We’ll Be Okay With Winning: Anyone but Alan Cumming. See above.
Will Win: Between BREAKING BAD and BETTER CALL SAUL, Jonathan Banks has crafted one of the most interesting supporoting characters in recent small screen memory.
Should Win: BLOODLINE wouldn’t have been nearly as addictive without the incredibly compelling performance of relative newcomer Ben Mendelsohn.
The 2015 Emmys air on Sunday September 20 at 8PM on FOX (CTV in Canada)