The Emmys! Predictions for Tonight

While researching an article which I’ve written for Womens Media Center about how the Outstanding Drama category is dominated by television shows that feature strong women. Game of Thrones is favored to win in Drama and perhaps Veep is favored to win in Comedy and with the People vs. OJ Simpson also favored to win we’re likely to see a night of female-driven programming.

You can read much more about the Emmy race, with predictions, over at our rocking TV section. But I thought I’d offer some of my own analysis, though I’m no expert and I really don’t watch enough television overall to be that great of a judge. The first thing I notice in looking over the Emmy nominations is that television is going through a new Golden Age without a doubt. The industry is exploding with production companies and new media formats that will make the jump to the smaller screens of the future with ease. Cable has changed, Amazon has changed, Netflix has changed – nothing is what it was even five years ago. It is thriving and growing in ways film simply can’t, but more importantly, the Oscar race can’t.

The Oscar race is still really about the traditional drama, and within the confines of that, some experimentation is allowed. The patriarchal paradigm reigns supreme. The producers might be women but the directors are always men. The stars are almost always men, even if this year, the Best Picture frontrunner really is about a girl. The Emmy nominations feature many women directors in almost every category. Interesting, isn’t it?

Okay, here are my own predictions, but again, you should check out ADTV for full coverage and I’ve also posted the predictions from ADTV below:

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series
Anna Chlumsky – Veep <—alternate
Gaby Hoffman – Transparent
Allison Janney – Mom
Judith Light – Transparent
Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live <–predicted winner
Niecy Nash – Getting On

Outstanding writing for a comedy series
Catastrophe – Episode 1
Master of None – Parents
Silicon Valley – Founder Freindly
Silicon Valley – The Uptick <—alternate
Veep – Morning After
Veep – Mother <—predicted winner

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series
Louis Anderson – Baskets
Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine <–alternate
Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell – Modern Family
Tony Hale – Veep <—predicted winner
Keegan-Michael Key – Key & Peele
Matt Walsh – Veep

Outstanding directing for a comedy series
Aziz Ansari – Master of None – Parents
Mike Judge – Silicon Valley – Founder Friendly
Alec Berg – Silicon Valley – Daily Active Users
Jill Soloway – Transparent – Man On the Land <–predicted winner
David Mandel – Veep – Kissing Your Sister
Chris Addison – Veep – Morning After
Dale Stern – Veep – Mother <–alternate

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Ellie Kemper – Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt <–alternate
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep <—predicted winner
Laurie Metcalf – Getting On
Tracie Ellis Ross – black-ish
Amy Schumer – Inside Amy Schumer
Lily Tomlin – Grace & Frankie

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Anthony Anderson – black-ish
Aziz Ansari – Master of None
Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth
William H. Macy – Shameless
Thomas Middleditch – Silicon Valley
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent <–predicted winner

Outstanding writing for a limited series or movie
Fargo – Palindrome
Fargo – Loplop
The Night Manager
The People v. OJ Simpson – Marcia, Marcia, Marcia <–predicted winner
The People v. OJ Simpson – From the Ashes of Tragedy <–alternate
The People v. OJ Simpson – The Race Card

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie
Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Hotel <–predicted winner
Olivia Colman – The Night Manager
Regina King – American Crime
Melissa Leo – All the Way
Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Hotel
Jean Smart – Fargo <–alternate

Outstanding directing for a limited series or movie
Jay Roach – All the Way
Noah Hawley – Fargo – Before the Law
Susanne Bier – The Night Manager
Ryan Murphy – The People v. OJ Simpson – From the Ashes of Tragedy <–predicted winner
John Singleton – The People v. OJ Simpson – The Race Card <–alternate
Anthony Hemingway – The People v. OJ Simpson – Manna from Heaven

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie
Sterling K. Brown – The People v. OJ Simpson <–predicted winner
Hugh Laurie – The Night Manager <–alternate
Jesse Plemons – Fargo
David Schwimmer – The People v. OJ Simpson
John Travolta – The People v. OJ Simpson
Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie
Kirsten Dunst – Fargo
Felicty Huffman – American Crime
Audra McDonald – Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Sarah Paulson – The People v. OJ Simpson <–predicted winner
Lili Taylor – American Crime
Kerry Washington – Confirmation <–alternate

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie
Bryan Cranston – All the Way
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
Idris Elba – Luther
Cuba Gooding Jr. – The People v. OJ Simpson <–alternate
Tom Hiddleston – The Night Manager
Courtney B. Vance – The People v. OJ Simpson <–predicted winner

Outstanding television movie
A Very Murray Christmas
All the Way <–predicted winner
Confirmation
Luther
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Outstanding limited series
American Crime
Fargo <–alternate
Roots
The Night Manager
The People v. OJ Simpson <–predicted winner
It’s The People v. OJ Simpson’s world, and we’re all just livin’ in it.

Outstanding writing for a drama series
Downton Abbey – Episode 8
Game of Thrones – The Battle of the Bastards <—predicted winner
Mr. Robot – eps1.0_hellofriend.mov
The Americans – Persona Non Grata
The Good Wife – End <—alternate
UnREAL – Return

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series 
Emilia Clarke – Game of Thrones
Lena Headey – Game of Thrones — predicted winner
Dame Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey
Marua Tierney – The Affair
Maisie Williams – Game of Thrones
Constance Zimmer – UnREAL –alternate

Outstanding directing for a drama series
Micheal Engler – Downton Abbey – Episode 9
Jack Bender – Game of Thrones – The Door
Miguel Sapochnik – Game of Thrones – Battle of the Bastards <–predicted winner
Leslie Linka Glatter – Homeland – The Tradition of Hospitality
David Hollander – Ray Donovan – Exsuscito
Steven Soderbergh – The Knick – This Is All We Are

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series
Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones <–predicted winner
Kit Harington – Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly – House of Cards
Ben Mendelsohn – Bloodline <–alternate
Jon Voight – Ray Donovan

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series
Kyle Chandler – Bloodline
Rami Malek – Mr. Robot <–predicted winner
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul <-alternate
Matthew Rhys – The Americans
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series
Claire Danes – Homeland
Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder <–predicted winner
Taraji P. Henson – Empire
Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black
Keri Russell – The Americans <–alternate
Robin Wright – House of Cards

Outstanding comedy series
black-ish – ABC
Master of None – Netflix
Modern Family – ABC
Silicon Valley – HBO
Transparent – Amazon –alternate
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Netflix
Veep – HBO <–predicted winner

Outstanding Drama Series
The Americans – FX
Better Call Saul – AMC
Downton Abbey – PBS
Game of Thrones – HBO <–predicted winner
Homeland – Showtime
House of Cards – Netflix
Mr. Robot – USA –alternate

Below are the much more reliable ADTV predictions.