Emmy Predictions
by Megan Mulligan
Photograph courtesy of The Emmys
Streaming sites, new cable channels and programs and a rotating cycle of favored network television shows create a television section that sometimes may seem bottomless.
Combined with a demand for diverse casts and accurate representation from campaigns like #OscarsSoWhite, the 2017 Emmy Awards is shaping to reflect this exponentially increasing viewing selection.
This year’s Emmys prepare to be another competition between streaming sites and major networks, as channels like CBS prepare to release their own streaming sites and additional premium content in the coming seasons.
THE PROJECTED WINNERS
Drama Series
“Better Call Saul” (AMC)
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)
“House of Cards” (Netflix)
“Stranger Things” (Netflix)
“This Is Us” (NBC)
“Westworld” (HBO)
The watercooler-favorite “Stranger Things,” which features a young girl with apparent telepathic powers, an underworldy monster and Dungeons and Dragons, is a fan-favorite to win the Emmy for best Drama series. The show already won a Screen Actor’s Guild award earlier this awards season for Best Drama, but could find competition with HBO’s “Westworld,” which leads the Emmy awards with the most overall nominations.
Comedy Series
“Atlanta” (FX)
“Black-ish” (ABC)
“Master of None” (Netflix)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Silicon Valley” (HBO)
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix)
“Veep” (HBO)
“Veep”, the HBO series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a vice president, then president and all shenanigans that ensues, has already won 12 Emmy awards since its premiere in 2012. Predictions also hold that FX’s “Atlanta”, starring former “Community” actor and musician Donald Glover, may take home a surprise win.
Drama Actress
Viola Davis (“How to Get Away with Murder”)
Claire Foy (“The Crown”)
Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Keri Russell (“The Americans”)
Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”)
Robin Wright (“House of Cards”)
Davis’ performance in this previous season of “How to Get Away With Murder” rivaled only her emotional performance in the show’s first season, for which she won an Emmy in Outstanding Lead Actress. But Evan Rachel Wood as an animatronic farmer’s daughter in “Westworld”, an enthralling performance that brought more than just life into her robot character, could just as easily win.
Drama Actor
Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”)
Anthony Hopkins (“Westworld”)
Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)
Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”)
Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”)
Kevin Spacey (“House of Cards”)
Milo Ventimiglia (“This Is Us”)
“This is Us” received acclaim for its deep, personal and relatable story lines. Brown is the current favorite to win, playing a character who makes reparations with his distant father as he moves forward in his personal and professional life.
Comedy Actress
Pamela Adlon (“Better Things”)
Tracee Ellis-Ross (“black-ish”)
Jane Fonda (“Grace and Frankie”)
Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie”)
Allison Janney (“Mom”)
Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”)
Dreyfus has won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the past four years, each that she was nominated for her role in “Veep”. In a year full of political satire and all manner of mockery and mimicry, Dreyfus’ performance is favored to win.
Comedy Actor
Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”)
Aziz Ansari (“Master of None”)
Zach Galifianakis (“Baskets”)
Donald Glover (“Atlanta”)
William H. Macy (“Shameless”)
Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”)
Tambor received the Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a comedy series the past two years. “Transparent,” an Amazon Prime exclusive that follows the story of a transgender mother, played by Tambor, last won a Golden Globe in 2015.
Television Movie
“Black Mirror: San Junipero” (Netflix)
“Dolly Parton’s Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love” (NBC)
“The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks” (HBO)
“Sherlock: The Lying Detective (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
“The Wizard Of Lies” (HBO)
HBO’s “Wizard of Lies,” about the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and its devastating political and economic aftermath, is an actor’s guild favorite to win. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” based on the novel of the same name about a woman whose cancer cells are taken without consent and spawned a boom in modern medicine, brings up questions of morality in politics, health and family. The show could potentially bring a win in a year where awards shows are often critiqued for being too whitewashed