Final Emmy Predictions

By Abe Fried-Tanzer

Emmy nominations will be announced on Tuesday, July 28th at 11:30am ET/8:30am ET. We’ve covered the major categories, analyzed the rule changes, listed some of our favorite underdogs, poured over the ballots, and pondered lingering questions. It’s time now for our final predictions, and we’ll see how things play out on Tuesday.

Below, you’ll find our picks for the nominees in each of the top categories...

Click to read more ...

The biggest question marks before the Emmy nominations

By Abe Fried-Tanzer

We’re less than two weeks from the Emmy nominations announcement, and voting has officially closed. We have plenty of information now, including who’s on the ballot and how many nominees there will be in each category. Before we unveil our final predictions next week, let’s address some of the major unknowns and how they could play out across the board.

Just how well will frontrunners Succession and Schitt’s Creek do? Most prognosticators expect that these two shows could win the top prizes, with nominations at least  are guaranteed. But, looking to last year, neither actually performed all that well in other categories...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Watch: Who are the Supporting Actor Drama Contenders?

Giancarlo Esposito in "Better Call Saul"by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Our Emmy punditry continues with Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This category has plenty of contenders, but unlike the corresponding female fields, there are more past nominees that aren’t eligible than ones that are. The end of Game of Thrones means three opens slots, and Michael Kelly is also out of the running since House of Cards is (mercifully) over.

What’s especially interesting about this category is that, because of season-skipping, character departures, and category switches, there’s actually only one nominee from the past four years who didn’t earn a repeat bid the next time he was eligible. That happens to be Jon Voight (Ray Donovan), who is indeed a very unlikely possibility this year for the final season of his series after three years of missing out. He’s way behind a number of other actors…

Click to read more ...

Emmy Watch: Best Actor, Drama Series

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

After Comedy and Drama Series speculation, we're looking at another Emmy Awards category today – Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Five of last year’s nominees are eligible again this year, with only Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) out of the running since the show is over. That leaves defending champion Billy Porter (Pose), previous winner Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), and Jason Bateman (Ozark).

The five series in contention for Best Drama Series after taking last season off don’t play into this category nearly as much since none of them feature a distinct lead who is male...

Click to read more ...

Emmy Watch: What will be up for Drama Series?

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

The current state of world affairs is undoubtedly going to have an effect on the movie year and the ensuing awards, with new streaming eligibility considerations announced for the Golden Globes. The Emmy Awards, on the other hand, won’t be affected to the same degree. While the nominations announcement has already been pushed back two weeks and how, when, and where trophies will be handed out needs to be figured out, the actual content that will be rewarded has, for the most part, already been seen. While a few shows that aren’t major category players these days – like Grey’s Anatomy, The Walking Dead, and The Flash – won’t be able to finish filming their seasons, and the fourth season of Fargo will no longer premiere this spring, almost everything else aired as planned.

The most interesting Emmy category this year is one of the top races: Best Drama Series. In an unprecedented case created in part by the Emmy eligibility window, there are eleven (!!!) programs nominated for their most recent seasons vying for a repeat nomination, and that doesn’t even take into account any new shows for the seven available slots…

Click to read more ...