Let’s Talk Emmys

Okay y’all, the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards are just a day away. Now, after I failed pretty epically at predicting who I thought would win at this past years Oscars on this very site (I’m so sorry to anyone that took my advice while filling out their own ballots) I’ve decided to just list who I would vote for, not necessarily who I think will win in my final roundup sections. I’ve broken the nominations down into nomination families (Limited Series, Comedy and Drama) and gone category by category from there. The Primetime Emmy Awards also award directing and writing, among other categories, but I’m going to keep this article to just acting nominations on top of overall best series. Let’s take a look.

LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES

Why don’t we start with the easier shows to consume quickly, just incase you want to do some last minute watching before the big event. There isn’t really any front runner in any category as no one has really emerged in the conversation in the way that say some of the comedy nominees have. My biggest gripe here is that I’ll almost definitely have to spend another awards night watching Michaela Coel lose to someone who gave an inferior performance to hers in I May Destroy You. All of the women nominated for Lead Actress here are excellent (particularly Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown) but none of them hold a candle to Michaela’s deeply raw, real, and gut-wrenching performance. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I May Destroy You transcends our ideas of what tv should be and if there were any justice in the world, it would sweep this category. Now, I would expect WandaVision to get at least some love considering it spent a major amount of time paying homage to sitcoms of television’s past, something awards bodies love to recognize. The Queen’s Gambit cleaned house during the Creative Arts Emmys so I’d expect a few Primetime wins as well (awards darling Anna Taylor-Joy is almost sure to win here after winning both the Golden Globe and SAG statues), though I think all due wins are in the Creative Arts categories as I found the series to be a bit dull and overly reliant on aesthetics as opposed to real substance. At the end of the day, the real competition here will be between the Supporting Actress nominees as Kathryn Hahn— a “breakout” performance 10+ years in the making— and Julianne Nicholson— giving one of the most devastating performances of the year— face off head to head. I personally, and this is hard for me to say as the president of the Kathryn Hahn fan club, think Julianne Nicholson deserves the award more as she had the significantly harder job but Hahn will almost definitely come out on top given her support from Marvel/Disney, the popularity of WandaVision, and her proven ability to ALWAYS understand the assignment. Either way, I’ll be cheering for both of them, as we all should be.

Series

Should win: I May Destroy You

Lead Actress

Should win: Michaela Coel, Arabella, I May Destroy You

Lead Actor

Should win: Hugh Grant, Jonathan Fraser, The Undoing

Supporting Actress

Should win: Julianne Nicholson, Lori Ross, Mare of Easttown

Supporting Actor

Should win: Paapa Essiedu, Kwame, I May Destroy You

DRAMA

Okay I’m not going to lie, I am not caught up on most of these shows in the drama family, so take my opinions here with a grain of salt. I have only watched the nominated episodes of many of these shows (The Mandalorian, Pose, This is Us) or I’m not caught up the current nominated season (The Handmaid’s Tale). However, I have seen all of The Crown, Lovecraft Country, Bridgerton, and The Boys. It seems like The Crown is destined to have another successful year as I can’t imagine it losing drama series. Awards bodies have always been sort of weird about awarding genre pieces so I don’t see a real path of victory for Lovecraft, The Boys, or Mandalorian when there are proper period dramas like The Crown involved. Plus, with heavy hitters Ozark and Succession away from the race this year, The Crown is an easy vote for the largely older, white voters to cast. The leading performance statues will almost certainly go to Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor for playing Princess Diana and Prince Charles, a decision I would most agree because they are both terrific, but I can’t cast my vote for Emma as she is definitely a supporting player as opposed to leading. MJ Rodriguez could make history as the first trans actress to win an Emmy in this category (nominated for Lead Actress for her performance in the final season of Pose) but given the world’s resurgent obsession with Princess Diana, largely due to The Crown, it doesn’t seem like this will be her year. This families biggest lock seems to be in Gillian Anderson for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher so I would certainly go ahead and check that box off on your ballot for sure. My hope is that the late great Michael K. Williams will finally win an Emmy for his haunting work on Lovecraft Country, a role that he expressed took an exceptional toll on him. And as his co-star, Jonathan Majors deserves way more credit than he seems to be getting as his character is put into quite literally fantastical situations in this show, all of which Majors has to convincingly act natural through, despite often having to act against things that aren’t really there/a green screen.

Series

Should win: The Crown

Lead Actress

Should win: Olivia Colman, Queen Elizabeth II, The Crown

Lead Actor

Jonathan Majors, Atticus Freeman, Lovecraft Country

Supporting Actress

Should win: Gillian Anderson, Margaret Thatcher, The Crown

Supporting Actor

Should win: Michael K. Williams, Montrose Freeman, Lovecraft Country

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COMEDY

This family of nominations seems destined to be dominated by Ted Lasso and Hacks, which is earned 100% as they were the best freshman comedies of the year. It’s a shame that Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine were once again snubbed for acting when they’re truly giving two of the best, most committed acting performances since I can’t remember when, especially in a comedy as broad, yet specific, as PEN15. The leading performances of Jean Smart and Jason Sudekis are pretty much this years only locks aside from Gillian Anderson— there doesn’t seem to be a chance for any of their respective co-nominees. As Deborah Vance, Smart dominates the world that she inhabits, leading an ensemble of delicious supporting players with delicious aplomb. And as the titular Lasso, Sudekis is undeniably charming and absolutely doing the best work of his career thus far. I know that both Hannahs nominated here (Waddingham and Einbeinder) have a much better chance to win than Juno Temple but they are both LEADS in their shows and I just can’t cast a vote for someone committing that blatant of category fraud. Plus, Temple is absolutely delightful as Keeley Jones and makes a real meal out what could just be a snack part. And speaking of supporting performances, a split vote amongst the FOUR men nominated from Lasso here could result in one of the Saturday Night Live gents winning. I would personally like Bowen Yang to walk away with an Emmy for his portrayal of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic as a sassy, queer, jaded pop star alone, but even Yang himself has said that he’s rooting for his co-star Keenan Thompson to win. If there isn’t a split vote, it will surely be Brett Goldstein who leaves victorious for his delightful portrayal of hardened heart-throb, Roy Kent.