With Emmys fast approaching, it’s time to place your bets
The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards are less than two weeks away, and it’s time for predictions on all of the major races. Winners will be announced during the telecast September 18 at 8:00 pm on FOX.
Best Drama Series
Mad Men is the hands-down frontrunner right now, having won the award the last three years and featuring another critically-acclaimed season. Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire are perhaps more deserving for their sheer scope and incredibly dense storytelling, but Mad Men is Emmy voters’ perennial favorite.
Will win: Mad Men
Should win: Game of Thrones
Best Comedy Series
Four out of the five nominees (the exception being Glee) would be completely deserving winners. Parks and Recreation really stepped it up in its second season, creating more well-rounded characters and finding hilarious gags in the mundane world they inhabit. Perennial winner 30 Rock had another excellent season and The Office has the advantage of just finishing its final season with Steve Carell, but last year’s winner Modern Family is just too good and too beloved by audiences and critics alike to be stopped.
Will win: Modern Family
Should win: Modern Family
Best Actor, Drama Series
Steve Buscemi is really the only person who could knock Hamm from the top spot, but that is unlikel,y as Hamm’s Don Draper is the most fascinating and multi-dimensional character in television.
Will win: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Should win: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Best Actor, Comedy Series
Steve Carell will win this in a cakewalk. In his final season as the iconic Michael Scott, Carell showed us his character’s previously-unseen emotional side and gave a fantastic performance in the season finale. He also created a character that will go down as a television legend. Emmy voters will not let this go unrewarded.
Will win: Steve Carell (The Office)
Should win: Steve Carell (The Office)
Best Actress, Drama Series
Critics love Juliana Margulies’ performance in The Good Wife and the show itself, so she is the best bet for the award. All of the nominees are deserving, especially Elizabeth Moss in Mad Men, but Margulies is the frontrunner for now.
Will win: Juliana Margulies (The Good Wife)
Should win: Juliana Margulies (The Good Wife)
Best Actress, Comedy Series
In a perfect world, Amy Poehler or Tina Fey would win this, but Emmy voters love giving the award to dramatic actresses in “dramedy” shows (see: Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie). This is why Laura Linney will win, even though hers isn’t really a comedic performance.
Will win: Laura Linney (The Big C)
Should win: Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) or Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Best Supporting Actor, Drama Series
Peter Dinklage was my favorite supporting performance of the year as the wisecracking dwarf Tyrion, but the Emmys’ love for Mad Men will give John Slattery the advantage in this race.
Will win: John Slattery (Mad Men)
Should win: Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Best Supporting Actor, Comedy Series
With two-thirds of the nominees hailing from Modern Family, chances are the winner will come from the hit ABC sitcom. Right now the best bet would be Ty Burrell as the charmingly dorky dad, but don’t be surprised if Emmy voters go with someone else from the show.
Will win: Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Should win: Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Best Supporting Actress, Drama Series
Margo Martindale earned rave reviews for her turn as the matriarch of a Southern crime family in Justified, so right now she is the frontrunner. Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife shocked everyone when she won the award last year, but it is unlikely she will repeat.
Will win: Margo Martindale (Justified)
Should win: Margo Martindale (Justified)
Best Supporting Actress, Comedy Series
Last year’s winner Jane Lynch is once again the frontrunner, despite Glee’s writers completely mishandling her character this past season. Julie Bowen is the unsung hero of Modern Family, but sadly, it’s the showier performance that usually wins.
Will win: Jane Lynch (Glee)
Should win: Julie Bowen (Modern Family)