2016 Emmy Awards – Comedy

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here are my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Comedy

Black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Veep won last year and would seem to be a good choice to repeat, so I’ll go with that.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won this award the past three years, and I see no reason why she won’t repeat again this year.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

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

Jeffrey Tambor brought home the award last year for his gender-bending role on Amazon’s hit series.  My guess is that Aziz Ansari rides the same wave of good feelings to take home the trophy for his Netflix series.

Continue reading →

Post Mortem – The Good Wife

The-Good-WifeDuring a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl in February, CBS announced that the currently airing 7th season would be the last for The Good Wife.  Premiering in 2009, the show starred Julianna Margulies as the wife of a disgraced politician who restarts her own law career to provide for the family.  Considered by many critics to be the last great network drama, the show had its own behind-the-scenes drama, with Margulies and Archie Panjabi going the final 2 1/2 seasons of Panjabi’s tenure on the show without appearing in a scene together.

While one of the better shows on TV in its prime, The Good Wife had started to show its age over the past 2 seasons, with last season’s storyline of Alicia running for state’s attorney separating Margulies from the rest of the main cast and the final season losing Panjabi, who was a major part of the show’s appeal.  A spinoff, starring Christine Baranski and Cush Jumbo, is being produced for the new CBS digital platform.  I doubt it will breath any new life into this concept.

2015 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueTonight’s the night for the Emmy Awards, so it’s time to finish off my predictions for the awards.  Today, we’re focusing on the awards for Dramas.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Better Call Saul

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Mad Men

Orange Is The New Black

Now that Breaking Bad has moved on, I’m assuming that Game of Thrones will take its place.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder

Claire Danes, Homeland

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Robin Wright, House of Cards

I was pleasantly surprised to see Tatiana Maslany finally recognized for her excellent work in Orphan Black, but I assume that Taraji P. Henson will take home the prize.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

With the final season of Mad Men in the books, I assume that Jon Hamm will take home the trophy for his overall work on the series.

Continue reading →

2015 Emmy Awards – Comedy

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here are my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Comedy

Louie

Modern Family

Parks and Recreation

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Modern Family won last year and would seem to be the obvious choice here, since the voters love it.  But Veep is certainly my dark horse candidate, so I’ll go with that.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won this award the past two years, and I see no reason why she won’t repeat again this year.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Louis CK, Louie

Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

William H. Macy, Shameless

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Jim Parsons brought home the award last year for his role as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, but managed to not be nominated this year.  My guess is that Jeffrey Tambor takes home the trophy for Amazon’s hit series.

Continue reading →

2014 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Monday night, it’s time for day three of my predictions for the awards.  Today, we’re focusing on the awards for Dramas.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Mad Men

True Detective

Well, so much for having seen most of these.  True Detective was the only one of these nominees that I’ve seen.  This is a tough call, but I imagine that the final season of Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Julianne Margulies, The Good Wife

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

This past season of The Good Wife was spectacular, and a lot of that was due to Julianne Margulies.  She should definitely take home the trophy, especially since Tatiana Maslany was overlooked again for her work in Orphan Black.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Woody Harrelson, True Detective

Matthew McConaughey, True Detective

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

My guess is that this is a person race, between Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey and Bryan Cranston.  I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night once again, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

Continue reading →

2013 Emmy Awards – Drama

With the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, it’s time for day three of my predictions for the awards, today focusing on Drama shows.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Homeland

Mad Men

This is a tough one, as I can see either Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, or Game of Thrones taking home the prize.  Given the amount of press it is getting in its now airing final season, my guess is that Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Connie Britton, Nashville

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

I think Claire Danes will take this for the second year in a row.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Damian Lewis took this award last year, but I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

Continue reading →