 by Julian Spivey
The 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast on ABC on Sunday evening (Sept. 18) at 7 p.m. The 68th annual Emmys feature a mixture of usual suspects from the last few years on television, alongside some new blood that has both critics and viewers excited for this year’s ceremony. The ceremony will be hosted by comedian/late night television host Jimmy Kimmel. Here are 10 actors/actresses or shows I’d like to see take home some hardware on Sunday night: Best Comedy Series: “Veep” I’m a hardcore supporter of network television shows. I’m not thrilled that there hasn’t been a network drama series nominated for an Emmy in five years. Before this summer I would’ve loved to have seen ABC’s “black-ish” win this award for comedy series, and I still wouldn’t mind it. However, this summer I binge-watched HBO’s “Veep” and maybe it’s because we’re in the midst of an election cycle, but I found it to be the perfect show for me at this time and the fifth season was arguably its best season yet. Chances of Winning: Likely Best Actor in a Limited Series: Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson) I’ve never really been one to watch a limited television series or what they used to refer to as mini-series and to be honest a lot of the shows nominated in this category I feel should actually be eligible for the drama series one instead. But, I tuned into FX’s first installment of Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Series” this summer that focused on the O.J. Simpson trial of the mid-‘90s and was floored by it. One of the greatest things about the series was how veteran character actor Courtney B. Vance inhabited attorney Johnnie Cochran. Vance is in a high profile category that includes Bryan Cranston for “All the Way,” Tom Hiddleston for “The Night Manager” and Benedict Cumberbatch for “Sherlock,” but I’ve got to think his chances are really good. Chances of Winning: Highly Likely Best Actress in a Limited Series: Sarah Paulson (American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson) While Courtney B. Vance absolutely became Johnnie Cochran for FX’s ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson,” it was Sarah Paulson’s performance as attorney Marcia Clark that was essentially the heart and emotion of the limited series. No offense whatsoever to terrific actresses like Kerry Washington (“Confirmation”), Felicity Huffman (“American Crime”) and Kirsten Dunst (“Fargo”), but this is the one category you should definitely put money on. Chances of Winning: A Lock Best Actor in a Comedy Series: Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth) Last year’s winner in this category was Jeffrey Tambor for Amazon’s “Transparent” and he continues to be flawless in that role and should likely be considered the favorite, but the role is honestly more dramatic than it is funny. I’m almost torn here between Anthony Anderson for ABC’s “black-ish” and Will Forte for Fox’s “The Last Man on Earth,” but I’d narrowly give my vote, if I had one, to Forte. It’s a genuinely hilarious, while at the same time shockingly honest performance. Chances of Winning: Slim Best Actress in a Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the most honored television actress of all-time and with good reason. She has had three different television comedies (“Seinfeld,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Veep”) and has won this award for all three. Louis-Dreyfus has won this very honor for all four previous seasons of HBO’s “Veep” leaving many wanting to see new blood in the category. But, in all honesty season five may have been her greatest performance. Chances of Winning: Highly Likely Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) This is my favorite category of this year’s Emmy Awards. There are seven nominees and I love six of them. I haven’t seen Louie Anderson’s performance in FX’s “Baskets,” but given the ratings for that series I’m not sure anybody else has either. Anyway, considering the fact that I love the other six performances in this category it wouldn’t surprise me to see Anderson win given my luck. My vote in this category would go to Andre Braugher for Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” Braugher’s hilariously stoic performance as Capt. Raymond Holt in the police comedy has been pitch perfect for three seasons and it’s time he’s honored for it. Chances of Winning: Moderate Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) Much like the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category this one is probably a huge toss-up, except I’m not as excited about it despite seeing about half of the nominated performances. The Emmys love Alison Janney, so she might be considered the favorite for “Mom.” Many critics seem to think it could be Judith Light for “Transparent,” as well. If I had a vote it would go to Kate McKinnon for her wildly hilarious various characters and impressions on “Saturday Night Live.” McKinnon has been the MVP of ‘SNL’ for a while now and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Chances of Winning: Moderate Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Constance Zimmer (UnReal) I’m going to be straight upfront here and admit that Constance Zimmer’s performance in Lifetime’s “UnReal” is the only performance I’ve seen in this category. Still, Zimmer’s portrayal of a reality TV producer of a show based off of “The Bachelor” in season one is one of the best personification’s of sheer horribleness and evil that’s been on television lately and this is the era of the TV anti-hero. I won’t even hold the somewhat disappointing recently wrapped second season of “UnReal” against her. Chances of Winning: Slim, unless the trio of “Game of Thrones” nominees steal votes from each other Best Variety Talk Series: “Late, Late Show with James Corden” My real pick for Best Variety Talk Series would’ve been “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” which I was shocked was not nominated and honestly view as the biggest snub of the entire Emmy Awards this year. “Late, Late Show with James Corden” is a nice second choice for me as the incredibly endearing host has kicked-ass in his first year-and-a-half on television and already took home four awards in the Creative Arts portion of the Emmys, including for his primetime Carpool Karaoke special. Because of these wins I think Corden’s show could be a darkhorse, but I believe “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” will ultimately be victorious. Chances of Winning: Moderate Best Variety Sketch Series: “Documentary Now!” The Best Variety Sketch Series category was added to the Emmy Awards last year and the inaugural winner was Comedy Central’s “Inside Amy Schumer,” a nominee once again this year. Honestly, this category might not really be necessary, especially given the fact there aren’t too many sketch series on television. The category is mostly Comedy Central and IFC series mixed with the oldest sketch comedy series in the world, “Saturday Night Live.” ‘SNL’ had more bad episodes than good episodes in its 41st season, but IFC’s “Documentary Now!” starring ‘SNL’ alums Fred Armisen and Bill Hader with more ‘SNL’ alums Seth Meyers and writer John Mulaney involved has been a hilarious mocking of some of the biggest documentaries ever made like “The Thin Blue Line” and “Grey Gardens.” The show is probably the least likely to win of the six nominees, but it’d have my vote. Chances of Winning: Not Happening
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