2020 Emmy Predictions
Tonight, the 72nd Emmy Awards take place! We at The Couch will be watching as invested-- and at least somewhat informed --viewers, start to finish.
It will be an Emmy night unlike any other, as the ceremony is expected to be almost entirely virtual. Unlike last year, there will be a host, Jimmy Kimmel (because who else would host in the year ABC holds the awards?), and of course all the awards that would normally be awarded will be again. But no red carpet, stars accepting awards from the comfort in their homes rather than up on stage, and I would imagine a greater amount of pre-taped content, will all be very strange adjustments. Considering this format probably means no banal teleprompter banter from presenters, not a total loss.
Our pop culture gurus have put together an Emmy prediction and analysis piece for you as comprehensively as we can. That said, for those of you that are not aware, there is a TON of television out there. So, though this will mimic similar preview pieces we've done on Grammy and Oscar shows of the past, with "Will Win" and "Should Win" offerings as well, we apologize in advance for any instances of us being out of the loop on a show you may know and love more than we do. Now, enough caveat, let's get these award predictions rollin'!
Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Comedy Series
Mahershala Ali, Ramy ("Little Omar")
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method ("Chapter 14: A Secret Leaks, a Teacher Speaks")
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine ("Ransom")
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ("Panty Pose")
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place ("Whenever You're Ready")
Dan Levy, Schitt's Creek ("Happy Ending")
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ("Marvelous Radio")
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live ("At Home #2")
Will Win
Daniel Baas: Tony Shalhoub
Christian: Daniel Levy
Sierra: Mahershala Ali
Daniel Woodiwiss: Mahershala Ali
Could Win:
Baas: Daniel Levy
Christian: Mahershala Ali
Woodiwiss: Tony Shalhoub
Should Win:
Baas: Daniel Levy
Christian: Kenan Thompson
Sierra: Mahershala Ali
Woodiwiss: Andre Braugher
Should Have Been Here:
Sierra: Matt Berry, Harvey Guillén, Kayvan Novak and/or Mark Proksch (whichever one of them is considered "Supporting"), What We Do In The Shadows
Woodiwiss: Beck Bennett, Saturday Night Live
Thoughts?
Woodiwiss: This might a totally unsubstantiated, uninformed claim, but there are categories at the Emmys that historically seem skewed towards the biggest names, and I think the supporting actor categories are often some of those. That's why I think this one might go to Oscar winner Mahershala Ali or industry vet (and reigning champ) Tony Shalhoub, but I'd love to be wrong, because there are 4 other dudes whose victory I'd be THRILLED for. Kenan Thompson has been an under-appreciated mainstay of television's most prestigious comedy for so long, and it's the last chance for Dan Levy or William Jackson Harper to get a deserved win, so I'd be delighted for any of them. But Andre Braugher has been on another level of comedy for so long- it's high time for him to get his Emmy.
Outstanding Supporting Actress for a Comedy Series
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ("Marvelous Radio")
D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place ("You've Changed, Man")
Betty Gilpin, GLOW ("A Very GLOW Christmas")
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ("A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo...")
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live ("Daniel Craig/The Weeknd")
Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek ("The Presidential Suite")
Yvonne Orji, Insecure ("Lowkey Lost")
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live ("Eddie Murphy/Lizzo")
Will Win
Baas: Alex Borstein
Christian: Alex Borstein
Sierra: Yvonne Orji
Woodiwiss: Alex Borstein
Could Win:
Baas: Annie Murphy
Christian: Kate McKinnon
Woodiwiss: Annie Murphy
Should Win:
Baas: Annie Murphy
Christian: Annie Murphy
Sierra: Yvonne Orji
Woodiwiss: D'Arcy Carden
Should Have Been Here:
Sierra: Natasia Demetriou, What We Do In The Shadows
Woodiwiss: Jameela Jamil, The Good Place
Thoughts?
Sierra: Yvonne deserves to win because I hated Molly so much in this season of Insecure that sometimes I think I hate Yvonne.
Woodiwiss: Again, just like the male equivalent of this category, there are multiple nominees for whom I'd be delighted to win, but the likely winner is not one of them. You'd think after all my years of beating the "#EmmyForCecily" drum, she'd be my top pick, but my personal tiebreaker was the nominated episodes. The Eddie Murphy episode was a bizarre one for Strong to choose, because not only was that night all about Murphy anyway, she only appeared in two sketches! Meanwhile, this is the last chance for the delightftul D'Arcy Carden to win, and in one of the few Janet-centric episodes of The Good Place, she was tremendous.
Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Drama Series
Nicholas Braun, Succession ("This Is Not For Tears")
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show ("Chaos Is The New Cocaine")
Kieran Culkin, Succession ("Tern Haven")
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show ("The Interview")
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul ("JMM")
Matthew Macfayden, Succession ("This Is Not For Tears")
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid's Tale ("Sacrifice")
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld ("Crisis Theory")
Will Win
Baas: Billy Crudup
Christian: Billy Crudup
Sierra: Giancarlo Esposito
Woodiwiss: Billy Crudup
Could Win:
Baas: Kieran Culkin
Christian: Kieran Culkin
Woodiwiss: Kieran Culkin
Should Win:
Baas: Kieran Culkin
Christian: Billy Crudup
Sierra: Matthew Macfayden
Woodiwiss: Matthew Macfayden
Should Have Been Here:
Woodiwiss: Joe Keery, Stranger Things
Thoughts?
Woodiwiss: I spent the entirety of The Morning Show trying to figure out whether I thought Billy Crudup's acting was good or laughably bad. So maybe that speaks to it being good? But let's be honest, any one of the Succession guys deserve this; all of them are so insanely good for different reasons. I'm partial to Macfayden, because the authenticity with which this distinguished British man plays a naive, overmatched Midwestern man is stunning. (All my Succession love aside, though, spare a though for Mark Duplass, who was far and away my favorite part of The Morning Show.)
Despite Succession actors making up almost 50% of the field, most believe The Morning Show's Billy Crudup will take home the Supporting Actor award
Outstanding Supporting Actress for a Drama Series
Helena Bonham Carter, The Queen ("Cri de Coeur")
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies ("Tell-Tale Hearts")
Julia Garner, Ozark ("In Case Of Emergency")
Thandie Newton, Westworld ("The Winter Line")
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve ("Management Sucks")
Sarah Snook, Succession ("The Summer Palace")
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies ("I Want To Know")
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid's Tale ("Sacrifice")
Will Win
Baas: Helena Bonham Carter
Christian: Julia Garner
Sierra: Sarah Snook
Woodiwiss: Helena Bonham Carter
Could Win:
Baas: Sarah Snook
Christian: Sarah Snook
Woodiwiss: Julia Garner
Should Win:
Baas: Sarah Snook
Christian: Sarah Snook
Sierra: Laura Dern
Woodiwiss: Sarah Snook
Should Have Been Here:
Woodiwiss: Maya Hawke, Stranger Things
Thoughts?
Sierra: Sorry Sarah- Laura Dern smashed all his stuff in Season 2 and for that, I support her.
Woodiwiss: Helena Bonham Carter was one of my very first celebrity crushes, so I suppose her being the frontrunner for this award is okay with me. But I'm in full-grown love with Sarah Snook, who is note-perfect as the ruthless Shiv Roy. Also, can we talk about despite Stranger Things' third season being their strongest yet, it didn't garner any acting nominations for the first time ever? Steve and Robin were the best part of that strong season, and it saddens me that neither Hawke nor Joe Keery got their due notice.
Outstanding Actor for a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish ("Love, Boat")
Don Cheadle, Black Monday ("Who Are You Supposed To Be?")
Ted Danson, The Good Place ("Whenever You're Ready")
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method ("Chapter 12: A Libido Sits in the Fridge")
Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek ("The Pitch")
Ramy Youssef, Ramy ("You Are Naked in Front of Your Sheikh")
Will Win
Baas: Eugene Levy
Christian: Eugene Levy
Sierra: Eugene Levy
Woodiwiss: Ramy Youssef
Could Win:
Baas: Ramy Youssef
Christian: Ted Danson
Woodiwiss: Eugene Levy
Should Win:
Baas: Ted Danson
Christian: Ramy Youssef
Sierra: Ramy Youssef
Woodiwiss: Ted Danson
Should Have Been Here:
Sierra: Matt Berry, Harvey Guillén, Kayvan Novak and/or Mark Proksch (whichever one of them is considered "Lead"), What We Do In The Shadows
Woodiwiss: Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Thoughts?
Sierra: This might not be the time or place but is Ramy actually a comedy?!? Because I don’t think so?
Woodiwiss: There's two nominees here who can ride the "beloved actor's last chance to win for a beloved show" wave, and though my preference would be for the underrated Ted Danson to get the vote, most signs point to Eugene Levy cornering that lane. I personally am sticking with the positive momentum Ramy has been getting for his titular role in the least year.
Outstanding Actress for a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead To Me ("It's Not You, It's Me")
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ("A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo...")
Linda Cardellini, Dead To Me ("If Only You Knew")
Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek ("The Incident")
Issa Rae, Insecure ("Lowkey Happy")
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish ("Kid Life Crisis")
Will Win
Baas: Catherine O'Hara
Christian: Catherine O'Hara
Sierra: Issa Rae
Woodiwiss: Catherine O'Hara
Could Win:
Baas: Rachel Brosnahan
Christian: Rachel Brosnahan
Woodiwiss: Rachel Brosnahan
Should Win:
Baas: Catherine O'Hara
Christian: Christina Applegate
Sierra: Issa Rae
Woodiwiss: CATHERINE O'HARA
Thoughts?
Woodiwiss: If anyone but Catherine O'Hara wins this award, I riot. She's deserved this for six years, and now that we don't have Fleabag or Selina Meyer stealing votes, she has to win.
After years of social media rants and groundswell online support, has Moira Rose's Emmy moment finally come?
Outstanding Actor for a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark ("Su Casa Es Mi Casa")
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us ("After The Fire")
Steve Carrell, The Morning Show ("Lonely At The Top")
Brian Cox, Succession ("Hunting")
Billy Porter, Pose ("Love's In Need Of Love Today")
Jeremy Strong, Succession ("This Is Not For Tears")
Will Win
Baas: Brian Cox
Christian: Jeremy Strong
Sierra: Jeremy Strong
Woodiwiss: Jason Bateman
Could Win:
Christian: Brian Cox
Woodiwiss: Brian Cox
Should Win:
Baas: Jeremy Strong
Christian: Jeremy Strong
Sierra: Jeremy Strong
Woodiwiss: Jeremy Strong
Should Have Been Here:
Baas: Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Woodiwiss: Chris Sullivan, This Is Us
Thoughts?
Woodiwiss: I want to believe that one of the Roy men will get the W, especially Jeremy Strong, whose work plumbing the depths of sadness and inner turmoil was reminiscent of Matthew Rhys' incredible work on The Americans. But I just think that voters will know Succession is poised to win the Drama award over Ozark, and thus want to give a career award to Ozark's front man. The "accidental" announcement of Bateman as an Emmy winner last night does nothing to lessen this belief.
Sierra: I didn't bother mentioning any snubs, because frankly it was rude to nominate anyone but Jeremy Strong this year.
Outstanding Actress for a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show ("In the Dark Night of the Soul It’s Always 3:30 in the Morning")
Olivia Colman, The Queen ("Cri de Coeur")
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve ("Are You From Pinner?")
Laura Linney, Ozark ("Fire Pink")
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve ("Are You Leading Or Am I?")
Zendaya, Euphoria ("Made You Look")
Will Win
Baas: Laura Linney
Christian: Laura Linney
Sierra: Jodie Comer
Woodiwiss: Laura Linney
Could Win:
Baas: Jodie Comer
Christian: Jennifer Aniston
Woodiwiss: Jennifer Aniston
Should Win:
Christian: Jennifer Aniston
Sierra: Zendaya
Woodiwiss: Olivia Colman
Should Have Been Here:
Baas: Rhea Seahorn, Better Call Saul
Woodiwiss: Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Thoughts?
Woodiwiss: Again, I think Linney will ride the "consolation prize" sentiment for Ozark likely not winning Best Drama, plus her years of good work. There's no question Jennifer Aniston had a lot of early buzz, however, and she'd be a deserving winner-- though I will personally be cheering for Olivia Colman, for no reason other than my undying love for her as a person. That said, how bizarre is it that Aniston's co-star Reese Witherspoon is the only major character not nominated for an acting award? I thought she was every bit as deserving as all other Morning Show nominees.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead To Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt's Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
Will Win
Baas: Schitt's Creek
Christian: Schitt's Creek
Sierra: Schitt's Creek
Woodiwiss: Schitt's Creek
Could Win:
Baas: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Christian: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Woodiwiss: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Should Win:
Baas: Schitt's Creek
Christian: What We Do In The Shadows
Sierra: What We Do In The Shadows
Woodiwiss: Schitt's Creek
Should Have Been Here:
Sierra: Derry Girls, Stath Lets Flats
Woodiwiss: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Silicon Valley
Thoughts?
Sierra: I think Ramy was robbed too, I'm just not convinced it should be a Comedy.
Woodiwiss: It's been seven years, and voters are STILL sleeping on how good Brooklyn Nine-Nine STILL is. And how the oft-nominated Silicon Valley somehow didn't receive any nods for its terrific final season is beyond me. That said, I will be thrilled for either a Good Place or Schitt's Creek victory, and though I'm always worried about getting my hopes up for an award show, it does seem like the latter has a whole lot of positive mojo heading into tonight.
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid's Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
Will Win
Baas: Succession
Christian: Succession
Sierra: Succession
Woodiwiss: Succession
Could Win:
Baas: Maybe Ozark? Nothing is gonna come close, let's be honest.
Christian: Ozark
Woodiwiss: Ozark
Should Win:
Baas: Succession
Christian: Succession
Sierra: Succession
Woodiwiss: Stranger Things
Should Have Been Here:
Sierra: Sorry For Your Loss
Woodiwiss: This Is Us
Thoughts?
Woodiwiss: I just wanted to be a hipster because I think it's strange that of all the years This Is Us isn't nominated, it's after their strongest and most creative season, and I'm tired of people ignoring just how good Stranger Things' last season was. But yeah, if I'm being objective, this is Succession and then the rest. The writing, directing, and acting is just masterful, top to bottom.
Whether or not they clean up in the acting categories remains to be seen, but most believe Succession is poised to take home the night's top honor.
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