2019 Emmys Predictions

8 min readJul 17, 2019

The nominations for the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, to air on September 22, were announced this week. As might be expected, GAME OF THRONES led the nominations pack; the final season of the juggernaut picked up 14 from the main ceremony, ending up with 32 when including the Creative Arts categories (a separate ceremony). GAME OF THRONES beat NYPD BLUE’s record, then, for most nominations received in a single year (the police procedural received 26 in 1994). HBO was the most nominated network after being beaten by Netflix last year, with 47 versus 29 in the main event. HBO took the victory further with 137 nominations over Netflix’s 117 when including the Creative Arts world. HBO beat its own record for most nominations for a single network; it received 126 in 2015. And there were various snubs and unwarranted nominations that people took issue with. Since I don’t demonstrably keep up with too many of the current television programs (in terms of actually watching the dang things), I don’t have too many opinions on the matter, but that won’t prevent me from wildly speculating. Let’s see how many winners of the 26 main categories I can pick. I’m not naming favorites here, I’m stating who/what I think will actually win the awards. I’ll bold those potential winners.

Outstanding Comedy Series

BARRY
FLEABAG
THE GOOD PLACE
THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
RUSSIAN DOLL
SCHITT’S CREEK
VEEP

Outstanding Drama Series

BETTER CALL SAUL
BODYGUARD
GAME OF THRONES
KILLING EVE
OZARK
POSE
SUCCESSION
THIS IS US

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH
FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER
THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN
THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

AT HOME WITH AMY SEDARIS
DOCUMENTARY NOW!
DRUNK HISTORY
I LOVE YOU, AMERICA WITH SARAH SILVERMAN
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
WHO IS AMERICA?

Outstanding Limited Series

CHERNOBYL
ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
FOSSE/VERDON
SHARP OBJECTS
WHEN THEY SEE US

Outstanding Competition Program

THE AMAZING RACE
AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR
NAILED IT!
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE
TOP CHEF
THE VOICE

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson on BLACK-ISH
Don Cheadle on BLACK MONDAY
Ted Danson on THE GOOD PLACE
Michael Douglas on THE KOMINSKY METHOD
Bill Hader on BARRY
Eugene Levy on SCHITT’S CREEK

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate on DEAD TO ME
Rachel Brosnahan on THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
Julia Louis-Dreyfus on VEEP
Natasha Lyonne on RUSSIAN DOLL
Catherine O’Hara on SCHITT’S CREEK
Phoebe Waller-Bridge on FLEABAG

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman on OZARK
Sterling K. Brown on THIS IS US
Kit Harington on GAME OF THRONES
Bob Odenkirk on BETTER CALL SAUL
Billy Porter on POSE
Milo Ventimiglia on THIS IS US

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Emilia Clarke on GAME OF THRONES
Jodie Comer on KILLING EVE
Viola Davis on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
Laura Linney on OZARK
Mandy Moore on THIS IS US
Sandra Oh on KILLING EVE
Robin Wright on HOUSE OF CARDS

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Mahershala Ali on TRUE DETECTIVE
Benicio del Toro on ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
Hugh Grant on A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
Jared Harris on CHERNOBYL
Jharrel Jerome on WHEN THEY SEE US
Sam Rockwell on FOSSE/VERDON

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Amy Adams on SHARP OBJECTS
Patricia Arquette on ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
Aunjanue Ellis on WHEN THEY SEE US
Joey King on THE ACT
Niecy Nash on WHEN THEY SEE US
Michelle Williams on FOSSE/VERDON

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Alan Arkin on THE KOMINSKY METHOD
Anthony Carrigan on BARRY
Tony Hale on VEEP
Stephen Root on BARRY
Tony Shalhoub on THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
Henry Winkler on BARRY

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein on THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
Anna Chlumsky on VEEP
Sian Clifford on FLEABAG
Olivia Colman on FLEABAG
Betty Gilpin on GLOW
Sarah Goldberg on BARRY
Marin Hinkle on THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
Kate McKinnon on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Alfie Allen on GAME OF THRONES
Jonathan Banks on BETTER CALL SAUL
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on GAME OF THRONES
Peter Dinklage on GAME OF THRONES
Giancarlo Esposito on BETTER CALL SAUL
Michael Kelly on HOUSE OF CARDS
Chris Sullivan on THIS IS US

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Gwendoline Christie on GAME OF THRONES
Julia Garner on OZARK
Lena Headey on GAME OF THRONES
Fiona Shaw on KILLING EVE
Sophie Turner on GAME OF THRONES
Maisie Williams on GAME OF THRONES

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Asante Blackk on WHEN THEY SEE US
Paul Dano on ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
John Leguizamo on WHEN THEY SEE US
Stellan Skarsgård on CHERNOBYL
Ben Whishaw on A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
Michael K. Williams on WHEN THEY SEE US

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Patricia Arquette on THE ACT
Marsha Stephanie Blake on WHEN THEY SEE US
Patricia Clarkson on SHARP OBJECTS
Vera Farmiga on WHEN THEY SEE US
Margaret Qualley on FOSSE/VERDON
Emily Watson on CHERNOBYL

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Alec Berg — “The Audition” (BARRY)
Bill Hader — “ronny/lily” (BARRY)
Mark Cendrowski — “The Stockholm Syndrome” (THE BIG BANG THEORY)
Harry Bradbeer — “Episode 1” (FLEABAG)
Amy Sherman-Palladino — “All Alone” (THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL)
Daniel Palladino — “We’re Going to the Catskills!” (THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

David Nutter — “The Last of the Starks” (GAME OF THRONES)
Miguel Sapochnik — “The Long Night” (GAME OF THRONES)
David Benioff & D.B. Weiss — “The Iron Throne” (GAME OF THRONES)
Daina Reid — “Holly” (THE HANDMAID’S TALE)
Lisa Brühlmann — “Desperate Times” (KILLING EVE)
Jason Bateman — “Reparations” (OZARK)
Adam McKay — “Celebration” (SUCCESSION)

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series

Alex Buono & Rhys Thomas — “Waiting for the Artist” (DOCUMENTARY NOW!)
Derek Waters — “Are You Afraid of the Drunk?” (DRUNK HISTORY)
Paul Pennolino — “Psychics” (LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER)
Jim Hoskinson — “Live Midterm Election Show” (THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT)
Don Roy King — “Host: Adam Sandler” (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE)
Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino, and Dan Mazer — “Episode 102” (WHO IS AMERICA?)

Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special

Johan Renck — CHERNOBYL
Ben Stiller — ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
Jessica Yu — “Glory” (FOSSE/VERDON)
Thomas Kail — “Who’s Got the Pain” (FOSSE/VERDON)
Stephen Frears — A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
Ava DuVernay — WHEN THEY SEE US

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Alec Berg & Bill Hader — “ronny/lily” (BARRY)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge — “Episode 1” (FLEABAG)
Maya Erskine & Anna Konkle — “Anna Ishii-Peters” (PEN15)
Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, & Amy Poehler — “Nothing In This World Is Easy” (RUSSIAN DOLL)
Allison Silverman — “A Warm Body” (RUSSIAN DOLL)
Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan — “Janet(s)” (THE GOOD PLACE)
David Mandel — “Veep” (VEEP)