OUTSTANDING BROADCAST COMEDY SERIES
I thought this would be harder. But it isn’t. With almost every awards group in the major category you go with the most nominated series, and that series is extraordinary…Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Go ahead, show NBC what they lost and try like hell to get yourself picked up.
Should Win/Will Win: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.
OUTSTANDING CABLE COMEDY SERIES
This is a lot trickier as there’s no obvious frontrunner here. I think – bear in mind it’s just a guess – it’s going to come down between Breeders and Shameless. Considering that every other awards show has ignored it, I’m going to give it the barest of edges, though my heart is with Breeders.
Should Win: Breeders.
Will Win: Shameless (?)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES, BROADCAST OR CABLE
This is trickier than above. Could Anthony Anderson break his streak of not being recognized here? Will Ted Danson be honored to make up for the fact he wasn’t nominated by the Emmys? Could they end up choosing Martin Freeman (my personal preference?) This is a very tough call for me, but I’m going to give the narrowest of margins to Danson. He was overlooked repeatedly by the Emmys these past few years, and there may be some residual The Good Place guilt.
Should Win: Freeman.
Will Win: Danson.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES, BROADCAST OR CABLE
Will it go to Tracee Ellis Ross, who’s owed just as much as Anderson is? I’d like to see Haggard win, because at least Freeman has an Emmy. But in all honesty, the most deserving candidate is the most likely won, Zoey herself: Jane Levy. Maybe she’ll actually say the word in her acceptance speech that was bleeped out by the credits.
Should Win/Will Win: Levy.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES, BROADCAST OR CABLE
Will the Rock win an award for playing himself? Somehow I think that’s too meta for a critics group.
I think the winner is most likely going to be one of the Extraordinary nominees. And although there’s a very good argument for all three, I think the one who’ll win is Alex Newell for their inspirational performance as Mo. They were the most likely of the cast to get an Emmy nomination, and I really think the HCA will make up for it here.
Should Win/Will Win: Newell.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES, BROADCAST OR CABLE
Like I said, Supporting Actress is a wild card in just about any awards group and there are some genuinely deserving nominees. I’d like to see Mary Steenburgen prevail for playing Zoey’s widowed mom, but for once I’m not going on that bandwagon. Instead, I’m going for my favorite actress on a series I’m not quite won over by yet, Holly Hunter for Mr. Mayor. Hunter is one of the great actresses of all time, and the greatest under-recognized talent of the New Golden Age and this proves she is as adept a comic as she is at drama.
Should Win: Steenburgen.
Will Win: Hunter.
On to streaming, which is probably going to be closer to what we see Emmy night.
BEST STREAMING COMEDY
I don’t think I need to make an argument here. Even those who love Cobra Kai or Girls5Eva would be hard pressed to say that anything can stop Ted Lasso at this point, especially here.
Should Win/Will Win: Ted Lasso.
BEST ACTOR IN A STREAMING COMEDY
As badly as I want to see Michael Douglas try to give as good a speech as he did in the final episode of The Kominsky Method, again we all know the winner. Jason Sudeikis may be reluctant to call himself a lead, I don’t.
Should Win: Douglas/Sudeikis
Will Win: Sudeikis.
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES, STREAMING
When this category was announced I was almost certain that Kaley Cuoco would prevail for her word in The Flight Attendant. But the momentum has shifted, and I’m relatively sure that this prize in Jean Smart’s to lose. She deserved on sentiment before; having seen Hacks in its entirety, she’s earned it now.
Should Win/Will Win: Smart.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES, STREAMING
Okay, this is trickier. I think it’s likely that an actor from Ted Lasso will prevail, but seriously trying to choose one of them would be like having Ted trying to choose his favorite.
Okay. Mohammed, like his character, is probably going to be overlooked. Jeremy Swift is hysterical on every line (and would be my sentimental favorite) but I think he’s a dark horse. It basically comes down to the aging heartthrob (Goldstein) or the man of few words, all of them clever (Hunt as Coach Beard). Oh this is hard. They really could end up with a tie.
All right, I’m going to go with Hunt. He’s one of the key players behind the scenes and honestly, he’s probably the most fun to watch. Honestly, I actually hope he wins just to see how big a speech he ends up giving.
Should Win: Swift (or anyone from Ted Lasso.)
Will Win: Hunt (or, anyone from Ted Lasso.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES, STREAMING
This is actually harder than the one above, not because the front-runner doesn’t deserve to win, but because a lot of the others clearly do. Rosie Perez is really engaging on The Flight Attendant. I completely underestimated Hannah Einbinder from her early work on Hacks; she’s more than a worthy nominee now, and frankly so is Kaitlin Olson.
And I’d love to see Kathleen Turner win for her turn on The Kominsky Method which was both hysterical and heartbreaking.
But as hysterical as all of these performances are, I think we all know who’s going to win this one: Hannah Waddingham took the Supporting Actress prize from the Broadcast Critics earlier this year and has been the overarching favorite ever since. And considering that watching her be won over by Ted, and realize all her flaws, was one of the series greatest joys, it’s also one of the deepest ones. Does my sentimentality really lean towards Turner? Yes. But it’s going to go to Waddingham, and I really have no problem with it.
Should Win: Turner (or honestly, any of the nominees)
Will Win: Waddingham.
All right. I’ll wrap it up with Anthology, Limited Series and TV Movie later this week. Best part? They didn’t go overboard for Hamilton.
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