Ever year, it becomes increasingly more futile to try and predict the winners at the Emmys. The voters always do something weird. In the past few years, surprise acting winners include Merritt Wever, Jeff Daniels and Bobby Cannavale. No one was really predictable any of them to win in their respective categories - especially with such strong competition. And yet, they did nevertheless. The unpredictability is what makes the Emmys fun (and frustrating) to watch every year. Last year, the ceremony decided to basically reward the people who had already won Emmys previously.
It's unclear how things are going to go this year with the Emmys considering the massive changes the organization made to the voting process. Each contender submits an episodes and those usually do determine who wins each year. But this year, the final voting is open to everyone who was eligible to vote in the nomination phase. That has already produced some interesting winners at the Creative Arts ceremony. The Emmys are basically playing things according to the honor system. The voters say they've watched all the episodes submissions and will vote according to those performances. But there's such an increase in the number of people voting in each field to think these races won't just become a popularity contest. That was very evident in the Guest Acting categories - where the only actor who won based on performance was Bradley Whitford for Amazon's Transparent. The other winners - Reg E. Cathey, Margo Martindale and Joan Cusack - all won for outside factors against some very strong competition. That means you shouldn't take these predictions all that seriously. This is what I think will happen. But basically, anything is in the realm of possibility.
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Amazon's Transparent
- Should Win: HBO's Veep
- Potential Spoilers: ABC's Modern Family, HBO's Silicon Valley
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: HBO's Game of Thrones
- Should Win: Netflix's Orange Is the New Black
- Potential Spoilers: AMC's Mad Men, AMC's Better Call Saul, Netflix's House of Cards
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
- Will Win: HBO's Olive Kitteridge
- Should Win: SundanceTV's The Honorable Woman
- Potential Spoilers: FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
- Will Win: Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- Should Win: HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- Potential Spoilers: Comedy Central's The Colbert Report
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
- Will Win: Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer
- Should Win: Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer
- Potential Spoilers: Comedy Central's Key & Peele, NBC's Saturday Night Live
OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
- Will Win: CBS' The Amazing Race
- Should Win: FOX's So You Think You Can Dance
- Potential Spoilers: NBC's The Voice
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Jeffrey Tambor (Amazon's Transparent)
- Should Win: Jeffrey Tambor (Amazon's Transparent)
- Potential Spoilers: Will Forte (FOX's The Last Man on Earth)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (HBO's Veep)
- Should Win: Amy Poehler (NBC's Parks and Recreation)
- Potential Spoilers: Amy Schumer (Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer), Lisa Kudrow (HBO's The Comeback)
LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: Jon Hamm (AMC's Mad Men)
- Should Win: Jon Hamm (AMC's Mad Men)
- Potential Spoilers: Bob Odenkirk (AMC's Better Call Saul), Kevin Spacey (Netflix's House of Cards), Kyle Chandler (Netflix's Bloodline)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: Viola Davis (ABC's How to Get Away With Murder)
- Should Win: Tatiana Maslany (BBC America's Orphan Black)
- Potential Spoilers: Taraji P. Henson (FOX's Empire), Robin Wright (Netflix's House of Cards)
LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
- Will Win: Richard Jenkins (HBO's Olive Kitteridge)
- Should Win: Timothy Hutton (ABC's American Crime)
- Potential Spoilers: David Oyelowo (HBO's Nightingale), Mark Rylance (PBS' Wolf Hall)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
- Will Win: Frances McDormand (HBO's Olive Kitteridge)
- Should Win: Maggie Gyllenhaal (SundanceTV's The Honorable Woman)
- Potential Spoilers: Jessica Lange (FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show), Felicity Huffman (ABC's American Crime), Queen Latifah (HBO's Bessie)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Tony Hale (HBO's Veep)
- Should Win: Tituss Burgess (Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
- Potential Spoilers: Ty Burrell (ABC's Modern Family), Keegan-Michael Key (Comedy Central's Key & Peele), Andre Braugher (FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Anna Chlumsky (HBO's Veep)
- Should Win: Gaby Hoffmann (Amazon's Transparent)
- Potential Spoilers: Allison Janney (CBS' Mom)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: Jonathan Banks (AMC's Better Call Saul)
- Should Win: Jonathan Banks (AMC's Better Call Saul)
- Potential Spoilers: Ben Mendelsohn (Netflix's Bloodline), Peter Dinklage (HBO's Game of Thrones)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: Lena Headey (HBO's Game of Thrones)
- Should Win: Uzo Aduba (Netflix's Orange Is the New Black)
- Potential Spoilers: Christina Hendricks (AMC's Mad Men), Christine Baranski (CBS' The Good Wife)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
- Will Win: Bill Murray (HBO's Olive Kitteridge)
- Should Win: Richard Cabral (ABC's American Crime)
- Potential Spoilers: Damian Lewis (PBS' Wolf Hall), Finn Wittrock (FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
- Will Win: Sarah Paulson (FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show)
- Should Win: Sarah Paulson (FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show)
- Potential Spoilers: Mo'Nique (HBO's Bessie), Kathy Bates (FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show)
DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (FOX's The Last Man on Earth)
- Should Win: Armando Iannucci (HBO's Veep)
- Potential Spoilers: Jill Soloway (Amazon's Transparent)
DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: David Nutter (HBO's Game of Thrones)
- Should Win: Steven Soderbergh (Cinemax's The Knick)
- Potential Spoilers: Tim Van Patten (HBO's Boardwalk Empire)
DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
- Will Win: Amy Schumer & Ryan McFaul (Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer)
- Should Win: Amy Schumer & Ryan McFaul (Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer)
- Potential Spoilers: James Hoskinson (Comedy Central's The Colbert Report), Chuck O'Neil (Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
- Will Win: Lisa Cholodenko (HBO's Olive Kitteridge)
- Should Win: Hugo Blick (SundanceTV's The Honorable Woman)
- Potential Spoilers: Ryan Murphy (FX's American Horror Story: Freak Show), Dee Rees (HBO's Bessie)
WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
- Will Win: Matthew Weiner (AMC's Mad Men)
- Should Win: Joshua Brand (FX's The Americans)
- Potential Spoilers: Gordon Smith (AMC's Better Call Saul)
WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
- Will Win: Jill Soloway (Amazon's Transparent)
- Should Win: Will Forte (FOX's The Last Man on Earth)
- Potential Spoilers: Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche (HBO's Veep)
WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
- Will Win: Comedy Central's The Colbert Report
- Should Win: HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- Potential Spoilers: Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
- Will Win: Jane Anderson (HBO's Olive Kitteridge)
- Should Win: Hugo Blick (SundanceTV's The Honorable Woman)
- Potential Spoilers: John Ridley (ABC's American Crime)
