Emmy Predictions 2016 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series?

From June 13 to June 27, voting is taking place for The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. To add to the excitement of the past year in television, I'm providing analysis on which shows and performers are likely to get nominated this year. Next up is Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

2015 Nominees:
        Andre Braugher for FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine
        Tituss Burgess for Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
        Ty Burrell for ABC's Modern Family
        Adam Driver for HBO's Girls
        Tony Hale for HBO's Veep (WINNER)
        Keegan-Michael Key for Comedy Central's Key & Peele

All of last year's nominees are once again eligible. I only think three are guaranteed slots in this very competitive field though. Andre Braugher, Tituss Burgess and Tony Hale either had strong seasons on their shows or are favorites amongst the voters. The rest of the field is very uncertain. Any number of contenders could slide into those final three slots. Ty Burrell and Adam Driver can't be discredited either. However, they are on aging shows that have faded with the voters. So they could be out to make way for new talent. Keegan-Michael Key was a surprise (but welcome) nomination last year. The supporting comedy fields have liked recognizing someone from a sketch show over the past few years. So, Key could be in the conversation again. But so could his Key & Peele co-star Jordan Peele or Documentary Now's Fred Armisen or any of the guys from Saturday Night Live (with Taran Killam and Pete Davidson have the best odds there). Plus, the ensembles of Veep and Silicon Valley have only gotten stronger. One of those guys could break into the field as well to join Tony Hale. There are really so many possibilities that could make for a number of surprises on nomination morning.

So now, here's my thoughts on the actors most likely to be nominated for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:

1. Tony Hale for HBO's Veep
2. Andre Braugher for FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3. Tituss Burgess for Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
4. Keegan-Michael Key for Comedy Central's Key & Peele
5. Laurence Fishburne for ABC's black-ish
6. T.J. Miller for HBO's Silicon Valley

And now, for some serious threats that could break into the list:

1. Hugh Laurie, Timothy Simons, Gary Cole, Kevin Dunn, Sam Richardson, Matt Walsh and Reid Scott for HBO's Veep
2. Adam Driver for HBO's Girls
3. Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Ed O'Neill for ABC's Modern Family
4. David Alan Grier for NBC's The Carmichael Show
5. Fred Armisen for IFC's Documentary Now!
6. Jay Duplass for Amazon's Transparent
7. Sam Elliott and Danny Masterson for Netflix's The Ranch
8. Louie Anderson for FX's Baskets
9. Taran Killam and Pete Davidson for NBC's Saturday Night Live
10. Jordan Peele for Comedy Central's Key & Peele
11. Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston for Netflix's Grace and Frankie
12. Jaime Camil for The CW's Jane the Virgin
13. Santino Fontana for The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
14. Bradley Cooper, Jon Hamm, Christopher Meloni, Chris Pine and Paul Rudd for Netflix's Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Zach Woods, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani and Matt Ross for HBO's Silicon Valley
2. Mark Duplass and Steve Zissis for HBO's Togetherness
3. Richard Kind and Paul Reiser for Amazon's Red Oaks
4. Noah Galvin for ABC's The Real O'Neals
5. Terry Crews and Joe Lo Truglio for FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine
6. Alex Karpovsky, Jake Lacy, Andrew Rannells and Ebon Moss-Bachrach for HBO's Girls
7. Bobby Moynihan, Kenan Thompson, Jay Pharoah, Michael Che and Colin Jost for NBC's Saturday Night Live
8. Malcolm McDowell and Jason Schwartzman for Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle
9. John Corbett for FX's Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll
10. Colin Hanks, Thomas Sadoski and Dan Bakkedahl for CBS' Life in Pieces
11. Desmin Borges for FXX's You're the Worst
12. Hayes MacArthur, Jere Burns and Deon Cole for TBS' Angie Tribeca
13. Keegan-Michael Key for USA's Playing House
14. Brett Dier and Justin Baldoni for The CW's Jane the Virgin
15. Pete Gardner and Vincent Rodriguez III for The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

And now, just some colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Eric Wareheim and Kelvin Yu for Netflix's Master of None
2. Mel Rodriguez for FOX's The Last Man on Earth
3. Glen Powell for FOX's Scream Queens
4. Ethan Cutkosky, Cameron Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney and Jeremy Allen White for Showtime's Shameless
5. Hannibal Buress for Comedy Central's Broad City
6. Nyasha Hatedni for Hulu's Casual
7. Fred Melamed for Netflix's Lady Dynamite
8. Will Arnett and Jack McBrayer for IFC's Todd Margeret
9. Rob Corddry for HBO's Ballers
10. Mike Epps for Starz's Survivor's Remorse

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know in the comments below!