Emmy Predictions 2020 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series?

From July 2 to July 13, 2020, voting took place for The 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. As such, it's fun to look at which actors and shows have the best chances of actually being nominated this year. So, these are my predictions for who will be nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

2019 Nominees:

        Alex Borstein for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (WINNER)
        Anna Chlumsky for HBO's Veep
        Sian Clifford for Amazon's Fleabag
        Olivia Colman for Amazon's Fleabag
        Betty Gilpin for Netflix's GLOW
        Sarah Goldberg for HBO's Barry
        Marin Hinkle for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
        Kate McKinnon for NBC's Saturday Night Live

For the last two years, this category has produced eight nominees. That was based on the prior formula for determining who got such recognition. Now, that number will be a firm cutoff. As such, the prognosticators already know what it's like to have a crowded field of eight nominees in this race. Both times resulted in a win for Alex Borstein. She should be a major threat to win once more. This category may be a fight between The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Schitt's Creek. One side has a track record. The other does not. The Amazon dramedy could land three nominations here for Borstein, Marin Hinkle and last year's guest actress winner Jane Lynch. Meanwhile, Schitt's Creek seems well positioned to surge for its final season after breaking through in a few races last year. That could just amount to Annie Murphy here. It could also include Emily Hampshire as well. If those two shows both get multiple nominees in this field, that would be a stunning race to figure out who would win. That may be the best position for someone else to sneak in for the victory. Or it could cement those two shows as the best of comedy at the moment. It certainly feels that way but anything can happen in each individual category. With eight nominees, there are going to be surprises. The supporting races across drama and comedy will be unpredictable. Actresses from The Good Place and Insecure could finally make it after several years of being snubbed. Saturday Night Live could be yet another show that fills out multiple slots. The voters could spread the wealth. But it seems much more likely to keep it concentrated on a few shows that had stunning work across the board in their ensembles.

For the 2020 awards ceremony, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences decided to tie the number of nominations to the number of submissions in each category. For Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, 241 actresses were eligible on the ballot. That will translate to eight nominees in this category.

Actors most likely to be nominated:

1. Alex Borstein for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
2. Kate McKinnon for NBC's Saturday Night Live
3. Jane Lynch for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
4. Marin Hinkle for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
5. Annie Murphy for Pop's Schitt's Creek
6. Betty Gilpin for Netflix's GLOW
7. Emily Hampshire for Pop's Schitt's Creek
8. D'Arcy Carden for NBC's The Good Place

Serious threats that could break through:

1. Yvonne Orji, Natasha Rothwell and Amanda Seales for HBO's Insecure
2. Rita Moreno and Isabella Gomez for Pop's One Day at a Time
3. Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Melissa Villaseñor, Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner for NBC's Saturday Night Live
4. Jameela Jamil for NBC's The Good Place
5. Anne Hathaway, Julia Garner and Jane Alexander for Amazon's Modern Love
6. Hiam Abbass for Hulu's Ramy
7. Caroline Aaron for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
8. Gillian Anderson, Emma Mackey, Aimee Lou Wood, Tanya Reynolds and Patricia Allison for Netflix's Sex Education
9. Laurie Metcalf, Katey Sagal, Lecy Goranson and Emma Kenney for ABC's The Conners
10. Lisa Kudrow, Tawny Newsome and Diana Silvers for Netflix's Space Force
11. Lauren Graham and Mary Steenburgen for NBC's Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
12. Edi Patterson and Cassidy Freeman for HBO's The Righteous Gemstones
13. Gayle Rankin for Netflix's GLOW
14. Megan Mullally for NBC's Will & Grace
15. Ashley Nicole Black, Quinta Brunson and Gabrielle Dennis for HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show
16. Sofia Vergara and Sarah Hyland for ABC's Modern Family
17. Sarah Levy, Jennifer Robertson and Karen Robinson for Pop's Schitt's Creek

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Susie Essman and Cheryl Hines for HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm
2. Poorna Jagannathan and Richa Moorjani for Netflix's Never Have I Ever
3. Jessica Lange, Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton, Laura Dreyfuss, Julia Schlaepfer and Rahne Jones for Netflix's The Politician
4. Anna Faris and Kristen Johnston for CBS' Mom
5. Rebecca Front, Suzy Nakamura, Lenora Crichlow and Nikki Amuka-Bird for HBO's Avenue 5
6. Celia Imrie, Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood and Olivia Edward for FX's Better Things
7. Regina Hall and Casey Wilson for Showtime's Black Monday
8. Nancy Travis, Jane Seymour, Sarah Baker and Lisa Edelstein for Netflix's The Kominsky Method
9. Catherine Keener and Judy Greer for Showtime's Kidding
10. Amanda Crew and Suzanne Cryer for HBO's Silicon Valley
11. Natalie Morales and Diana Maria Riva for Netflix's Dead to Me
12. Jane Krakowski, Ella Hunt and Anna Baryshnikov for AppleTV+'s Dickinson
13. Martha Kelly for FX's Baskets
14. Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero for NBC's Brooklyn Nine-Nine
15. Da'Vine Joy Randolph for Hulu's High Fidelity
16. Amanda Peet for IFC's Brockmire
17. Taylor Misiak and Christine Ko for FXX's Dave
18. Shay Mitchell, Brenda Song and Esther Povitsky for Hulu's Dollface

Colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Lisa Kudrow for Netflix's Feel Good
2. Zoe Perry and Annie Potts for CBS' Young Sheldon
3. Archie Panjabi for HBO's Run
4. Michaela Watkins and Maya Lynne Robinson for CBS' The Unicorn
5. Lori Tan Chinn for Comedy Central's Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens
6. Lolly Adefope for Hulu's Shrill
7. Jenna Boyd, Fivel Stewart and Amy Okuda for Netflix's Atypical
8. Linda Emond for AMC's Lodge 49
9. Loretta Devine and Tia Mowry for Netflix's Family Reunion
10. Ashley Blaine Featherson and Antoinette Robertson for Netflix's Dear White People
11. Dede Lovelace, Moonbear, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell and Rachelle Vinberg for HBO's Betty
12. Julia Sweeney for Showtime's Work in Progress

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