In the lead-up to this year's Emmys, we've all got our personal favorites for who should win on Sunday, but here's my number one fingers crossed hope for the 2021 ceremony: Chaos. That's because last year, the Emmys chose to present the awards pretty much entirely by genre, making it all the more obvious when the same three shows kept winning everything.
It wasn't technically a boring ceremony, if only because of the guys in tuxedo hazmat suits delivering trophies, and no disrespect meant to Schitt's Creek, Succession, and Watchmen — worthy winners, all of them. But it's been a weird-ass year for everyone, so whenever possible, I'm swerving this year's predictions into said weirdness. Let's meet this year's contenders. Got to be in it to win it!
Drama Series
The Boys (Amazon Prime Video)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Lovecraft Country (HBO)
The Mandalorian (Disney Plus)
Pose (FX)
This Is Us (NBC)
Okay, what could be more chaotic than making a whole thing about choosing chaos in the introduction, then picking perhaps the most boring option possible for the very first category? That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The true chaos pick would probably be The Boys — bless that show for making it into the big show, and it was legitimately one of the strongest shows of 2020 on a number of levels — but while the other nominees have a lot to recommend them, The Crown likely has the most mainstream support, and this could finally be its moment after three previous nominations in this category.
Comedy Series
Black-ish (ABC)
Cobra Kai (Netflix)
Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Hacks (HBO Max)
The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
Pen15 (Hulu)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)
The true chaos pick here would Cobra Kai (Emily who?) but real talk y'all, this is Ted Lasso's to lose.
Limited Series
I May Destroy You (HBO)
Mare of Easttown (HBO)
The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video)
WandaVision (Disney Plus)
Quite honestly, any of these shows winning would please me. No bad apples in this bunch. But sometimes choosing chaos in an awards show context means choosing the show that most deserves to actually win.
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country)
Josh O’Connor (The Crown)
Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton)
Billy Porter (Pose)
Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason)
This award should belong to Billy Porter, as his work on Pose was unforgettable to the very last drop. But Regé-Jean Page managed to turn the role of a hot repressed duke into a launch pad for stardom, and I could see him riding that momentum to success on Emmys night.
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Uzo Aduba (In Treatment)
Olivia Colman (The Crown)
Emma Corrin (The Crown)
Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Mj Rodriguez (Pose)
Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country)
Remember when Pose first premiered and the cast was stacked with people like Evan Peters and James Van Der Beek? And then it became clear how unnecessary those people were, because Mj Rodriguez was a shining star who could carry the show on her own? I sure do. She deserves.
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish)
Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)
William H. Macy (Shameless)
Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)
Kenan Thompson (Kenan)
Really only one choice with this category. (That said, if William H. Macy sneaks in for the final season of Shameless, that wouldn't necessarily shock me.)
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Aidy Bryant (Shrill)
Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant)
Allison Janney (Mom)
Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish)
Jean Smart (Hacks)
You never, ever go wrong betting on Jean Smart. But Kaley Cuoco could muscle her way to the top here, and Allison Janney could benefit from this being the final season of Mom.
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Paul Bettany (WandaVision)
Hugh Grant (The Undoing)
Ewan McGregor (Halston)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)
Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton)
All five of these gentlemen were quite good in their respective projects. Paul Bettany was the best. Fight me.
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You)
Cynthia Erivo (Genius: Aretha)
Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision)
Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit)
Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown)
This is one where I could very easily see being wrong because Kate Winslet does, indeed, rule, and Michaela Coel could bring a little chaos here. But as cliche as it is to use words like "revelation," Anya Taylor-Joy was a damn revelation in The Queen's Gambit, pretty much carrying the entire damn thing on her shoulders, and approximately one billion Netflix subscribers watched that show. Checkmate.
Variety Talk Series
Conan
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
TV Academy voters have a habit of favoring final seasons, so Conan's both my chaos pick as well as what I think might actually happen — worst case scenario, the award goes to Last Week Tonight again, and I won't be mad, as that show has continued to deliver even from the void.
Competition Program
The Amazing Race
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Drag Race has gone from being a dark horse to a dominant force in this category — while Top Chef delivered a great season of television by adapting with the times, controversy surrounding the winner may keep the crown in RuPaul's hands.
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian)
O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale)
John Lithgow (Perry Mason)
Tobias Menzies (The Crown)
Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Chris Sullivan (This Is Us)
Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Michael K. Williams (Lovecraft Country)
The playing field feels pretty wide open here, so let's just say rest in power, Michael K. Williams. Such a damn tragedy.
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Gillian Anderson (The Crown)
Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown)
Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Aunjanue Ellis (Lovecraft Country)
Emerald Fennell (The Crown)
Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Everyone here is great, but not everyone here is Gillian Anderson, which is bad news for them.
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Hacks)
Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso)
Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso)
Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso)
Paul Reiser (The Kominsky Method)
Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso)
Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live)
Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live)
He's here, he's there, he's every-fucking-where, Roy Kent! (That said, the best sort of chaos would reign if Bowen Yang won — his Saturday Night Live work has been game-changing for the series.)
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Aidy Bryant (Saturday Night Live)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Rosie Perez (The Flight Attendant)
Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live)
Juno Temple (Ted Lasso)
Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)
A lot of great talent here, but my gut said to go with Rosie Perez, if only because my first thought after The Flight Attendant got a second season was "oh good, because what the hell is going to happen to Megan?" Perez was the classical definition of a perfect supporting player in the first season. (That said, Hannah Waddingham would also be a wonderful winner.)
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Thomas Brodie Sangster (The Queen’s Gambit)
Daveed Diggs (Hamilton)
Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You)
Jonathan Groff (Hamilton)
Evan Peters (Mare Of Easttown)
Anthony Ramos (Hamilton)
Evan Peters has had an incredible 2021. Let's keep a good thing going.
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton)
Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision)
Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit)
Julianne Nicholson (Mare Of Easttown)
Jean Smart (Mare Of Easttown)
Phillipa Soo (Hamilton)
I don't get super-worked-up over awards shows as a rule but if Kathryn Hahn doesn't win I WILL BURN YOU TO THE GROUND, TV ACADEMY I will be quite surprised and disappointed.
Variety Sketch Series
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Saturday Night Live
SNL has enough damn Emmys. And on a sketch-by-sketch basis, Black Lady Sketch Show outperformed the NBC mainstay when it came to innovative laughs. Probably won't go this way, but it should.
Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix)
David Byrne’s American Utopia (HBO)
8:46 – Dave Chappelle (Netflix)
Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max)
Hamilton (Disney Plus)
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (HBO Max)
Of all the Emmys that Hamilton was nominated for, this is the one it most deserves to win. (Though Bo Burnham gave us one of the few real pieces of pandemic art — if Inside doesn't win this year, it can content itself with its enduring legacy.)
The 73rd annual Emmy Awards air Sunday, September 19 on CBS.