This was the year Schitt’s Creek finally exploded at the Emmys, after building buzz for years, and breaking through in some key categories last year. Well, for its final season it got 15 nominations and is highly likely to win- the question is how many actors will it take with it? Could it sweep? I think it could.
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Expect Catherine O’Hara to win Emmy gold this year
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Traces Ellis Ross, black-ish
The comedy icon Catherine O’Hara won a writing Emmy way back in the early 1980’s for SCTV- now I think she wins her first acting Emmy for Schitt’s Creek. She was the most outlandish character on the show, always hilarious, always wacky, and you know- she’s an icon. The show is going to win at least one acting Emmy along with series, and she’s the most likely to take it.
Winner: Catherine O’Hara
Alternate: Issa Rae (could perhaps sneak in as a breakthrough)
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY
I’m guessing this goes to Eugene Levy, but there are other possibilities
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
This category is harder, but it’s where I start wondering about the Schitt’s Creek sweep. Eugene Levy is as big a comedy icon as O’Hara and though he was kind of the straight man on the show, this is their last chance to honor him. Then again, Ted Danson is a beloved veteran and it was also The Good Place’s last season (but he has won Emmys before, unlike Levy).
Winner: Eugene Levy
Alternate: Ted Danson
Dark Horse: Ramy Youssef
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
My gut tells me Maisel gets another one for Alex Borstein
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Cecily Strong, SNL
Kate McKinnon, SNL
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
D’Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Oh boy. How confident am I in the Schitt’s Creek sweep? My instinct says to go with Borstein as a three-peat winner, but I can’t shake the feeling that they might throw everything at Schitt’s Creek this year. Annie Murphy is more lead than supporting (the show has 4 leads) and she was great on it and has been for years. It’d be more exciting to give it to a newcomer than yet another repeat winner, right? But Emmys love nothing if not repeating themselves.
Winner: Alex Borstein
Alternate: Annie Murphy
Dark Horse: Cecily Strong (this is her first nomination, though I don’t like the SNL actors getting recognized in this category- they need to have a separate one for sketch performers)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
This is a dull prediction but I’m too chicken to go with Dan Levy for this
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
It’s great to see all the diversity in these categories and I hate to predict all white winners. I’d be more bullish on Dan Levy winning here if I didn’t think he was going to surely win in writing, and possibly directing as well. It’s a question of how much is too much- but since again, the show is over and this is really the first and last chance to celebrate it, I don’t think they’re going to think there’s a limit (they certainly didn’t in the final seasons of Breaking Bad, right? Or Fleabag last year). But if not him, who takes it? Probably Tony Shalhoub again, which would be very boring. But Maisel still got a boatload of nominations and was highly praised for its third season, so it will likely win at least one or two acting Emmys.
Winner: Tony Shalhoub
Alternate: Dan Levy
Dark Horse: Sterling K. Brown (another actor from Maisel if they don’t want to stick with Shalhoub)
