A New Look At 'Supergirl' Teases DC Villains

A more cinematic teaser for the new Supergirl shows Kara using the freeze breath, which is a power the movies seem to forget Superman even has. I like the blue laser eyes too- changing the color of things seems like an easy way to distinguish her from her more powerful cousin, at least a little bit. I'm gonna give this show a shot, despite my aversion to watching things on CBS- I still want to see female centered superhero shows succeed, so maybe this one will be a harbinger of good things to come. Supergirl starts Monday, Oct 26th.

Emmy Predictions, Part 4: Drama, Comedy, Variety, Reality and Limited Series

Now we're onto the big ones- the awards for series in the Comedy, Drama, Variety, Reality and Miniseries categories. As always, I'm unsure, especially this year, so bear with me everyone.

COMEDY SERIES

  • Louie
  • Modern Family
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Silicon Valley
  • Transparent
  • Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
  • Veep

So, if Modern Family wins this award again it will be an unprecedented sixth win overall and sixth in a row. Can it really happen? Are all other comedy shows too niche now to break through to what's most broadly appealing to Emmy voters? Its nomination count was down hugely this year, and for the first time ever it didn't get key noms in writing or directing, so there's evidence of fatigue. But the question, as always, is what's the alternative? What else can most appeal to this group? The shows with the most nominations this year were Transparent and Veep. Both are little watched, and Transparent especially, despite its buzz and zeitgeist factor, is really more of a half hour drama and is nothing like anything the Academy has ever chosen for this award. So that leaves me with Veep, which is possibly overdue. As for opening up the voting, my instinct tells me that would only help the most watched of these nominees, which is unfortunately Modern Family. So I'm kinda stumped here.

  • Winner: Veep (I do not feel good about this choice, but I'm going with the fact that it's funnier than Transparent for the win)
  • Alternate: Transparent
  • Dark Horse: Modern Family

DRAMA SERIES

  • Better Call Saul
  • Downton Abbey
  • Game of Thrones
  • Homeland
  • House of Cards
  • Mad Men
  • Orange is the New Black

This is a little easier to call, because I do feel it's likely to be Game of Thrones' turn this year. It was by far the most nominated show at the Emmys overall, earning more nods than I think it's ever gotten (and it always gets a lot, due to all the technical categories), so I think it's finally going to happen. I don't know how this happened for the show's worst season (it seriously was), but there is a precedent for the Emmys catching up with a cultural phenomenon show and awarding it, oddly enough, for its fifth season exactly. It happened with The Sopranos and with 24 in the past, so I think GoT will join the club. If not, then I don't know, maybe House of Cards? There's a contingent of fans of that show within the Academy, although I don't think it's anywhere near good enough to keep getting nominated every year, let alone winning. And then there's a possibility for a farewell prize for Mad Men again, but if anything happens for that show in the final season, I think it'd have to be Jon Hamm.

  • Winner: Game of Thrones
  • Alternate: House of Cards
  • Dark Horse: Mad Men

VARIETY TALK SERIES

  • The Colbert Report
  • The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
  • Late Show with David Letterman
  • The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Letterman could win this as a sentimental farewell (which is also the reason he was nominated). But that could also work in The Daily Show's favor, which won 10 years in a row. Jon Stewart will probably take it one last time.

  • Winner: The Daily Show
  • Alternate: Late Show with David Letterman
  • Dark Horse: The Colbert Report (it won the last two years in a row and it's also over now, but since he's back on the air, I think the sentiment is stronger for the retirees)

VARIETY SKETCH SERIES

  • Drunk History
  • Inside Amy Schumer
  • Key & Peele
  • Portlandia
  • Saturday Night Live

This is a new category this year- for the first time they've split the sketch shows away from the talk shows, so that one of them has a chance to actually win, which is a nice thing to do. It'd be cool if Key & Peele won this, since the show just ended for good, but I'm guessing Amy Schumer based on the buzz? She's a big celebrity this year, so the popular vote goes to her, right?

  • Winner: Inside Amy Schumer
  • Alternate: Key & Peele
  • Dark Horse: SNL (in the inaugural year of this award, it might make sense to award the show that started it all, and this is its 40th anniversary year, so it's very possible)

REALITY PROGRAM

  • Antiques Roadshow
  • Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
  • Mythbusters
  • Property Brothers
  • Shark Tank
  • Undercover Boss

Shark Tank has won this in the past past and will probably continue to do so, even with a popular vote. In fact, I don't know what else is likely to do it.

Winner: Shark Tank

REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM

  • The Amazing Race
  • Dancing With the Stars
  • Project Runway
  • So You Think You Can Dance
  • Top Chef
  • The Voice

This one's a shot in the dark. I'm gonna go with The Voice, but Amazing Race is always a safe bet too.

  • Winner: The Voice
  • Alternate: The Amazing Race
  • Dark Horse: Dancing With the Stars

LIMITED SERIES

  • American Crime
  • American Horror Story: Freakshow
  • The Honorable Woman
  • Olive Kitteridge
  • Wolf Hall

They've split the TV Movie/Miniseries awards now, so this is a new category for limited series only. I'm tempted to go with American Horror Story, since it was the second most nominated series this year after Game of Thrones. But Olive Kitteridge has done well in other awards shows for this, so it's probably between them.

  • Winner: AHS
  • Alternate: Olive Kitteridge

And that's it for my shot in the dark predictions, people. Tune back in for my Emmy winners list and recap of Sunday night's show hosted by Andy Samberg, where I will embarrassingly reveal my bound to be awful scorecard and try to regroup with hopefully, some actual evidence as to how the voting will now work for the Emmys in this new era of non-panel, non-submission tape results. See you then.

The Doctors Return in the Trailer for 'The Knick' Season 2

Woo-hoo! one of my favorite shows of last year, The Knick is back starting October 16th, and all ten episodes are once again directed by Steven Soderbergh. This fall season I've been trying to weed out the shows I actually really like from the ones that I now realize I'm just watching out of habit (good-bye Arrow, The Strain and Agents of SHIELD). This one was a show that I really liked a lot however, so it's definitely still on the list.

Emmy Predictions, Part 3: Acting in a Drama Series

So, it's drama time for the Emmy predictions today, usually the more interesting categories, although with everything so up in the air this year, all the races will likely be a bit quirky.

LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA

  • Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
  • Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
  • Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
  • Jon Hamm, Mad Men
  • Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
  • Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

I'm sticking with Jon Hamm here until it kills me. With a popular vote system in place, this is his best ever chance to win on sentiment, and since to me it would be a crime if he never won an Emmy for the iconic television character of Don Draper, I'm holding out 'til the end. If there would be one actor to win an Emmy for that show during the whole course of its run, it'd have to be him. But just so you know, there's every chance that it could be someone else, most likely either Spacey or Odenkirk.

  • Winner: Jon Hamm
  • Alternate: Kevin Spacey (popular vote helps the movie star?)
  • Dark Horse: Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad was beloved, so some of the shine may be rubbed off on the prequel series)

LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

  • Taraji P. Henson, Empire
  • Claire Danes, Homeland
  • Robin Wright, House of Cards
  • Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
  • Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
  • Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

As much as my heart breaks for Tatiana Maslany being nominated in the one year where the old voting system can no longer help her, most people think this is Viola Davis's to lose. She won the SAG earlier this year, so I guess she's the frontrunner. But I could see Taraji P. Henson winning too, since Empire is such a phenomenon right now (she was the show's only nod, but How to Get Away With Murder isn't loved by the TV Academy either). If it's between those two, either of them will make history as the first black woman to win this category, so that's a good thing.

  • Winner: Taraji P. Henson- I'm going with the most watched show for this one
  • Alternate: Viola Davis

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA

  • Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
  • Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
  • Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
  • Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
  • Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
  • Michael Kelly, House of Cards

I'm guessing Jonathan Banks here. None of these guys are movie actor names, so in a popular vote I'm not sure who'd prevail (it could be Dinklage actually, based on GoT's popularity). Mendelsohn was actually great on Bloodline, but I just don't know how many people watched that show. Banks was nominated for Breaking Bad and didn't win there, so this time he will take it.

  • Winner: Jonathan Banks
  • Alternate: Peter Dinklage
  • Dark Horse: Ben Mendelsohn (if any of the voters actually watched his series)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

  • Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
  • Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
  • Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
  • Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
  • Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
  • Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black

I'm going to say Lena Headey will become the first actor besides Peter Dinklage to win an Emmy for Game of Thrones. Part of that is because I think Game of Thrones is winning Drama series this year and they will need some support to go along with it, which usually means at least one actor, and Headey had a very dramatic, powerful episode late in the season (not that episodes matter this year of course, but everyone watches GoT, so everyone will have seen and remembered hers anyway). Other chances for the win would be Hendricks, since she's never won and it was Mad Men's last season, and Aduba, who stands out on another show a lot of people watch, Orange is the New Black. But Headey is my pick this year.

  • Winner: Lena Headey
  • Alternate: Uzo Aduba
  • Dark Horse: Christina Hendricks

So tomorrow I'll be back with my final series predictions for the Drama, Comedy, Limited, TV Movie, Variety and Reality categories. Whew. Then we'll get to see how badly I fall on my face with these on Sunday. See you then!

Hillary Chats With 'Trump' on The Tonight Show

Normally, I hate posting stuff from Fallon, but here's Hillary scoring some much needed personality points on The Tonight Show as she takes advice from Donald Trump over the phone. I admit, it's not too bad- and anything that helps the strongest Democrat who can actually WIN the election next year (sorry Bernie Sanders peeps, but he's not Obama and he's not happening) is okay by me. And after the circus sideshow that was the GOP debate last night? Yeah, we need to keep some sanity in the White House.

Emmy Predictions, Part 2: Acting in a Comedy Series

So I'm back today with more likely to be random Emmy predictions, but I guess that makes it even more fun. Today we're looking at the comedy acting races.

LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

  • Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
  • Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
  • Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
  • Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
  • Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Believe it or not, without regard to submission tapes, I could really see any of these women winning. The tapes are still submitted and put online for optional viewing if any voter wants to watch all six, but let's face it, how many people do you think are going to do that? Based on popularity alone, I think it could easily be Julia Louis-Dreyfus again (for the fourth year in a row), Amy Schumer (hot off the buzz of Trainwreck and the zeitgeist), Lily Tomlin (because she's Lily Tomlin) or Amy Poehler (who's never won and this was the last season of Parks). It's gonna have to be a guess here.

  • Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (since I'm gambling on Veep in Comedy series, she has to go along with it)
  • Alternate: Amy Schumer
  • Dark Horse: Lily Tomlin

LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

  • Anthony Anderson, black-ish
  • Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
  • Don Cheadle, House of Lies
  • Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
  • Louis C.K., Louie
  • William H. Macy, Shameless
  • Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

This is a little easier, because I can't imagine Jeffrey Tambor not winning this award. He's beloved from The Larry Sanders Show and Arrested Development, and he's never won an Emmy. This is his year- he should easily win a popularity contest. And the thing the Emmy voters did to ensure it was to not even nominate four time consecutive winner Jim Parsons (thank god for that).

  • Winner: Jeffrey Tambor
  • Alternate: William H. Macy (beloved veteran status helps him I think)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

  • Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
  • Niecy Nash, Getting On
  • Julie Bowen, Modern Family
  • Allison Janney, Mom
  • Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
  • Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
  • Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
  • Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Yeah, you read that right- there's an astounding eight nominees in this category, and I have no clue who's likely to win in a popular vote. Allison Janney won last year and she's beloved by the TV Academy, so I guess I'm just going to stick with her, although I really don't know if the new voting rules are likely to change her winning streak or not. I'd personally like to see Kate McKinnon win. Julie Bowen might just take it, since Modern Family is probably still popular with a broad group of voters. Oy, this one's tough.

  • Winner: Allison Janney
  • Alternate: Julie Bowen
  • Dark Horse: Kate McKinnon (it's wishful thinking, yes, but maybe there's hope in the new voting system)

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN COMEDY SERIES

  • Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Adam Driver, Girls
  • Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
  • Ty Burrell, Modern Family
  • Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
  • Tony Hale, Veep

So my vote would go to Tituss Burgess here in a heartbeat, but with a broad group of people voting now, I'm wondering if it helps or hurts niche shows airing on Netflix. I have no evidence either way (not yet), but it could well help the most popular and watched show in a group of nominees, which would be, you got it, Modern Family of this bunch. Andre Braugher is a beloved veteran though, so you can't count him out.

  • Winner:Ty Burell- something tells me he's going to win his third Emmy for this role
  • Alternate: Andre Braugher

That's it, guys. I fully expect to be wrong here, but I'll be back tomorrow with the acting contenders for drama series. See you then!

Maggie Smith Looks to Get the Last Laugh in New 'Downton Abbey' Season 6 Trailer

That is, if they don't kill her off first. They probably won't, right? They haven't killed anyone of late on the show, and since it's the final season, I would think someone would have to go. Who more than the Dowager Countess, the representative of the old world in its entirety? Downton Abbey premieres its final season this Sunday in the UK.

Emmy Predictions, Part 1: Acting in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Well, it's my least favorite time of year everyone- Emmy predictions week. The Emmys are on this Sunday (already a conflict for me since it's airing live against my Seahawks game on NBC-argh!), and to make matters worse, this year the TV Academy has completely upended the voting system. That's right, if guessing the winners was a crapshoot before, now it's a total free for all. They used to vote based on submission tapes watched by panels of a dozen or so voters, now it's a straight popular vote from thousands of voters. No one has any idea how it's going to go down this year, which means there is no strategy or precedent for predictions at all. So why do it? I guess I'm just a masochist. I won't bother to give detailed analysis this year though- know that I'm guessing based on name recognition and what I think is popular with the voters due to the number of nominations a show got. That's all I got for this season, folks! We're starting with TV movie and miniseries actors.

LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE

  • Timothy Hutton, American Crime
  • Ricky Gervais, Derek
  • Adrien Brody, Houdini
  • David Oyelowo, Nightingale
  • Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
  • Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall

Ummm, I don't know. Possibly Richard Jenkins, since Olive Kitteridge has won a lot of precursor awards (I hated that show though). I really don't know who'd they go with otherwise, although it'd be cool if Mark Rylance won. He was pretty great in Wolf Hall.

  • Winner: Richard Jenkins
  • Alternate: Mark Rylance
  • Dark Horse: Ricky Gervais (a big name)

LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE

  • Felicity Huffman, American Crime
  • Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
  • Queen Latifah, Bessie
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
  • Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
  • Emma Thompson, Sweeney Todd (Live from Lincoln Center)

Frances McDormand has won everything else for this role, so it'd be foolish to bet against her now.

  • Winner: Frances McDormand
  • Alternate: Queen Latifah (could benefit from a popular vote)
  • Dark Horse: Maggie Gyllenhaal (she won the Golden Globe)

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE

  • Richard Cabral, American Crime
  • Denis O'Hare, American Horror Story
  • Finn Wittrock, American Horror Story
  • Michael Kenneth Williams, Bessie
  • Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
  • Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall

Yikes. This one stumps me completely. I tend to lean Bill Murray, yet he actually hasn't won anything for that role despite being nominated everywhere. I'm gonna have to take a wild stab in the dark here and go for Damian Lewis, previous Emmy winner for Homeland.

  • Winner: Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall
  • Alternate: BIll Murray, Olive Kitteridge

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE

  • Regina King, American Crime
  • Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story
  • Angela Bassett, American Horror Story
  • Kathy Bates, American Horror Story
  • Monique, Bessie
  • Zoe Kazan, Olive Kitteridge

Every year people say Sarah Paulson needs to win for AHS and it doesn't happen, so maybe this is the year it does? What hurts her is being up against bigger names from the same show though. Kathy Bates won last year, although I don't know if that means anything for her chances. Angela Bassett could take it. I do think it's between the three women of AHS.

  • Winner: Sarah Paulson- if two heads can't do it, nothing can.
  • Alternate: Angela Bassett
  • Dark Horse: Kathy Bates

That's it for today everybody. I'll be back tomorrow with the comedy acting races, but again, I'm pretty much doing this for fun, so I'm warning you not to take me as a sage predictor of anything for the wackier than usual Emmys this year.