Wednesday, September 23, 2015

2016 Emmy Predictions

With the 2015 Emmys still fresh in our minds, it's time for another round of one of my favorite annual posts: My predictions for next year. The idea is pretty simple. The next Primetime Emmys are about a year away. I make 10 predictions about what will happen and check back to see how I did a year from now. So many things could change. So much will not. This past year I did the best I ever have. Let's see if I can do even better this time.

Past editions:
2015 Predictions | Results
2014 Predictions | Results
2013 Predictions | Results
2012 Predictions | Results


Two of these three nominations happen: Matthew Rhys (Lead Actor), Keri Russell (Lead Actress), The Americans (Drama Series).
The Drama series field is suddenly wide open Mad Men is gone. The Newsroom is gone. Downton Abbey and Homeland are weak. Bloodline and House of Cards aren't gaining momentum. Meanwhile, The Americans got a Guest Actress win and picked up a writing nomination this year. The way people watch TV these days is more favorable to late series surges thanks to Netflix and Hulu binging. Just look at Breaking Bad going from initially unnominated to two time winner and Game of Thrones winning for the first time in its fifth season. Perhaps The Americans is finally ready to step up.

Lady Gaga gets a Emmy Nomination for acting.
I assume this will be for American Horror Story: Hotel but I'm leaving room for if she guest hosts SNL. American Horror Story, love it or hate it, is great at getting nominations for its actors and Gaga will be too irresistible to pass up: lead or supporting.

Veep gets a second term.
Who's there to beat it? Louie is taking a year (at least) off. Parks and Rec. is gone. Silicon Valley still looks like Veep's little brother. Transparent is one of those zeitgeisty shows that really needs to win in its first season to stand a chance in latter seasons. Nothing in the network comedy pipeline for this season is likely to step up. The loss of Armando Iannucci for next season will hurt. I doubt the voters will even notice though.

HBO has more than half the TV Movie nominees.
Calling the win isn't saying much. HBO has won all but twice since 1993. HBO regularly get three nominations (out of six). But, getting that fourth has been tough. Given that this year's nominees included the critically derided Grace of Monaco and a movie from something called Acorn TV, HBO is the only one even trying anymore. Four nominees shouldn't be out of the question.

There will be no repeat winners for any of the four main Drama acting categories.
This isn't actually that uncommon. It happened in 2011 and 2008. There's normally a trigger though. In 2011, Breaking Bad had a year off. 2008 was the first year after The Sopranos. I could be very wrong with this. Only Jon Hamm is absolutely not returning. Viola Davis could be the new Glen Close (i.e. the Oscars don't love her but the Emmys do). Dinklage has won twice now and doesn't have Aaron Paul in his way. If Uzo Aduba could win for season two of Orange, she can absolutely win for season three. None of them (or former winners like Clare Danes or Julianna Margulies) feel like juggernauts [not anymore], so I'm calling it. They're clearing house.

A Marvel or DC Series gets a stunt coordination nomination
This is one of those that looks so obvious that it should be common sense. Between Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and whatever Netflix has (Jessica Jones and possibly others), one of them has to get a nomination.

Last Week Tonight dominates the Variety categories.
The most stable of categories is about to get crazy. Jon Stewart: GONE. The Colbert Report: GONE. Late Night with David Letterman. GONE. Having already broke into the nomination field and knowing that voters are lazy when it comes to Variety Series, Last Week Tonight is going to have a very good Emmy night.

Silicon Valley gets an acting nomination.
I might as well have a couple weird predictions and here's a good one. Silicon Valley has staying power, as evidenced by two years of series, directing, and writing nominations. Somehow, none of the actors have been nominated though. Thomas Middleditch is playing an absolute character that anyone should be able to appreciate (especially if they see how he normally is). TJ Miller's appearance in every third movie for the last couple years has to engender some good will around the industry. Zach Woods is a scene-stealer of the highest order. The show gets multiple flashy guest stars on a nearly weekly basis. Someone must be noticed eventually. It's strange that it hasn't happened yet.

In with Emmy Rossum. Out with Tatiana Maslany.
Along with Keri Russell (See above), these are two of the actresses I've petitioned the most for. Maslany got a nomination [finally] this year. That was a minor miracle. Sadly, I'm thinking that'll be a one time thing. Critical drum-beating will die down and voters will forget about her. Hopefully I'm wrong. On the other hand, Emmy Rossum's chances look better in 2016. Shameless is slowly getting more attention (Macy got a nomination and Cusack got a win this year). Lead Actress in a Comedy is wide open. No more Amy Poehler or Edie Falco. I'm not certain The Comeback will have another season. Amy Schumer and Lily Tomlin don't even feel very sturdy. And Shameless keeps chugging along with Rossum giving one of the best performances on TV.

The Amazing Race falls out of the Reality Competition field.
It's time for one crazy predictions. The Amazing Race has dominated the Reality Competition category: a category that fears any kind of change (the same six shows have been nominated the last four years). I say, "no more". Not only will The Amazing Race fail to reclaim the Emmy, an overzealous push to shake things up will leave it out of the nomination field entirely. This won't happen, but won't I look smart if it somehow does?

Bonus: I will have see a combined five nominees from Limited Series or TV Movie.
I have something like this included every year, so I might as well keep it around. This is virtually a forgone conclusion though. I already watched Show Me A Hero and True Detective (I'm not sure, but I think the new nomination rules would force True Detective to Limited Series). There's no chance I'm missing Fargo. I plan to watch American Horror Story: Hotel for the curious Gaga factor. That leaves one more thing for me to watch. I can do that.

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