As Emmy season approaches, I figured it’s time to revisit some of my early Emmy predictions, and make some more solid predictions with actual frontrunners strong contenders. I’ll be making my predictions based off of how many nominees were in the corresponding category last year. Let’s visit Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Frontrunners
- Henry Winkler – Barry
- Alan Arkin – The Kominsky Method
- Tony Shalboub – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Tony Hale – Veep
- Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live
- Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
This is a tough category to narrow down because supporting categories can shift so much from year-to-year. One thing that’s certain is last years winner Harry Winkler (Barry) will be back once again, but has very strong competition from The Kominshy Method actor Alan Arkin, who gave such an enjoyable performance that deserves to be rewarded. The sixth slot in this category was tough to choose, so at this time, I’m going to bet on long overdue Tituss Burgess for his final season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, as long as Emmy voters haven’t forgotten the series altogether.
Strong Contenders
- Timothy Simons – Veep
- Alec Baldwin – Saturday Night Live
- Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Dan Levy – Schitt’s Creek
- Andrew Rannells – Black Monday
First and Foremost, I sincerely hope Alec Baldwin is not nomination for Saturday Night Live again for his Donald Trump impersonation. If he’s nominated in the guest acting category, fine, I’ll be able to accept that. But this category should be reserved for actors who are actually apart of a series, not just appearing in enough episodes to adhere to The Academy’s standards that allows them to be here.
Moving on… Veep is going to make a strong appearance at its final run at the Emmys. I’m sure past winner Tony Hale (2013, 2015) is a lock for a nom, unlike previous nominee Matt Walsh, who shouldn’t be nominated this year. I made my early predictions before the final season started, and if any other supporting actor is nominated it should be Timothy Simons for his outrageous portrayal as Jonah Ryan. Simons has leaned-in 100% with the Jonah Ryan character the past few seasons and its made him a fan-favorite to the point where he has his own storyline away from the key players. Simons has never been nominated for an Emmy, and this is the final shot for Jonah Ryan, both as the Emmys and at the Presidency.
I think it would be great if Andre Braugher got back in the race for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but I don’t think he’s frontrunner status at this moment, even if B99 is enjoying its second life on NBC. Andrew Rannells is one of my favorite actors, and is the heart of Black Monday, but it’s a strong MAYBE if voters even recognize this show, and if they do, it’ll most likely be a sole acting nomination for Don Cheadle.
I’ll say the same thing about Dan Levy as I said about his legendary father Eugene regarding the Lead Actor category, it’ll be a welcomed surprise if Dan is nominated for Schitt’s Creek, but there’s a big hill of talent to overcome in this category, and the Emmys may overlook his performance for the sake of bigger named actors with prior nominations.
2019 Emmy nominations will be announced Tuesday, July 16th, get ready for a lot of coverage leading to the final day as potential nominees heat up or cool off.
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