The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are weeks away and its time to narrow down who I believe WILL WIN and SHOULD WIN at this years Emmys. Let’s take a look at Outstanding Comedy Series.
Nominees:
- Barry
- Fleabag
- The Good Place
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Russian Doll
- Schitt’s Creek
- Veep
Who Should Win: Veep
Veep was expected to coast through this Emmy season unscathed as the unanimous victor for its farewell season, but things aren’t looking so well for HBO’s political satire. after only receiving a less-than-expected 9 nominations this year compared to 17 nominations the last time it was eligible in 2017, Veep significantly underperformed this time around making me wonder if Academy voters just didn’t like the final season, or if the political satire of its final season mirrored our current administration’s antics a bit too much.
Even though I was extremely satisfied with how the series ended, many felt the series ended with a whisper instead of its anticipated roar, which could hurt its Emmys chances by not continuously being in the hearts and minds of Emmy voters come time to cast their ballots. One important precursor to win the top comedy prize is Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, which Veep did nab, but it’s also important to note it missed out on Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series – a category it hasn’t missed since 2015.
Who Will Win: Barry
Predicting wins for series wins at the Emmys isn’t about which show got the most nominations. If that were the case, I’d be choosing this years most nominated comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to prevail in this category with its 20 nominations, up from 14 last year. The art of predicting Emmys is to focus in on what categories shows were nominated in. It’s not all about the acting categories. Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Casting nominations go a long way in judging if a show can go all the way or not. Out of this years fantastically chosen comedies vying for Outstanding Comedy Series, only 2 series garnered all three of those nominations in addition to a slew of acting nominations – Barry and Fleabag.
This is Fleabag‘s first appearance at the Emmys so I’m not too sure how much support I can give it not having any historical awards data to back up this series. Yes, it did over perform by receiving 11 nominations, but how many of those will translate to wins? Barry on the other hand has proven its strength at last years Emmys and its coming back with vengeance this year.
Pundits are focusing on a Veep/Maisel battle, but my focus is on Barry! Not only was season 2 critically acclaimed, season 2 almost TRIPLED in nominations to 17 for its much celebrated sophomore season. Last years winners Bill Hader and Harry Winkler will be defending their Emmy titles. Stephen Root and Another Carrigan will be joining Winkler in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series race and Sarah Goldberg receiving a well-deserved nomination in Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Barry also nabbed a writing nomination and two directing nominations, including one for Bill Hader for the impeccably directed, written, and acted episode “ronny/lily.”
Forget about Veep and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Barry is going to cruise to its first Best Comedy win this year!
The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards air Sunday, September 22nd at 8/7c on Fox.
TV Talk With JWalk 