Thursday, March 28, 2024

Our Final 2020 Emmy Nomination Predictions

By Michael Schwartz 

As we approach the first major awards show of the COVID-19 era, Next Best Series regulars Matt Neglia, Tom O’Brien, Ryan C. Showers and I have been busy catching up with Emmy contenders in order to predict the nominees for the upcoming telecast. While the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards promise to be anything but typical, one thing we do know now is that there is more television to go around than the categories can handle. With that being the case, your experts have made their best predictions based on a combination of knowledge, insight, and pure gut feelings (you can listen to them on our recently recorded podcast here). It’s all part of the fun of predicting and brings back a sense of semi-normalcy in these most unusual times. Take a look below and see who scores the highest when nominations are revealed on July 28th.

Predictions are provided by Matt Neglia, Ryan C. Showers, Tom O’Brien and myself

​Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm (ALL)
Dead to Me (ALL)
The Good Place (ALL)
Insecure (ALL)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Ramy (ALL)
Schitt’s Creek (ALL)
The Kominsky Method (Michael & Ryan)
Better Things (Tom)
The Great (Matt)

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate – Dead to Me (ALL)
Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Linda Cardellini – Dead to Me (ALL)
Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek (ALL)
Issa Rae – Insecure (ALL)
Pamela Adlon – Better Things (Michael & Tom)
Elle Fanning – The Great (Matt)
Merritt Weaver – Run (Ryan)

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Don Cheadle – Black Monday (ALL)
Ted Danson – The Good Place (ALL)
Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm (ALL)
Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek (ALL)
Ramy Youssef – Ramy (ALL)
Steve Carell – Space Force (Ryan Matt)
Michael Douglas – The Kominsky Method (Michael & Tom)

Featured Actress in a Comedy Series
Alex Borstein – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Marin Hinkle – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Jane Lynch – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live (ALL)
Annie Murphy – Schitt’s Creek (ALL)
D’Arcy Carden – The Good Place (Michael, Ryan Tom)
Betty Gilpin – GLOW (Ryan, Tom Matt)
Emily Hampshire – Schitt’s Creek (Michael, Tom Matt)
Yvonne Orji – Insecure (Ryan Matt)
Rita Moreno – One Day at a Time (Michael)

Featured Actor in a Comedy Series
Alan Arkin – The Kominsky Method (ALL)
Sterling K. Brown – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Dan Levy – Schitt’s Creek (ALL)
Tony Shalhoub – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Michael Zegen – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Mahershala Ali – Ramy (Ryan, Tom & Matt)
Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Nicholas Hoult – The Great (Ryan & Matt)
James Marsden – Dead to Me (Ryan, Tom)
Louie Anderson – Baskets (Michael)
Leroy McClain – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Michael)

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Judith Light – The Politician (ALL)
Bette Midler – The Politician (ALL)
Maya Rudolph – The Good Place (ALL)
Wanda Sykes – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge – Saturday Night Live (ALL)
Valerie Mahaffey – (Tom)
Jane Krakowski – Curb Your Enthusiasm (Matt)
Lisa Kudrow – The Good Place (Michael, Ryan)

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Jon Hamm – Curb Your Enthusiasm (ALL)
Luke Kirby – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
Zachary Levi – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (ALL)
John Mulaney – Saturday Night Live (ALL)
Eddie Murphy – Saturday Night Live (ALL)
Jason Alexander – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Michael & Ryan)
Fred Willard – Modern Family (Tom & Matt)

Drama Series
Better Call Saul (ALL)
Big Little Lies (ALL)
The Crown (ALL)
The Handmaid’s Tale (ALL)
The Morning Show (ALL)
Ozark (ALL)
Pose (ALL)
Succession (ALL)

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show (ALL)
Olivia Colman – The Crown (ALL)
Laura Linney – Ozark (ALL)
Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale (ALL)
Nicole Kidman – Big Little Lies (Michael, Tom & Ryan)
Jodie Comer – Killing Eve (Michael & Tom)
Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder (Ryan & Matt)
Zendaya – Euphoria (Matt)

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman – Ozark (ALL)
Brian Cox – Succession (ALL)
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul (ALL)
Billy Porter – Pose (ALL)
Jeremy Strong – Succession (ALL)
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (Ryan, Tom & Matt)
Tobias Menzies – The Crown (Michael)

Featured Actress in a Drama Series
Helena Bonham Carter – The Crown (ALL)
Laura Dern – Big Little Lies (ALL)
Julia Garner – Ozark (ALL)
Janet McTeer – Ozark (ALL)
Meryl Streep – Big Little Lies (ALL)
Thandie Newton – Westworld (Michael, Ryan & Matt)
Rhea Seehorn – Better Call Saul (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Sarah Snook – Succession (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Ann Dowd – The Handmaid’s Tale (Ryan)
Cynthia Erivo – The Outsider (Tom)
Yvonne Strahovski – The Handmaid’s Tale (Ryan)

Featured Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul (ALL)
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (ALL)
Kieran Culkin – Succession (ALL)
David Harbour – Stranger Things (ALL)
Tom Pelphrey – Ozark (ALL)
Bradley Whitford – The Handmaid’s Tale (ALL)
Giancarlo Esposito – Better Call Saul (Michael)
Matthew Mcfayden – Succession (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Mandy Patinkin – Homeland (Ryan, Tom & Matt)
Josh O’Connor – The Crown (Ryan)

Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Alexis Bledel – The Handmaid’s Tale (ALL)
Cherry Jones – Succession (ALL)
Jane Lapotaire – The Crown (ALL)
Cicely Tyson – How to Get Away With Murder (ALL)
Pamela Adlon – This Is Us (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Phylicia Rashad – This Is Us (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Laverne Cox – Orange is the New Black (Ryan)
Julie Dretzin – The Handmaid’s Tale (Matt)

Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Ron Cephas Jones – This Is Us (ALL)
James Cromwell – Succession (ALL)
Andrew Scott – Black Mirror (ALL)
Jason Bateman – The Outsider (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Charles Dance – The Crown (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Gerald McRaney – This Is Us (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Christopher Meloni – The Handmaid’s Tale (Ryan & Matt)
Robert Forster – Amazing Stories (Ryan)

Limited Series
Mrs. America (ALL)
Unbelievable (ALL
Watchmen (ALL)
Hollywood (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Little Fires Everywhere (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Normal People (Matt)
The Plot Against America (Matt)

TV Movie
American Son (ALL)
Bad Education (ALL)
El Camino (ALL)
Patsy and Loretta (ALL)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (ALL)

Lead Actress in a Limited Series/Movie
Cate Blanchett – Mrs. America (ALL)
Regina King – Watchmen (ALL)
Merritt Wever – Unbelievable (ALL)
Kaitlyn Dever – Unbelievable (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Shira Haas – Unorthodox (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere (Ryan)
Reese Witherspoon – Little Fires Everywhere (Ryan)

Lead Actor in a Limited Series/Movie
Hugh Jackman – Bad Education (ALL)
Aaron Paul – El Camino (ALL)
Mark Ruffalo – I Know This Much Is True (ALL)
Russell Crowe – The Loudest Voice (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Jeremy Irons – Watchmen (Michael, Tom & Matt)
Paul Mescal – Normal People (Matt)
Jeremy Pope – Hollywood (Ryan)

Featured Actress in a Limited Series/Movie
Rose Byrne – Mrs. America (ALL)
Toni Collette – Unbelievable (ALL)
Allison Janney – Bad Education (ALL)
Jean Smart – Watchmen (ALL)
Patti LuPone – Hollywood (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Margo Martindale – Mrs. America (Michael, Ryan & Tom)
Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America (Matt)
Sarah Paulson – Mrs. America (Matt)

Featured Actor in a Limited Series/Movie
Tim Blake Nelson – Watchmen (ALL)
Jim Parsons – Hollywood (ALL)
John Slattery – Mrs. America (ALL)
John Turturro – The Plot Against America (ALL)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Watchmen (Michael, Tom & Ryan)
Joe Mantello – Hollywood (Michael, Tom & Ryan)
Jesse Plemons – El Camino (Tom & Matt)
Ray Romano – Bad Education (Matt)

Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (ALL)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (ALL)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (ALL)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (ALL)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (Michael & Matt)
The Late Late Show with James Corden (Tom)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (Ryan)

Variety Sketch Series
At Home with Amy Sedaris (ALL)
A Black Lady Sketch Show (ALL)
Drunk History (ALL)
Saturday Night Live (ALL)

Reality Competition Program
Nailed It (ALL)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (ALL)
Top Chef (ALL)
The Voice (ALL)
The Masked Singer (Matt, Ryan & Tom)
American Ninja Warrior (Michael)

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program
Nicole Byer – Nailed It (ALL)
RuPaul Charles – RuPaul’s Drag Race (ALL)
Jane Lynch – Hollywood Game Night (ALL)
Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman – Making It (ALL)
Jimmy Kimmel – Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Michael, Ryan & Matt)
Ellen DeGeneres – Ellen’s Game of Games (Michael & Ryan)
Queer Eye (Tom & Matt)
Tim Gunn & Heidi Klum – Making the Cut (Tom)

Stay tuned to hear our reaction to the nominees and our predictions for the winners on future podcasts. Who do you think will be nominated? Do you agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments section below or on our Twitter account.

The Next Best Picture Podcast · Next Best Series Podcast: Episode 10 – 2020 Emmy Nomination Predictions

You can follow Michael and hear more of his thoughts on the Emmys and TV on Twitter at @mschwartz95

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