Reminder: For our annual Emmy contenders coverage, Sepinwall does his personal preferences, while I handicap mostly in terms of likelihood of landing nominations. As usual, the first six slides in each gallery are my nomination predictions. The next eight or nine slides are the actors and shows most likely to sneak in, based on precedent, quality or something nebulous. And then at the end of each gallery, I tend to throw in a couple oddballs who have no chance at all of being nominated, but who I think deserve to be a part of the conversation, or might accidentally become part of the conversation, just because.
Our next category:
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
This is always one of the toughest categories on the ballot because of the depth of some of these ensemble casts. “Breaking Bad” could fill three or four slots. “Boardwalk Empire” could fill a whole field. “Game of Thrones” has a few actors worthy of consideration. And those are all shows that have been represented here in the past. Will a new show like “Ray Donovan” break the field? Will a past favorite like “Mad Men” or “The Good Wife” make their presence felt? Is this the year that Emmy voters notice “The Americans” or expand their notice of “Scandal”
The results could be amazingly boring and familiar (and not necessarily wrong) or they could make pundits look very silly.
Last Year's Nominees:
Bobby Cannavale
Jim Carter
Peter Dinklage
Aaron Paul
Jonathan Banks
Mandy Patinkin
Attrition: Jonathan Banks is gone and Bobby Cannavale is gone, but they could very easily be replaced by two actors (Dean Norris and Jeffrey Wright) from their shows. Logic, reason and common sense would seem to suggest that Jim Carter won't be able to repeat his “Downton Abbey” nomination, but he could also just as easily be replaced by somebody (Brendan Coyle again, maybe?) from his show.
Here are Sepinwall's personal picks.
My predictions are below.
Your thoughts? Predictions? Analysis?