Culturess’ Emmy Predictions for 2016: Will HBO and FX Clean Up?

Still from Veep Season 5 trailer. Image via HBO

Comedy: Series and Lead Acting

Outstanding Comedy Series

Nominees: black-ish (ABC), Master of None (Netflix), Modern Family (ABC), Silicon Valley (HBO), Transparent (Amazon), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), Veep (HBO)

Winner:Veep

Once again, a pretty hefty category comes down to inertia. However, Veep put in a great season, too, despite its change in showrunner. Simply put, HBO can happily crow once more that it took home two of the biggest awards. However, we could see this going to black-ish should there be a shocking upset.

Outstanding Lead Actress

Nominees: Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep), Laurie Metcalf (Getting On), Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish), Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer), Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)

Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Louis-Dreyfus has owned this Emmy since 2012. It will likely not leave her hands this year, not after the fantastic season Veep had. If there’s an upset, though we don’t foresee that coming, Kemper and Ross look like the likely choices, with Ross perhaps edging out Kemper out just a smidge. It’s a very small smidge, but the odds of the upset coming off are pretty small, too.

Outstanding Lead Actor

Nominees: Anthony Anderson (black-ish), Aziz Ansari (Master of None), Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth), William H. Macy (Shameless), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)

Winner: Aziz Ansari

It comes down to a race between Anderson and Ansari for us, and we’ll give the nod to Ansari, particularly for the episode “Parents” on Master of None. Like Spacey for the dramas, Tambor looms pretty large here as well, and he would represent the safest bet. Sometimes, though, fresh blood wins out. A win for Anderson, though, would be perfectly acceptable.

Next: Comedy: Supporting Acting, Writing, and Directing