Emmys 2017: The dark horse pick to win every major category
Courtesy: NBC
Emmy coverage always includes favorites and snubs, predictions for who should and who will win. But upsets are the most fun.
Ah, Emmy picks and predictions, those fickle things. You print out your ballot and then must consider: Should you be smart or bold? Should you pick who you think will win, who deserves to win or the only performance of the six you actually saw? Who is to say? Not us. Do what you want with your ballot.
But if you choose to be bold — like, really bold, borderline stupid bold — read on, as we’re happy to be your guide to the dark horse nominees chomping at the bit for an upset. Behold this list, an upset prediction list, which is the best kind of Emmy prediction list, because there is no pressure to be right. If the picks win, we’re highly in touch with the cultural and critical zeitgeist. If they don’t, well, they were long-shots anyways.
Without further ado, enjoy this list of dark horse and upset predictions and picks, across all the major acting and series awards, for the 2017 Emmys.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Louie Anderson, Baskets
- Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
- Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Ty Burrell, Modern Family
- Tony Hale, Veep
- Matt Walsh, Veep
Alec Baldwin is the favorite here, as anyone who experienced the past year can attest. (You didn’t even have to see any of his guest appearances on Saturday Night Live to know that he had everyone breathless about SNL’s coverage of the president. In fact, he was so applauded that he made so many appearances as to move from the “guest” category — for which Melissa McCarthy won, also for SNL work, also imitating this administration — into “supporting.”)
In any case, our dark horse money here is on a White House performance of a different kind: That of Tony Hale for his work as Gary Walsh on HBO’s Veep. Hale has been nominated five times for the role and won twice. Hale would be an upset because he’s won before for the role and his performance has been recognized. And for those same reasons, you can’t really rule him out, qualifying him as a dark horse.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live
- Anna Chlumsky, Veep
- Kathryn Hahn, Transparent
- Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
- Judith Light, Transparent
- Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
SNL had a year, to put it mildly. And as such, it seems highly likely that their cast members and guests will pick up awards in every category. In the case of the supporting actress race, with three performers nominated, it’s a convoluted enough situation to turn an SNL star — like Leslie Jones — into our upset candidate.
Kate McKinnon is the odds-favorite, so, yes, she’s your smart choice, but my logic goes like this: If the voting supporting actress pool finds McKinnon too obvious a winner — though, my lord, was her Clinton impression good — they can still earn palatable political points by recognizing one of her peers. Vanessa Bayer, funny as she is, was never especially memorable in a year of standout SNL performances and Jones, who was consistently visible, political and most importantly, funny, is nothing if not worthy of the award.