Not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty much the only person on the planet to predict that Brian Cranston would win the Emmy last year for Breaking Bad. Bear that in mind as you peruse my 2009 picks. Remember though, If you use any of the info below in your office pool, I’m legally entitled to receive 20 percent of the jackpot. Also keep in mind this is who/what I think will win, not necessarily who I want to win.
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
*30 Rock
Weeds
* Barring a Family Guy upset, Emmy voters will go to there again with Tina Fey’s rollicking (albeit increasingly uneven) satire.
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
*Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men
* Parsons was never better than in the Christmas episode in which a emotionally defective Sheldon hugged Penny after she gives him the best Christmas gift ever: a napkin drenched in Leonard Nimoy’s DNA. Wisely, that’s the one he submitted to Emmy voters.
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
*Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program
* Let’s face it, this is essentially a two-way race between Fey and Applegate. My gut is telling me voters will pick the one whose show wasn’t canceled.
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
*Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock
Rainn Wilson, The Office
With Emmy hog Jeremy Piven out of the running, the last remaining obstacle standing in the way of Harris and that gold statue has been cleared.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
*Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
* Once the election ended, SNL essentially morphed into a one-woman show starring Wiig. It helps that said one-woman show was freakin’ hilarious.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Big Love
Breaking Bad
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
*Mad Men
* My heart says Big Love, but my mind knows better: Mad Men’s stellar sophomore season will translate into a second consecutive win.
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
*Hugh Laurie, House
* Dr. Crabby’s descent into madness should give voters ample reason to hand Laurie his first-ever Emmy. That said, a repeat win by Cranston would so not surprise me.
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
*Glenn Close, Damages
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
* Even a subpar season of Damages can’t change this one simple fact: Close’s consistently riveting performances makes her virtually unbeatable.
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Michael Emerson, Lost
William Hurt, Damages
* Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
William Shatner, Boston Legal
John Slattery, Mad Men
* It takes a formidable actor to go toe-to-toe with Bryan Cranston. This season, Paul proved himself to be exactly that. Voters would have to be high to disagree.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Rose Byrne, Damages
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Cherry Jones, 24
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
* Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy
* Wilson brought her A-game this year as Bailey faced upheaval in her personal and professional lives. Plus, you’ll never hear her bitching about the long hours!
REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
* The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef
* Amazing Race has never lost in this category. I’d be a fool to start betting against it now.
Who do you think will grab the gold this Sunday? Consider the comments section your own personal Emmy ballot!
Comments (1-15) of 218 Add your comment
Grammar police: House’s DESCENT into madness. Not dissent. Shame on you!
LOL! Wow, people make mistakes u know, besides, shame, c’mon! You’re an idiot!
GOD! Dont be such a Mosby!
Good for you, Dorothy; don’t mind the haters!
Good for you, Dorothy! If you will notice, it’s been fixed. Professional writers have to get it right, I’m sure your comment was appreciated, we hate typos, but they are an annoying fact of life. And I guess that would also mean “AN emotionally defective Sheldon….” not “A emotionally…”
common Dorothy, nobody likes a Ted.
Jim Parsons needs to win!!!! He is just amazing on TBBT!!!!
Agreed. That scene with the napkin was so funny, I found myself watching it over and over again.
I know! I used that episode to get my family hooked. Even my dad, who never likes sitcoms had him laughing out loud. The entire cast is great, but Parsons shines in this Christmas ep. Good Luck!
That part made me laugh so hard, i started crying. None of those other people did that.
i really want christina applegate to win, just to say ha to ABC for cancelling an emmy show and picking up shows thats prob wont last a full season!
Agreed! It would be great for her to win so we can rub it in ABC’s face for canceling it. But it would also be great if Christina Applegate won because she was great in Samantha Who? – she deserves it!
I agree. Christina deserves to win for her great performances on the show. ABC eating crow for canceling the show will be a bonus.
I’m mostly with you, Michael. But realistically, I still see Alec beating Jim on Sunday night.
Definitely!
Ugh Chandra Wilson. You’re not on a soap opera, so stop with the overacting! You’re better than that! That said, Dianne Wiest will repeat.
Overacting? If anything she underplays. And she is hilarious to boot.
How can she “underact” with all the shouting and over the top reactions all the time? And it was funny the first 2 seasons, now the bossy boss is too repetitive, she has been doing the same during all this time, I agree she can do better. Wilson should win the other one she is nominated to, and Oh should win this one. But I’m not too hopeful, because she should have won it last year too, and the one before, and the one before that one…
She’s not on a soap opera? Granted, I’d quit GA by last season, but did it change genres?
ok love Chandra Wilson but I say SANDRA OH!!!!!!!
I TOTALLY AGREE! Chandra is great, but Sandra Oh is flat out amazing!!! She is such a fine subtle actress! I hope Sandra WINS!
My fingers are crossed for SANDRA OH!!!!
All of the nominees were picked respectively, in my opinion. It is almost inevitable, though, as Glenn cannot be beat in the Best Actress in a Drama, leaving the other competitors with little to no chance unless they happen to have an AMAZING season. I’m a big fan of Mariska, but she didn’t have the greatest season on SVU. I’m glad she’ll be back this year, though, since she missed last season’s Emmy awards. Also always rooting for The Office victory against 30 Rock, but not sure when the next time that’ll happen will be. All in all, I’m pretty excited for the awards, even though maybe just to see the dress choices and a bit of John Krasinski!
I’m a big fan of Mariska, too, and would love to see her take home her second Emmy…however, I think the writing on SVU this past season let her down a little. Great potential with the PTSD plotline from Olivia’s near rape at the Sealview prison, but the writers never let Mariska take it to the next level. I think it will be Glenn this year as well, but always crossing my fingers for an upset!
Completely agree! I’m really hoping that this year we’ll have some really excellent material and that she’ll really have a chance come next Emmy season, seeing as this is the second-to-last year of SVU, from what I can gather.
Have to completely agree with that too! I was very disappointed it took the writers so long to bring her “near rape” back up, and only did to the extent they did then–they missed a great opportunity there thus far. Still, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her for Sunday, and hoping they allow her more great storylines this season!
I’m always rooting for The Office over 30 Rock, glad to see I’m not the only one….
I love both The Office and 30 Rock, but i have to say that The Office was much better this season. I don’t think it’s possible that Jim Parsons can beat Baldwin and Carell. Sorry Ausiello. I also disagree with you on Chandra Wilson. Even though i didn’t watch GA this season(and i’m sooo glad that i didn’t)in the presence of Hope Davis and Dianne Wiest she has no chance.
lol Jim Parsons over Alec Baldwin? Steve Carell, even?
Who are you kidding? Just rename this “Find out who I WANT to win,” dude.
Parson was fabulous this year and the Christmas episode was brilliantly played! If you have seen Big Bang Theory it is one of the greatest and most unique comedies I have ever seen and Parsons is by far the hit of the show!
It’s pretty obvious you have never watched Jim Parsons in that fabulous role. Alex Baldwin is so “last year” it is not “funny” anymore.
Why is everyone obsessed over Alec Baldwin and “30 Rock.” Last year was their year. I’d love for the Office to get the crown this yr.
A few other sources are predicting a Parsons win too. It’s not that far fetched.
I’m with you, Tootie. BBT is so lame, I can’t even conceive of a Jim Parsons win, especially not over Alec Baldwin.
Please give Hugh Laurie his emmy, please! And Chandra, and Parsons.
I hope you are right about Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons.
I hope you are wrong about the best drama, it should be Big Love.
And supporting actor in a drama should go to Michael Emerson in Lost…. the scene in the finale when Ben says “what about me” gave me chills! And when he is confronted by his dead daughter, that was a heck of a scene too…
I meant to say best supporting actor in a drama for michael emerson… wish there was an edit function here
Emerson’s submission doesn’t come close to what Aaron Paul submitted. It’s not even a contest.
I think Michael Emerson defintetly deserves the Emmy. From the time Ben was introduced, I’ve been trying to find out if he’s truly evil or actually good on the inside, and his “What about me?” in the finale gave me chills as well.
I watch both Lost and Breaking Bad. Emmy should definitely go to Aaron Paul.
God, Micheal Emerson deserves to win just for that “what about me” scene. I’ve been re-enacting it since the finale. LOL. That was almost Shakespearean. What a scene!
Yay Jim Parsons! Dr. Sheldon Cooper for the win!
If we get the deserved trifecta of Hugh Laurie, Jim Parsons and Neil Patrick Harris all winning then I will be absolutely stoked. All three men have been, to quote NPH’s character “legen-wait for it-dary” in their respective shows this year. Good luck to all three!
Absolutely!!! And add on Michael Emerson for me, and I’ll be more than happy!!!
Im definitely with you on this!
Michael Emerson over Aaron Paul for supporting actor–drama! “Ben” from lost needs his EMMY!!
are you high? obviously not if don’t want aaron paul to win!! dude made me cry!! deserves the emmy hands down
Hugh Laurie better win his Emmy or I swear I’ll cry. He deserves it.
Good picks!
You got to love an awards ceremony that’s totally predicable.