By Amy Kim, Aaron Isenstein, and Tom Brinson
Predicting the Emmys is fun, and for the most part, fairly straightforward. If you examine precursors, critical reception, and overall buzz, you can generally make a pretty good guess as to what the nominations will be. However, every year, the Emmys announce several nominations that are, for lack of a better word, bonkers. Predicting these is really difficult, but today, we’re going to try! Here are each of our most outlandish 2022 Emmy predictions!
Amy:
I unfortunately went fairly safe with my Emmy predictions this year. For the most part, they’re pretty standard. However, what I lack in spicy takes I make up for in unreasonable confidence in the few somewhat bold predictions I have.
For instance, I am confident that Selena Gomez gets snubbed in Comedy Actress for her role in Only Murders in the Building. She is great in the show, do not get me wrong, but her snubs at the Golden Globes and SAG have me seriously doubting she gets that Emmy nomination. The SAG omission especially hurts, in my opinion, as Elle Fanning (The Great), Sandra Oh (The Chair), and Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) all snuck in over her. Only Murders in the Building did very well at SAG otherwise, snagging a Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series nomination and two Best Male Actor in Comedy Series nods. So, Selena Gomez missing for two leads of much smaller shows and a clearly supporting performance is troubling, to say the least. I have a feeling that Emmy voters will default to veterans they’ve consistently nominated in the past (i.e: Issa Rae for Insecure, Tracee Ellis Ross for Black-ish) over her. I would love to be wrong, as Selena Gomez is wonderful in Only Murders in the Building, but I’m not betting on her receiving a nomination for it this year.
My other slightly “out-there” Emmy prediction is having both Millie Bobby Brown and Sadie Sink in Best Drama Supporting Actress for Stranger Things. Millie Bobby Brown makes a lot of sense to me, and I would genuinely be shocked if she missed. She’s the closest thing Stranger Things has to a lead (category placements be darned) and has a very meaty role in the last few episodes of Volume 1. She also got Emmy nominations for the first two seasons of Stranger Things, and Season 4 is widely seen as a return to form for the show. With all that in mind, I’m confident in thinking Millie Bobby Brown scores her third Emmy nod this year. I feel less certain about Sadie Sink, and I will admit that part of my having her in the lineup is a manifestation of sorts. I really hope Emmy voters are wise enough to recognize her outstanding performance the way most people who have seen the show seem to. However, I do have legitimate reasons to predict her. For one, Stranger Things has insane visibility. Just over a week ago, the release of Season 4 Volume 2 crashed Netflix. It’s bound to be one of the most watched shows nominated (along with Squid Game), and I don’t think it’s impossible that Sadie Sink coattails the hype. While I’m aware Noah Schnapp failed to get nominated for Season 2, I don’t think Stranger Things has ever been as big as it is right now. Plus, Sadie Sink’s big episode (Chapter Four: Dear Billy) is hailed by many as one of the best episodes of the show (and in my humble opinion, it is the best). Running Up That Hill also got a new lease on life because of it, and made Kate Bush over 2 million dollars. In addition, Netflix is campaigning Dear Billy a lot, and it’s even the most submitted episode of the season. I think that because of the strength of Stranger Things, the quality of her performance, and how iconic Dear Billy is as an episode, Sadie Sink will get in for best supporting actress alongside her co-star Millie Bobby Brown.
Aaron:
For my predictions, I didn’t play it super risky or super safe. The spiciest predictions of mine were generally made in the comedy category, since there’s a lot more wiggle room nominations-wise there than in drama and limited.
For Comedy Series, I’m predicting the Taika Waititi produced series Our Flag Means Death. After the season one finale aired, the show became the most in-demand series in the US, even beating The Book of Boba Fett. On social media it was widely discussed (especially in queer spaces). The buzz for the show’s LGBTQIA+ representation has been overwhelmingly positive, as it has been praised to the moon and back for its multiple queer relationships and non-binary character. Out of the HBOMax original shows, it's definitely one of the most popular, likely watched by more viewers than Emmy favorite Hacks and The Flight Attendant. High viewership helps shows get nominated; we’ve seen this before with Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, The Mandalorian, and a likely returning nominee this year, Stranger Things. The Emmys also love to namecheck people they like, and they have shown love to other Taika projects before. Out of his 3 projects eligible, Our Flag Means Death is probably the easiest namecheck for him. Not only is he a producer and director for the show, but he also stars in it. This brings me to my second wild prediction.
I believe that Taika Waititi will get a Supporting Actor nomination for the show. The most talked about part of the show is his character’s relationship with the protagonist. The episodes where this element is most prominent feature some amazing scenes from Waititi. When voters see his name on the ballot, it could be an easy name check made even easier with the knowledge of his big scene.
Tom:
This is the first year that I have predicted for the Emmys. I have been an Oscar predictor for a while, but this is the first time I’ve really gotten into the Emmys. After looking at past nominations, I noticed that they sometimes go a bit out there. This makes predicting the surprises very fun.
In the comedy category, I have a few shots in the dark here and there. In Comedy Series, I have the main predicted 6 but have thought long and hard on those last 2 spots. For the first slot, I put in Curb Your Enthusiasm, which has been nominated 9 times in the category. My bold prediction here though is Reservation Dogs, as I believe it is a very well-liked and acclaimed comedy that has enough passion to get in. In Comedy Actress, I am predicting Selena Gomez to get a nomination. It's a tough call because she was snubbed at the Golden Globes and at SAG, but she is a core element of a strong show that may be boosted with the new season airing right now. In that same category, I have also decided to go with Elle Fanning for the exact opposite reason. Elle Fanning was able to get in at the Golden Globes, SAG, and Critics Choice. While I don’t think The Great will have a huge showing, I think she could have enough passion to get in. In Comedy Actor, I have John Cena in for Peacemaker. I think there could be a fair bit of love for this widely-seen show. I don’t think there’s enough to get the show nominations anywhere else, but the passion for the show has been focused on John Cena’s very expressive performance. In Comedy Supporting Actress I have Aidy Bryant as my unusual pick. While I don’t believe SNL had many widely talked about moments this season, in my humble opinion Aidy Bryant did the most this season. That alone could be enough to get her in, but it’s also her final season and Emmy voters clearly love her. I mean, she even got into Comedy Actress last year for a show nobody saw! For Comedy Supporting Actor I have Tyler James Williams for Abbott Elementary and Ben Schwartz for The Afterparty. I put Williams in because he has been in so many well-known shows in the past (ex: Everybody Hates Chris, The Walking Dead) and I am predicting Abbott Elementary to do very well come the morning of nominations. I believe it may even be a challenger for Ted Lasso and Hacks for the Comedy Series win. With all that in mind, I believe this year is the year he finally gets recognized by the Emmys. With Schwartz, The Afterparty is a well-liked show. I do think it will wind up missing comedy series due to how tough the competition is. However, with 8 slots in Supporting Actor, Schwartz has that scene-stealing performance that could get him the nomination.
The drama category is where the majority of my bold predictions lie. In Drama Series, I have the top 6 everyone is predicting plus a farewell nomination for This Is Us. For the last spot, I was between Yellowstone and Yellowjackets for a while, but I decided that voters may make it easy on themselves and go with neither of them. I considered Loki, Bridgerton, and a number of other talked-about shows that I could put in. Eventually, I settled on Euphoria. While yes, the reception was worse than last season (which didn’t get a series nomination), Zendaya won for it anyways, which makes me think there was still a lot of love for the show. It’s also one of the most buzzed about shows of the season, which makes me believe that it gets in thanks to that public zeitgeist. In Drama Actress I have Zendaya, Laura Linney, Melanie Lynskey, Mandy Moore, Britt Lower, and Sandra Oh. The big exclusion here is Jennifer Aniston for The Morning Show. This is because I have not heard anybody talking about The Morning Show and it seems like there is very little passion for it. I obviously could be wrong, but because of the lack of buzz it has, I have decided to exclude it from all of the main categories. Anyways, I have Britt Lower for Severance in my lineup for a few reasons. Firstly, Severance is my favorite contending drama series. I may be overestimating it (I have it in so many categories), but I feel like there’s a possibility it comes to fruition. Because of that, I would rather have it in many categories on the off chance it does. Britt Lower may be a somewhat new name, but she is such a core facet of the show that I will be upset if she ends up missing. Sandra Oh for Killing Eve is my other somewhat interesting prediction in that category. I have never seen the show but yes, I know that its final season was received very poorly. However, I believe that Oh is such a big name and has so much industry respect that she can get in regardless. For Drama Actor, I don’t even agree with what I have necessarily here, I am just predicting strategically. I have the top 3, Bob Odenkirk, Sterling K. Brown, and Adam Scott. I know Jason Bateman will very likely get in for the massive contender that is Ozark. However, I need to keep in Brown because I think he has to come along with the This Is Us love. He’s also been nominated for every This Is Us season prior. With Bob Odenkirk and Adam Scott, though, I don’t have much of a “logical” explanation as to why I have them in. I love Better Call Saul and Bob Odenkirk so I want to predict that he doesn’t get snubbed. With Scott, he is a very respected comedy actor in an acclaimed drama that I believe is a huge contender. It’s a tale as old as time. But I mostly have him in because he should get in, and I want to predict that he will. In Drama Supporting Actress, I put Sydney Sweeney in to go along with the Euphoria series nomination. Finally, in Drama Supporting Actor, I decided to put Owen Wilson in because I think they will throw a bone to Loki and nominate an acting legend who gave a memorable performance. For those same reasons, in Drama Guest Actor, I’m also predicting Richard E. Grant and Jonathan Majors.