The Emmy nominations are being announced this week and with it comes my yearly attempt to pick my favorites in each category only to watch them be passed over in favor of Downton Abbey in a week. This year, a lot of great shows from last year came to an end, while others simply fell in quality, so much of who showed up below were new picks.
Overall, this was a pretty good year for television, but decidedly uneven in how quality was spread across categories. When comparing the two, it tended to be a stronger year for comedy than drama, although the distinction between the two at these awards has never been more confusing. And it must be said: female performers this year brought it much harder than the men did. Any number of these female categories could have expanded to nine or ten nominees, while coming up with six was difficult for any number of the men's. Meanwhile, this was not by any means a good year for miniseries and tv movies and certainly not enough to justify those categories being as large as they are.
Below are my picks in the Emmy categories I feel I viewed enough in to have an opinion. They stick mostly to Emmy eligibility and category placement, but otherwise are fever dreams compared to what will actually be nominated. Enjoy!
