When the 2017 Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday, July 13, we were shocked that HBO’s sci-fi series “Westworld” and NBC’s long-running “Saturday Night Live” led the list with 22 bids apiece. We had expected that the red-hot drama “Stranger Things” and the lavishly produced limited series “Feud: Bette and Joan” would be the most nominated programs for the 69th annual Emmy Awards, which take place on Sunday, Sept. 17. They still did well, with 18 nominations each. And reigning two-time Emmy champ “Veep” was by far the top comedy of the year with 17 bids.
Numbering among the 22 nominations for “SNL” were five for guest hosts: Dave Chappelle, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig . At last Sunday’s Creative Arts Emmys, Chapelle and McCarthy won the comedy guest acting categories. On this Sunday’s Primetime Emmys, Alec Baldwin contends for his recurring appearances as Donald Trump while last year’s comedy supporting actress winner Kate McKinnon faces off against co-stars Vanessa Bayer and Leslie Jones. We are predicting Baldwin and McKinnon will win, while the show should be named Best Variety Sketch Series.
In many categories, “Westworld” replaced “Game of Thrones,” which didn’t air new episodes during this year’s Emmy eligibility period (June 2016 to May 2017). While “Westworld” won five races at the Creative Arts Awards (hairstyling, makeup, sound mixing, visual effects plus interactive media), we aren’t predicting it to prevail in any of its races at the main show. In addition to Best Drama Series, “Westworld” was nominated in all four acting categories: Drama Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Drama Actress (Evan Rachel Wood), Drama Supporting Actor (Jeffrey Wright) and Drama Supporting Actress (Thandie Newton). It also contends for writing and directing.
“Stranger Thing” solidified its status as the Emmy frontrunner for Best Drama Series by winning five categories at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 10. Among these was casting, regarded by Emmy forecasters as the clearest sign of a show’s strength heading into the primetime awards. “Stranger Things” also picked up both picture and sound editing Emmys as well as title design and theme music.
“Veep” claimed the comedy casting award for the fourth year running. It first won this precursor prize in 2014 but could not break the grip that “Modern Family” had on Comedy Series till the following year. It is tipped to take its third consecutive Comedy Series Emmy on Sept. 17 while Julia Louis-Dreyfus will win for a record sixth year running.
Do you agree with our predictions?
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22 Nominations
“Saturday Night Live”
“Westworld”
18 Nominations
“Feud: Bette and Joan”
“Stranger Things”
17 Nominations
“Veep”
16 Nominations
“Big Little Lies”
“Fargo”
13 Nominations
“The Crown”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“The Night Of”
10 Nominations
“Genius”
“Planet Earth II”
“Silicon Valley”
“This Is Us”
9 Nominations
“Better Call Saul”
8 Nominations
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
“Master of None”
“13th”
“The Voice”
7 Nominations
“Dancing with the Stars”
“Hairspray Live!”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“Transparent”
6 Nominations
“Atlanta”
“Born This Way”
“House of Cards”
“O.J.: Made in America”
“The Oscars”
“Super Bowl LI Halftime Show Starring Lady Gaga”
5 Nominations
“Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”
“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years”
“Project Runway”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
