Emmy Experts slugfest: Zendaya a shoo-in? How many for ‘Succession’?

Last year, “The Crown” dominated the Emmy Awards, winning all seven drama categories at the main ceremony. No show can do that this year, but “Succession” seems poised for a big night after scoring 25 nominations. Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to discuss the drama races and how many trophies the 2020 champ can collect this time.

“Succession” is far and away the drama series frontrunner and is also the odds-on favorite to win two acting prizes, lead actor for Brian Cox and supporting actor for Kieran Culkin. Cox would have to hold off his TV son and 2020 winner Jeremy Strong to do it, along with Screen Actors Guild Award champ Lee Jung-jae (“Squid Game”), who is the clear alternative to the “Succession” duo that was missing last time. The one acting race “Succession” is not predicted to win is supporting actress, where Sarah Snook is in second place behind two-time champ Julia Garner (“Ozark”).

SEE Emmy Experts slugfest: Can ‘Succession’ and ‘Hacks’ avoid vote-splitting in the guest races?

In drama actress, the one “Succession”-less category, Zendaya (“Euphoria”) is out front to pick up her second Emmy after “Euphoria” nabbed 16 nominations — four of which are for her. She also has a killer probable submission with the fifth episode. But this category has delivered some upsets as of late, including Zendaya herself in 2020, so don’t write off first-time nominee Melanie Lynskey (“Yellowjackets”) so quickly.

Elsewhere, we explain why Laura Linney will probably come up short for “Ozark” and have thoughts on the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” trailer.

Timestamps:
Intro and Best Drama Series (0:00)
Best Drama Actress (10:05)
Best Drama Actor (21:24)
Best Drama Supporting Actress (26:21)
Best Drama Supporting Actor (33:48)
Best Drama Directing (39:44)
Best Drama Writing (43:28)
Random thoughts (47:51)