The Maxim Guide to Who Really Deserves an Emmy
Here’s who we think should bring home all the awards on TV’s biggest night.
Hey, have you guys heard we’re in the Golden Age of TV? Of course you’ve heard that. Google “Golden Age of TV” this second and you get 170,000 results. People fucking love TV, now more than ever! For Chrissake, my safe word is “prestige drama.”
All kidding aside, we’ve been blessed with a constant rotation of quality television, from The Sopranos to Breaking Bad to Mad Men, in the few years — and all of this excellence means that the Emmy Awards become a tougher race with more deserving competitors every year (and somehow the Academy still keeps giving awards to Modern Family!).
This Sunday’s show, hosted by Andy Samberg, (Fox, 8pm EST) is no different. With the bar raised, here’s who we think should bring home the Emmy in the top ten categories.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
The nominees:
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men
Orange Is the New Black
Who we want to win:
Mad Men is one of the greatest television dramas of all time, and it’s the show’s last chance to be rewarded. They’d be robbed otherwise.
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
The nominees:
Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Who we want to win:
Anything besides Modern Family. Just kidding! (No we’re not.) Of all the nominees, Transparent is brave and boundary-pushing, along with being deeply, deeply funny. One Emmy, please.
LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA
The nominees:
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Who we want to win: Jon Hamm. Need we say more? (Fun fact: He’s never won an Emmy before. Just give it to the man, already.) Even if it doesn’t go to Hamm, let’s pray the Academy doesn’t reward Jeff Daniels for the pretentious bloviating that turned The Newsroom into a weekly sermon and outlet for Aaron Sorkin’s douchebaggery.
LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA
The nominees:
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Who we want to win: This is a particularly strong group of contenders, but it was Taraji P. Henson’s impressively fierce portrayal of Cookie in Empire that made for the most memorable television character of the year. Sorry, Tatiana Maslany, but your star will shine another year.
LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY
The nominees:
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Louis C.K., Louie
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Who we want to win:Jeffrey Tambor’s Maura Pfefferman on Transparent, all the way.
LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY
The nominees:
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Who we want to win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ portrayal of Selina Meyer proves why she’s a long-running comedy great (and a living rebuke of the “Seinfeld Curse.”)
SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
The nominees:
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
Who we want to win: As the black sheep brother in Bloodline, Ben Mendelsohn stole the show from Kyle Chandler — not an easy feat. Something tells us we’ll be seeing a lot more of him.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
The nominees:
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
UzoAduba, Orange Is the New Black
Who we want to win: Everything went wrong for Cersei in this season of Game of Thrones — but Lena Headey tackled the challenges and managed to play out her downfall with the same ferocity she’s always brought to the role.
SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
The nominees:
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver, Girls
Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tony Hale, Veep
Who we want to win: Keegan-Michael Key is downright acrobatic on Key & Peele, and especially deserves recognition for his spectacular work as the series comes to a close.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
The nominees:
MayimBialik, The Big Bang Theory
Niecy Nash, Getting On
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Allison Janney, Mom
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Who we want to win: Kate McKinnon isSNL’s MVP — the woman has single-handedly carried some episodes. Okay, most episodes.