My Emmy Winner Predictions

The Primetime Emmys are handed out tomorrow night, so I thought I'd have a got at predicting the winners. Sometimes its easy to guess whom the voters will pick, put more often the winners can seem completely random. There are some questions about this year's ceremony. Will Mad Men win the big prize again? How big of a sweep will 30 Rock have? With Jeremy Piven not in the running, can Neil Patrick Harris finally win an Emmy?

Drama Series:
Big Love
Breaking Bad
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men
Will Win: Mad Men, although I have a sinking suspicion House may take the prize.
Should Win: Mad Men. The only other nominee that's even close to its brilliance is fellow AMC drama, Breaking Bad.

Actor, Drama:
Simon Baker - The Mentalist
Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Hugh Laurie - House
Will Win: I think they'll want to award the star of a break out network show, and give the prize to Simon Baker
Should Win: Jon Hamm and Bryan Cranston were both great this season, but I'd give it to Hamm.

Actress, Drama:
Glenn Close - Damages
Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Will Win: Glenn Close - the Emmys do love their repeat winners
Should Win: January Jones! Oh, she's not nominated. Mary McDonnell! Whoops, again not nominated. Elisabeth Moss, just for her scene with Vincent Kartheiser in the second season finale.

Suppoting Actor, Drama:
Christian Clemenson - Boston Legal
Michael Emerson - Lost
William Hurt - Damages
Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad
William Shater - Boston Legal
John Slattery - Mad Men
Will Win: Hurt or Emerson seem like the obvious choices, which means they'll bestow the award to... William Shatner!
Should Win: Any of the men, aside from the Boston Legal boys, would be deserving of the award, but I'd give it to Aaron Paul for expanding the depth of his character.

Supporting Actress, Drama:
Rose Byrne - Damages
Hope Davis - In Treatment
Cherry Jones - 24
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest -In Treatment
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy
Will Win: I don't know. I'll just guess Dianne Wiest because she won last year
Should Win: I don't really have a preference, though I wouldn't mind a make up Emmy for Sandra Oh.

Comedy Series:
30 Rock
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
Weeds
Will Win: Barring some revolt against the series' domination, 30 Rock takes this in a cake walk.
Should Win: It's a toss up between 30 Rock and The Office.

Actor, Comedy:
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Steve Carell - The Office
Jermaine Clement - Flight of the Conchords
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Tony Shaloub - Monk
Charlie Sheen - Two and a Half Men
Will Win: Alec Baldwin again, though an upset by Jim Parsons wouldn't surprise me.
Should Win: Steve Carrell! The Michael Scott Paper Company plotline was beautifully acted.

Actress, Comedy:
Christina Applegate - Samantha Who?
Toni Collette - The United States of Tara
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures of...
Mary Louise Parker - Weeds
Sarah Silverman - The Sara Silverman Program
Will Win: Tina Fey - everyone still loves her.
Should Win: Christina Applegate. I'm going to miss Samantha.

Supporting Actor, Comedy:
Jon Cryer - Two and A Half Men
Kevin Dillion - Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
Jack McBrayer - 30 Rock
Tracy Morgan - 30 Rock
Rainn Wilson - The Office
Will Win: NPH seems like the obviouc pick, but again, it is the Emmys, so I'm going to predict Jon Cryer.
Should Win: Neil Patrick Harris!

Supporting Actress, Comedy:
Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies
Jane Krakowski - 30 Rock
Amy Poehler - SNL
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds
Kristen Wiig - SNL
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty
Will Win: Tough call, but I'll go with Amy Poehler for her final season on the show.
Should Win: Any of the ladies would be deserving, but I really want Kristin Chenoweth to pick up the trophy.

"Shmemmys" Handed Out

Over the weekend, the Creative Arts Emmys, or the Shmemmys, were handed out at a ceremony hosted by Kathy Griffin. The awards show was taped and will air next weekend on the E! channel, so I do look forward to watching it. Sadly, Kathy did not win the prize for Best Reality Series, losing to A&E's Intervention. I suppose you can't win every year, unless you're named The Amazing Race, and last summer's season of My Life on the D-list wasn't the strongest, so its not too big of a loss. It will definitely provide her with a lot of fodder, and she'll most likely win again next year if she submits either the Prop 8 or Maggie's bucket list episode. In the other categories, Tina Fey deservably won for Best Guest Actress for her appearance as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, and Pushing Daisies was a big winner, taking home three trophies for Costumes, Make Up, and Art Direction. It's kind of ridiculous the show didn't recieve a nomination for Best Comedy Series. Mad Men, on the other hand, only picked up one trophy for Hairstyling, which makes me worry it doesn't have enough support to win Best Drama Series next weekend. Though really, the Emmy awards often make very little sense.

More Ladies for SNL

Story at Zap2it. Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad are joining the cast of Saturday Night Live for its upcoming season, and hopefully these women can get some good material. In the last few seasons, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have left the show, leaving a huge void in the program for talented female cast members. Out of the women who replaced them, only Kristin Wiig has really broken out. I do put a lot of the blame on the writers, as there hasn't been as many memorable sketches centered around women, since Fey stopped being the show's headwriter. With regards to the two joining cast members, I'm particularly excited for Jenny Slate, whom I usually find funny. Just please let her get a memorable character.