The Outstanding Comedy Series race at the Emmys this year will be injected with new life with the absences of Barry, Russian Doll, Veep and last years big winner Fleabag. Which shows have a chance to slide into those empty slots? Let’s have a look.
The two shows I know are a safe bet to earn Best Comedy nominations are The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Schitt’s Creek. Maisel has turned into the perennial Emmys darling with 16 wins over its past 2 seasons, so it would be a fools bet not to see it nominated for its third season. Schitt’s Creek just wrapped its final season with ample praise for it to return to the Emmys for the final time, hopefully picking up a few wins this year!
In addition to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Schitt’s Creek, my other frontrunners in this category include HBO entries Curb Your Enthusiasm and Insecure – which is aiming for its first ever Best Comedy nod, and the recently released second season of Netflix’s Dead to Me. With Peak TV literally peaking everyday with new content, there are PLENTY of other shows that could occupy the final two spots in this category, including proven Emmy fare like The Kominsky Method (Netflix) and Better Things (FX).
Further down the bench, we could see Netflix push Space Force enter the race – being led by Steve Carell, John Malkovich and Lisa Kudrow will certainly help its chances, but its lukewarm arrival by critics and viewers alike may hurt its chances! We may see FX squeeze in its sleeper comedy hit of the spring Dave pop up to take the FX slot long left vacant by Emmy-winning Atlanta. FX’s quieter comedy series Breeders (a personal favorite of mine), starring Emmy winner Martin Freeman also has a strong chance of entering the fray.
There’s a few other comedy series I would keep my eyes on, including Hulu’s Ramy and Prime Video’s Upload. TV’s newest streaming service HBO Max will also be submitting its newest anthology rom-com Love Life starring Anna Kendrick, so that may be something to look out for as well.
Here are my frontrunners for Comedy Series:
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
- Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
- Insecure (HBO)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
- Dead to Me (Netflix)
- Dave (FX)
- Ramy (Hulu)
- The Good Place (NBC)
Here are my threats for Best Comedy Series:
- Better Things (FX)
- Breeders (FX)
- The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
- Space Force (Netflix)
- Upload (Prime Video)
- Run (HBO)
- Love Life (HBO Max)
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TV Talk With JWalk 