The 71st Emmy Awards announced their nominations earlier today. All of the major players were there, from Game of Thrones to Fleabag, with the former picking up a sizeable chunk of the total nominations in their respective categories. There are literally too many Emmy nominees to talk about, but we wanted to continue the discussion by tackling the Comedy categories and making our predictions based on that – e.g. who should win and who will probably win. So without further ado, let’s dig in!

Best Comedy Series

Barry (HBO)

Fleabag (Prime Video)

Russian Doll (Netflix)

Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)

The Good Place (NBC)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Veep (HBO)

I love the second season of Fleabag more than almost anything I’ve ever seen. The comedy stalwart and Emmy darling Veep, however, delivered a strong final season and a pitch-perfect series finale. Veep is likely the frontrunner here but I would love for Fleabag to get some recognition for its sheer, stunning perfection.

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Best Comedy Series – Lead Actor

Bill Hader – Barry (HBO)

Don Cheadle – Black Monday (Network)

Anthony Anderson – black-ish (ABC)

Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)

Ted Danson – The Good Place (NBC)

Michael Douglas – The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

Bill Hader delivers a performance I would never have expected out of him. It’s his trophy.

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Best Comedy Series – Lead Actress

Christina Applegate – Dead To Me (Netflix)

Phoebe Waller-Bridge – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Natasha Lyonne – Russian Doll (Netflix)

Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV)

Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Videoo)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep (HBO)

Another stacked comedy category at this year’s Emmys. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has won an Emmy for every season of Veep, is cackling gold in her final performance as Selina Meyer. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is unlikely to win, but her performance in the series finale broke my heart.

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Best Comedy Series – Supporting Actor

Stephen Root – Barry (HBO)

Henry Winkler – Barry (HBO)

Anthony Carrigan – Barry (HBO)

Alan Arkin – The Kominsky Method (Netflix)

Tony Shalhoub – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Tony Hale – Veep (HBO)

Tony Hale’s poignant mixture of realization and grief as Selina sells him out in order to gain the Presidency? Yep, the trophy should be his.

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Best Comedy Series – Supporting Actress

Sarah Goldberg – Barry (HBO)

Sian Clifford – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Olivia Colman – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Betty Gilpin – GLOW (Netflix)

Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Alex Borstein  – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Marin Hinkle  – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Anna Chlumsky  – Veep (HBO)

My Fleabag bias is strong here but with reason. Playing the more grown-up and toughened sibling is not always an easy task but Sian brings a real warmth and bitterness to create a character who feels truly formed and lived in. Even when she is angry, you sense that she cares and quite deeply at that.

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Best Comedy Series – Guest Actor

Robert De Niro – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

John Mulaney – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Adam Sandler – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Matt Damon – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Luke Kirby – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Rufus Sewell – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Peter MacNicol – Veep (HBO)

This is a wide open category and I think John Mulaney is hilarious.

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Best Comedy Series – Guest Actress

Fiona Shaw – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Kristin Scott Thomas – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Sandra Oh – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Emma Thompson – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Maya Rudolph – The Good Place (NBC)

Jane Lynch – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

The “Cheques” skit from Saturday Night Live is one of the funniest I have seen in quite some time. Sandra Oh deserves this just for the dramatic way she says the word “Cheques” and if you don’t believe me, watch the clip for yourself here.

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Best Comedy Series – Directing

Alec Berg – “The Audition” – Barry (HBO)

Bill Hader – “ronny/lily” – Barry (HBO)

Harry Bradbeer – “Episode 1” – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Mark Cendrowski – “The Stockholm Syndrome” – The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Amy Sherman-Palladino – “All Alone” – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Daniel Palladino – “We’re Going To The Catskills!” – Show (Prime Video)

That fight scene. That is all.

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Best Comedy Series – Writing

 

Alec Berg and Bill Hader – “ronny/lily” – Barry (HBO)

Phoebe Waller-Bridge – “Episode 1” – Fleabag (Prime Video)

Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle – “Anna Ishii-Peters” – PEN15 (Hulu)

Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, and Amy Poehler – “Northing In This World Is Easy” – Russian Doll (Netflix)

Allison Silverman – “A Warm Body” – Russian Doll (Netflix)

Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan  – “Janet(s)” – The Good Place (NBC)

David Mandel – “Veep” – Veep (HBO)

These two episodes of comedy have some of the most poignant, hilarious, depth that has ever been put to screen. Phoebe Waller-Bridge mastered the script concept of structure and that moment where she realizes that her sister just had a miscarriage? Beautiful beat in the middle of perfect awkward hilarity. David Mandel had the enviable task of writing the series finale for Veep and he struck just the right balance between pathos and guffawing humour, all while never losing sight of who these terrible characters were at their core. If Veep takes home Best Comedy Series, this might be the best place to honour the triumph that is Fleabag series two. This is a tight two-way race.