AwardsWatch - 2018 Emmy Winner Predictions: Drama, Comedy, Limited Series and TV Movie

2018 Emmy Winner Predictions: Drama, Comedy, Limited Series and TV Movie

The fight for the top series categories is going to be a tough one this year as The Handmaid’s Tale will have to defend its title against two-time champ Game of Thrones, which it didn’t have to battle last year. While each show’s last season took some critical hits, and both aired only shortened seasons within the eligibility period, I’m siding with The Handmaid’s Tale to keep its momentum in the face of the HBO behemoth.

2018 Emmys: OFFICIAL Episode Submissions for the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards

DRAMA SERIES
1. The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. Westworld (HBO)
4. The Crown (Netflix)
5. The Americans (FX)
6. Stranger Things (Netflix)
7. This Is Us (NBC)

2018 Emmy Winner Predictions: Drama, Comedy, Limited Series/TV Movie Acting Categories

This also is likely a two-show face-off. Atlanta comes in strong with a comedy field-best 16 nominations for its second season (up from just 6 last year) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was just behind with 14 for its first. Before nominations I would have predicted Mrs. Maisel to take this, and to be the nomination leader in comedy. That it isn’t gives me pause and redirects my winner prediction to Atlanta. Each show has three acting nominations but Atlanta has two directing and two writing and with Veep out of the way it’s time to claim its place.

COMEDY SERIES
1. Atlanta (FX)
2. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
3. Barry (HBO)
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
5. Silicon Valley (HBO)
6. GLOW (Netflix)
7. Black-ish (ABC)
8. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

2018 Emmy Winner Predictions: Reality, Variety and Animated Categories

With a field-best 18 nominations in its section, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is the clear frontrunner. It has directing and writing noms and six acting nods. Godless is its closest competitor but it doesn’t really feel like a competition at all.

LIMITED SERIES
1. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)
2. Godless (Netflix)
3. Patrick Melrose (Showtime)
4. Genius: Picasso (National Geographic)
5. The Alienist (TNT)

2018 Emmy Winner Predictions: Writing and Directing Categories

Black Mirror cleverly subverted traditional Emmy rules (albeit within the guidelines) in how it submitted its anthology series and won two awards out of three nominations last year (both for San Junipero), including this one. This year, it has eight nominations, seven of which come from USS Callister. The Tale might give it some chase but it woefully underperformed elsewhere, missing out on writing and directing.

TELEVISION MOVIE
1. USS Callister: Black Mirror (HBO)
2. The Tale (HBO)
3. Fahrenheit 451 (HBO)
4. Flint (Lifetime)
5. Paterno (HBO)

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.