2019 Emmys: Directing for a Comedy Series

Who will win Best Comedy Directing—and why it might come down to who’s snubbed

My Preliminary Predictions 

• “The Audition,” Barry, Alec Berg
• “ronny/lilly,” Barry, Bill Hader
• “All Alone,” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-Palladino
• “We’re Going To the Catskills!,” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Daniel Palladino
• “Discovery Weekend,” Veep, Dale Stern
• “Veep,” Veep, David Mandel

Done! That was easy! Ohh, if only it was this easy. The television academy after some arm twisting changed the rules last year and at least one nominee must be a multi cam episode. Last year they forgot and instead of six nominees they had seven with The Big Bang Theory getting that competitive multicam spot. 

Mrs. Maisel and Sherman-Palladino won last year after her husband stepped aside for her to make history as the first PERSON to win both Best Comedy Writing and Directing. Now the husband and wife each will try to receive a nomination. 

Veep returns after sitting last year out and it’s still looking for its first win. But while both Barry and Veep went strategic in Best Comedy Writing they seem to be out for as many nominations as they can get in Best Comedy Directing. 

Assuming there’s only six nominees than one of the above episodes will be snubbed. Will Barry, Mrs. Maisel or Veep only receive single nominations? Keep in mind this snub could give the series and director the trophy. 

Let’s take a look at each series and their submissions.

Husband and Wife

• “All Alone,” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-Palladino
• “We’re Going To the Catskills!,” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Daniel Palladino

Both scored DGA nominations earlier in the year for their respective episodes. Given that the series is the reigning Best Comedy Emmy champion it’s safe to assume that both should be safe. But if one is to be snubbed it’s probably Daniel Palladino. As Amy Sherman-Palladino has become a star herself and with rumblings of the big screen calling, she has name recognition on her side. 

Why Veep? Why?

• “Discovery Weekend,” Veep, Dale Stern
• “Veep,” Veep, David Mandel

In 2016 and 2017 Veep scored three Best Comedy Directing nominations but they did not win. It makes perfect sense to submit the season finale “Veep.” But, it’s the additional episode “Discovery Weekend” that’s troubling as it’s a pretty standard episode. Regardless, both will be nominated.

And the winner is…..

• “The Audition,” Barry, Alec Berg
• “ronny/lilly,” Barry, Bill Hader

The snub will most likely come down to one of the submissions from Barry, which would be unfortunate, as both are hilarious and deserving of attention. But the Berg episode is a little less technically impressive than his co-creators. Hader directs the flashier episode about a hit gone wrong almost entirely in real-time. 

The Required Multi-Cam Nominee

“The Stockholm Syndrome,” The Big Bang Theory, Mark Cendrowski

The series finale of The Big Bang Theory is really a foregone conclusion to take this spot. It’s a great episode of television and deserves attention. But for Cendrowski and the series they’ll never know if they could’ve received a nomination on merit alone. Maybe with the series coming to an end this rule will also.

My Final Predictions 

• “ronny/lilly,” Barry, Bill Hader
• “The Stockholm Syndrome,” The Big Bang Theory, Mark Cendrowski
• “All Alone,” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-Palladino
• “We’re Going To the Catskills!,” The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Daniel Palladino
• “Discovery Weekend,” Veep, Dale Stern
• “Veep,” Veep, David Mandel