2022 Emmy Predictions: All the top Drama Series categories

With Emmy ballots coming out last week in accordance with the first day of voting for Emmy nominations, it’s time to look at all the drama categories to see who will make the cut ands receive a nom.

The drama categories feature both old and new shows, with older shows like Better Call Saul, Succession, Ozark and Better Call Saul competing with freshman series such as Severance, Squid Game and Yellowjackets. It’s a competitive year with so many shows out, it can be a challenge just to keep up. The entire cast of Succession has been submitted for Emmy consideration, including guest stars like Alexander Skarsgård and Sanaa Lathan. They’ll find new challengers from Severance, AppleTV’s buzziest new show, competing with them in the acting categories, bringing Emmy veteran Patricia Arquette along for the ride. Ozark wrapped up its final season in April and will be a big contender to deal with this year.

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The directing and writing categories provide the biggest challenge in telling who will be nominated. Some series opt for just one episode in writing or directing (which Succession usually does for writing and has done again this year), while others submit up to twelve episodes (S.W.A.T). Succession has submitted seven episodes for directing this year; could it take up most of the directing category? There’s a good chance it has the potential to. Other series, such as Yellowjackets (and other freshman series) either submit their first or last episode (Yellowjackets submitted its pilot for directing while Severance submitted its season finale). Another newcomer that could make quite a stir with nominations in several categories is Netflix’s smash-hit Squid Game, which has submitted all of its actors and an episode for directing and writing each.

Here are my nomination predictions for the main drama categories of the 2022 Emmys.

Outstanding Drama Series

• Better Call Saul (AMC)
• Ozark (Netflix)
• Severance (AppleTV+)
• Squid Game (Netflix)
• Stranger Things (Netflix)
• Succession (HBO)
• This Is Us (NBC)
• Yellowjackets (Showtime)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Jeremy Strong – Succession (HBO)
• Brian Cox – Succession (HBO)
• Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game (Netflix)
• Jason Bateman – Ozark (Netflix)
• Sterling K. Brown – This is Us (NBC)
• Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Zendaya – Euphoria (HBO)
• Laura Linney – Ozark (Netflix)
• Melanie Lynskey – Yellowjackets (Showtime)
• Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show (AppleTV+)
• Jodie Comer – Killing Eve (AMC/BBC America)
• Sandra Oh – Killing Eve (AMC/BBC America)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

• Kieran Culkin – Succession (HBO)
• Matthew Macfadyen – Succession (HBO)
• Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (AppleTV+)
• Nicholas Braun – Succession (HBO)
• John Turturro – Severance (AppleTV+)
• Giancarlo Esposito – Better Call Saul (AMC)
• Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul (AMC)
• Oh Yeong-su – Squid Game (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

• Julia Garner – Ozark (Netflix)
• Jung Ho-yeon – Squid Game (Netflix)
• Sarah Snook – Succession (HBO)
• J. Smith Cameron – Succession (HBO)
• Patricia Arquette – Severance (AppleTV+)
• Christina Ricci – Yellowjackets (Showtime)
• Sydney Sweeney – Euphoria (HBO)
• Youn Yuh-jung – Pachinko (AppleTV+)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

• “Wine and Roses” – Better Call Saul (AMC)
• “A Hard Way to Go” – Ozark (Netflix)
• “The We We Are” – Severance (AppleTV+)
• “One Lucky Day” – Squid Game (Netflix)
• “All the Bells Say” – Succession (HBO)
• “Pilot” – Yellowjackets (Showtime)
• “Face the Music” – The Gilded Age (HBO)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

• “Pound of Flesh and Still Kickin’” – Ozark (Netflix)
• “Pilot” – Yellowjackets (Showtime)
• “A Hard Way to Go” – Ozark (Netflix)
• “Dear Billy” – Stranger Things (Netflix)
• “All the Bells Say” – Succession (HBO)
• “Too Much Birthday” – Succession (HBO)
• “The Disruption” – Succession (HBO)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

• Adrien Brody – Succession (HBO)
• Colman Domingo – Euphoria (HBO)
• Delroy Lindo – The Good Fight (Paramount+)
• Alexander Skarsgård – Succession (HBO)
• Arian Moayed – Succession (HBO)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

• Whoopi Goldberg – Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+)
• Marcia Gay Harden – The Morning Show (AppleTV+)
• Martha Kelly – Euphoria (HBO)
• Sanaa Lathan – Succession (HBO)
• Lee You-mi – Squid Game (Netflix)

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Tyler Doster

Tyler is the TV Awards Editor for AwardsWatch and from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He’s been obsessed with movies and the oscars since he was about 14. He enjoys reading, but even more, talking about Amy Adams more and will, at any given moment, bring up her Oscar snub for Arrival. The only thing he spends more time on than watching TV is sitting on Twitter. If you ever want to discuss the movie Carol at length, he’s your guy. You can find Tyler at @wordswithtyler

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