2023 Emmy Predictions: The Comedy categories find old school and new school mixing it up but who will come out on top?

Tyler Doster April 4, 2023

Welcome to April, otherwise now known as the month where every streamer you’ve ever heard of is dropping every series in their arsenal to make sure they get their episodes in with the new rules for eligibility. They’re doing this because, in a series of chances, the Television Academy is no longer accepting hanging episodes; six episodes must have premiered by May 31 to be considered eligible, and no more of this “part 1” and “part 2” nonsense. When it comes to categories that once made it possible for multi-camera series to compete against each other, that’s not happening anymore. Those categories will be put together, such as “Picture Editing for a Comedy Series” instead of having two separate categories. Isn’t that fun? For people who watch television like it’s a sport (guilty!), perhaps, but for anyone who identifies as a normal human, it can probably seem preposterous to even consider keeping up with all these shows while also remembering every show they’ve seen that premiered after June 1st of last year. That’s why it’s time to start predictions for this year’s Emmys, specifically some key comedy categories.

The performance categories for comedy will likely have most slots taken up by previous nominees, but there’s still a chance for new blood in those nominations. Hulu’s The Bear could certainly make an impact, with likely nominations coming for lead Jeremy Allen White and supporting actress Ayo Edebiri. Also likely, especially after her SAG nomination, is nomination for Jenna Ortega for Netflix’s Wednesday; her peers clearly support her and it only makes sense that the Television Academy will follow suit. It could also be a first time performance nomination for Selena Gomez, who garnered attention for her performance in the second season of Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). Then there are the definites: Quinta Brunson and (probably) the entire cast of Abbott Elementary (which will grab at least three supporting nominations once again); Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Bill Hader (Barry), and Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), all previous winners; Anthony Carrigan (Barry). It must be mentioned that the 2021 and 2022 winner for Lead Actress in a Comedy, Jean Smart, won’t be in the running this year as Hacks won’t be airing during the eligibility window; Smart has been recovering from a successful heart procedure that halted production of the Emmy-winning show’s third season.

There will certainly be several shows that receive many nominations, per usual. Abbott Elementary is staged to receive a slew of nominations now that it has its foot on the gas during its second season, while old favorites Barry and Ted Lasso will likely grab more than a few themselves. The Television Academy is not afraid to keep tradition, so Jean Smart’s omission this year will certainly free up a slot for someone else to take the win, but who? The Lead Actor category will likely be full of returnees minus one, newly minted SAG winner Jeremy Allen White (The Bear). While he and the series will both likely garner much attention this Emmy season, it probably won’t be because of the SAG win. With different eligibility windows, the SAG awards don’t always provide an accurate look at the possibilities at the Emmys. On top of the eligibility being different, there is also the difference that SAG doesn’t have supporting television categories, so supporting and lead performances are all put in one category that only sees five nominees.

It’s early to tell who all will make the cut, especially with so many contenders going head-to-head this year. Television has never had more going for it, but with so much to watch, who will grab the coveted nominations?

The nomination round of Emmy voting takes place from June 15 to June 26, with the Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 12. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will once again be presented over two consecutive nights on Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10, with an edited presentation of the ceremonies to be broadcast on FXX the following weekend.

The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on Monday, September 18, and air live on FOX at 8:00pm ET/ 5:00pm PT.

Here are my first predictions for Outstanding Comedy Series and the lead and supporting comedy performance categories (listed in alphabetical order) with guest, directing and writing later.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Barry (HBO)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
The Bear (FX)
The Great (Hulu)
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Prime Video)
Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Other contenders: Poker Face (Peacock); Shrinking (AppleTV+); Wednesday (Netflix)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Bill Hader, Barry (HBO)
Nicholas Hoult, The Great (Hulu)
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear (Hulu)

Other contenders: Donald Glover, Atlanta (FX); Jason Segel, Shrinking (AppleTV+); Matt Berry, What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Elle Fanning, The Great (Hulu)
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face (Peacock)
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday (Wednesday)

Other contenders: Christina Applegate, Dead to Me (Netflix); Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me (Netflix); Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Carrigan, Barry (HBO)
Harrison Ford, Shrinking (AppleTV+)
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Henry Winkler, Barry (Barry)
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Other contenders: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear (Hulu); Chris Perfetti, Abbott Elementary (ABC); Stephen Root, Barry (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear (Hulu)
Sarah Goldberg, Barry (HBO)
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
Lisa Ann Walter, Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)

Other contenders: Jessica Williams, Shrinking (AppleTV+); Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live (NBC); Molly Shannon, The Other Two (HBO Max)

Author
Recent Posts

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