FINAL 2021 Emmy Predictions in 25 Drama, Comedy, Limited Series and Variety/Reality categories

Erik Anderson September 17, 2021

The Emmys race is finally coming to a close after a long summer of predictions. With the Creative Arts Emmys finished over this past weekend, the Primetime Emmys Awards this Sunday, September 19 holds several categories that are stacked this year with competition that it’s hard to say for sure who will be taking home the gold, but we’re gonna try. AwardsWatch TV Awards Editor Tyler Doster and I agree on some things and disagree on others, so we’ll see who’s right when the Emmys reveal their winners.

Going into the ceremony, we both agree that The Crown seems destined to take the top prize for Outstanding Drama Series this year, finally giving Netflix the series win it’s been after. The Crown has been the frontrunner for pretty much the entire year (honestly since the time it came out last November), and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change as the Emmys get closer. It does have some stiff competition with Pose’s final season having aired and received high praise for its entire cast. After three successful seasons, The Handmaid’s Tale looks like it could end up losing all 21 nominations its up for this year, breaking Mad Men‘s 0-17 losing record from 2012, so don’t look to that series to be the winner. Poor Elisabeth Moss! With Pose winning three Creative Arts Emmys before the main ceremony, it could end up taking home the win.

In comedy, we agree on Ted Lasso taking series, lead actor, supporting actor and supporting actress (where our rankings are also exactly in line). It’s the directing and writing categories where we split, even on which Ted Lasso episode each of thinks is winning directing. Tyler is going for “Make Rebecca Great Again,” directed by Declan Lowney, while I’ve chosen “The Hope That Kills You,” directed my MJ Delaney. “Make Rebecca Great Again” is an emotional episode with both Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) and Ted (Jason Sudeikis) dealing with memories and realities of each of their failed marriages. “The Hope That Kills You” is the season one finale with “the big game.” Compelling, both.

We’re in agreement that The Queen’s Gambit seems poised to take the top award for Outstanding Limited Series and also that its lead, Anya Taylor-Joy, will take home Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. Perhaps before the Creative Arts Emmys I might have thought that someone like Elizabeth Olsen had enough hype around her performance and show to take the prize, but after The Queen’s Gambit took home so many awards, it just makes sense that it has the momentum to go all the way and to bring its leading actress with it. The series also seeks to win in Outstanding Directing and looks likely that it could do so, but WandaVision’s Matt Shakman is not to be underestimated in this category. WandaVision is loved by many, despite its poor showing at the Creative Arts awards, and is propelled by Shakman’s direction, so it could be a spoiler in the category.

Variety Sketch Series suffered from the new Emmy sliding scale of nominations based on submissions and this year their are only two nominees: the veteran and venerable Saturday Night Live, in its 46th season and as the single show with the most Emmys in history (up to 87 after this weekend); and A Black Lady Sketch Show, in just its second year and already capturing a surprising win in the picture editing category against Bo Burnham: Inside, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hamilton and two episodes of Saturday Night Live at the Creative Arts Emmys It might not seem like much but it was a huge upset when you consider that Last Week Tonight with John Oliver had won this category for the last five years in a row.

Speaking of Bo Burnham and Hamilton, the former did well last week with three major Creative Arts wins including writing and directing for a variety special but can it topple the Tony behemoth that is Hamilton? Tyler and I are split on this; I think Burnham can take Variety Special (Pre-recorded) while he thinks Lin-Manuel Miranda and his band of seven Emmy acting nominees will shoot their shot and win.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will take place will be broadcast on Sunday, September 19, (8:00-11:00 PM, live EDT/5:00-8:00 PM, live PDT) on the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+ and be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer.

Grammy Award-winning R&B Artist Leon Bridges and Academy Award-winning recording artist Jon Batiste (Soul) to Perform a Special “In Memoriam” Song while band leader Reggie Watts (The Late Late Show with James Corden) will serve as DJ for the evening, which will take place on the Event Deck at L.A. Live, next to the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Presenters include: Paulina Alexis, Anthony Anderson, Angela Bassett, Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Stephen Colbert, Jennifer Coolidge, Kaley Cuoco, Lane Factor, Beanie Feldstein, Allyson Felix, America Ferrera, Sterlin Harjo, Devery Jacobs, Ken Jeong, Mindy Kaling, Vanessa Lachey, Dan Levy, Eugene Levy, Jessica Long, Annie Murphy and Catherine O’Hara plus Sarah Paulson, Amy Poehler, Billy Porter, Michaela Jaé (Mj) Rodriguez, Seth Rogen, Tracee Ellis Ross, Hailee Steinfeld, Patrick Stewart, Wilmer Valderrama, Kerry Washington, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Bowen Yang, Annaleigh Ashford, Awkwafina, Misty Copeland, Michael Douglas, Ava DuVernay, Taraji P. Henson, Gayle King, LL Cool J, Dolly Parton, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Ellen Pompeo, Yara Shahidi, Rita Wilson and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Here are the final 2021 Emmy winner predictions in drama, comedy, limited series, variety and reality categories by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and TV Awards Editor Tyler Doster.

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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.