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Awards/Festivals , Television , The Daily Roundup

75th Emmy Award Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series


January 12, 2024

I recently gave my Emmy predictions for the Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress In A Comedy Series categories. We’re going to finish off the Comedy division — and our 75th Emmy predictions — with the Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series categories.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

The actors in this category run the gamut when it comes to the work they’re doing Let’s get to who they are and discuss who will win and why.

The nominees are:

  • Bill Hader (Barry)
  • Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)
  • Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
  • Jason Segel (Shrinking)
  • Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)

 

With all his talent and wit, it’s astounding that Martin Short has never won an Emmy for his acting. He has won the Emmy twice before, but for his other abilities. Once in 1983 for writing SCTV, the other for producing the AFI show that honored Mel Brooks in 2014. Short was also nominated for this Emmy last year but lost to Sudeikis, who won for the second straight year.

Short is hilarious and heartfelt in Only Murders and it’s a shame that he doesn’t seem to have a chance at winning this. I believe he will eventually be recognized for his onscreen brilliance, but it’s not going to be this year.

Segel’s first nomination is well earned, but I think he has less of a chance than Short. Two former winners are above him, as well as an actor who showcased just what a splendid performer he has become after being on screen since he was a teenager.

Sudeikis has won this category in each of the last two years, with Hader winning the Emmy twice in a row before him. It took Eugene Levy and the final season of Schitt’s Creek to interrupt them. That might suggest that one of them will come out the winner in their final head-to-head matchup. Both shows ended their magnificent runs a couple of months ago.

Enter Jeremy Allen White, who first showed up on the small screen in his mid-teens, then becoming a series lead at 19 in Showtime’s Shameless, where he spent 11 seasons playing a tortured, unlucky genius. That was an excellent training ground for The Bear, which has him playing a more adult version of that character to great results.

Watching White play Carmy on the Hulu series is a delight, even when his considerable neuroses are driving the audience nuts. He has so much charm and charisma as well as pathos and engaging faults that allow us to see ourselves in him. It’s an absolute tour de force and he is going to win the first of what I imagine will be several consecutive trophies in this category (even if it is more of a drama than a comedy).

Who Should Win: Jeremy Allen White
Who Will Win: Jeremy Allen White

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

The 12th and final entry in this series brings us to Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

The nominees are:

  • Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)
  • Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
  • Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
  • Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face)
  • Jenna Ortega (Wednesday)

 

I think what Lyonne did on Poker Face was one of the more entertaining and unique performances of the year. Unfortunately, I don’t think she’ll win due to the show’s lack of nominations in other categories.

Brosnahan won the Emmy several years ago for the first season of Maisel. She’s always been good and has received a nomination for all five seasons, but I don’t think that warrants a win. Despite Brosnahan switching things up in the final season, it feels like she was nominated again out of habit.

Applegate has won an Emmy for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her 2004 role in Friends but has never won the lead category, despite being nominated four times prior. With her announcement that she is retiring from acting due to her having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, there’s a chance that she may finally win the Emmy as a career send-off. That being said, I don’t think she will.

I think this category’s Emmy winner is a foregone conclusion, with Quinta Brunson winning for her terrific work in Abbott Elementary, which she created. The only contender who could beat her is Ortega, who won lots of new fans with her performance as Wednesday‘s titular character. There was subtlety in what she did that was easy to miss, but once you see it, you appreciate her work more. For instance, she does not blink on camera once in the whole season.

This category might be the easiest to call, however, this one’s the trickiest. That being said, I have no doubt that it’s Brunson’s Emmy.

Who Should Win: Quinta Brunson
Who Will Win: Quinta Brunson

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