Emmy Winner Predictions: Best Comedy Series

Nominees are pictured and listed in alphabetical order. Submitted episode titles are in parentheses. Beware of major spoilers for listed episodes.

THE BIG BANG THEORY
DVD A - "The Proton Transmogrification" and "The Status Quo Combustion"
DVD B - "The Scavenger Vortex" and "The Romance Resonance"
DVD C - "The Convention Conundrum" and "The Locomotive Manipulation"

I don’t watch this show regularly, but I always look forward to watching the submitted episodes in advance of Emmy night. I enjoyed all of these episodes just as I expected too. DVD A contains two rather dramatic episodes, featuring Sheldon’s difficulty in dealing with the death of an old friend and an uncertain future in the season finale. DVD B includes a scavenger hunt and Sheldon being even more insufferable than usual after a major breakthrough. DVD C features a Comic-Con deliberation and a miserable train ride with an all-too-excited Sheldon. They’re all fun pairings, and I think voters will enjoy them just as much as they always do.

LOUIE
DVD A - "Back" and "Elevator 6"
DVD B - "Pamela 2" and "Pamela 3"
DVD C - "In the Woods 1" and "In the Woods 2"

This show is back for a second nomination, and it’s always one of the most alluring, peculiar experiences to watch this show around Emmy time each year. Mainly, it’s hard to digest this show as a comedy. There’s definitely something interesting about it, but I’m not sure it’s overall more funny than deeply haunting. DVD A features a relatively light introduction to the season and then an intense episode following Louie trying to save his family from a hurricane. DVD B contains the last two episodes of the season in which Louie tries to woo Pamela. DVD C is especially harrowing, with flashbacks to Louie’s difficult past prompted by him catching his daughter smoking marijuana. I just don’t see how this show wins Best Comedy Series even if some consider it to be the best series.

MODERN FAMILY
DVD A - "First Days" and "The Wedding, Part 2"
DVD B - "Three Dinners" and "Las Vegas"
DVD C - "Old Man and the Tree" and "Under Pressure"

This show has won this award for four years running, and no one would be surprised if it took home a fifth. That said, I think this is the year that it might actually be unseated. The only episode of these six that I actually liked was the season’s second episode, “First Days.” The rest are all not the best the show has to offer, and at worst overly choreographed. I think this is it for this show and, barring a vote split, this show won’t take home the Emmy again.

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
DVD A - "Tit Punch" and "The Chickening"
DVD B - "WAC Pack" and "xxxxsgiving"
DVD C - "Tall Men With Feelings" and "Can't Fix Crazy"

This Netflix show scored a bunch of major nominations, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it won this award. It is worth pointing out that while shows like “Nurse Jackie,” “Entourage,” and “Desperate Housewives” have been nominated in the past, none of them have won, but maybe this show can change that. Interestingly, these submissions don’t include the pilot, but skew more towards the end of the season and some dramatic plotlines. It’s just hard to know if voters will like this show or not enough to hand it the Best Comedy Series prize.

SILICON VALLEY
DVD A - "Minimum Viable Product" and "The Cap Table"
DVD B - "Signaling Risk" and "Third Party Insourcing"
DVD C - "Proof of Concept" and "Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency"

Good for this show for making it into this race. It’s an odd, eccentric series that will likely only get better with time. With only seven episodes to choose from, these submissions leave out the third and fourth episodes. DVD A is the weakest since it contains the show’s first two episodes when it was still finding its footing. DVD B is when I got hooked, featuring the logo debacle and the Carver. DVD C includes the final two episodes of the season which are clever and satisfying. The main thing stopping this show from a win is the historical statistic – which I haven’t been able to confirm for all history but at least for the past thirty or so years – that no show without any acting nominees has taken home this award.

VEEP
DVD A - "Some New Beginnings" and "The Choice"
DVD B - "Alicia" and "Fishing"
DVD C - "Special Relationship" and "Debate"

It’s great to see this show, which is now considered a bona fide hit, nominated for its very entertaining third season. The presidential campaign turned out to be quite a strong source of comedy in season three, and, interestingly, this show opted not to submit its hilarious final two episodes, instead picking episodes mostly from the beginning of the season. Each tape has Selina fighting hard against her opponents, and I think all of them would easily impress voters, and maybe this show could finally unseat “Modern Family.”

What should win (based on entire season): “Veep” or “Orange is the New Black”
What should win (based on individual episodes): “Veep”
What will win: Can anything beat “Modern Family”? I say yes, but I can’t decide between “Veep” and “Orange is the New Black.” I’ll opt timidly for the latter.