Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actress in a TV Series – Comedy/Musical

The competition:
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) plays Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman trying to ensure her eternal fate, in the second and third seasons of the NBC afterlife comedy. This is Bell’s first Golden Globe nomination, and her show also contends for Best TV Series – Comedy/Musical for the first time.

Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown) plays the title character, a television journalist, in the eleventh season of ABC’s revived comedy series. She contended eight times during the show’s original run, winning in 1988 and 1991, with three additional nominations between 1966 and 2006. She also won five Emmys for playing this character between 1988 and 1994.

Alison Brie (GLOW) plays Ruth Wilder, an actress playing a wrestler in the second season of the Netflix comedy. For the second year in a row, she is the lone representative of her show. After being snubbed for an Emmy nomination, Brie contends for the second time both individually and as part of her ensemble at the SAG Awards.

Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) plays Midge Maisel, a 1950s housewife moonlighting as a stand-up comedian in the second season of the popular Amazon series. She won this award last year, and is joined by her costar Alex Borstein and her show in the top race, which it won, this year. She is nominated for SAG Awards both individually and as part of her ensemble.

Debra Messing (Will and Grace) plays Grace Adler, an interior designer living with her gay best friend in the ninth and tenth seasons of NBC’s revived comedy series. Though her show and costar Eric McCormack were nominated last year, Messing was last nominated for her work on this series in 2004, marking her sixth bid, and has two additional nominations for “The Starter Wife.”

Additional notes: This category almost always rewards actress from freshman series, with rare repeat winners, the most recent of which was Tina Fey in 2008. Interestingly, Messing’s show has been singled out with one performer only by each major awards body, with McCormack being nominated here last year and Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally being cited by SAG and Emmy, respectively.
Who should win? I stopped watching Bergen’s show a few episodes in and I’m honestly surprised that she was nominated, especially since her show has pretty much been cancelled. I haven’t seen any of the second season of Brie’s show, but I liked her work in season one. Messing is funny and probably a solid choice for this calendar year. Brosnahan is terrific as always, and I’m fine with her repeating a win, but I would be absolutely thrilled if the criminally underrated Bell won.
Who will win? I think that Brosnahan wins again since there’s no one strong enough to take her down.