Emmys 2016: Which Shows Will Be Nominated For Best Comedy Series? [POLL, VIDEO]
Modern Family's dominance in the Best Comedy Series category at the Emmys may be over, but has it ushered in the era of Veep domination?
The Best Comedy Series category could be an interesting one when the Emmy nominations are released next Thursday. Of the seven nominees last year, five are eligible to return this year: HBO's Veep, ABC's Modern Family, HBO's Silicon Valley, Amazon's Transparent and Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The other two nominees were FX's Louie, which did not air any new episodes this past TV season, and NBC's Parks and Recreation, which ended its run last year.
Assuming Veep and the other eligible nominees from last year return this year, that leaves two open spots, and dozens of shows ready to take them.
Let's break down which shows we think will be nominated for Best Comedy Series at the 2016 Emmys.
1. Veep
Veep did incredibly well last year. In addition to taking home wins for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, supporting favorite Tony Hale and the show's writing, it also finally received the elusive Best Comedy Series Emmy. With such dominance last year and the critical acclaim for this past season, Veep is the surest nominee in this category, and it will likely nab another victory in September.
2. Transparent
Transparent was another big winner at the Emmys last year, winning trophies for star Jeffrey Tambor and for directing. It was unclear if Emmy voters were going to take to an Amazon show, but it's clear now that they loved its first season. Now, for the just-as-critically-acclaimed second season, we expect another nomination here and the slight possibility of upsetting Veep for the win.
3. Modern Family
While Modern Family seemed like the only comedy series the Emmy voters liked during its prime, it has since fallen off significantly. While the show used to have five or six stars nominated every year, it now only has Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen. It also lost this category for the first time last year. While its stock has clearly fallen, it's still enough of a favorite to warrant another nomination - though next year might be a bigger question mark.
4. Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley has done pretty well at the Emmys since its first season. It has scored Comedy Series nominations for its first two seasons and received some directing and writing love along the way. Yet it has still been unable to get a nomination for any of its stars, so the show clearly doesn't have widespread love within the TV Academy. So while we think another nomination will happen this year, it's not as assured as the top three.
5. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt earned some solid Emmy love for its first season, though star Ellie Kemper was shockingly snubbed. The show does come from the beloved team of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, whose previous show, 30 Rock, was a huge Emmy darling. The second season of Kimmy did not have the same amount of buzz as the first season, but we think there's still a niche of the Academy that will give it another nomination.
6. black-ish
This is where things get tricky. For the sixth slot, we are predicting the critically acclaimed (and Modern Family-lead out) black-ish to score its first nomination. Only star Anthony Anderson was able to get a nomination last year, but the buzz on black-ish has risen astronomically since then. The show covered numerous hot topics in season 2 regarding black culture, and comes in an Emmy friendly "family sitcom" format. We expect a big showing for black-ish this year, including a nomination here.
7. Mom
We are going out on a limb and predicting what is perhaps the most critically acclaimed multi-camera sitcom on television, Mom. Allison Janney has already won two Emmys for this show, even though there hasn't been any other love for the show outside of her. But voters love Chuck Lorre shows, with multiple nominations in the past for The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, and with very few other choices for fans of multi-camera sitcoms, we think it can break through with a nomination.
Other possible nominees in this category include Netflix's Master of None, CBS' The Big Bang Theory, HBO's Girls, Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle, The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The CW's Jane the Virgin, Amazon's Catastrophe, Hulu's Casual, ABC's Fresh Off the Boat, Fox's The Last Man on Earth and Netflix's Lady Dynamite.
Emmy nominations will be announced July 14.
