If I had an Emmy Ballot: Lazy Edition Drama Picks

I preface the word "Lazy" with my Emmy predictions because I can't watch everything so I'm making speculative picks based on what I know of a show from past seasons or have heard of it.

For instance, although I have only watched two or three whole episodes of Mad Men, I know that it's the show's last run and I like Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks enough that I'd be happy to see them rewarded with Emmys despite the fact that I can't possibly judge their worthiness. Why don't I just watch Mad Men so I can definitively say whether they belong? My schedule is too busy to start watching every single TV series just for a simple personal blog entry.

In other cases, I like the idea of Downton Abbey as a show and I'm happy it's being watched. I just made a decision not to watch it because, like I said, so many hours in the day. At the same time, I can say without watching Mr Robot that it doesn't sound like a show I want to see rewarded, and while it's not a well-founded decision you should trust me on, them's the rules of this exercise.

Lastly, there are shows that I watched in past seasons that I didn't get around to watching this season. Synopses and previews have helped me determine whether these are shows I'd want rewarded. In the case of The Americans, I quit the show because I found Phil and Elizabeth's ability to fool everyone around then unrealistic. However, this season I heard from general buzz that their daughter Paige discovered their secret identities. Now that sounds like the show I was hoping for. Am I gonna go and backtrack through a season and a half? Hell no! The good news is that this not watching everything method is something you can all participate in, so here we go:

Best Series:
The Bridge (FX)
Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
The Americans (FX)*
Mad Men (AMC)*
Empire (Fox)
Boardwalk Empire  (HBO)
Good Wife (CBS)*

Best Actor:
Clive Owen, The Knick (Cinemax)
Terrence Howard, Empire
Jon Hamm, Mad Men*
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Charlie Cox, Daredevil (Netflix)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Best Actress:
Julianne Margulies, The Good Wife*
Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Dianne Kruger, The Bridge
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black*
Taraji P Henson, Empire
Hayley Atwell, Agent Carter

Best Supporting Actor:
Jeffrey Wright, Boardwalk Empire
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline (Netflix)
Jussie Smollett, Empire
Andre Holland, The Knick
Nick Sandow, Orange is the New Black
Donal Logue, Gotham (Fox)

Best Supporting Actress:
Yael Stone, Orange is the New Black
Christina Hendrichs, Mad Men*

Katja Herbers, Manhattan (WGN)

Emily Mortimer, The Newsroom (HBO)

Deborah Ann Woll, Daredevil

Olivia Cook, Bates Motel (A&E)

Best Guest Actress:

Juliette Lewis, Wayward Pines (Fox)

Margo Martindale, The Americans

Franka Potente, The Bridge

Annaleigh Ashford, Masters of Sex

Barbara Rosenblat, Orange is the New Black

Alysia Reiner, Orange is the New Black

Best Guest Actor:

Pablo Schreiber, Orange is the New Black

Terrence Howard, Wayward Pines

Zeljko Ivanek, 12 Monkeys (SyFy)

Frank Langella, The Americans

Beau Bridges, Masters of Sex

F. Murray Abraham, Homeland*

Drama Writing

Good Wife*

The Americans

Orange is the New Black

Boardwalk Empire

Empire

Downton Abbey*

Directing

Orange is the New Black

Sense 8 (Netflix)

The Knick

Agent Carter

The Americans

Boardwalk Empire


An asterisk indicates a show I didn't actually see.