Emmy Predictions 2019 - Who Will and Should Win for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series?

The nominations have been announced for The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. So now, it's time to speculate on who will and should win in each major category. Next up for analysis is Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

The Nominees Ranked By Which Should Win:

1. Sarah Goldberg for HBO's Barry - "The Audition"
2. Betty Gilpin for Netflix's GLOW - "Mother of All Matches"
3. Sian Clifford for Amazon's Fleabag - "Episode 3"
4. Alex Borstein for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy"
5. Anna Chlumsky for HBO's Veep - "Pledge"
6. Olivia Colman for Amazon's Fleabag - "Episode 4"
7. Kate McKinnon for NBC's Saturday Night Live - "Host: Liev Schreiber"
8. Marin Hinkle for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Simone"

This is a really tough category to judge this year - both for who should and will win. There are so many different directions someone can go in to pinpoint the best of the nominees. That's what happens when the ballot expands to eight contenders. Kate McKinnon may be the only person giving a conventionally comedic performance. She has excelled at that for so many years on Saturday Night Live. She may have even outgrown that show with her talents even though she's still staying for at least another year. Everyone else has some mixture of drama in the work they are doing. The nominees from Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel compliment each other too. Sure, Alex Borstein and Sian Clifford may have the better individual tapes than Marin Hinkle and Olivia Colman do, respectively. But all of them are tremendous performers working with the type of material they have rarely gotten to embrace in the past. That is so joyous because the shows they are on are so wonderfully unique. They are comedies that stand out in a world of over 450 shows. For my personal taste though, Sarah Goldberg and Betty Gilpin probably had the best character arcs amongst the nominees this season. They were both truly stunning. The second seasons of their shows delved even further into their identities and truly made them confront what they actually wanted in the world. There was the constant push-pull of authenticity versus what makes a compelling story. They were pushed in many conflicting ways and wound up in surprising positions because of the choices they made along the way. Both journeys were very rewarding because of the performers involved. 

The Nominees Ranked by Which Will Win:

1. Alex Borstein for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy"
2. Anna Chlumsky for HBO's Veep - "Pledge"
3. Olivia Colman for Amazon's Fleabag - "Episode 4"
4. Sarah Goldberg for HBO's Barry - "The Audition"
5. Kate McKinnon for NBC's Saturday Night Live - "Host: Liev Schreiber"
6. Sian Clifford for Amazon's Fleabag - "Episode 3"
7. Marin Hinkle for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "Simone"
8. Betty Gilpin for Netflix's GLOW - "Mother of All Matches"

Alex Borstein and Kate McKinnon are previous winners in this category. In fact, this field has followed a pattern over the past decade in which many of the winners ultimately win twice in consecutive years. That feat was achieved first by Modern Family's Julie Bowen in 2012 & 2013, then Mom's Allison Janney in 2014 & 2015, and finally SNL's McKinnon in 2016 & 2017. Borstein won her first Emmy a year ago. So, does that mean she'll keep this pattern alive and win again this year? That certainly seems like an exciting trajectory. She is still giving an absolutely delightful performance on a show that voters continue to embrace fully. She is seen in two episodes amongst the nominees because Marin Hinkle is also in the race. And yet, Olivia Colman and Sian Clifford may be seen as potential spoilers because Fleabag broke out in a big way with the voters. The first season really wasn't noticed at the Emmys at all. That was disappointing. The voters didn't want to make the same mistake again. As such, they may feel the urgency to reward one of these women now because it's unlikely that another season will be made. Of course, the same argument could be made for perennial nominee Anna Chlumsky who has been recognized several times but has never actually won the award. She too is very deserving and has a marvelous episode submission. This is the last time for her to win as well. Or perhaps the voters will go for Sarah Goldberg because of the spike in overall support for Barry. The supporting actor race is half full with nominees from the HBO comedy. Here, it's just Goldberg which may help the voters rally around her. All of these arguments could be made. I haven't even mentioned the boost that Colman probably gets from also winning an Academy Award earlier this year. Even Betty Gilpin has a chance of victory even though she may be a long shot because the voters don't seem to love GLOW as much as some of the other shows nominated here.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below!