2018 Emmy Predictions for Reality, Talk & Sketch: Matt Roush on Who Will & Should Win
CATEGORY: Outstanding Reality Competition
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Most Likely to Win
Emmy voters tend to be creatures of habit in this category — remember the seven-year run of The Amazing Race? — and with three consecutive wins by NBC’s powerhouse The Voice, chances are good it will be victorious yet again.
Should Win
In this era of empowerment, the defining message of RuPaul’s Drag Race — “If you don’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?” — resonates stronger than ever. And with two Outstanding Host wins in a row for RuPaul Charles, the blisteringly funny drag competition struts tallest among its peers.
Should Have Been Nominated
CBS’s pioneering Survivor, still delivering the exotic goods after 36 seasons. Stop taking this show for granted.
CATEGORY: Outstanding Variety/Sketch Series
At Home with Amy Sedaris
Drunk History
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Tracey Ullman’s Show
Most Likely to Win
The juggernaut of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, with 21 nominations, remains the cultural bellwether of our times. Uneven to be sure, but still capable of instantly iconic moments other shows can only dream of.
Should Have Been Nominated
They pretty much got this one right.
CATEGORY: Outstanding Variety/Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Late Show with James Corden
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Most Likely to Win
When on a show’s on an Emmy roll, like HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, you can bet nothing will stop this from a third straight win. The Jon Stewart Daily Show dominated the field for a decade, and Oliver’s deep-dive rants have inherited that mantle.
Should Win
The appropriately pugnacious voice for our #MeToo and Time’s Up times, TBS’s landmark Full Frontal with Samantha Bee is a deserving disrupter.
Should Have Been Nominated
NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. The former “Weekend Update” anchor’s “A Closer Look” dissections of the day’s most outrageous news are genius. Really!
Judging by the list of nominees for this year’s 2018 Emmy Awards, we might be in for one of the most exciting nights in TV history!
The September 17 NBC awards show will be filled with tight races in all of the categories this year, including the Reality and Variety categories. That’s why we’ve recruited our own Matt Roush to help predict this year’s winners — and to break down those who should actually win. Plus, he shines a light on those series and stars that were snubbed from nomination.
So let’s take a look at the Reality and Variety contenders: Outstanding Reality Competition, Outstanding Variety/Sketch Series, and Outstanding Variety/Talk Series. We’re talking nominees like RuPaul’s Drag Race, Saturday Night Live, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and more.
Click through the gallery above for Matt’s picks, and sound off with your own in the comments below!
