The 73rd Primetime Emmy awards will air on Monday, Sept. 12, and will be available to stream on NBC and Peacock. In the meantime, we’ve put together a guide to the top categories using data gathered from our school-wide survey (along with a healthy dose of our own opinions) so you’re prepared for the event ahead. 

DRAMA

“Stranger Things” is something of a fan favorite to win Outstanding Drama, and its cultural impact is certainly impossible to ignore, but the show’s fourth season just wound up feeling very much like everything that came before it. At the same time, Netflix’s “Squid Game,” shocked audiences as the newest international breakout hit. The South Korean survival show received somewhat high ratings, but its status as a five-time Emmy nominee is unwarranted. When it’s being put up against other outstanding shows, it seems out of place.

On the other hand, the landmark final season of “Better Call Saul” has some considering the show better than its predecessor “Breaking Bad,” which is no small feat, and the compliments are undoubtedly deserved. Much of the show’s success can be attributed to Bob Odenkirk, who’s competing in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama category for his layered and heart-wrenching portrayal of the familiar lawyer’s fall from grace.

Zendaya is certainly everyone’s favorite to win Lead Actress here for her performance as a student struggling with addiction in “Euphoria.” In fact, she became the youngest person to ever win an Emmy in this category last year for the same role, and has outdone herself in the show’s second season. That being said, it’s hard to overlook Laura Linney’s stunning, dramatic performance in the final season of Netflix’s “Ozark,” in which she took the already complicated character of Wendy Byrde to new heights.

Syndey Sweeney as the disastrous Cassie Howard has been one of the most talked about spectacles this year. However, her ability to be melodramatic isn’t enough to justify a win as Supporting Actress. On the other hand, Sarah Snook, having already won this year’s Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice awards for her nuanced portrayal of Shiv Roy, presents herself as one of the main contenders for this category. In a similar vein is Snook’s co-star and Supporting Actor nominee, Kieran Culkin,  who displayed a surprisingly subdued new dimension of his typically boisterous character in the third season of “Succession.”

COMEDY

“Ted Lasso” may have won Outstanding Comedy at the 2021 Emmys, but NBC’s breakout hit “Abbott Elementary” is a formidable opponent, as well as our favorite to win. “Abbott” is viewed as something of a successor to “The Office,” sharing its mockumentary format, and has proved itself to be one of the more contemporary breakout sitcoms around, and also won multiple achievements for the Creative Arts Emmys, which occurred on Sept. 4. 

Jason Sudeikis is undoubtedly a favorite to win Lead Actor for his role as a rustic football coach out of his element after winning in the same role in 2021. However, this year he finds himself up against Bill Hader, whose performance as the titular assassin-turned-actor in “Barry” has scored him a win for every season of the show. While both shows don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, it’s looking like Hader may narrowly pull out a win. 

Out of the many actors nominated for Supporting Actor, two seem to be very obvious standouts – Anthony Carrigan of “Barry” and Tyler James Williams of “Abbott Elementary,” two actors who have found themselves on opposite sides of the acting spectrum. While Carrigan is much more animated in his role as the iconic NoHo Hank (for which he scored a nomination in 2019), newcomer Williams has brought a charming deadpan personality to “Abbott.” With “Barry” being such a favorite in many of its nominated categories, it seems to be the comedy to watch out for this year.

LIMITED SERIES

2022 has proven itself to be a big year for biographies, as four of the five nominated limited series are based on real-life stories. However, when it comes to the overall best, the biggest standout has to be the standalone fiction – HBO Max’s “The White Lotus.” Notable for its ostentatious ensemble of characters, “Lotus” dominated almost every category it was eligible for. While the show’s supporting cast, Murray Bartlet (Supporting Actor) and Jennifer Coolidge (Supporting Actress) show promise to win in their respective categories.

While the dark comedy is almost everyone’s top choice for Outstanding Limited Series, Hulu’s “Dopesick,” an addictive historical fiction series on the opioid epidemic, received praise for performances by Lead Actor nominee Michael Keaton.

Although there’s a slight preference for past winner Sarah Paulson from “American Crime Story,” first-time nominee Amanda Seyfried may be the frontrunner for Lead Actress, as her convincing portrayal of fraudulent CEO Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout,” was just as impressive as it was unsettling.