Jeff Dodge's 2012 Emmy Predictions

(Image courtesy of ABC)

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards are coming up tonight (Sunday, September 23) at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ABC, hosted by late night host Jimmy Kimmel. And with all of these award shows, I usually post my predictions over at the TV Watch Online BLOG. But from now on, I will be posting them here on my personal blog (in order for me to streamline the process a bit). Go ahead and check out my predictions below:

Best Drama:
Breaking Bad

Best Comedy:
Modern Family

Best Lead Actor in a Drama:
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Best Lead Actress in a Drama:
Claire Danes, Homeland

Best Lead Actor in a Comedy:
Louis C.K., Louie

Best Lead Actress in a Comedy:
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

For the above two lead comedy categories, I had a hard time choosing. Everyone online is predicting Louis C.K. and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but I really, really want to see Jim Parsons take it home again, mainly because I only just started watching The Big Bang Theory this past summer in syndication and am obsessed with that show now. But a lot of people are saying it could be Louis' year, with Parsons as the underdog. And with the actress category, everyone says it'll be Louis-Dreyfus, with Poehler the underdog. So as you can see, I had a hard time--do I go with the obvious choice or the underdog? I ended up splitting it and going with the favorite for actor and underdog for actress. Hopefully, that'll give me a better shot of at least getting one right. Knowing my luck with these predictions, it'll be switched and I'll get both wrong. But who knows...

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama:
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama:
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy:
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy:
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives

Best Guest Actor in a Drama:
Dylan Baker, The Good Wife

I have no idea why I chose Baker for the above category. I went with Michael J. Fox last year and got it wrong, so that makes me hesitant to choose him again. But again, knowing my luck, this'll be the year he does take it.

Best Guest Actress in a Drama:
Loretta Devine, Grey's Anatomy

Best Guest Actor in a Comedy:
Jon Hamm, 30 Rock

Best Guest Actress in a Comedy:
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live

Best Miniseries:
Game Change

Best Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie:
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia

Best Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie:
Julianne Moore, Game Change

Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie:
Ed Harris, Game Change

Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie:
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story

Best Competition Reality Show:
The Amazing Race

Best Non-Competition Reality Program:
Antiques Roadshow

Best Reality Show Host:
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

Why did I go with Seacrest above? It could prove to be an incorrect prediction, but he truly deserves it the most. Since Survivor's Jeff Probst was shut out of this category this time around, the field is wide open. It could be Phil Keoghan, since Amazing Race will probably take the top prize. But at the same time, out of all the hosts here, Keoghan, I believe, has the least amount of screen time per episode compared to his fellow nominees, who are on screen after every contestant performs (save for Betty White, since that's a different sort of show). A year or two ago, I remember everyone saying Cat Deeley deserved it. And she has a great personality, so I wouldn't be surprised. Ryan Seacreast does seem like the underdog here. And for some reason, I'm going for it.

Best Variety, Music or Comedy Series:
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Best Variety, Music or Comedy Special:
Tony Bennett: Duets II (Great Performances)

Well, there they are--my 2012 Emmy predictions. Let's hope I do better than last year, when I only got 46% correct.

Who do you think should win? And is that person/show the same as who you believe will actually win? Share you own predictions in the comments below, or tweet me @TheJeffDodge.