These Are Hulu’s 5 Best Chances At Emmy Nominations

By far, the most likely nomination for Hulu is Elisabeth Moss, who is, if not the frontrunner in the Lead Actress category, then at least a frontrunner, along with The Crown‘s Claire Foy. Moss was a six-time Emmy nominee for Mad Men (and one-time nominee for Top of the Lake), so we know Emmy voters are down with her, and with The Handmaid’s Tale, she’s got a challenging role that has audiences rabid for her to have something good happen to her. So: trophy!

I’d put Moss’s chances at a nomination higher than, say, The Handmaid’s Tale‘s chances for an Outstanding Drama Series nomination. Which may also happen! But that category is crowded with a lot of new shows (The Crown, Westworld, Stranger Things, This Is Us) and thus far more difficult to predict success.

Where to stream The Handmaid's Tale

The other members of the Handmaid’s Tale cast have varying degrees of chance for Emmy success. I’d say Yvonne Strahovski stands a better than decent chance at a Supporting Actress nomination (especially since so many of last year’s nominees were Game of Thrones actresses and thus ineligible this year). Joseph Fiennes is also in the mix for Supporting Actor, though his character was neither dynamic nor (obviously) likeable enough to think of him as any kind of frontrunner. Instead, if you’re looking for a non-Elisabeth Moss option from the Handmaid’s cast, you’d be wise to bet on Alexis Bledel for her performance as Ofglen. It’s a performance with multiple spotlight moments and Bledel is doing career-best work. Unless Emmy voters unexpectedly turn out to hate this show, expect Bledel to show up on the ballot.

The Emmys are really good at tipping off what they’re going to nominate this year. Just look at who they nominated last year. One of Hulu’s two lonely Emmy nods last year was for the Triumph Election Special, and look what’s back on the ballot this year: Triumph’s Summer Election Special 2016. Hey, if we had to suffer through the endless 2016 election campaign, we can at least get two Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Emmy nominations out of it. The competition is pretty stiff, including a Stephen Colbert Election Special and Samantha Bee’s “Not the White House Correspondents Dinner.” But Triumph stands a better-than-poop chance of a back-to-back nod.

Where to stream Triumph's Summer Election Special 2016

We’re now into not-all-that-likely-but-possible territory. The Lead Actor in a Comedy category is not the squishy, soft field it once was. With Master of None and Atlanta, plus the Emmy ascendance of Black-ish‘s Anthony Anderson and Silicon Valley‘s Thomas Middleditch, you’re basically down to hoping that this is the year that Emmy tires of William H. Macy on Shameless. Still, it’s easier to imagine Casual‘s Tommy Dewey crashing this particular field than it is to imagine Michaela Watkins cutting through the thicket of deserving performances in the Lead Actress in a Comedy category.

Where to stream Casual

The Guest Actor/Actress categories are great ways for off-the-radar shows with ambitious casting departments to sneak some Emmy love. And Difficult People is exactly the kind of comedy that could snag a Guest nomination despite lead stars Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner not standing much of a shot themselves. If Emmy voters really have stars in their eyes, they could definitely go for Julianne Moore or Tina Fey’s cameos. And Fred Armisen is a former Emmy nominee for Portlandia, so he could catch voters’ eyes as well. But I’d say the best chances for a Difficult People Emmy nod boil down to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who shows up as himself in a rather meaty cameo that includes some decently funny beats, and six-time Emmy nominee (all as a guest star!) Nathan Lane, who also plays a mirror universe version of himself who is asked to do something truly disgusting by Julie and Billy.

Where to stream Difficult People