And the Emmy winners are? 2 TV devotees offer predictions

Because television means so much to us, we decided to create a few polls to see who you think was going to take home the Emmy! Show up at a festival to promote your film, pretend to enjoy getting your picture snapped by a #blessed “industry expert”, thus securing their approval, and suddenly you’re a “lock”. Kyle Chandler is up for Lead Actor in a Drama as he looks to win his second award in the category after winning in 2011 for playing Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights.

That’s the intro to my Emmy predictions.

A “Game of Thrones” victory, a follow-up to the 2005 best-drama win by another genre series, the sci-fi saga “Lost”, would keep “Mad Men” from earning its fifth trophy and setting a record as most honored drama ever. Bill Cosby’s legacy is under siege now for alleged sexual assaults (largely denied by him), but in 1966 he was the first African-American to be honored as best actor in a drama series, “I Spy”. Veep more closely adheres to the ethos of, say, The Office and 30 Rock, but it also has to compete against Parks and Recreation, something of a sentimental favorite, in addition to Tina Fey’s buzzy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Now that it’s in the drama categories and has to compete with some real heavyweights, how will it do?

Hamm faced fierce Emmy competition for years with “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston’s drug-dealing Walter White but Cranston is not nominated this time given the end of his show in 2013. After all, The Wire didn’t win a single statuette over the course of its run (and was only nominated for two), and is now widely recognized as one of the best small-screen dramas of all time. They scrutinize the style on “Mad Men“. History, though, informs us of their distinct preference for actors who play characters struggling with their demons a little less internally, and Hamm’s Don Draper, sadly, is among the thickest-skinned enigmas to ever brood on television.

“He has sentiment on his side, but he also has the goods”. If so, then what of the overlap between Emmy and Tony’s voting blocs?

In miniseries/movie categories, HBO’s “Olive Kitteridge” and star Frances McDormand are likely winners as is David Oyelowo of “Nightingale“.