Let’s now move on to the Drama Guest Actress contenders for this year. Last year, Allison Janney easily wins one of her two comeback Emmys for her performance in Masters of Sex. And she’s back in the running again. As a matter of fact, three of the nominated performances from last year are back while two are from the same shows with a different actress nominated. Let’s begin.

The best/worst case of name-checking this year happens to be Emmy winner Margo Martindale, who unfortunately continues to be the only acting performance recognized from The Americans. Her submission this year is the episode titled “I Am Abassin Zadran” where she appeared for only two minutes in the whole tape. Sure, Loretta Devine won for a short tape in 2011, but I do’t think that’s even comparable to this really short reel.

Nominated for her guest turn in Scandal is first time Emmy nominee Khandi Alexander who plays Mama Pope. In her tape “Where the Sun Don’t Shine”, we see Maya being held hostage in a room thinking that Olivia will save her. Alexander appears in only three scenes with one of them being a “tape-worthy” moment when she shut down Olivia. I believe Alexander is being helped by the fact that she also appears in TV Movie Bessie this year because her stronger works in Scandal the previous seasons resulted to Emmy snubs.

When Kate Mara was nominated here last year, it’s basically because of that much-talked about train scene in the second season opener of House of Cards. This year, it’s co-star Rachel Brosnahan getting in for her performance as Rachel Posner. Submitting the season finale episode ” Chapter 39″, the tape showcases a complete story arc for the actress which benefits her a lot because it would appeal to voters who don’t even watch the show regularly.

Dame Diana Rigg receives her third consecutive nomination for playing Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones. Her tape this year is the episode “The Gift” where we see the fierce matriarch doing many agreements to save her grandkids. She has some confrontation scenes in this one, though I don’t think it’ll be enough to merit her a victory even if the voters are head over heels with Game of Thrones now.

Aiming for back-to-back wins here is current champ Allison Janney, once again nominated for her work as Margaret Scully in Masters of Sex. This year, she submits the season opener “Parallax”  where she had that scene with onscreen partner Beau Bridges confronting about his sexuality and one where she had to conceal what happened to his character. It’s a pretty lackluster tape as confirmed to her winning one last year because she’s mostly relegated to reacting to Bridges (who’s the star of this episode). She still has a chance to win though had this category lacked a specific frontrunner…

…which it didn’t because Cicely Tyson got in for her role as Ophelia in How to Get Away with Murder. Tyson was also the frontrunner last year for her work in The Trip to Bountiful only to lose in an upset by Jessica Lange, but she’s in the most buzzed about show in the group. In her episode “Mama’s Here Now”, she visits and assists daughter Annalise (Emmy nominee Viola Davis) who’s suffering a personal predicament. In here, Tyson was sassy, funny, dominating, and it’s the perfect tape that gets rewarded with an Emmy. I think it’s one of the most buzzed performances of the season, and one who leads the pack both in buzz and in tapes.

Prediction: Cicely Tyson, “How to Get Away with Murder”
Alternate: Rachel Brosnahan, “House of Cards”

Full Rankings:
01. Cicely Tyson, “How to Get Away with Murder”
02. Rachel Brosnahan, “House of Cards”
03. Allison Janney, “Masters of Sex”
04. Khandi Alexander, “Scandal”
05. Diana Rigg, “Game of Thrones”
06. Margo Martindale, “The Americans”

Check my other 2015 Emmy prediction analysis here.

For more Emmy talk, you can also follow me on Twitter: @nikowl

Hi there. You’re still reading Tit for Tat’s 66th Emmy coverage. After analyzing the comedy guest actress and drama guest actor tapes earlier this week, let’s move on to their counterparts by beginning this one with the Guest Actress Drama category. it is interesting to note that three of last year’s nominees are back again but without current champ Carrie Preston of The Good Wife to defend her throne. As a matter of fact, it seemed like CBS’ plan backfired as they only had Preston as the sole guest actress of the show to be considered and the Emmys snubbed it altogether. Anyway, as for the nominees.

The Emmys continue its stupid decision of ignoring The Americans outside of Margo Martindale. This year, she gets her consecutive nod for her performance as Claudia for the show. While she clearly lacks in screentime in her submission Behind the Red Door, her only moments happened at the near start and the near end of the episode, so that might work for her, but while her reveal at the end was dramatic, it was a bit low key or calm to elicit a winning performance for this nomination.

On the other hand, another consecutive nominee Jane Fonda was all shouts and all sparks in her submission Red Team III for The Newsroom as she gave a five minute speech and lecture to boost the whole news team after they submitted their resignation. That said, she’s hurt by the new policy that guest tapes aren’t edited down since her only appearance happens in the last five minutes so those not fan of the show will have to endure the first 54 minutes or so before they’ll witness Fonda’s moments in this episode.

After a seven year hiatus, Allison Janney comes back with a bang by picking up two nominations for her performances in two different genres in two different shows. Like her on-screen husband Beau Bridges, she’s also nominated for her turn in Masters of Sex, and while her episode Brave New High isn’t necessarily the type of tapes that win here, she provides a very devastating and poignant take of a woman who never had an orgasm. It was heartbreaking and emotional, and I think she nailed her submission.

From a snub for her season-long performance last year, Kate Mara gets herself a nomination for a short stint in the sophomore season of House of Cards. While she only has Episode 14 as her sole submission, it is that one episode that heavily involved her character in it. And I think that’s more than enough. After all, that same episode was just nominated in Writing and Directing for this year, so it clearly has its fans in the panel.

Receiving her third nomination in this category (for another Shonda Rhimes show), Kate Burton was on fire in her episode A Door Makred Exit. The cold open actually begins with her story, and it is scenery chewing at its finest. She continues to get this big scenes one after the other and I guess it all depends on the panel assigned in this one if they prefer the soap opera melodrama of the show because if they do, then an Emmy on her way is really feasible. To be fair to Burton, she’s one of the only two people in the ensemble (the other being Emmy snubbed(!!!) Bellamy Young) who clearly has a grasp of what the show’s nature is about, so there’s that.

Last but certainly not the least (or well maybe she really is) is Dame Diana Rigg for her role as Lady Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones. I will not be surprised if voters who will watch the tapes will be surprised that there isn’t really anything about this submission or her season long performance that deserve a nomination, but at this point, the only thing supporting her is if the Emmys has a real (and I mean really hard, Viagra hard) hard-on for Game of Thrones. Otherwise, it is a filler nod at most.

Last year, I predicted Jane Fonda with her speech and her status in the industry, and while I don’t think she was  shoo-in then, I really don’t think I’ll put myself in the same position of predicting her again. As a matter of fact, the three repeater nominees this year are the three weaker contenders in this race. I think I’ll call this the battle of the wives with gay husbands. Whether they’ll go with out outlandish histrionics of Kate Burton or the subtle and more quiet approach by Allison Janney, I won’t really be surprised. It’s too close, but I’ll be giving this one to Allison Janney. This year is her major TV comeback, and I’m sure Emmy(s) would be the cherry on top of her cake. Dark horse position goes to Kate Mara though. She can push herself to a win (pun intended) especially if there is a strong love for the House of Cards train (sorry I can’t help it :D)

Prediction: Allison Janney, “Masters of Sex”
Alternate: Kate Burton, “Scandal”

Full Rankings:
01. Allison Janney, “Masters of Sex”
02. Kate Burton, “Scandal”
03. Kate Mara, “House of Cards”
04. Jane Fonda, “The Newsroom”
05. Margo Martindale, “The Americans”
06. Diana Rigg, “Game of Thrones”

Check my other 2014 Emmy prediction analysis here.

For more Emmy talk, you can also follow me on Twitter: @nikowl

PAST PREDICTIONS:

2005: Angela Lansbury, “Law and Order: SVU” [WRONG]
2006: Patricia Clarkson, “Six Feet Under” [CORRECT]
2007: Kate Burton, “Grey’s Anatomy” [WRONG]
2008: Cynthia Nixon, “Law and Order: SVU” [CORRECT]
2009: Ellen Burstyn, “Law and Order: SVU” [CORRECT]
2010: Ann Margret, “Law and Order: SVU” [CORRECT]
2011: Joan Cusack, “Shameless” [WRONG]
2012: Jean Smart, “Harry’s Law” [WRONG]

After the movie miniseries and the reality/competition ones, let’s move to the guest acting categories for this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards. As you may know, the Guest Acting categories are being given a week before the actual ceremonies at the Creative Emmy Awards alongside the other technical category winners. Let’s begin with Guest Actress in a Drama Series, where in the biggest shock was the snub for Shirley Maclaine in Downton Abbey. The moment her casting was announced, a nomination was already predicted despite the end result of her guesting, but it’s sad that this once perennial nominee can’t even snatch an Emmy nod for a huge TV stint like this. Anyway…

Linda Cardellini is Mad Men‘s representative in this category for this year after unlucky tries made by previous nominees Cara Buono, Randee Heller, and Julia Ormond. In her submission Man of a Plan, Sylvia decided to once and for all make some huge steps towards her relationship with Don as his mistress. The good thing about this episode is that it’s a full circle act which gives her character some closure. But do you think this is the first acting performance that can snoop up an acting Emmy from the show? Your guess is just as good as mine.

Joan Cusack is back for her third consecutive bid for Shameless. Isn’t it amazing that she continues to be the only thing the Emmys recognize from this show? And how is she even a guest star when she appears all through the season (well I know. It’s probably stipulated in her contract in the same way other “guest stars” are in their shows like Robert Morse in Mad Men). As for Cusack, this is probably her best submission yet (A Long Way From Home) in the last three years as she deals with the giving up of her granddaughter which provides the drama while Jody introducing her to kinky sex provides the comedic part. I have predicted her once, and while I don’t think she’s winning this year, I won’t be surprised if she actually does.

Respected veteran Jane Fonda picks up an Emmy nod that can go along her two Oscars for her turn in The Newsroom. Aside from the snubbed Maclaine, this is the most buzzed guest acting stint in this category this season, and that gives her the most buzz among the other contenders. Watching her episode The 112th Congress  can be quite a chore since most of her scenes appear in the near end of the episode. However, she benefits from the trimmed down episode system of this category as all of her scenes were made to gain awards traction and makes her a viable winner.

After her very deserving win two years ago for Justified, Margo Martindale is back for Emmy contention, this time for her role as Claudia in The Americans. Like Cusack, it’s probably stipulated in her contract that she is a guest star seeing she appeared in majority of the season’s episodes. In her submitted episode The Colonel which was also the show’s season finale, she gets revenge on the person who she thinks is responsible for someone else’s death. This includes her in a physical transformation in one of her scenes. This might not be the best tape of the bunch, but it gives her enough to work on, and I wouldn’t count her out for the win.

Among the plethora of The Good Wife actresses eligible this season, it is Mrs. Michael Emerson a.k.a Carrie Preston who gets to represent the show in this category. As attorney Elsbeth Tascioni, the actress submitted Je Ne Sais What? where in her character was arrested before the hearing of her client. Preson’s unique and quirky attention easily gets your attention and this episode gives her quite a work on and a grasp of how her character works. During the past three years of The Good Wife, there’s always an actress who wins for the show, and Preston can be its fourth consecutive win this year.

Lastly, there’s Dame Diana Rigg from Game of Thrones. Rigg is a past Emmy winner who already has reaped multiple nominations in the 70s and 80s. Somewhat a forum favorite, matriarch Olenna Tyrell goes on and does everything she can to protect and preserve her family’s interest. It’s not a very showy performance, but Dame Rigg’s presence was definitely felt throughout her scenes And Now His Watch Has Ended. However, a stint like hers benefits more from the old guest acting rules instead of a tape submission.

Despite this, it’s really hard to come up with a prediction in this category. The only one I can eliminate is Linda Cardellini, and I can see a winning scenario for the rest of them. However, with her stature and her tape (that benefits from the editing), I’d put Jane Fonda as my predicted winner on who’ll end up with the Emmy in this category.  Runner up position foes to Carrie Preston in a scene stealing and likable performance in The Good Wife.

Prediction: Jane Fonda, “The Newsroom”
Runner-Up: Carrie Preston, “The Good Wife”

Full Rankings:
1. Jane Fonda, “The Newsroom”
2. Carrie Preston, “The Good Wife”
3.  Joan Cusack, “Shameless”
4. Diana Rigg, “Game of Thrones”
5. Margo Martindale, “The Americans”
6. Linda Cardellini, “Mad Men”

To check out other Emmy predictions, simply click here.

You can also follow me on Twitter: @nikowl