The 2014 Emmy Winners We Really Want to See Win This Year

With the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards scheduled for this Monday, August 25th, experts and critics are finalizing their Emmy winner picks for 2014.

While there are plenty of favorites in each Emmy category, here are my Emmy award predictions for the darkest of dark horse Emmy winner picks that we really want to see take home a golden statue this year.

Comedy: Dark Horse Emmy Picks

The Netflix Original series ‘Orange is the New Black‘ is the clear favorite to win the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, but HBO’s ‘Veep,’ which took home both Outstanding Lead Actress (Julia Louise Dreyfuss) and Outstanding Supporting Actor (Tony Hale) in a Comedy Series Emmy awards last year, is full of much tighter, fast-paced comedic writing and timing. ‘Veep’ is one of those comedy series that if you’re not paying attention, you’re going to miss the joke.

Jim Parsons already has three Emmy awards on his shelf at home for his role as Sheldon Cooper on the CBS comedy ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ and online awards predictor GoldDerby.com predicts he’ll add a fourth Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series this year.

I have and continue to make the case for Louis C.K. for his FX series ‘Louie.’ The dark comedy has been nominated again and again for its acting, directing and writing since 2011, yet Louis C.K. as Lead Actor has yet to pick up a win for his edgy comedy.

Julia Louise Dreyfuss as Vice President Selina Meyer of ‘Veep’ is the crowd and critic favorite to win a second Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, with Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman in ‘Orange is the New Black.’

I make the case for Lena Dunham for her role in the HBO series ‘Girls‘ – the show has received a number of nominations for its writing, directing and acting. Like Louis C.K., she’s always the bridesmaid, but never the bride as she has yet to snag an Emmy for her role as the Lead Actress ‘Girls.’

Drama: Dark Horse Emmy Picks

The final season of AMC’s powerhouse drama ‘Breaking Bad‘ is widely expected to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, and, while I can’t say I don’t disagree, I think ‘True Detective‘ was a breath of morbidly-crafted fresh air in the lineup of one-hour drama on TV this past year.

The writing and directing of this inaugural season on HBO were superb while the paired performance of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson kept audiences constantly shifting alliances between the two.

It’s McConaughey’s and Harrelson’s strong performances in ‘True Detective’ that have them both nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, but audiences are wondering if the Television Academy will award Bryan Cranston a final Emmy to add to his three previous wins as Lead Actor in ‘Breaking Bad.’ (I would argue the final season of ‘Breaking Bad’ was Cranston’s strongest performance of the show.)

But it’s Jon Hamm who I think should go home with the Emmy: the sixth season of AMC’s ‘Mad Men‘ set the show against a number of national tragedies (the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots) and showed Don Draper at his most raw. The disastrous pitch meeting for Hershey’s Chocolate alone should earn Hamm the Emmy.

Julianna Margulies from the CBS drama ‘The Good Wife‘ and Robin Wright of Netflix’s ‘House of Cards‘ are neck and neck in odds to pick up the Emmy statuette for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, according to GoldDerby.com. Lizzy Caplan from HBO’s ‘Masters of Sex‘ seems like the obvious dark horse pick with her first Emmy nomination, but I’m picking Michelle Dockery from the PBS drama, ‘Downton Abbey.’

This is her third nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Lady Mary Crawley. Her performance, while subtle, was beautiful to watch as she begrudgingly blossomed out of mourning over the death of her husband, Matthew.

The 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air at 8PM Eastern on Monday, August 25th on your local NBC affiliate.

What do you think of these dark horse Emmy award picks? Who are your favorites to win an Emmy this year? Share your predictions in the comments!

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons


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Author Profile: Consumer Expert Keiko Zoll

Keiko Zoll is a mom, writer, geek, women's health advocate and all-around sassypants. She writes for Disney Baby and Answers.com. You can find her all over the social web, usually Instagramming and Pinning into the wee hours of the morning.

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