The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards are coming up! There’s so much to do in so little time, so I shall now be giving you my predictions for the Drama Series categories.

Outstanding Drama Series:

1. The Crown
2. The Mandalorian
3. Pose
4. The Handmaid’s Tale
5. Lovecraft Country
6. The Boys
7. Bridgerton
8. This is Us

By process of elimination, Bridgerton, The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Lovecraft Country, and The Mandalorian are each nominated for Casting. However, only three of those (The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mandalorian) are also nominated for Picture Editing. It’s important to have nominations in those two categories as they are usually required to win a top series award. This past year, the fourth season of The Crown became the show’s buzziest season yet (especially with the introduction of Princess Diana). It also exploded with about 9 acting nominations from the television academy. At the Creative Arts ceremony last weekend, The Crown ended up winning four awards (including Casting and Picture Editing). If you ask me, I think things are looking good for the show to be coronated in this category.

​Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:

1. Josh O’Connor-The Crown
2. Billy Porter-Pose
3. Rege-Jean Page-Bridgerton
4. Jonathan Majors-Lovecraft Country
5. Sterling K. Brown-This is Us
6. Matthew Rhys-Perry Mason

A lot of the winners we’ve had in this category lately have either been in a first year show or a last year show. Last year was an exception to that rule because Jeremy Strong won for the second season of Succession. While The Crown isn’t officially over yet, it certainly is for Josh O’Connor as Dominic West will be playing an older version of Prince Charles in the next two seasons. The former actor has already won prizes from the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards for his performance earlier this year. So I do think he is going to win. Although Billy Porter, who already won for the first season of Pose back in 2019, has gotten just as much, if not, more buzz for the final season this year. We may not have gotten as many repeat winners in this category recently (the last of which being Bryan Cranston for the final season of Breaking Bad back in 2014), but Porter does appear to have a great shot of doing so.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:

1. Emma Corrin-The Crown
2. Mj Rodriguez-Pose
3. Olivia Colman-The Crown
4. Elisabeth Moss-The Handmaid’s Tale
5. Jurnee Smollett-Lovecraft Country
6. Uzo Aduba-In Treatment

There may be two ladies from The Crown in contention here, but I think Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) has the edge over Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman). Corrin’s performance made her one of the biggest breakout stars of this past year. She already received wins from the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards last winter, so she has the edge. As for potential upsets, Elisabeth Moss may have gotten some of the best reviews of her career on the most recent season of The Handmaid’s Tale, but she’s already won for the first season back in 2017. It’s been a while since we’ve had a repeat winner in this category. Mj Rodriguez may be the first transgender performer to have been nominated here, but she doesn’t have a standout moment in the final season of Pose until the finale. Though if she were to win, then that would suggest voters were able to see it.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:

1. Tobias Menzies-The Crown
2. Michael Kenneth Williams-Lovecraft Country
3. Giancarlo Esposito-The Mandalorian
4. John Lithgow-Perry Mason
5. Bradley Whitford-The Handmaid’s Tale
6. O-T Fagbenle-The Handmaid’s Tale
7. Chris Sullivan-This is Us
8. Max Minghella-The Handmaid’s Tale

This is a very tricky race to figure out. You might as well throw a dart on the board to come up with a prediction. A number of people are settling on Michael Kenneth Williams for Lovecraft Country, but his show was cancelled shortly before nominations were announced. Final voting ended about a couple weeks before the actor was sadly found dead at the age of 54, so whoever did end up voting for him certainly didn’t take sentiment into account. Although with Courtney B. Vance winning Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Lovecraft Country at the Creative Arts Awards last weekend, maybe it is still possible for Michael Kenneth Williams to win here despite his show being cancelled. However, I’m actually predicting Tobias Menzies. I can just see him winning as part of a possible sweep for The Crown. I could end up being wrong here, but this is gonna be one of those scenarios where I predict a sweep, and see how I end up doing.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:

1. Gillian Anderson-The Crown
2. Helena Bonham Carter-The Crown
3. Ann Dowd-The Handmaid’s Tale
4. Yvonne Strahovski-The Handmaid’s Tale
5. Aunjanue Ellis-Lovecraft Country
6. Emerald Fennell-The Crown
7. Samira Wiley-The Handmaid’s Tale
8. Madeline Brewer-The Handmaid’s Tale

There may be three ladies from The Crown nominated here, but I think Gillian Anderson should easily be able to overcome vote-splitting with Helena Bonham Carter and Emerald Fennell. Her powerhouse performance as Margaret Thatcher this past season is pretty much equivalent to John Lithgow’s powerhouse performance as Winston Churchill in the first season. Anderson has already won prizes for her work from the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier this year. So you should count on this being one of the biggest locks of the night.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards air on CBS tonight at 8:00.