Kaley Cuoco was nominated for a SAG Award, Critics Choice Award, and Golden Globe for her performance in “The Flight Attendant.” Unfortunately, she lost all of them. Thankfully, the qualifying contenders for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series are slightly less competitive for the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards. Basically, Cuoco might be your frontrunner for this award.
Other major players include four-time Emmy nominee Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”), a two-time winner in this category Allison Janney (“Mom”), and, likely, Lena Waithe, who becomes the center of “Master of None’s” surprise third season. Could Jean Smart (“Hacks”) or Jane Levy (“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”) crack the six too? Sure. Could either of the leads of “Pen 15” make the cut? Possible! But the bigger question is this Cuoco’s big moment or not? [Posted April 29]
Likely
Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Lena Waithe, “Master of None”
Jane Levy, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”
Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Possible
Christin Milioti, “Made for Love”
Maya Erskine, “Pen 15”
Anna Konkle, “Pen 15”
Alia Shawkat, “Search Party”
Hailee Steinfeld, “Dickson”
Sara Bareilles, “Girls5Eva”
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
