It was a lot of fun when Tina Fey ("30 Rock") went all nuclear on The Envelope during her Golden Globes acceptance speech this year. But she's still hurling rocks. Sunday night, backstage at the Emmys, moments after "30 Rock" won best comedy series, a journalist asked if her victory was really a "nail-biter," as she said during the acceptance speech.

"Yeah," she said, "The Internet is always wrong. So when I heard we were the favorite on the Internet, I thought, 'Oh, no! We're dead!' "

Since this is the only website that pools Emmy predictions and we're a site Tina knows well (she said at the Globes that we're one of the few sites she likes to hang out at — see the video here — while snooping in our message boards, which she blasted in her acceptance speech), it's probably safe to say that she was largely referring to The Envelope again at yet another awards show. So here is our reply to Tina.

We're "always wrong," Tina? In 2007 and 2008, we correctly predicted "30 Rock" would win best comedy series, and last year we foresaw your victory as best actress and Alec Baldwin's as best actor. This year we correctly forecast repeat victories by "30 Rock" and Baldwin, but, yes, we did get one major prediction wrong in the laugh lineup. We believed you'd repeat at best lead actress. However, we warned loud and clear that Toni Collette ("United States of Tara") was poised as a spoiler because Hollywood voters are such suckers for multiple-personality roles.

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Rob Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net) agrees with me that Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock") will probably win the Emmy again for best comedy actor, but Chris "Boomer" Beachum backs Steve Carell ("The Office"), possibly due to wishful thinking. We all agree that Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") is a serious rival.

Also watch our video smackdowns covering these Emmy races too: best drama actor, lead drama actress, best comedy series and lead comedy actress.

Also, read Boomer's and Rob's in-depth analysis of these contests: best comedy series, lead comedy actor, lead comedy actress, supporting comedy actor, supporting comedy actress, guest comedy actor, guest comedy actress, comedy writing, comedy directing, best drama series, best lead drama actor, lead drama actress, lead actor in movie/mini and lead actress in a movie/mini. See a chart of predix by top journalists here. See my full list of predix here. Read more predix in our forums.

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While Chris "Boomer" Beachum is supremely confident that Tina Fey ("30 Rock") will win the Emmy Award for best comedy actress again, Rob Licuria and I are leery of challenges by Toni Collette ("United States of Tara") and Christina Applegate ("Samatha Who"). The reason: Emmy voters have a bizarre adoration of actors performing multiple personalities, as Collette and Applegate — read more about that here.

Watch our video smackdowns covering these races too: best drama actor, lead drama actress and best comedy series and lead comedy actor.

Also, read Boomer's and Rob's in-depth analysis of these contests: best comedy series, lead comedy actor, lead comedy actress, supporting comedy actor, supporting comedy actress, guest comedy actor, guest comedy actress, comedy writing, comedy directing, best lead drama actor, lead drama actress, lead actor in movie/mini and lead actress in a movie/mini. See a chart of predix by top journalists here. Read more predix in our forums.

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Basically, I think Emmys are going to make like a TV repeat this year and bring back last year's winners in all top series races: best drama ("Mad Men"), lead drama actor (Bryan Cranston, "Breaking  Bad"), lead drama actress (Glenn Close, "Damages"), best comedy ("30 Rock"), lead actor (Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"), lead actress (Tina Fey, "30 Rock"). Here is my full list of predictions, which you should compare with those of other experts pooled by Gold Derby.

Believe it or not, such mass repetition has never happened — all of the top champs returning, that is. It may seem like Emmy winners get rubber-stamped all the time and they often do, but not en masse like that.

What could the upsets be? Bryan Cranston faces a serious challenge from Gabriel Byrne, who gave Emmy judges a powerful episode of "In Treatment" — ("Gina, Week 4") — in which his character has a gripping scene at his father's death bed. "In Treatment" has two drawbacks, though: It's only half the length, time-wise, as rival nominees (size matters in Hollywood) and its characters are excruciatingly whiny, preachy and self-absorbed. However, Dianne Wiest pulled off an upset victory for supporting actress in the series last year.

Cranston also has gripping dramatics in his episode, too — "Phoenix" — read a full description here. Specifically touching is a scene in which he shows his infant daughter the illicit fortune he's stashed away for the well-being of his family's future. Click here to watch a video of Chris "Boomer" Beachum, Robert "Rob L" Licuria and I discuss the nuances of this cliffhanger category race.

Locked up are wins for best series ("Mad Men," "30 Rock") and Glenn Close as actress. There are chances of upsets on the comedy side, all because of a fluke factor of multiple personalities as a voting plus.

For some crazy reason, those notoriously nutty Hollywooders love to reward actors who portray split personalities — as if they're getting multiple performances for the price of one vote. Perhaps the biggest upset in Emmy history was pulled off by Lindsay Wagner as best drama actress — yes, drama actress — in 1977 for the laughably featherweight "Bionic Woman." She did so by giving Emmy judges an episode in which she portrayed good and evil twin takes on her character. Just last year Cynthia Nixon won an Emmy in the guest categories for portraying dual roles on "Law & Order: SVU." At the Daytime Emmys, Erika Slezak of "One Life to Live" won her fourth and fifth awards in 1994-95 and 1995-96, respectively, for acting out six personalities, one of them a 10-year-old boy. At the Oscars, think Joanne Woodward ("Three Faces of Eve") and Fredric March ("Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde").

In the race for best comedy actress, there are two contenders who challenge incumbent champ Tina Fey with multiple roles: Christina Applegate (good and evil turns of the same role in "Samantha Who?") and Toni Collette (four personalities in "United States of Tara"). However, Tina Fey gives a strong, sensitive performance in her episode submission, "Reunion," which reveals she once had a very different side to her adult personality. While attending her high-school reunion, she's shocked to discover that she was once considered to be a mean girl in her peers. (Fey, in real life, is the author and star of the hit film "Mean Girls" — get the inside joke? Will Emmy voters? They're members of the acting branch, which means they can be pretty dim.)

Last year's best comedy actor, Alec Baldwin, now has the split-personalities factor in his favor as he portrays, in "Generalissimo," both his usual role as sinister corporate suit plus an actor who portrays an army general on a Spanish TV soap opera. Baldwin does face some tough competition, though. He's up against Steve Carell ("The Office"), who's overdue to win and gave Emmy judges a sympathetic episode (for a change), titled "Broke." Usually, his character is too creepy or unlikable for voters to want to hug.

When it comes to making tough Emmy Awards predictions, no one comes out swinging harder than our gurus Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net), who join me in this video dishing the rivals for best comedy series: "Entourage," "Family Guy," "How I Met Your Mother," "Flight of the Conchords," "The Office," "30 Rock" and "Weeds."

Also check out Rob's and Boomer's in-depth noodling of these categories: best comedy series, lead comedy actor, lead comedy actress, supporting comedy actor, supporting comedy actress, guest comedy actor, guest comedy actress, comedy writing, comedy directing, best lead drama actor, best lead actor in movie/mini and lead actress in a movie/mini. Read more in our forums.

Here's our first batch of predictions pooled from some of the top Emmy journos: Michael Ausiello (Entertainment Weekly), Marc Berman (MediaWeek), Hal Boedeker (Orlando Sentinel), Maggie Furlong (AOL) and Ray Richmond (just some guy). Below, a sampling of their predix. More to come soon.

For more in-depth noodling of top Emmy races, click on these links to analysis by our resident gurus Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net) sizing up these categories: best comedy series, lead comedy actor, lead comedy actress, supporting comedy actor, supporting comedy actress, guest comedy actor, guest comedy actress, comedy writing, comedy directing, best lead drama actor, best lead actor in movie/mini and lead actress in a movie/mini. Read more in our forums.

Never in Emmy history have all of the top series champs of one year (best comedy and drama series, plus lead actor and actress) returned the next to strike gold again, but it's starting to look like it may happen on Sept. 20.

Many of Gold Derby's top experts — who view the same sample episodes submitted by nominees to Emmy judges — say that the new front-runners are last year's champs: "Mad Men" (best drama series), "Breaking Bad's" Bryan Cranston (lead actor), "Damages'" Glenn Close (lead actress), "30 Rock" (comedy series), "30 Rock's" Alec Baldwin (lead actor) and "30 Rock's" Tina Fey (lead actress).

Possible upsets: Hugh Laurie ("House M.D.") or Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment") might crush Cranston, Steve Carell ("The Office") could humble Baldwin and Toni Collette ("United States of Tara") may trounce Tina Fey. Otherwise, the outcomes of these Emmy races seem pretty much set, according to our kudos prophets. Over the next few weeks, we'll be spotlighting their predix in more detail.

The closest the Emmys came to repeating in the past occurred in 1968 when all of the victorious lead actors in drama and comedy series returned from 1967: Bill Cosby ("I Spy"), Barbara Bain ("Mission: Impossible"), Don Adams ("Get Smart"), and Lucille Ball ("The Lucy Show"). "Mission: Impossible" won best drama series both years, but there were different winners of best comedy. "The Monkees" won in 1967, "Get Smart" in 1968.

Why would it be bad for last year's Emmy champs to repeat? (Why did I put "Uh, oh!" in the headline?) Actually, it wouldn't be terrible from the point of view of justice. Our spies viewing the nominees' episodes tell us that it seems like last year's victors deserve to prevail again. But the TV critics of America don't care about that. Historically, they've demanded that the Emmys reward new, cool faves and, if they dare to bore them with refried beans, they'll hurl their sloppy plates at them with a fury. Remember, I've written the definitive book on these kudos' history ("The Emmys," Penguin Putnam/ Perigee). I can tell you that's how it always plays out whenever there's too much overlap from year to year.

It shouldn't matter what TV critics think. They don't bother to watch the sample episodes submitted to Emmy judges. They don't even bother to investigate what episodes were submitted. They don't care. But that doesn't stop them from mouthing huffy condemnations of the Emmys. That's the equivalent of film critics lambasting the Oscars without bothering to see the movies. Thus their opinions are almost worthless, as far as I'm concerned.

In the Emmy election for best guest actress in a comedy series, one rival towers over all others: Tina Fey on "Saturday Night Live" as Sarah Palin. Easily, it was the most celebrated and even most important TV performance of the year because it played a starring role in the U.S. presidential election. So theoretically she's a shoo-in to win this lowly Emmy race, right?

Yes, but only in theory. Remember who votes here: snooty actors, who may not take an impersonation on a comedy-skit show seriously when measured against grand theatrical mugging in a traditional program with plot and character development. Last year, many of us pundits thought Amy Poehler ("Saturday Night Live") had the Emmy for best supporting actress in the bag, but voter bias against skit shows propelled Jean Smart ("Samantha Who?") to an upset victory.

Both of our gurus, Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (Awardsheaven.net), who've viewed the episodes submitted to Emmy judges, believe Fey will prevail, but they're keenly aware of this voter bias too and believe an upset could happen easily. Read their expanded views below. Also check out their (often clashing) predix in these categories: best comedy series, lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, guest actor, comedy writing and comedy directing. Read more in our forums.

BEST GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY: BOOMER'S PREDIX
(Listed in likelihood of winning)
1. Tina Fey, "Saturday Night Live" ("Presidential Bash 2008")
2. Betty White, "My Name Is Earl" ("Witch Lady")
3. Elaine Stritch, "30 Rock" ("Christmas Special")
4. Christine Baranski, "Big Bang Theory" ("The Maternal Capacitance")
5. Jennifer Aniston, "30 Rock" ("One With the Cast of Night Court")
6. Gena Rowlands, "Monk" ("Mr. Monk & the Lady Next Door")

BOOMER'S COMMENTARY: Unlike the guest actor category, there doesn't seem to be a single trend to predicting who will win among the ladies. In recent years, veteran actresses (Cloris Leachman, Stritch, Kathryn Joosten) have won. A younger actress (Christina Applegate) and slightly older actress (Laura Linney) have won. I would say, in general, that the Emmy voters want to laugh and want good characters.

If you're looking for a previous Emmy winner, this category is completely loaded down with them (all six ladies have won before). In viewing these performances, I must admit that I was disappointed that Rowlands didn't have all that much to do on her episode of "Monk." While other characters had some funny things to do, she did not (although she does a wonderful job in what she is given).

Aniston is upbeat and silly, allowing her to play some funny personality traits that we don't often see from her. I would be surprised with a Rowlands or Aniston victory. Everybody else, though, has a decent shot.

Baranski, tremendously funny as the buttoned-down professor and mother of Leonard, gets some hilarious scenes with Jim Parsons.  Stritch has proved she can win with her portrayal of Alec Baldwin's mother and even gets a couple of nice sentimental holiday moments on this episode.

White is someone beloved by Emmy voters and plays a character unlike anyone we have ever seen her play before: a crazy witch neighbor who chains up all the regular cast members in her basement. Any other year, she would easily win yet another Emmy Award, but there is one person standing in her way: Fey as Sarah Palin. In a performance that was a comedy highlight of the decade, Fey also most likely influenced an entire presidential election. I just don't see how the voters are going to pass up the chance to honor something so iconic and memorable.

BEST GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY: ROB'S PREDIX
(Listed in likelihood of winning)
1.) Tina Fey, "Saturday Night Live" ("Presidential Bash 2008")
2.) Betty White, "My Name Is Earl" ("Witch Lady")
3.) Christine Baranski, "Big Bang Theory" ("The Maternal Capacitance")
4.) Elaine Stritch, "30 Rock" ("Christmas Special")
5.) Jennifer Aniston, "30 Rock" ("One With the Cast of Night Court")
6.) Gena Rowlands, "Monk" ("Mr. Monk & the Lady Next Door")

ROB'S COMMENTARY: This category could go any way because, as is the case for all four of the guest acting categories, the winners are sometimes based on other factors such as name recognition and honoring industry veterans. Since 2000, we've had three double winners, all being highly regarded industry vets (Jean Smart, Cloris Leachman and Kathryn Joosten); two high-profile winners (Christina Applegate and Laura Linney); and comedy legend Stritch, for the same role she is nominated for this year. Four of the wins were for traditional sitcoms ("Friends" and "Frasier"), three for single-camera comedies ("Malcolm in the Middle" and "30 Rock"), and both of Kathryn Joosten's wins were for her role in the hourlong dramedy "Desperate Housewives."

"30 Rock" has not only triumphed as Emmy's best comedy series for the last two years, it's never lost and may be unbeatable. Two reasons: it's a shrewdly crafted satire (arguably, it actually deserves to win) and Emmy voters are TV industry insiders who can't resist its devilish take on their own workaday world. You must wonder: at some point, won't voters finally get bored with it winning every year, rebel and pick something else? Reality check: "Frasier" won this slot five years in a row and it wasn't even about the TV biz. It was about the radio biz — in Seattle.

Both of our Emmy seers Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net) think, like I do, that "30 Rock" is a shoo-in to prevail again. Below, more of their reasoning and handicapping.

BEST COMEDY SERIES: BOOMER'S PREDIX
(Ranked by likelihood to win)
1.) "30 Rock"
2.) "The Office"
3.) "Entourage"
4.) "How I Met Your Mother"
5.) "Family Guy"
6.) "Flight of the Conchords"
7.) "Weeds"
 
BOOMER'S COMMENTARY: Unlike some of the acting categories, I think it's a done deal that "30 Rock" will pick up its third consecutive Emmy in the top comedy race. First and foremost, they aced their episode choices with six of the absolute best and funniest of the season. Secondly, the biggest competition (and previous winner) is "The Office," which needed to be perfect in their episode choices to have a decent shot at a win. They did a great job except for the episode "Golden Ticket," which was just a mediocre selection.

I really don't believe any of the other shows have a realistic chance of winning this category.  Looking back over the past 40 years of the Emmys, only one show has won the comedy series award without having at least one directing or writing nomination (that was "Friends" in 2002, when it was the overwhelming favorite to win anyway). I love statistics when predicting, so for my purposes it effectively eliminates "Family Guy," "How I Met Your Mother" and "Weeds" from consideration since they don't have those other nominations.

A victory by either of the other two nominated series ("Entourage" or "Flight of the Conchords") would be the upset of a lifetime.

Congratulations to Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels and the rest of the "30 Rock" team on another well-deserved win!

BEST COMEDY SERIES: ROB'S PREDIX
(Ranked by likelihood to win)
1.) "30 Rock"
2.) "The Office"
3.) "Family Guy"
4.) "How I Met Your Mother"
5.) "Flight of the Conchords"
6.) "Weeds"
7.) "Entourage"

ROB'S COMMENTARY: I think Boomer's theory that a series is not likely to win in this category without directing and writing nominations is a good one. That being said, I have rearranged the list according to how I think each of the series might fare, depending on what I perceive to be their potential core fan base. Remember, with seven nominated series, any one of them would presumably need around 15% of the votes to scrape through with a win. My math is not the best, but you hopefully know what I'm getting at.

I think that it is safe to say that "30 Rock" will win this again. With a 22 nominations (a record for a comedy series), it is the industry favorite, probably the hottest comedy on TV and does not look like it can be beaten, regardless of what episodes it submitted to voters. In its favor is that it has submitted six of its very best ones, which will more than likely propel it to a repeat victory.

Our dueling Emmy pundits Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (Awardsheaven.net) agree that "30 Rock" — which has four of the five nominations — will win best comedy writing. However, they disagree on which episode will prevail.

BEST COMEDY WRITING: BOOMER'S PREDIX
1. Robert Carlock, "30 Rock," "Apollo, Apollo"
2. Matt Hubbard, "30 Rock," "Reunion"
3. Jack Burditt & Robert Carlock, "30 Rock," "Kidney Now!"
4. James Bobin, Jemaine Clement & Bret McKenzie, "Flight of the Conchords," "Prime Minister"
5. Ron Weiner, "30 Rock," "Mamma Mia"

BOOMER'S COMMENTARY: The old theory of vote-splitting doesn't really hold up in the writing categories at the Emmy Awards. Often, when a show has multiple nominations, one of that show's episodes will walk away with the victory.  I thought "Apollo, Apollo" from "30 Rock" was one of the two best episodes of any program this past season.  Robert Carlock is the most prolific writer on that series (other than Tina Fey herself), so I think a victory by him would be well-earned.  The "Reunion" episode was incredibly well written and has such a nice blend of characters and moments at Liz Lemon's high-school reunion. I wasn't all that thrilled with the season finale ("Kidney Now!") and thought it to be a bit bloated and underwhelming (more so the writing than the directing even).

If the voters want to reward another nominee for best comedy series like "Flight of the Conchords," this would be their best chance to win of the night (but I really don't think it would happen).  The "Mamma Mia" episode was cute, but nothing all that memorable.

BEST COMEDY WRITING: ROB'S COMMENTARY
1. Jack Burditt & Robert Carlock, "30 Rock," "Kidney Now!"
2. Robert Carlock, "30 Rock," "Apollo, Apollo"
3. Ron Weiner, "30 Rock," "Mamma Mia"
4. Matt Hubbard, "30 Rock," "Reunion"
5. James Bobin, Jemaine Clement & Bret McKenzie, "Flight of the Conchords," "Prime Minister"

ROB'S COMMENTARY: Logic tells us that having four out of five episodes in this category will hurt "30 Rock" (the dreaded "vote-splitting" theory). But I don't think that will come into play with the particular voters judging this category. I think the "Conchords" are probably out of this, with this year's Emmy nomination leader "30 Rock" winning this, albeit with a big question mark as to which episode will triumph.