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| No matter what Emmy voters say the cast of Parks and Rec should be happy, they're on one of the best comedies on TV. |
As I've mentioned before I watch more television than most Emmy voters, who are busy actually making TV, so I'm catching some performances & shows that they may be missing out on, & of course actual TV critics see more than I do so here's a professional's take* on lead actress in a comedy, lead actor in a comedy, & outstanding comedy series.
*Again these posts are indeed a rip off of Alan Sepinwall's Emmy posts, & I encourage you to read his TV criticism if you enjoy reading such things.
It's important to also note that like actual Emmy voters I'm restricted by whether or not an actor submitted themselves & where they chose to do so, so while I may think someone's a lead character if they submit in supporting I'm bound to honor that (I'm also not nominating anyone from shows I didn't watch at least a few episodes of, sorry Downton Abbey). Click here for the actual Emmy ballot. Now on to the nominees...
Outstanding Lead Actress In a Comedy
Emmy Nominees:
Zooey Deschanel (Jess, New Girl)
Lena Dunham (Hannah Horvath, Girls)
Edie Falco (Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie)
Tina Fey (Liz Lemmon, 30 Rock)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Selina Meyer, Veep)
Melissa McCarthy (Molly Flynn, Mike & Molly)
Amy Poehler (Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation)
I don't really watch 30 Rock (though Tina Fey's always good when I do), I've never watched Nurse Jackie, & please feel free to shoot me if you ever catch me watching an episode of Mike & Molly but otherwise you'll actually find plenty of agreement between me & Emmy voters here. As for the reason they nominated seven actresses as opposed to the normal six is that there was a tie for 6th & hence both actresses got nominated.
My Nominees:
Zooey Deschanel-Some people would strongly disagree with me but I think Deschanel's a good comedic actress & even if New Girl got better as it became more of an ensemble that was because of the rest of the cast's talent, not because Deschanel wasn't very good.
Lena Dunham-Girls turned out to be the most divisive show of the year, but I'm a huge fan of the show & creator/writer/director Lena Dunham's work in front of the screen. She played a largely unlikeable character, yet still made her sympathetic & proved equally adept at comedy & drama.
Jane Levy (Tessa Altman, Suburgatory)-Levy's a true newcomer, having only first appeared on television in 2011, but she made a quick impression as a teen dealing with a move from her beloved New York city out to the suburbs. Whatever the writers asked her to do, be it wry humor or Tessa finally facing the fact that she needed to meet her mother, Levy proved to be well beyond capable of pulling it off & her birthday dance alone makes her Emmy worthy.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus-The Seinfeld, & all around television, vet found a lead role that she could really dig into as Selina Meyer's in the type of shallow, unlikeable character that Dreyfus is perfectly suited for.
Amy Poehler-Poehler should have won last year, & she should've won the year before that as well, as her Leslie Knope, in all of her overzealous & insanely optimistic glory, is truly a work of genius. No woman on TV is funnier.
Ashley Rickards (Jenna Altman, Awkward.)-MTV actually found itself a show that needs no, "It's good for MTV," qualifier & Rickards lead performance is the primary reason for that. She expertly plays Jenna's insecurities & her inflection on the character's voiceover helps even that from becoming tired. Of course being on MVT she'll never actually get any recognition.
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy
Emmy Nominees:
Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory)
Larry David (Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Don Cheadle (Marty Kaan, House of Lies)
Louis C.K. (Louie, Louie)
Alec Baldwin (Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock)
Jon Cryer (Alan Harper, Two and a Half Men)
While Louie is the only one of these shows I watch regularly I still respect most of these picks. David, Baldwin, & Parsons are the highlights of their shows (even if Parsons show isn't actually good), Cheadle's a great actor (though I only saw the first episode of Lies), & Cryer... Well... Cryer has no business being here.
My Nominees:
Louis C.K.-Louie does just about everything for his show. He writes, directs, stars, & even edited all of the episodes up the show's first two seasons. Which of these he's best at is a near impossible question to answer as his talents in each of those areas is well beyond almost anyone else working in television. Of course this category is only about acting but even when we limit it to just that he should win. His Louie is a man simply trying to do his best in life & whether he's succeeding or failing C.K. knocks it out of the park.
Zachary Levi (Chuck Bartowski, Chuck)-Over it's five seasons Chuck has been one of my favorite shows on TV & as the man at the center of all that goofy spy fun Levi has been nothing short of fantastic. He's ably shown Chuck's growth from a simple computer geek with no confidence to a legitimate super spy & in the show's final season he did some of his best work as Chuck struggled to reach that elusive happy ending.
Joel McHale (Jeff Winger, Community)-Much like Deschanel & New Girl, McHale has seen his show become far better the more of an ensemble it's become but that should not diminish the fine work he's done. It doesn't matter whether he's playing Winger as the straight man above it all or he's diving head first into the madness of Greendale McHale can make me laugh like few others.
Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt, Parks and Recreation)-Having moved from supporting to lead, at least in his submission, Adam Scott earns a nomination here as the best straight man on television. He's also demonstrated plenty of chemistry with Poehler & remains one of my favorite actors in television.
David Walton (Pete Riggins, Bent)-Bent was easily the best new comedy NBC had last year, so naturally they made only 6 episodes & burnt them off over 3 weeks, but for the few of us who caught it we were treated to the rare comedy that knew what it was doing from the pilot episode & a lead performance by Walton that was both hilarious & charming, & lived up the Riggins name.
Elijah Wood (Ryan Newman, Wilfred)-Wood seemed to have largely disappeared, perhaps having been handicapped by playing Frodo, until he resurfaced on FX's darkly comedic program about a guy who sees his neighbor's dog as a man in a dog suite. It's Wood's performance that keeps the show grounded & one that I don't think gets mentioned enough as one of the best on TV.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Emmy Nominees:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Girls (HBO)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Veep (HBO)
BBT needs to get the f#$% out of here. Curb is good but as mentioned before I don't watch it all that often. Agreed on Girls. 2 years ago Modern Family was one of the best comedies, not it's a mediocre one thanks to lazy writing. 30 Rock is a show I've never fully embraced, I think because the characters, outside of Liz & Jack, just aren't all that interesting. Veep was more amusing than laugh out loud funny, & simply amusing doesn't cut it.
My nominees:
Chuck (NBC)-The final season of Chuck was not it's best (that would be season 2), but it remained one of the most fun & entertaining hours that television had to offer & it provided one of the most fulfilling finales I've ever seen.
Community (NBC)-Whether you've read my previous Emmy posts or are simply my friend on facebook you should be well aware of my absolute love for Community. It's not always the best or funniest (those are two very different things) comedy but it is without fail the most interesting. While it's third season was not as consistent as the one that preceded it the highs were as high as ever with "Remedial Chaos Theory" standing out as the best episode any comedy produced last year, & its darkest timeline the funniest minute of television in history (this is not my opinion but an actual fact).
Girls (HBO)-Some people may have had a problem with the lack of minority characters (something Dunham has address both publicly & for next season) or the entitlement of its characters (that was kind of the point) but I thought the show was a brilliant look at four troubled, in one way or another, upper class twenty-somethings in New York. It dealt with its characters honestly & in doing so created both humor & pathos, & one of the best new comedies in year.
Happy Endings (ABC)-TV's most improved comedy should have gotten a nomination over its more revered, & alas popular, ABC comedy but it will have to settle for simply being far funnier than Modern Family. In fact it's funnier than any non-NBC comedy as the jokes are rattled off a mile a minute & sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the great jokes being thrown at you by one of the best casts there is.
Louie (FX)-How Louie didn't get an actual nomination I'll never know not when from week to week it could go from being one of the best comedies on TV to one of its most moving dramas. Louis C.K. does whatever he wants on the show & thank God for it because he's created a true work of art.
Parks and Recreation (NBC)-In many ways my heart may belong to Community, & Louie is artistically superior to anything else, it is Parks and Rec that should have not only gotten an Emmy nomination but won for outstanding comedy. The show has had maybe one off episode in its last two seasons of television, it features the best cast on TV (Yes, even edging out Community), when it aims for the heart it always hits, & it makes me laugh like no other.
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