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| Adam Scott and Amy Poehler in "Parks and Recreation" |
In my continuing series looking at
the Emmy nominations ballot and laying out who I’d nominate (if I had a vote
obviously), today I’m looking at the Outstanding Lead Actors and Actresses in Comedies.
Most comedies today are ensemble comedies, which causes problems with these
categories because a lot of actors who could submit as leads end up submitting
as supporting actors. For example,
looking at my Supporting Actor/Actress ballots, I could easily see Bill Hader,
Keegan-Michael Key, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer all submitting as
leads. As a result (and as a result of
my not seeing much of a few prestige comedies this year), I only ended up with 15
people on my shortlists for both of these categories combined. All of these actors are certainly deserving; there
just ended up being fewer names compared to the supporting categories.
Again, the usual caveats apply. First, I’m working from the actual Emmy Performer Ballot, so I can’t put leads who submitted as supporting (Amy
Schumer) or supporting actors who submitted as leads (Rob Lowe) in their proper
category, nor can I nominate somebody who didn’t submit themselves. Also, I’m only including actors from shows I
watch regularly, so if your favorites from Veep,
The Middle, or Enlightened aren’t here, that’s why.
Lead
Actor
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| Louis CK in "Louie" |
Alec
Baldwin has been nominated for his
performance as Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock
every year he’s been eligible and has won two Lead Actor trophies. In other words, he’s a lock to be nominated
again. But this isn’t going to be just a
momentum nomination nor a pity nomination for 30 Rock’s final season. Jack
Donaghy is a pantheon sitcom character and his work this season was well worth
a return trip to the Nokia Theatre and even another trophy. Just watch his performance with Tina Fey asthey question why their characters never got together. The comedy world
will miss Jack Donaghy and hopefully Baldwin finds another great television
role soon.
Louie has been off the air for almost ten months now and won’t be
back for ten more, but Louis CK’s
performance still resonates as one of the best of the 2012-13 season. Louis CK wears a lot of hats for his show, as
the writer, director, producer, and star and, while it’s easy to say that he’s
“just playing himself” or that he’s actually playing a dramatic role, watching Louie try to cope with a manic-depressive pixie dream girl or try to
earn the role of his career shows just how well he’s able to meld both comedy
and drama into one of the most fruitful roles on television.
Jake
Johnson moved himself up from the
supporting actor category to lead this year in what would otherwise seem like a shrewd
maneuver to avoid the Modern Family
men, but which actually makes sense given his increased role on New Girl. Johnson has fallen nicely into the “30-year old who’s
really a curmudgeonly old man” role of Nick but he can still pull off the part
of the romantic lead. The
“will-they-won’t-they” relationship between Nick and Jess could have gotten
tired easily, but it’s a testament to both the show and Johnson that the arc
played out as well as it did.
The
Big Bang Theory has transformed from a decently-rated,
but critically panned show into a ratings behemoth that has become, if not
adored, at least accepted by critics as a very good example of what it’s trying
to do. I mean, just read the AV Club’s
review of the pilot. That the show we
see today could come out of that pilot owes a lot to Jim Parsons and his Emmy-winning performance as Sheldon. Parsons actually has two wins and four
nominations in five years for the role, all extremely deserving. The Big
Bang Theory has had its ups and downs as a show, but Parsons has always
been a solid lead.
It may be a bit of category cheating
to put Adam Scott in the Lead Actor
category, but he’s certainly more of a lead than fellow Parks and Recreation cast mate Rob Lowe (who also submitted as lead) and his role was
significantly beefed up this year, even before Ben’s engagement and marriage to
Leslie Knope. He spent the beginning of
the season carrying the B-story as he ran a Congressional campaign in
Washington DC. Scott’s real strength is
that he can just do anything. He can
play serious or zany or whatever he has to. That versatility makes him the perfect candidate for this award.
This last spot was a tough one to
fill, and while I didn’t enjoy Community
as much this year as I have in the past, the reason for that was not Joel McHale. He nailed his comedic scenes as usual and
even got a pair of dramatic arcs this past season as Jeff met his father and graduated early (the season finale was meant to portray a
December graduation). I doubt he’ll be
nominated, but his was probably my favorite performance from this cast last
year.
Supporting
Actress
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| Krysten Ritter in "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" |
The first four of these actresses
are incredibly obvious since they’ve nabbed a total of eleven nominations in
twelve seasons worth of chances but all of them are more than deserving,
beginning with Zooey Deschanel in New Girl. The comedy made The Leap in its second season
and the titular girl was a big reason.
Jess was painted extremely broad for much of season one, but towards the
end, and in season two, her character got more focused, less goofy, and far
more consistent. Her relationships with
men (especially Dermit Mulroney and David Walton) have been much more
interesting, and less infuriating, than her first with Justin Long. And, as I wrote above, the
“will-they-won’t-they” thing with Nick and Jess could have gone very wrong, but
the actors were able to make it all work extremely well.
This one was hard for me, because I
really don’t like Girls. I can tell that it’s a well-produced show with
great writing, directing, and acting, it just doesn’t appeal to me at all. But Lena
Dunham, especially when she’s separated from the other characters, has been
very good. I especially enjoyed her in
“One Man’s Trash” and in her extended OCD arc.
It’s not a show I particularly enjoy, but I do like Dunham.
30
Rock had a fantastic final season and Tina Fey was one of the big reasons
why. She’s been nominated for this award
in each of the past six years, and even has a win, so it’s doubtful she’ll be
left off in her final year. It’s been a
great run for Fey and 30 Rock and
she’d be more than deserving of another nomination and win.
Rounding out the returning nominees
from last year is Amy Poehler of Parks and Recreation. It’s slightly surprising that, despite three
nominations, Poehler hasn’t yet won for this award. She is so versatile as Leslie Knope, able to
transition from serious to zany to sweet at any time and can play opposite any
member of the very diverse cast. While
the show was probably at its best in seasons two and three, Poehler’s romantic
arc with Adam Scott has given her some of her best material and she’s just
consistently nailed it.
Now we’re into the “new members”
discussion, starting with Sutton Foster. Is this nomination mostly out of a desire to
see Bunheads nominated for
something? Maybe. And given the show was submitted in only one
other category (Hair and Makeup) this is as good as it gets. Still, Bunheads
was a fantastic surprise last year (and one whose title I relentlessly
mocked before it aired) and Foster was great both in her performance and her
dancing.
The last nomination is a bit out
there, but I’ve recently been rewatching Don’t
Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 and Krysten
Ritter is absolutely phenomenal.
It’s a show I didn’t quite get a first, but watching it again (with the
episodes in the proper order this time) I’m seeing a show unlike anything else
I’ve seen on television ever. And
Ritter’s acerbic, absurdist performance as Chloe is something to behold. She’s the female, comedic version of the
dramatic, male anti-hero and I’ve never before found myself laughing so hard at
the detestable antics of such an awful character. The show doesn’t work at all if you don’t
like the lead and Ritter is somehow endearing, despite everything Chloe does.
Others meriting consideration:
Rachel Bilson, Courteney Cox, Jane Levy
If forced to choose among this
group, I'd probably choose Louis CK and Amy Poehler
So thoughts? Questions? Just
want to call me an idiot or tell me my blog sucks? Let me know in the
comments or hit me up on twitter @TyTalksTV
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