Here are my thoughts on the “lead acting” nominations for the Comedy category.
LEAD ACTOR
Nominated last year:
- Jim Parsons
- Larry David
- Matthew Morrison
- Tony Shaloub
- Steve Carrell
- Alec Baldwin
David and Shaloub aren’t eligible this year.
Will be nominated:
- Jim Parsons
- Steve Carrell
- Alec Baldwin
- Matthew Morrison
- Rob Lowe
- Jason Segel
Expect the holdovers to stay in the nominations, even if some don’t belong (I’m looking at you, Morrison). With two slots open, I imagine Lowe will get in based on name recognition (even if he’s really supporting - and really funny - he did submit in this category). Segel also did some nice comic-tragic work on a show that’s not unfamiliar to Emmy voters.
Should be nominated:
- Jim Parsons
- Louis CK
- Joel McHale
- Rob Lowe
- Jason Segel
- Alec Baldwin
Who submitted for what category is confusing, illogical and really not worth the time (for my little blog) to sort through in detail (the submissions list is HUNDREDS of pages). So even if I think Lowe is more of a supporting role, I’ll just go with it here. And hell, Segel may have submitted in supporting, too, but we’ll just consider it lead for the episodes dealing with the death of Marshall’s father. I’m not a fan of cringe comedy, and though I can appreciate Steve Carrell’s work as Michael Scott, it makes my skin crawl to watch it. But I would be extremely surprised if he doesn’t walk off with the award for his farewell season. Personally, I prefer Louis CK or Joel McHale.
LEAD ACTRESS
Nominated last year:
- Lea Michele
- Julia-Louis Dreyfus
- Edie Falco
- Amy Poehler
- Tina Fey
- Toni Collette
Only Dreyfus is not eligible, as her show was canceled.
Will be nominated:
- Lea Michele
- Edie Falco
- Amy Poehler
- Tina Fey
- Toni Collette
- Laura Linney
More of the status quo, with Laura Linney (so terrific in a show I don’t like very much) taking the open slot.
Should be nominated:
- Kaley Cuoco
- Edie Falco
- Amy Poehler
- Tina Fey
- Laura Linney
- Martha Plimpton
I assume Collette is fantastic, but I don’t watch
Tara. And I gave up on both
Nurse Jackie and
The Big C, but there’s no getting around the superb work being turned in by both leads. I would add Cuoco as a representative of a traditional, three camera sitcom, who got to do more this year with the addition of Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch to the cast. For the best all-around comedic lead work, it's gotta be Poehler, who was fantastic in a superb season of
Parks.
Posts
Man, lead actor is a weird category this year. Rob Lowe is NOT a lead, and I don't think Segel is, either. Unlike you, I am a HUGE fan of cringe comedy, so I'm putting Carrell on my list. I go Parsons-McHale-Carrell-Baldwin-Lowe. I'm only including Lowe because of the P&R connection.
ReplyDeleteOR...since you included Archer in Best Comedy, how about I put H Jon Benjamin on the list instead?
As for Lead Actress...again, I don't watch the Showtime shows. For me, it's Poehler-Fey-Plimpton and then everybody else. I dropped BBT this year, but I trust you on Kaley...I always thought she was underrated, and she reminds me of Friends-era Jennifer Aniston.
I may have made a mistake with Segel (I think he submitted supporting, though I did see one round up where he was listed as lead). Wherever he is, he did a great job this year.
ReplyDeleteAnd Benjamin is also great on Bob's Burgers.
Good call about Cuoco and Anniston. Both cute, and perhaps overlooked for their crack comic timing.