My Emmy Nominations- Comedy

The nominations are not for another week and a half or so, but I was inspired by finally catching up to HBO's Girls to make my picks for the most deserving nominees for the Comedy Emmys. Lena Dunham's creation is strongly represented below, as I am sure it will be at the actual awards. The most interesting phenomenon I noted was that I had a much easier time coming up with nominees for the Supporting categories, where I had to struggle a bit to fill up the Leads. I think this goes to show that the strongest comedies on TV are true ensemble pieces rather than star vehicles. Indeed, I was only able to fill out the Lead Actor category when I learned that a few people I had assumed where Supporting had actually submitted as Lead. Anyway, here are my choices. As usual I care not a bit about accurately presaging the whims of the actual voters, so these are merely my preferences, and are in no way predictive.


Best Supporting Actor
Adam Driver, Girls
Danny Pudi, Community
Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation
Donald Glover, Community
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Thoughts: Driver's character is unlike anything else ever seen on TV. He's weird, disturbing, utterly fascinating, and yet totally relatable and even charming. This will probably go to a Modern Family guy, though.

Best Supporting Actress
Gillian Jacobs, Community
Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Eliza Coupe, Happy Endings
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother

Thoughts: Very deep category, as I left out Allie Grant, Cheryl Hines, Busy Phillips, Julie Bowen, Alison Brie, Allison Williams, and Jane Krakowski, among others. I just think Britta is one of the most complex female characters I've ever seen in a comedy.

Best Actor
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Louis C.K., Louie
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation
Garret Dillahunt, Raising Hope
Joel McHale, Community

Thoughts: Difficult category. I don't really think of Dillahunt, McHale, or Scott as true leads but they are all damn funny. I love C.K. and his show, but Baldwin's Jack Donagy is a never-ending source of absurdity, satire, and wit.

Best Actress
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Lena Dunham, Girls
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Jane Levy, Suburgatory

Thoughts: A lot of very funny women here, but this really isn't close. Leslie Knope is an inspired creation, and Poehler can do anything and everything. From her debate performance, to her emotional trip to the voting booth, to her farcical campaign speech on an ice rink, Poehler is never not perfect.

Best Comedy Series
Parks and Recreation
30 Rock
Happy Endings
Community
New Girl
Girls

Thoughts: If you don't watch Parks and Recreation, you are missing out on what I feel is the best show on TV, no qualifiers needed.