Everything before today has been preamble. I like covering all the previous categories because I don't like small projects, I'm annoyed when other sites/publications ignore those categories, and I like to pretend I'm more of an expert than I am (pick whatever reason you want). I'm pretty confident in my choices for comedy. I'm writing this before making my picks. I assume it will be at least a split with the B-team today. I could be wrong.
Previously:
The Scruff
Reality Shows
Variety
Limited Series and TV Movie
* Indicates a show that I haven't watched this season.
# Indicates a show I've seen before, not this season.
Comedy Series
Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
*Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
B-Team:
The Big Bang Theory
*Broad City
Girls
The Middle
#Shameless
You're the Worst
Brooklyn Nine Nine
And immediately, I'm wrong about the strength of the B-team. Modern Family is the only actual nominee that I wouldn't have on my own list. That isn't to take away from the strength of the B-Team though. Girls is slipping but still great. You're the Worst is completely underappreciated. Looking had a wonderful season. I'd probably petition to have Shameless in my top 7 if I'd been able to see the season. Same goes for Broad City.
Winner: Actual Nominees. Louie, Parks and Rec., Silicon Valley, and Veep were among my very favorite shows last year, Kimmy Schmidt is a strong freshman series. Transparent is one of the shows I'm most frustrated by not being able to see yet. Modern Family is not enough to bring down the rest of this group.
Lead Actress - Comedy
*Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback)
*Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)
#Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)
*Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Rec)
Julia Louise-Dreyfus (Veep)
B-Team:
*Ilana Glazer (Broad City)
*Abbi Jacobson (Broad City)
Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
*Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin)
#Emmy Rossum (Shameless)
Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat)
Oh no. How am I supposed to do this? This is such a strong category. I could make a C-Team of Aya Cash (You're The Worst), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl), Lena Dunham (Girls), Anna Faris (Mom), Judy Greer (Married), and Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project) without hesitating.
Of the actual nominees, there's a number of performances I can't speak about at all. I've only seen a couple of episodes of The Comeback. As good as Lisa Kudrow is in The Comeback, it's a show that I largely don't like watching. Same goes for Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie. Even if I wanted to pretend that Grace and Frankie is a show that is anything more than a step above TV Land originals, it's hard to look at Lily Tomlin's nomination as anything but a nomination for being Lily Tomlin. Amy Schumer is having a great year too. The fact that the marquee episode of her season barely featured her makes me wonder if it's her writing or producing contributions that she should really be recognized for. Amy Poehler and Julia Louise-Dreyfus really are 1 and 1A in the rankings of best performances though.
As for the B-Team, there's not a weak link. I haven't seen Broad City, but every indication I've heard from anyone who is that the only thing stopping either Ilana Glazer or Abbi Jacobson getting nominated is that they're such a team that it's hard to pick one over the other. Gina Rodriguez is that America Ferrera-type* of actress on a show that's buzzworthy and better than it should be. I don't expect her to be considered a snub by season 2. Emmy Rossum's career goose egg for Shameless is one of the biggest black marks on the Emmys since that show premiered. It's amazing to me how Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and other actors on it could be recognized without Ellie Kemper as well, playing the titular character and being the only actress who can pull off that character. And, Constance Wu is simply spectacular on Fresh Off the Boat. I don't know what else I can say about that.
Winner: B-Team. The actual nominees are top heavy. The B-Team has no weak links. Considering there's actual nominee that I wouldn't put on a hypothetical C-team is a bad sign.
*Yeah, I wish the only other example of this that I could think of wasn't the only young Latina star of a sitcom with an Emmy nomination from that last decade.
Lead Actor - Comedy
Anthony Anderson (blackish)
*Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
#Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth)
Louis CK (Louie)
#William H. Macy (Shameless)
*Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)
B-Team:
Chris Geere (You're the Worst)
Jonathan Groff (Looking)
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation)
Billy Crystal (The Comedians)
It's amazing how different the strength of the Lead Actor and Actress fields are. Actress has at least three team's worth of good nominees. Both the actual nominees and B-Team for Actor have some weak spots. Chris Geere easily beats whatever William H. Macy (who is more of a supporting character anyway) does on Shameless. Billy Crystal plays himself no better or worse than Matt LeBlanc does. While I prefer Brooklyn Nine Nine much more than The Last Man on Earth, Will Forte is better and more vital in his role than Andy Samberg. I hate House of Lies enough to make me actively not like Don Cheadle (which is saying something) as opposed to Jim Parsons feeling legitimately snubbed despite being overrated in general on The Big Bang Theory. I'd go with Adam Scott over Anthony Anderson although that's just a preference of shows. It pains me to say this but I'll go with the 1-2 punch of Jeffrey Tambor and Louis C.K. over Jonathan Groff and Thomas Middleditch. Looking doesn't work without Groff at the center, holding it all together and Middleditch is SEVERELY underrated for the performance he's putting on in Silicon Valley (he's not really that twitchy in real life, I swear). According to everyone Jeffrey Tambor is close to untouchable. For my money, of what I've seen, Louis C.K. is still doing something so unique on his show that it's hard to compare anything to it.
Winner: B-Team. It's very close. There's only two actual nominees that I would keep in the top six. Even though they are a fearsome twosome, 4-5 very good ones beat 2 greats.
Supporting Actress - Comedy
Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)
*Niecy Nice (Getting On)
Julie Bown (Modern Family)
*Allison Janney (Mom)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
*Gaby Hoffman (Transparent)
Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
B-Team:
Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Aidy Bryant (Saturday Night Live)
Kether Donohue (You're the Worst)
Gillians Jacobs (Community)
#Emma Kenney (Shameless)
Eden Sher (The Middle)
Alison Brie (Community)
Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Rec)
Are you kidding me? 8 nominees! That's mathematically improbable. With so many actresses recognized, the nominees must have enough of the top tier people to beat the B-team, right?
Stephanie Beatriz is often my favorite part of an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine. Aidy Bryant is slowly becoming indispensable on SNL. Kether Donohue got to be both dark and hilarious on You're the Worst. Emma Kenney has always been impressive beyond her years on Shameless. Eden Sher's eternal optimism on The Middle is one of those roles that looks broad and easy until you see the shading to it, and her senior year (The year of Sue) gave her a lot of ups and downs to work through. Aubrey Plaza's quest for a purpose in the final season of Parks and Rec. is a last reminder of how consistently great she has been for seven seasons. Gillian Jacobs has been a stealth MVP on Community for a couple seasons and Alison Brie is here more for a history of being snubbed than anything she did special in the sixth season.
However, Mayim Bialik and Allison Janney are putting up the kind of performances that I won't quibble over them getting attention for. I know nothing about how good Niecy Nice is on Getting On other than the fact that everyone who has seen the show thinks it's cool that the Emmys have noticed her. The fact that only one Modern Family actress was nominated is an improvement and little more. While Bryant is quietly impacting SNL, Kate McKinnon is rapidly approaching Kristin Wiig territory. Gaby Hoffman is generally the second cast member mentioned when people talk about Transparent, so I'm fine with that choice. Jane Krakowski and Anna Chlumsky are Emmy favorites and deserving of recognition.
Winner: Actual Nominees. Not by a lot, but this certainly is one of those fields where my personal preference probably leads me to thinking the B-Team is stronger than it really is for this season.
Supporting Actor - Comedy
Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Adam Driver (Girls)
#Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Tony Hale (Veep)
B-Team:
Murray Bartlett (Looking)
Kevin Dunn (Veep)
T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley)
Zach Woods (Silicon Valley)
Nick Offerman (Parks and Rec)
Danny Pudi (Community)
This is another case where the Emmys did a lot right. First of all, only one Modern Family cast member was nominated here and it's the most deserving. Key of Key & Peele was nominated, which only looks wrong because they seem like a set and he's a lead on his two person show. I'm glad Andre Braugher is getting the recognition that Nick Offerman never did. I can't quibble with Adam Driver or Tony Hale getting nominations again, even if these weren't their strongest seasons. Only Tituss Burgess is a major surprise. He's so big in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt that I really did assume he'd scare voters off.
I'll admit, my B-Team reads off as a bunch of people who I'm tired of being ignored more than actors specifically deserving for this year. Danny Pudi is the only character that you need on Community before it stops being Community. He makes the role look easy after this long. It's not. Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson is one of the most iconic TV characters from the last decade. The episode with him and Leslie trapped in the Parks and Rec. office is as good a half hour as you will find on TV. Kevin Dunn does understated works on Veep consistently. I tried and couldn't choose just one guy from Silicon Valley. T.J. Miller is great and frankly, flashy enough as Erlich that I'm not sure how the Emmy voters haven't noticed him yet. Zach Woods on the other hand. I remember liking even back on The Office once I realized how incredibly misused he was. He's more of an acquired taste, but his line reading throughout the season of Silicon Valley is one of my very favorite things. I went back and forth on a few people from Looking and settled on Murray Bartlett as Dom, as he got the most to do, from breaking up with Lynn to his struggling relationship with Doris. "Looking for a Plot" would've been a great submission episode in a world where Looking had any viewership (or the right viewership).
Winner: B-Team. The mix of current oversights and final opportunities for truly great performances is too much to ignore.
Guest Actress - Comedy
Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory)
Gaby Hoffman (Girls)
Pamela Adlon (Louie)
Elizabeth Banks (Modern Family)
#Joan Cusack (Shameless)
Tina Fey (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
B-Team:
Maude Apatow (Girls)
Julia Duffy (Looking)
Kathryn Hahn (Parks and Rec)
Celia Keenan-Bolger (Louie)
Megan Mullally (Parks and Rec)
Chloe Webb (Shameless)
You'd think that with all the guest appearances out there, it would be a lot easier to pick a B-Team. Surprisingly, it's not. Most seasons, Louie is overflowing with guest actresses. A short season and relationship with Pamela got in the way of a lot of that. I'll certainly take Pamela Adlon over Celia Keenan-Bolger (Remember, the surrogate he had relations with) from that show. Joan Cusack really should be a regular by now on Shameless. Even though I haven't seen the season in particular, I love a good hurricane Monica episode of Shameless, so I'd rather award Chloe Webb over Cusack. I like Maude Apatow, but I'll stick with Gabby Hoffman since she's insane on Girls. Looking got more out of Julia Duffy than Modern Family got out of Elizabeth Banks. And I'll pick Kathryn Hahn and Megan Mullally on Parks and Rec. as doubles partners over Christine Baranski and Tina Fey easily.
Winner: B-Team. There were just a few more performances there that I liked better. Nothing here was undeniably great like Sarah Baker last season on Louie.
Guest Actor - Comedy
Mel Brooks (The Comedians)
Paul Giamatti (Inside Amy Schumer)
Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live)
Louis CK (Saturday Night Live)
*Bradley Whitford (Transparent)
Jon Hamm (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
B-Team:
Scott Bakula (Looking)
Stephen Colbert (The Mindy Project)
Jon Glaser (Parks and Rec)
Dean Norris (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Michael Rapaport (Louie)
Rob Reiner (The Comedians)
Mel Brooks and Rob Reiner were interchangeably enjoyable on The Comedians. Jon Hamm isn't ahead of Dean Norris for the work on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as you'd think. I'll take the pair of SNL hosts over Jon Glaser and Stephen Colbert, even though I enjoyed both of them as a councilman and a priest in their respective parts. Paul Giamatti is fantastic in the Amy Schumer 12 Angry Men episode. Bradley Whitford on Transparent is the one performance I haven't seen. I'll assume it's very good. I'm not sure if it stacks up against Scott Bakula on Looking and Michael Rapaport's intense and unlikable work on Louie.
Winner: B-Team. It really comes down to Bakula and Rapaport over Hamm and Giamatti.
Directing - Comedy
Phil Lord, Christopher Miller - "Alive in Tuscon (Pilot)" (The Last Man on Earth)
Louis C.K. - "Sleepover" (Louie)
Mike Judge - "Sand Hill Shuffle" (Silicon Valley)
*Jill Soloway - "Best New Girl" (Transparent)
Armando Iannucci - "Testimony" (Veep)
B-Team:
"Modern Espionage" (Community)
"Sit In" (Girls)
*"Charlie Work" (It's Always Sunny)
"Looking for a Plot" (Looking)
"One Last Ride" or "The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion Show" (Parks and Rec)
1) I have trouble identifying direction. 2) Only five nominations is laughable for this category.
"Modern Espionage" sees the return of paintball to Community which are the episodes that tend to have the flashiest directing on the show. Girls had as many as five potential nominees. I'd personally go with "Sit In" for being a bottle episode that still zipped along. "Charlie Work" has fun with a continuous shot, which is something Birdman used all the way to an Oscar. "Looking for a Plot" brought Looking out of its San Francisco comfort zone to great effect. I simply don't understand anyone who doesn't feel something watching "One Last Ride", which was one of the most satisfying ends to a comedy series that I've ever seen.
The strength of the B-Team says a lot more about the depth of the category than anything against the actual nominees. In fact, I have a hard time finding a better alternative for anything that was actually chosen.
Winner: Actual Nominees. As much as I like the B-Team, "One Last Ride" is the only episode I could make a good argument to replace what's already there. And if I do replace that, what's going? Maybe the Silicon Valley episode...maybe.
Writing - Comedy
*David Crane, Jeffrey Klarik - Episode 409 (Episodes)
Will Forte - "Alive in Tuscon (Pilot)" (The Last Man on Earth)
Louis C.K. - "Bobby's House" (Louie)
Alec Berg - "Two Days Of The Condor" (Silicon Valley)
*Jill Soloway - "Pilot" (Transparent)
Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche - "Election Night" (Veep)
B-Team:
*"In Heat" or "Knockoffs" (Broad City)
"Looking For a Plot" (Looking)
"Sit-In" (Girls)
"Leslie and Ron" & "One Last Ride" (Parks and Rec)
"Kimmy Goes Outside!" (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
This list has a little more room for competing than directing. The little I know of Episodes leaves me feeling confident that it could easily be left off the list. Regardless of my feelings of the whole season, The Last Man on Earth pilot deserves any recognition it gets. The same goes for continued recognition for Louie, Silicon Valley, and Veep. I'm glad to see the Transparent pilot nominated as well, even though I haven't seen it.
In the other corner, I have no trouble believing one of the Broad City episodes could be worthy. I really like "Looking for a Plot". "Sit-In" was a great little bottle episode of Girls. I can't choose between "Leslie and Ron" and "One Last Ride", so I'm putting both on the B-Team from Parks and Rec. I had a hard time picking a single Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode. I can't go wrong with a strong pilot though.
Winner: Actual Nominees. It kills me to say that something with the Parks and Rec. episodes isn't my choice, but it doesn't feel right to go against the group with Transparent, Silicon Valley, Veep, and Louie.
Casting - Comedy
Louie
Modern Family
*Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
B-Team:
The Big Bang Theory
*Broad City
Fresh Off the Boat
Girls
You're the Worst
I'll admit that I don't fully understand how this is picked. I have to assume that it's the casting for individual episodes, not the regular cast. All the actual nominees are shows known for constantly filling their worlds with strong characters, both stunt and standard. I couldn't come up with another 5 that did better work collectively.
Winner: Actual Nominees. Transparent and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt were new and better cast than Fresh off the Boat and You're the Worst. Of the high rated shows, Modern Family does a better job than The Big Bang Theory. Veep and Girls are on relatively similar ground. Louie is way more dependent on episodic casting than Broad City.
Today was an even split and that's about right. We are in one of those weird phases where the Emmys are doing a good job of noticing the best of what's out there on the comedy side. Sure, HBO has so many good shows that some get overlooked. What really tipped the balance was recognizing Transparent, which is a show the voters easily could've ignored, which would've left almost every category greatly off-balance.
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