*Remember, a show, person, or episode can only be nominated if it is submitted. Even if you want every episode of Watchmen to be nominated for writing, that won't happen, since they only submitted some of the episodes.
**You'd be surprised how often that actor you thought was snubbed wasn't even on the official ballot or had listed himself as a lead instead of a supporting actor.
I don't do every category. I don't pretend that I've seen everything or that I fully understand all the categories. I'm a one-man operation talking about hundreds of shows. I'm doing the best I can.
It's time for Comedy Series. This is where the real competition should start.
* Indicates a show that I haven't watched this season.
# Indicates a show I've seen before, not this season.
Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series
Nominees
#Curb Your Enthusiasm
*Dead To Me
*Insecure
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt's Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
B-Team
Betty
The Great
Never Have I Ever
Ramy
Sex Education
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Betty cast legit New York skateboarders. The Great decided that it didn't need to cast just a bunch of Russian-looking people for the King's court. Sex Education cast people who actually look like British high schoolers. Ramy is filled with Arabic actors who I haven't seen in every show. Never Have I Ever did the same with Indian actors and younger actors. The only show in the Nominees that had to do any casting work was Insecure and maybe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Winner: B-Team (Dominant)
Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Comedy Series Or Variety Program
Nominees
*Ballers
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
*Henry Danger
#Shameless
*Space Force
B-Team
Avenue 5
*Black Monday
*Jane the Virgin
#The Righteous Gemstones
*Why Women Kill
For the love of god, only 11 shows submitted for the category. Why keep this at 5 nominees? I just picked the leftover shows, and for the most part, I get why the Nominees were the ones chosen.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series
Nominees
The Great “The Great (Pilot)”
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “It's Comedy Or Cabbage"
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “Marvelous Radio”
Modern Family “Finale Part 2”
Ramy “Miakhalifa.mov”
Schitt's Creek “Happy Ending”
#Will & Grace “We Love Lucy”
B-Team
Better Things "Listen to the Roosters"
Betty "Perstephanie"
Brooklyn Nine Nine "Lights Out"
The Good Place "Whenever You're Ready"
Never Have I Ever "Pilot"
Sex Education "Episode 1"
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist "Pilot"
A lot of finales in here, because people have managed to confuse finality with great directing (and writing). The Nominees have the only eligible Ramy and Schitt's Creek episodes. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel always has solid direction, so two episodes isn't crazy. Bonus points for making this the rare category where The Great was recognized. They're held down a bit by the need to include the Will & Grace and Modern Family series finales, so the Nominees are top heavy. I had a more entertaining assortment of B-Teamers. Never Have I Ever and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist had really good place-setting pilots. Sex Education is an overlooked gem of a show. Better Things and Betty are on the shortlist of best directed comedies overall. Neither of them making the cut just means people aren't watching them. Brooklyn Nine Nine doesn't have showy direction, but "Lights Out" is a nice, hectic episode that needed good direction. What makes this match up close is that voters failed to nominate the Good Place series finale. That's a mistake. They really thought they needed to dust off Modern Family and Will & Grace for their finales rather than recognize the end of The Good Place (which got numerous other nominations)? This is really hard to pick, but I'm giving the B-Team the edge for consistency.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
Nominees
The Good Place “Whenever You're Ready”
The Great “The Great”
Schitt's Creek “Happy Ending”
Schitt's Creek “The Presidential Suite”
What We Do In The Shadows “Collaboration”
What We Do In The Shadows “Ghosts”
What We Do In The Shadows “On The Run”
B-Team
Better Things "Batcenera"
Betty "Perstephanie"
Brockmire "The Long Offseason"
Never Have I Ever "Pilot"
Ramy "You Are Naked In Front Of Your Sheikh"
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist "Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch"
Lodge 49 "The Door"
Wow. They really like the writing in What We Do In the Shadows. I like the show plenty, but three nominations is up there with the best years of Veep and 30 Rock, which What We Do In the Shadows is not. While it's great to see they found room for The Great, the Good Place finale, and 2 eps of Schitt's Creek, the lack of variety left off a bevy of great episodes. Better Things and Betty are intimate auteur shows with episodes that are so satisfying to watch. Never Have I Ever did a lot of great place-setting with its pilot. The Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist episode is a hilarious inversion of its premise. Brockmire can take on any show pound-for-pound for number and effectiveness of jokes. Lodge 49 is the most unique show on the list because it's such a vibe series. Wait...hold on. They left Ramy off the Nominee list? That makes this pretty easy.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “It's Comedy Or Cabbage”)
Fred Willard (Modern Family “Legacy”)
Dev Patel (Modern Love “When Cupid Is A Prying Journalist”)
Adam Driver (Saturday Night Live “Host : Adam Driver”)
Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live “Host : Eddie Murphy”)
Brad Pitt (Saturday Night Live “SNL At Home #2”)
B-Team
Diedrich Bader (Better Things "Batcenera")
Will Ferrell (SNL "Host: Will Ferrell")
Paul Giamatti (Lodge 49 "Le Reve Impossible")
Mark Hammill ("What We Do In The Shadows "On the Run")
John Mulaney (SNL "Host: John Mulaney")
J.K. Simmons (Brooklyn Nine Nine "Dillman")
Geez. These comedy face-offs are brutal. Luke Kirby's occasional appearances on Maisel are reliably the best episodes of the show. So much so that you wish they'd just rewrite history so he could survive and be with Midge. Eddie Murphy's return to SNL is a pretty seismic even in that storied show's history. Pretty great episode too. Adam Driver has also turned into a regularly reliable host. Dev Patel sneaks in a lead performance in an episode of an anthology series. The late Fred Williard's final episode of Modern Family turned out to be incredibly prescient. Really, it's just that ridiculous Brad Pitt nomination (the voters just can't help themselves) that holds the Nominees down.
Will Ferrell and John Mulaney had solid episodes hosting SNL. Paul Giamatti got a delightfully bizarre stint on Lodge 49. Diedrich Bader is doing career best work in his regular guest appearances in Better Things. J.K. Simmons and Mark Hammill are hilarious in their episodes. It's another close one, but the stupidity of that Brad Pitt nomination pushes the Nominees down.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series
Nominees
*Angela Bassett (A Black Lady Sketch Show “Angela Bassett Is The Baddest B***h”)
Maya Rudolph (The Good Place “You’ve Changed, Man”)
Wanda Sykes (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “A Jewish Girl Walks Into The Apollo…”)
*Bette Midler (The Politician “Vienna”)
Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live “Host: Eddie Murphy”)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Saturday Night Live “Host : Phoebe Waller-Bridge”)
B-Team
Tina Fey (Modern Love "Rallying To Keep The Game Alive")
Scarlett Johansson (SNL "Host: Scarlett Johansson")
Cristin Milioti (Modern Love "When The Doorman Is Your Main Man")
Bernadette Peters (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist "Zoey's Extraordinary Mother")
Molly Shannon (Better Things "New Orleans")
Phoebe Waller Bridge (RUN "Jump")
Look, I love Maya Rudolph and it was great seeing Phoebe Waller-Bridge host SNL, but that Nominee list leaves something to be desired. Tina Fey and Cristin Milioti get lead roles in their episodes of the delightful anthology Modern Love. Phoebe Waller Bridge still shows up in the B-Team with an oddball role in the uneven RUN. I'm really loving late career Molly Shannon. Her early career was marked by boundless energy. Now, she's letting herself be relaxed, which gives us stuff like this chill performance in a very atmospheric episode of Better Things.
Winner: B-Team (Comfortably)
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place)
*Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method)
Sterling K. Brown (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Mahershala Ali (Ramy)
Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live)
Daniel Levy (Schitt's Creek)
B-Team
*Louie Anderson (Baskets)
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education)
Nicholas Hoult (The Great)
Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek)
Bowen Yang (SNL)
Manny Jacinto (The Good Place)
Mark Proksch (What We Do In The Shadows)
This isn't as deep a field as it is most years. It's nice seeing Andre Braugher back in the nomination field (He never should've fallen out of it). William Jackson Harper finally showing up is great. Daniel Levy is committing acceptable category fraud here. I like that Kenan Thompson continues to get nominations after years of being the unsung hero of SNL. Mahershala Ali is a great one-and-done nominee for his excellent work on Ramy. Meanwhile, in the B-Team, Noah Reid is more of a true supporting actor on Schitt's Creek, but I couldn't pick him over Levy. Bowen Yang quickly became one of my favorite cast members on SNL this year. Nocholas Hoult gives a tremendously shameless performance in The Great. Mark Proksch has one big highlight episode in What We Do in the Shadows. The only B-Teamer who is an inexcusable omission from the Nominee field is Manny Jacinto, who is so funny on The Good Place. I don't get how so many people could get nominated for the show this year but not him. Alas, even though I don't care about the Alan Arkin or Sterling K. Brown nominations, the Nominees have too many of the essential performers in the category.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Betty Gilpin (GLOW)
D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place)
*Yvonne Orji (Insecure)
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live)
Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek)
B-Team
Hiam Abbass (Ramy)
Gillian Anderson (Sex Education)
Emma Mackey (Sex Education)
Chloe Fineman (SNL)
Emily Hampshire (Schitt's Creek)
Jameela Jamil (The Good Place)
Nina Moran (Betty)
Dede Lovelace (Betty)
Hiam Abbass continues to be great with one cringe-worthy episode per season and some great moments of growth the rest of the seaon on Ramy. Gillian Anderson is a riot on Sex Education while Emma Mackey is a lead role in disguise. Chloe Fineman grew on me quickly on SNL. Jameela Jamil deserves more recognition for her work on The Good Place. Too often, she's the forgotten cast member. Emily Hampshire is also a real supporting character who is edged out by a cast mate committing category fraud. I could've gone with nearly any mix of people from Betty who all submitted themselves as supporting actresses, but Moran (the heart of the show) and Lovelace (the best story arc) make the most sense. Still, the nominees have Carden, Gilpin, Borstein, McKinnon, Murphy, and [finally] Strong. I probably would be fine with the Orji nod too if I ever got around to Insecure. The B-Team showcases the depth of the field, but I wouldn't trade many of the Nominees for any of them.
Winner: Nominees (Narrowly)
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Nominees
*Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
Anthony Anderson (black-ish)
Ted Danson (The Good Place)
*Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)
Ramy Youssef (Ramy)
Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek)
B-Team
Hank Azaria (Brockmire)
Domhnall Gleeson (RUN)
Wyatt Russell (Lodge 49)
Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Matt Berry (What We Do In The Shadows)
Kayvan Novak (What We Do In The Shadows)
This category has been in trouble for years. There really just aren't as many good lead male roles in comedy at this point. Normally, if someone has a real point of view for a show, they get a female lead or stick to more of an ensemble. I'm not complaining overall, because I like the shows out right now. It just makes this category tough. Ramy Youssef is the easy overall winner by a lot in my book. Eugene Levy is up there too. Despite really being more of a supporting actor, it's hard to argue with Ted Danson (the legend) being here. Anthony Anderson is fine even though black-ish has gone down hill (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the creator Kenya Barris making virtually the same show on Netflix with himself as the star). I don't get the repeated Emmy love for Don Cheadle (really, how is Black Monday not House of Lies?) and Michael Douglas. The B-Team doesn't have enough to offer to overpower the Nominees though. Samberg has always been happy to yield to the ensemble on Brooklyn Nine Nine. Domhnall Gleeson is probably my favorite working actor, but RUN never figured out what it was doing. I can't say either What We Do In the Shadows guy stood clearly ahead of the other. Wyatt Russell is the perfect central cog in the very specific Lodge 49. The only powerhouse performance that I can't forgive being left off is Hank Azaria for a truly twisted final season of Brockmire.
Ramy though. Ramy.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish)
*Christina Applegate (Dead To Me)
*Linda Cardellini (Dead To Me)
*Issa Rae (Insecure)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek)
B-Team
Pamela Adlon (Better Things)
Sonya Cassidy (Lodge 49)
Elle Fanning (The Great)
Kristen Bell (The Good Place)
Jane Levy (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist)
Merritt Wever (RUN)
Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini, and Issa Rae are all actresses I love and root for whenever I can, but I just haven't been motivated to watch their shows. I'm assuming they are all strong nominees though, because, when are they ever bad? Brosnahan is a past and deserving winner who is winning the awards that Lauren Graham never did. Catherine O'Hara is a legend who appears to be an unstoppable force when it comes to winning the Emmy this year. Believe it or not, the B-Team might be even stronger. More interesting at least. Pamela Adlon is so good as the writer and director on her show that it's easy to forget that she's also a tremendous lead actress on it too. It's unforgivable any year she's left off. Elle Fanning really cemented herself as a star and not just a former child actress in The Great. Kristen Bell is unfairly overlooked in The Good Place. She's why the show works. Jane Levy give the most unique performance on the list because of the crazy high concept of her show that she somehow makes work. Merritt Wever was the best part of the uneven RUN. If more people watched Sonya Cassidy in Lodge 49, I think we'd see her starring in a half-dozen Sundance dramedies in the next couple years. She's so good in a show with a tone that really can't be described. This is so, so close. I think I'll use Tracee Ellis Ross getting rubber-stamped for a pretty mediocre season of black-ish as my deciding factor.
Winner: B-Team (Narrowly)
Outstanding Comedy Series
Nominees
#Curb Your Enthusiasm
*Dead To Me
The Good Place
*Insecure
*The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt's Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
B-Team
Better Things
Betty
Brooklyn Nine Nine
The Great
Lodge 49
Ramy
Sex Education
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
It's so weird that I haven't seen half the comedy series nominees. If anything, I've heard that it was a down season for Curb. Kominsky Method has never appealed to me. Insecure and Dead To Me were much buzzier this year. They both sort of strike me as shows that are mainly called comedies because they are half hours, which bothers me a little*. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had a good season, but not a standout season. The Good Place had a phenomenal finale, but I thought a lot of this last season was rocky and mismanaged its time. Some people complained that Schitt's Creek's final season was too sentimental. I disagree. I found it as funny as ever and handled the long goodbye as well as any show in recent memory. What We Do In the Shadows improved a lot from an already pretty good first season. Simply put though, it just doesn't hit my funny bone as hard as it does for a lot of people. I like it a good deal, but if it was cancelled tomorrow, I wouldn't mourn it.
*Then again, you could say that about a number of shows that I watch and love.
This is another B-Team that I'll give the win to primarily because it's a lot more interesting. Betty and Lodge 49 were great mood shows. Better Things and Ramy were auteur showcases. Ramy in particular broke me numerous times an episode. It's the most I've laughed out loud in a room by myself this year. Brooklyn Nine Nine is showing some rust, but it's the only any-time, feel-good shows to watch on the list. Sex Education evolved pretty well in the second season. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist gave me more joy than just about any show. I ended up looking forward to it every week as a needed pick-me-up. The Great took a somewhat one-note idea yet they found endless darkly comedic angles to approach it. Also Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult at the center were somehow vicious and lovable.
Winner: B-Team (Comfortably)
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7-4. B-Team.
If you notice though, a number of these were close. I admit that I watch more comedies than anything, so my ability to put together a strong B-Team here is greater. There weren't really that many "Modern Family Season 6"-sized stinkers in there. Just some differences of opinion and a few personal blind spots. The Emmy voters did better here than I expected but had a frustrating tendency to look at the same shows repeatedly in what should be deep fields.
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