*Remember, a show, person,
or episode can only be nominated if it is submitted. Even if you want every
episode of Game of Thrones to be nominated for writing, that won't happen,
since they only submitted one episode there.
**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.
Nominees
Barry (HBO)
Fleabag (Prime Video)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)
B-Team
American Vandal
Better Things
BoJack Horseman
Ramy
What We Do in the Shadows
Again, I know this isn't the "best
cast" award, but that's how most people vote for it. American Vandal did
an excellent job populating an entirely new high school for its second and -
sadly - final season. Better Things uses a touch of verisimilitude to make a
world that feels like the version of Hollywood an actress like Pamela Adlon
would know. I'm including BoJack Horseman just to point out how silly it is
that we don't consider how difficult voice-casting can be. Ramy found dozens of
great actors from a largely ignored demographic on American TV. I don't think
this is how it should work, but I'd like to give the award to What We Do In the
Shadows for what I'll call "The cameo episode". Truly a marvel of
stunt-casting. The problem is, if you ask me which nominee I'd swap out for any
show in my B-Team, I'd have a hard time picking one. All five nominees cast
actors who fit perfectly with the tone and world of the shows.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Stunt
Coordination For A Comedy Series Or Variety Program
Nominees
Barry (HBO)
*Cobra Kai (YouTube Premium)
GLOW (Netflix)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
*The Tick (Prime Video)
B-Team
*Angie Tribeca
*Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever.
Brooklyn Nine Nine
The Good Place
*Henry Danger
(Literally only 10 shows in the nomination
list)
There were only 10 shows on the nominating
ballot, so my B-Team is every show that wasn't nominated. Look at the two lists.
They made the right choices with the nominees.
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Directing For
A Comedy Series
Nominees
Barry – “The Audition” (HBO) (Alec Berg)
Barry – “ronny/lily” (HBO) (Bill Hader)
The Big Bang Theory – “The Stockholm
Syndrome” (CBS) (Mark Cendrowski)
Fleabag – “Episode 1” (Prime Video) (Harry
Bradbeer)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – “All Alone”
(Prime Video) (Amy Sherman-Palladino)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – “We're Going To
The Catskills!” (Prime Video) (Daniel Palladino)
B-Team
American Vandal – “The Brownout”
Brooklyn Nine Nine – “Ticking Clocks”
Forever – “Andre and Sarah”
The Good Place – “Janet(s)”
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “Mac
Finds His Pride”
Ramy – “Strawberries”
Oh my god! This is hard. No episode of any
show made me laugh as hard, long, or deeply as "ronny/lily". I've
watched the episode multiple times, and Bill Hader's direction plays a big part
in why I love it. The other nominated Barry episode is strong in its own way. I
love seeing Fleabag here. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is always well directed. I
get why The Big Bang Theory finale was included, but it does drag the group
down some overall since it's an otherwise unremarkable episode.
I loooove this B-Team. "The
Brownout" with the titular sequence is as strong as season introductions
get. Brooklyn Nine Nine's "Ticking Clocks" is an episode told in real
time that juggles numerous story lines. "Andre and Sarah" is an
episode covering several decades in the relationship of two California realtors
that could've competed in short film festivals and won. "Mac Finds His
Pride" has an interpretive dance sequence that serves as a reminder that
It's Always Sunny is one of the most experimental comedies on TV despite also
being one of the oldest. "Strawberries" is a unique perspective of
9/11. And, in case you thought I forgot about the laughs, "Janet(s)"
is a tour-de-force for D'Arcy Carden, who plays multiple characters on screen
at the same time throughout.
Winner: B-Team (Comfortably)
Outstanding Writing For A
Comedy Series
Nominees
Barry – “ronny/lily” (HBO) (Alec Berg, Bill
Hader)
Fleabag – “Episode 1” (Prime Video) (Phoebe
Waller-Bridge)
The Good Place – “Janet(s)” (NBC) (Josh
Siegal, Dylan Morgan)
*PEN15 – “Anna Ishii-Peters” (Hulu) (Maya
Erskine, Anna Konkle)
Russian Doll – “Nothing In This World Is
Easy” (Netflix) (Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler)
Russian Doll – “A Warm Body” (Netflix)
(Allison Silverman)
Veep – “Veep” (HBO) (David Mandel)
B-Team
A.P. Bio – “Wednesday Morning, 8AM”
American Vandal – “The Dump”
BoJack Horseman – “Free Churro”
BoJack Horseman – “Free Churro”
Ramy – “Strawberries”
Russian Doll – “Ariadne”
Better Things – “Shake the Cocktail”
Brooklyn Nine Nine – “He Said, She Said”
The Fleabag premiere. Correct. The Veep
finale. Correct. "ronny/lily". God, yes! Two Russian Doll episodes.
Makes sense. The stand out The Good Place episode of the season. Smart move.
It's even nice to see an oddball pick like PEN15 make the cut. This is a strong
group of nominees.
I included yet another Russian Doll episode
in my B-Team just to underline how consistent the writing on that show was. The
Ramy episode is one of the highlight episodes of TV in the last year.
"Free Churro" is 95% serious monologue and includes a single joke
that hit me harder than anything in a long time. I could pick nearly any
episode of Better Things, which didn't drop off at all without Louis C.K. as a
co-writer this year. "He Said, She Said" was a slightly clunkier
"message episode" of Brooklyn Nine Nine, but it still had a lot of
good stuff in it. The A.P. Bio episode told a half dozen different intersecting
stories, mostly in real time, all happening before the school bell rings at 8
AM. "The Dump", American Vandal's finale was a terrific encapsulation
of the themes of that season and, in the way that only American Vandal can do,
found emotional depth in things that started off looking really silly.
Winner: Nominees (Barely)
Outstanding Guest Actor In
A Comedy Series
Nominees
Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – “All
Alone”) (Prime Video)
Rufus Sewell (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel –
“Look, She Made A Hat”) (Prime Video)
Adam Sandler (Saturday Night Live – “Host:
Adam Sandler”) (NBC)
John Mulaney (Saturday Night Live – “Host:
John Mulaney”) (NBC)
Matt Damon (Saturday Night Live – “Host: Matt
Damon”) (NBC)
Robert De Niro (Saturday Night Live – “Host:
Sandra Oh”) (NBC)
Peter MacNicol (Veep – “Oslo”) (HBO)
B-Team
Diedrich Bader (Better Things)
Dan Bakkedahl (Veep)
Adam Driver (Saturday Night Live)
Richard Kind (Documentary Now)
Kevin Pollack (Better Things)
Owen Wilson (Documentary Now)
Matthew Broderick (Better Things)
Peter MacNicol is the Veep MVP every second
that he's on the screen. Sandler and Mulaney were the two strongest [male] SNL
hosts this season. Kirby is so good as Lenny Bruce that you wish the show would
completely rewrite history and concoct ways to include him more...But that
Robert De Niro performance on SNL was painful. He didn't even phone it in.
Meanwhile, I could almost pick and entire B-Team from excellent Better
Things guest appearances. Kevin Pollack in particular had some really stellar
moments. Owen Wilson and Richard Kind had really excellent Documentary Now
episodes. Adam Driver is always a strong SNL host. Dan Bakkadahl has
consistently been one of the most effective scene-stealers on Veep, a show with
a cast full of scene-stealers.
Winner: B-Team (Barely)
Outstanding Guest Actress
In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Fiona Shaw (Fleabag – “Episode 2”) (Prime
Video)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Fleabag – “Episode 3”)
(Prime Video)
Maya Rudolph (The Good Place – “Chidi Sees
The Time-Knife”) (NBC)
Jane Lynch (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – “Vote
For Kennedy, Vote For Kennedy”) (Prime Video)
Emma Thompson (Saturday Night Live – “Host:
Emma Thompson”) (NBC)
Sandra Oh (Saturday Night Live – “Host:
Sandra Oh”) (NBC)
B-Team
Awkwafina (Saturday Night Live)
Cate Blanchett (Documentary Now)
Rachel Brosnahan (Saturday Night Live)
Hong Chau (Forever)
Paula Pell (Documentary Now)
Sally Phillips (Veep)
OK. Cate Blanchett appeared in a major role
on an episode of TV. One that she was excellent in. What the hell, TV Academy?
I don't even need to mention Hong Chau's terrific performance in Forever,
Awkwafina and Rachel Brosnahan's solid hosting gigs for SNL, Paula Pell's
strong work on Documentary Now, or Sally Phillips' seasonal appearance in Veep to
solidify my argument.
CATE BLANCHETT!!!
Winner: B-Team (Dominant)
Outstanding Supporting
Actor In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Anthony Carrigan (Barry) (HBO)
Stephen Root (Barry) (HBO)
Henry Winkler (Barry) (HBO)
*Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method) (Netflix)
Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
(Prime Video)
Tony Hale (Veep) (HBO)
B-Team
Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Melvin Gregg (American Vandal)
Manny Jacinto (The Good Place)
Timothy Simons (Veep)
Andrew Scott (Fleabag)
Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live)
This was a ball-breaker of a list to whittle
down. The are so many people from Veep (Gary Cole, Kevin Dunn, Sam Richardson),
SNL (Beck Bennett, Mikey Day), and It's Always Sunny (Charlie Day, Rob
McElhenney) I had to leave off. I could've swapped out Braugher and Jacinto
with costars of theirs: Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine Nine) and William Jackson
Harper (The Good Place). Marc Maron (GLOW) again makes a strong case.
With the depth of talent in the Supporting
Actor ranks, the nominees list virtually disqualifies itself by pulling half
the list from one show (regardless of how much I do like Barry). Also, I love
Hale, but he's already won and is rarely my favorite part of an episode of
Veep.
Then, check this B-Team out. Jacinto is the
most consistently funny character on The Good Place, reaching the point where
writers are coming up with lines for him just to see how funny he'll make them.
Kenan Thompson remains the quiet MVP of SNL. The fact that Timothy Simons never
got nominated for Veep is embarrassing. Andre Braugher is so consistently
outstanding on Brooklyn Nine Nine that we take him for granted. Melvin Gregg
brought surprising depth to his character in American Vandal. Oh, and for those
of you on Twitter in the last 6 months - my B-Team has the sexy priest himself,
Andrew Scott.
Winner: B-Team (Dominant)
Outstanding Supporting
Actress In A Comedy Series
Nominees
Sarah Goldberg (Barry) (HBO)
Sian Clifford (Fleabag) (Prime Video)
Olivia Colman (Fleabag) (Prime Video)
Betty Gilpin (GLOW) (Netflix)
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
(Prime Video)
Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
(Prime Video)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) (NBC)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep) (HBO)
B-Team
Elizabeth Alderfer (A.P. Bio)
Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
May Calamawy (Ramy)
D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place)
Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live)
Jameela Jamil (The Good Place)
Hannah Alligood (Better Things)
Kia Stevens (GLOW)
As you'll see, the lead actress ranks are so
packed that it's left the supporting actress ranks a little thin. D'Arcy Carden
is the only B-Teamer I absolutely think was snubbed. Stephanie Beatriz gives
one of those transformative performances that you can only appreciate if you
see an interview with her in real life so you can see the difference. May
Calamawy and Kia Stevens have great spotlight episodes on their shows. I'm
amazed how perfectly cast Elizabeth Alderfer is to contrast Glenn Howerton in
A.P. Bio, which is the definition of a supporting role. Cecily Strong has been
weirdly underappreciated on SNL for years. Hannah Alligood is one of the better
young performers on TV right now. All that said, am I really supposed to pick
against the group with Sarah Goldberg, Kate McKinnon, Betty Gilpin, Alex
Bornstein, and Anna Chlumsky?
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
Outstanding Lead Actor In
A Comedy Series
Nominees
Bill Hader (Barry) (HBO)
*Don Cheadle (Black Monday) (Showtime)
Anthony Anderson (black-ish) (ABC)
Ted Danson (The Good Place) (NBC)
*Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)
(Netflix)
*Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek) (Pop TV)
B-Team
Hank Azaria (Brockmire)
Rob Delaney (Catastrophe)
Glen Howerton (A.P. Bio)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Ramy Youssef (Ramy)
Comedy Lead Actor has been dire for several
years now. Some time around the late '00s, "Lead male role" came to mean "the
generic guy who you put more interesting supporting players around". So,
the biggest discrepancy you'll find is between this and the next category.
Still, this isn't a bad group. On the B-Team, Parsons is a former winner whose
performance never dipped, unlike the writing for it. Ramy Youssef ruled his
show like Donald Glover and Louis CK before him. Andy Samberg happily cedes the
spotlight to his costars but still manages to get laughs himself. Howerton
makes the disparate pieces of A.P. Bio work in a way that is hard to
appreciate. Delaney ended Catastrophe strong. And, Hank Azaria continues to
mine gold from what should be a single-sketch Funny or Die character.
Bill Hader props up the Nominee list. Danson
is honestly more of a supporting character in The Good Place. Blackish had a
down season and took Anthony Anderson with it. I actually didn't see any of the
other three shows for the nominees, but if Black Monday is anything like House
of Lies, then I am opposed to the Don Cheadle nomination. It just isn't right
to pick against Hader though.
Winner: Nominees (Barely)
Outstanding Lead Actress
In A Comedy Series
Nominees
*Christina Applegate (Dead To Me) (Netflix)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) (Prime Video)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
(Prime Video)
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) (Netflix)
*Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek) (Pop TV)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) (HBO)
B-Team
Pamela Adlon (Better Things)
Kristen Bell (The Good Place)
Alison Brie (GLOW)
Minnie Driver (Speechless)
Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe)
Emmy Rossum (Shameless)
As always, this category is among the deepest
of them all. I had to leave off the Broad City women, the Pen15 women, Grace AND
Frankie. Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) lost a tie-breaker because she
doesn't even want to be on the show anymore. Former nominees Allison Janney
(Mom), Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Issa Rae (Insecure), Tracee
Ellis Ross (black-ish) are all still hanging around, doing fine work. And I
could keep going. Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet). Rachel Bloom
(Crazy-Ex-Girlfriend). Aidy Bryant (Shrill). Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me). Aya
Cash (You’re the Worst). Natasha Demetriou (What We Do In The Shadows).
Jennifer Garner (Camping). Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin). Maya Rudolph
(Forever). Who from this list would you be angry to see nominated?
I settled on a B-Team that I like a lot.
Pamela Adlon gets bonus points for doing everything on Better Things. I'm still
genuinely surprised that Kristen Bell and Alison Brie have never been nominated
for an Emmy despite both being extremely liked by the general public and
showing up on several highly regarded series. Sharon Horgan was great
throughout the run of Catastrophe. Minnie Drive is the best "Mama
Bear" on TV. As I have every year I've done this, I've included Emmy
Rossum, because it is a crime how long she's been ignored for holding Shameless
together.
But then there's the nominees.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Legend. Going for
history.
Catherine O'Hara. Legend.
Rachel Brosnahan. Last year's [deserving]
winner and just as good in season 2.
Christina Applegate. A 30 year comedy veteran
who never disappoints.
Natasha Lyonne. Writer. Creator. Star.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Writer Creator. Star.
Winner: Nominees (Barely)
Outstanding Comedy Series
Nominees
Barry (HBO)
Fleabag (Prime Video)
The Good Place (NBC)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
*Schitt's Creek (Pop TV)
Veep (HBO)
B-Team
American Vandal
Better Things
Brooklyn Nine Nine
Ramy
Speechless
GLOW
Brockmire
Remember, the idea of the B-Team is "can
I create an alternate group that I would prefer over the list of
nominees?" American Vandal and Brooklyn Nine Nine are two of my favorite
shows, full stop. Ramy and Better Things are amazing, sober comedies. Brockmire
hits my funny bone in a variety of ways. GLOW is just plain fun to watch.
Speechless continues ABC's epic run of strong family comedies. However, this
has to go to the Nominees. Barry, Fleabag, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel all
had superb sophomore seasons. Schitt's Creek just pulled off the most unlikely
rise to Emmy attention in history. Veep is an all-time great comedy that just
ended. The Good Place finally made it into the field. And Russian Doll was the
brainchild of one of the most interesting creator super-teams in recent memory
(Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler).
Winner: Nominees (Comfortably)
---
That's 7-4 in favor of the Nominees. That's likely to be the best B-Team showing of the year.
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