Emmy Picks, Predictions, Unsung Heroes & Oh-No-Nos – 2012

It is a well-documented fact that I watch too much television. In the last couple of years, I have discovered that the quality of American television is higher than I had expected, and it is possible that we are entering (or perhaps exiting) a second golden age of US sitcom. I hope it’s the former, but I fear it may in fact be the latter. In any case, I’m pretty well versed in what’s happening in American TV (especially comedy) just now.

Next Sunday will see the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony take place, presumably in Los Angeles. It is likely that some awards will be given to the wrong people, at least in my opinion. In case anyone cares, here are some of my garbled thoughts on who will win and who should win.

1. Outstanding Comedy Series
Let’s just take a minute to think about what that means. Outstanding comedy series, not comedy series that was quite funny or watched by the most people. Outstanding. Given that Seinfeld only won this award once during its nine-year run, and was the most-watched sitcom for each of the five subsequent years, we can assume that it has not always been properly allocated. Everybody Loves Raymond won it twice, in case you still weren’t sure.
Among the nominees this year is The Big Bang Theory. Yes, really. It’s not an awful show, it’s actually quite decent, but it’s often predictable and unoriginal. As one of the most-watched shows in America, it’s no huge surprise that it’s been nominated, but I would be pretty annoyed were it to win, especially because Parks and Recreation, Community, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Cougar Town have been overlooked.
Amazingly, I don’t think 30 Rock should win it this year. Parks and Recreation had a stronger season, and if I were to pick from the full range of eligible shows, it would be my choice. From the nominees, however, it’s 30 Rock by a country mile. Girls could end up with the award this year, for some reason, but I think the widespread love for Modern Family will see it named Outstanding Comedy Series for a third straight year.
My Pick – 30 Rock
My Prediction – Modern Family
My Unsung Hero – Parks and Recreation
My Oh-No-No – The Big Bang Theory

2. Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Is 30 Rock still on? Is Alec Baldwin still in it? The answer to both of these questions is yes, so that should be the end of it. Apparently not. While Jim Parsons’ portrayal of Dr. Sheldon Cooper is easily the funniest thing about The Big Bang Theory, whereas Jack Donaghy is one of several brilliant characters on 30 Rock, this is nowhere near enough to eclipse Baldwin’s consistently outstanding performance. That’s the crucial word here: outstanding. Parsons is funny, but Baldwin is outstandingly funny. Parsons won the last two, while Baldwin won the previous two and this is his sixth straight nomination. It’s pretty much between those two, if you ask me, although I can’t see how it’s even a contest.
Jon Cryer is a surprise nomination, especially considering that Two and a Half Men has been getting progressively worse for about five years, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Now that Charlie Sheen has gone, and the show has become even more of a train-wreck with Ashton Kutcher on board, Cryer has had to shoulder a lot more of the load, and has done a pretty decent job of it. However, neither he or his show are worthy of an Emmy this year (or any year) in my opinion. Larry David has also been nominated, and he is a man who can do no wrong in my eyes. However, an actor he is not. He plays himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm, admittedly in an exaggerated reality, but he is still essentially acting like himself in front of a camera. Jerry Seinfeld was nominated five times for this award for doing the same thing, and never won. While I concede that being yourself on screen isn’t as easy as being yourself on the street, it’s not the same as acting.
Unsurprisingly, Rob McElhenney has not been nominated for his role as Mac on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. This season, he packed on 50 pounds to make a storyline work. That’s real dedication, and his acting wasn’t bad either.
My Pick – Alec Baldwin
My Prediction – Jim Parsons
My Unsung Hero – Rob McElhenney
My Oh-No-No – Larry David/Jon Cryer

3. Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
The rest of the world seems to have started calling female actors “actors,” which seems fair enough to me, but a distinction is needed here to allow for two categories, which also seems fair enough to me. The immediate problem with this one is that Zooey Deschanel has been nominated for New Girl. I really like her, and I wanted to like her new show, but having seen about nine or ten episodes, I could take no more. It’s very very awful; I can’t believe it’s been given a second season, and I don’t believe it’s for any reason other than people wanting to look at Deschanel. Her character is similar to probably her two most famous film roles, Anita Miller in Almost Famous and Summer Finn in (500) Days of Summer, in that she is a little mysterious and daydreamy. However, an important part of both of those characters is that they are strong, independent, idea-driven women. Jess, the character she plays in New Girl, is anything but. She appears to be an idiot, whose main purpose is to get caught in compromising situations in front of her three male flatmates and anyone else who may be around. I don’t know how (or if) the series developed after I stopped watching it, but unless there was some kind of incredible turnaround, this is an Oh-No-No for me.
I’ve never seen Mike & Molly, but the synopsis was enough to put me off it.
Any of the other five nominees could win and I wouldn’t be too upset. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were all excellent in their roles in 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation andVeep respectively, although Louis-Dreyfus just edges it for me. I haven’t seen much of Nurse Jackie, but it looks pretty good (although more of a drama than a comedy) and I loved Edie Falco in The Sopranos. Lena Dunham was good in Girls, which was a show I quite liked, but the hype seemed unjustified to me.
Do people not watch Cougar Town just because of the title? I hope that’s it, because it’s a fantastic show. Courteney Cox has done a pretty good job of reinventing herself post-Friends, second only to David Schwimmer if you ask me. Jennifer Aniston playing the same character in 101 films doesn’t count.
My Pick – Julia Louis-Dreyfus
My Prediction – Julia Louis-Dreyfus
My Unsung Hero – Courteney Cox
My Oh-No-No – Zooey Deschanel

4. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Modern Family dominates the nominations here, with Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O’Neill and Eric Stonestreet all up for the award. For me, Burrell is the best of the bunch, but Stonestreet is a close second in what is an excellent ensemble cast. Either of them would be a worthy winner.
Max Greenfield from New Girl is also nominated, which perplexes me. Even if you thought the show was good (which I don’t), he is by far and away the worst and most annoying character on it. He needs to not win.
Nick Offerman has not been nominated, which is essentially blasphemy. Even if Burrell wins, this award is tainted. (I may have exaggerated slightly, but the lack of Swanson on this list is both staggering and disappointing).
My Pick – Ty Burrell
My Prediction – Eric Stonestreet
My Unsung Hero – Nick Offerman
My Oh-No-No – Max Greenfield

5. Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Again, it’s likely that a Modern Family star will walk away with this award. Julie Bowen would be my preferred choice, but Sofia Vergara is also very good.
Community has the same problem as Cougar Town; a vague and potentially misleading title, and a small viewership disproportionate to its brilliance. Were it not for this, Alison Brie would surely have been nominated for her role as Annie, but sadly she too has been overlooked.
I must have missed the meeting when Desperate Housewives was deemed to be a comedy (do not say ‘dramedy’ to me or I will slap you silly). I was also not aware that arriving on a show and doing a fairly poor impression of the already-ridiculously-overpopular lead male character on that same show was considered acting, or funny. For these reasons, Kathryn Joosten and Mayim Bialik are my Oh-No-Nos for this category.
My Pick – Julie Bowen
My Prediction – Julie Bowen
My Unsung Hero – Alison Brie
My Oh-No-No – Kathryn Joosten/Mayim Bialik

6. Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Since Arrested Development finished*, Will Arnett has starred in a few sitcoms, none of which were especially funny or successful. Could it be that he was only good in the role of GOB, and nothing else? No, it’s not that. He’s made a few memorable guest appearances on other sitcoms, both before and after Arrested Development, but his performances as Devon Banks, Jack’s arch-nemisis, on 30 Rock have been nothing short of wonderful. It is for this part that he has been nominated, and it’s for the fourth time. Jon Hamm has also been nominated for an appearance on 30 Rock, although not in his regular guest role as Drew Baird. Hamm is an actor of whom I’d like to see more; he’s incredibly versatile, and I should probably watch that Mad Men thing he does at some point.
However, neither of them compares to Michael J. Fox’s turn on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Fox is something of a hero of mine, and for him to continue acting and maintaining a public profile after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease is incredibly brave. What’s even braver is appearing on a TV show and poking fun at it. The Michael J. Fox we saw on Curb was one who shook soda cans before giving them to Larry, one who stomped about on Larry’s ceiling, and shook his head in disapproval, blaming it all on the Parkinson’s. Does he do these things in real life? Almost certainly not. Would he, if he had a neighbour as irritating as Larry David? Surely. I know I said above that playing yourself is not really acting, but it’s a little different when you have a disease that severely limits your movement. His performance was hilarious, courageous, thought-provoking and inspirational. Fox is also up for an award for guest-starring in an episode of The Good Wife, which I haven’t seen. Even so, I hope it means that we’ll be seeing a bit more of Michael J. Fox on our screens in the next few years. He’s got unfinished business there.
When I heard Paul Rudd would be guest-starring in a few episodes of Parks and Recreation, I had my doubts. I quite like Rudd, but he looks very similar to series regular Chris Pratt, and it sounded like his character would be similar too. It was, but this was not a problem. The two don’t have much (if any) screen time together, and he was able to bring his own thing to the role, and made better what might otherwise have been dull scenes. Kelsey Grammer also reprised his role as the third member of the Best Friends Gang in 30 Rock for two episodes, and was very, very good in that. He probably has enough Emmys already for his work onFrasier, but I can’t pick between the two of them for my Unsung Hero in this category.
My Pick – Michael J. Fox
My Prediction – Michael J. Fox
My Unsung Hero – Paul Rudd/Kelsey Grammer
My Oh-No-No – None

7. Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Chris McKenna’s Remedial Chaos Theory is my all-time favourite episode of Community, and it gets my vote. A simple game of Yahtzee at Troy and Abed’s house-warming party leads to Jeff creating seven different timelines, and we explore the fragility of life and time (with sexy results). There are also two excellent episodes of Parks and Recreation up for the award, one written by Amy Poehler and one by Michael Schur. (Incidentally, both of those feature guest appearances by Paul Rudd). Lena Dunham has also been nominated for the pilot of Girls, which I thought was a weak episode of a not-especially-great show.
Today You Are A Man was probably my favourite 30 Rock episode from the sixth season, and one of the best in the series’ run. Episode writer Ron Weiner is my shout for Unsung Hero.
My Pick – Chris McKenna (Community)
My Prediction – Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
My Unsung Hero – Ron Weiner (30 Rock)
My Oh-No-No – Lena Dunham (Girls)

Having finally completed this list, I realise that it is very comedy-heavy, with no sign of drama anywhere. I don’t feel qualified to have opinions on the drama awards, as the only one of the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series I’ve seen is Breaking Bad, and I haven’t seen the most recent season. As I said above, I’m planning to work on that, so maybe next year I’ll have more informed opinions, and more of them.
I’d also like to suggest that there be a set of newcomer awards. There might be a temptation to give the Outstanding Comedy Series award to Veep, which had an excellent first season, but isn’t as good as some of its longer-standing fellow nominees. This is probably even more true of dramas; establishing characters takes time, so a show in its first season may not be as good as one in its third or fourth, but might get the award anyway for starting strongly. Veep would be highly deserving of an award called something like “Outstanding New Comedy Series” or “Outstanding Debut of a Comedy Series.” So yeah, if you meet anyone who is involved with the Emmys, suggest that to them. Thanks.