Emmy Nomination Advice – Comedy Series
It’s that time of year when voting members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences are busily bingeing their way through all of the series they missed during the last 12 months as they prepare to submit the names of the actors, actresses, personalities and programs they wish to nominate for Emmy Awards. Let’s be honest – there’s no way any of them will be able to watch everything. The era of Peak TV may bring with it a wealth of outstanding television programming, but there is more coming along right now than anyone with a life will be able to watch during their lifetime. Even professional television critics cannot keep up – and for many of them, that’s their full time job.
It falls to those of us who are charged with doing our best to follow it all – and, at the least, to focus on the best – to provide whatever guidance we can at this very challenging time for actors and others in the television industry by providing lists of the performers and programs Emmy voters should have on their radar. No list will be perfect – identifying the best of the best is a largely personal process and at present a damn near impossible task. With hundreds of new programs running on various networks, streaming sites and other content services, how in the world can anyone be expected to narrow any list down to a handful of choices?
With such caveats in mind, here’s a handy guide designed to help all interested parties recall eligible series and performances in the Comedy Series categories from the official qualification period -- May 31, 2015 through May 31, 2016 -- that deserve recognition. (Note: A series must have telecast more than half of its current season episodes prior to the May 31 cutoff date for it to qualify for nominations.) If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out my previous column offering advice about Drama Series. Advice about the Limited Series/Movies categories will follow next week.
For the record, my personal favorites are pictured herein.
Outstanding Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) -- pictured at top
black-ish (ABC)
Master of None (Netflix)
Modern Family (ABC)
Mom (CBS)
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Veep (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Aziz Ansari, Master of None (Netflix)
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon)
Chris Geere, You’re the Worst (FXX)
Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley (HBO)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent (Amazon) -- pictured below
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)
Aya Cash, You’re the Worst (FX)
Anna Faris, Mom (CBS)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO) -- pictured below
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin (The CW)
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Louie Anderson, Baskets (FX) -- pictured below
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Jaime Camill, Jane the Virgin (The CW)
Neil Flynn, The Middle (ABC)
Tony Hale, Veep (HBO)
Charlie McDermott, The Middle (ABC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Donna Lynne Champlin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)
Anna Chlumsky, Veep (HBO)
Allison Janney, Mom (CBS) -- pictured below
Judith Light, Transparent (Amazon)
Eden Sher, The Middle (ABC)
The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet management or associated bloggers.
Ed Martin
Ed Martin is the chief television and content critic for MediaVillage. He has written about television and internet programming for several Myers publications since 2000, including The Myers Report, The Myers Programming Report, MediaBizBloggers a…
