- Vanessa Bayer (SNL)
- Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
- Loretta Devine (The Carmichael Show)
- Kether Donohue (You're The Worst)
- Noel Wells (Master of None)
- Debra Winger (The Ranch)
JUST MISSED: Elizabeth Banks (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp), Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Kate McKinnon seems to be the
break out star from this batch of SNL females. She was nominated in this
category last year and she’s starring in the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot. However, my heart will always remain faithful
to Vanessa Bayer, who has quickly
become SNL’s true chameleon… From a current SNLer to an SNL alum we have Noel Wells for her work as Aziz
Ansari’s love interest in Master of None.
Like Bayer, Wells brings a calm, Girl Next Door charm to her comedy which
contrasted well with Ansari’s comedy stylings… Hollywood veteran Debra Winger also played well alongside
her TV significant other, played by Sam Elliot, in Netflix’s The Ranch. Winger was able to bring
emotional heft and witty one-liners to help make the show as good as it was…
Another TV Mother played by an TV veteran that did excellent work this past
year was Loretta Devine as the
matriarch of the Carmichael clan in The
Carmichael Show. The show itself is mainly a medium for comedian Jerrod
Carmichael to express his political views and hot button issues, but the show
never loses sight of its characters and Devine helps ground the familial
structure... Someone who is never grounded is Lindsay, played by Kether Donohue on You’re The Worst. Aya Cash did most of the heavy lifting this past
season with her depression storyline, but it was Donohue’s Lindsay spiraling
out of control after her divorce that ended up being the best part of the show…
Lastly, we have Stephanie Beatriz. I
love Brooklyn Nine Nine, and normally
I choose both Beatriz and Melissa Fumero, but I gave the slight edge to Beatriz
as the show gave her more to do with the storyline of a love interest played by
Jason Mantzoukas and then dealing with the fallout of his disappearance.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
- Sam Elliot (The Ranch)
- Max Greenfield (New Girl)
- David Allen Grier (The Carmichael Show)
- Paul Rudd (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp)
- Sam Waterston (Grace and Frankie)
JUST MISSED: T.J. Miller and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley)
I love Miller and Nanjiani as comedians and on Silicon Valley when I watched it, but I just can’t watch the show
anymore thanks to Thomas Middledicth’s character’s timidness. It’s too much.
Despite The Ranch being really funny, it seems like it’s not “prestige-y”
enough for Emmy voters. I hope they look past that because 1) they can actually
watch a show that will make them laugh and 2) Sam Elliot is great in it- as he always is. The man is great even as
a voice-over in car commercials. He deserves more awards than he has… Sam Waterston is by far and away the
best past of Grace and Frankie, yes,
even better than his ex-TV-wife Lily Tomlin. He brings a softness and sweetness
to the role, and you can even root for him after he cheats on Martin Sheen’s
character and lies to him… Max
Greenfield has always been a fan favorite on New Girl as the lovable douche Schmidt, but with Zooey Deschanel
gone for a handful of episodes and Schmidt’s wedding to CeCe being a major
storyline last season, Greenfield really shined as a sitcom star… Paul Rudd is a legitimate movie star,
which is why his inclusion into an TV award race seems almost unfair, but that
doesn’t stop how superb he was reprising his lackadaisical, playboy character
Andy from the Wet Hot American Summer
film for the TV show… As mentioned
before, The Carmichael Show is mainly
an excuse for comedian Jerrod Carmichael to do a 30 minute stand up set to a
mass audience every week, but it really works because of the characters, and David Allen Grier is the comedic lynchpin that holds the sitcom family together…
Andre Braugher is amazing. The End.
BEST ACTRESS
- Gillian Jacobs (Love)
- Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe)
- Abbi Jacobsen (Broad City)
- Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
- Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)
- Michaela Watkins (Casual)
JUST MISSED: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep). Like Silicon Valley, Veep is another show that I can’t watch anymore. I gave it a try
and I just don’t find it terribly funny.
I enjoy Gillian Jacobs so much more when she’s the cool one who’s life is
spinning out of control like she is in Love
versus the butt-of-the-joke like she was in Community.
Jacobs was always a great actress, but we finally got to really see it… I
have no idea why Ellie Kemper didn’t
receive a nomination last year, yet Unbreakable
Kimmy Schmidt and two of Kemper’s co-stars did. Hopefully things will
change this year and she’ll finally get the respect she deserves… Someone else
that gets no respect is Abbi Jacobsen
for her work on Broad City. Critics
seems enamored with her other half, Ilana Glazer, but give me the funny
straight-woman any day of the week… Michaela
Watkins and Sharon Horgan got a
chance to shine this past year on streaming services. Both are very funny, yet
got a chance to exercise their dramatic chops as aging single ladies navigating
this new world… Despite all of her success, Amy Schumer came back to her basic cable show and still delivered
biting and amazing comedy. TV is better because of Amy Schumer.
BEST ACTOR
- Aziz Ansari (Master of None)
- Rob Delaney (Catastrophe)
- Tommy Dewey (Casual)
- Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch)
- Paul Rust (Love)
- Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine Nine)
JUST MISSED: Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show). I love
his show and his vision, but his acting just isn’t up to par with his comedy
and vision.
I can understand why Variety
would call Tommy Dewey’s Alex Cole
“another permutation on a character we’ve seen, oh, 20 or 30 times before. He’sa code-writing Peter Pan, one who’s good looking enough to bed plenty of womenbut who resists commitment as if it were the plague”. However, I think Dewey
helps transcend and evolve the architype. Alex is truly a broken and a
messed-up character, but still searches to the best of his abilities to find
love and happiness. Dewey’s charm helps his character become the true star of Casual… I love goofy, over-the-top Andy Samberg, but he’s at his best when
he’s slightly toned like he is on Brooklyn
Nine-Nine. Samberg has always been great on the show, but he really got a
chance to shine this past season as the show delved deeper into Samberg’s Jake
Perrelta’s relationship with Fumero’s Santiago… There are times where I’m convinced
that Rob Delaney has snuck into my
house, taped the arguments I’ve had with my wife, and then use them on Catastrophe for comedic gold… Aziz Ansari doesn’t have the greatest
acting range, but he’s more than made up for it with his charm and satirical
take of the Hollywood industry and Eminem songs… Along the lines of my dislike
for Silicon Valley, I really don’t
like timid, nebbish dudes on television, but I ended up enjoying Paul Rust’s Gus on Love. Gus was confident when he needed to be and ended up being a
really good comic foil to Gillian Jacobs’ Mickey… Say what you will about Ashton Kutcher, but the dude is
charming as balls and The Ranch is comical.
A lot of shows and comedies these days aren’t terribly laugh-out-loud funny,
but this show and Kutcher’s character are.
- Brooklyn Nine Nine (FOX)
- The Carmichael Show (NBC)
- Casual (Hulu)
- Love (Netflix)
- Master of None (Netflix)
- The Ranch (Netflix)
JUST MISSED: Catastrophe (Amazon), Wet Hot American
Summer: First Day of Camp (Netflix)
I wrote about The Carmichael Show and The Ranch here. They’re great shows
that feel out of place in today’s comedy landscape, and worthy of our praise…
There are no truly great TV comedies at the top of the mountain, but the one
close to it is the always solid and reliable Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It’s never been as good as say its predecessor Parks and Recreation, but it’s still
easily one of the best sitcoms on television… I didn’t start out even liking Love (having a 40-plus-minute pilot doesn’t
help matters), but as Jacobs’ Mickey and Rust’s Gus starting dating and as
their relationship started to form and blossom, the show became truly
binge-worthy. The second half was so good that it left a positive taste in my
mouth… It also took me a little while to get into Master of None, as I felt like I’ve seen the series before when I
read Ansari’s book Modern Romance, but I grew to love Ansari’s point of
view on things like Indians on TV. Ansari was able to juggle satire with the
romance of his character Dev and Wells’ Rachel for one of the best TV watching
experiences of 2015… It was difficult for me to choose which show I wanted as
my last “spot” and I struggled with Casual
and Catastrophe. Ultimately, it came
down to which show I enjoyed binging on more (I saw both in one sitting) and I
liked Casual just a touch more as I
never felt like it dragged the way Catastrophe
did. Catastrophe’s highs were higher,
but in only six episodes (compared to Casual’s
10) I should never have the thought “Is this really still going”? Don’t get me
wrong, but shows are excellent are worthy of a nomination, but Casual got the slight edge for me. Also,
what can I say, I’m a sucker for Jason Reitman.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WERE THE BEST TV COMEDIES OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS? LET US KNOW ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!
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