If I Had An Emmy Ballot: Comedies (2016 Edition)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

- 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.

The Carmichael Show and The Ranch: Throwbacks to the Sitcoms of Yesteryear

Two of the best new sitcoms to be released within the past 12 months are The Ranch, which had its entire first season drop on Netflix on April 1, 2016, and The Carmichael Show, which premiered on NBC on August 26, 2015. Tonally and spiritually, these two shows have nothing in common; however, both shows represent The Ghost of Sitcom Past. The landscape for sitcoms is remarkably different from what is what when Friends and Seinfeld left the airwaves. Nowadays, sitcoms have to be fully formed right out of the gate like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or be able to be traditional with a different perspective like Black-ish or Fresh Off The Boat. There is seemingly no room to be good and “working on it” as seen with the recent cancellations of The Grinder and Grandfathered. Yet two sitcoms have recently emerged that have helped buck this trend, and they have been able to do so in large part by going back to the original drawing board.