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| Parks and Rec is brilliant! Credit: NBC |
Part 1: Last Year's Nominees
"Modern Family" *Winner
"30 Rock"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Glee"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Office"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" took the year off, otherwise there are no open slots.
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" took the year off, otherwise there are no open slots.
Part 2: My Predictions
"Modern Family"
"30 Rock"
"The Office"
"Glee"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Big Bang Theory"
Modern Family, 30 Rock, The Office, and Glee should all be back in the field. There's nothing working against them (in terms of Emmy voters) right now. Nurse Jackie might be replaced by another Showtime "comedy", but that's doubtful at the moment. The last slot should go to Parks and Recreation, Community, or Chuck, but there's no way that they make the field. I gave it to The Big Bang Theory because it seems like something that the Emmy voters would notice this year.
"30 Rock"
"The Office"
"Glee"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Big Bang Theory"
Modern Family, 30 Rock, The Office, and Glee should all be back in the field. There's nothing working against them (in terms of Emmy voters) right now. Nurse Jackie might be replaced by another Showtime "comedy", but that's doubtful at the moment. The last slot should go to Parks and Recreation, Community, or Chuck, but there's no way that they make the field. I gave it to The Big Bang Theory because it seems like something that the Emmy voters would notice this year.
Part 3: If I Had an Emmy Ballot...
As always, My first pick should be obvious from the picture at the top of the post. Parks and Recreation was one of the strongest comedies on television this season. It was not only hysterically funny on a consistent basis, but it deepened the characters and made them much more interesting to watch. In both the harvest festival story arc of the first seven and the standalone stories of the last nine, the show's storytelling was brilliant. This was the best comedy on television this season. It should be on the Emmy list, even if it won't be.
My second comedy lost the top spot by a hair to Parks and Recreation. Chuck did not have a perfect season this year, but when it fired on all cylinders, it was brilliant. This was my favorite show on television because it continued with what works about the show. The balance that the show strikes between comedy and drama is something that very few shows can pull off well. Also, Timothy Dalton provided the best performance of a villain on the show. The arc involving him was some of the strongest material the show has done. Even if it won't get a nomination, it deserves one.
There wasn't another comedy on television that was willing to take as many risks as Community did this season. This show never found a consistent format, but that was never a problem for the show. Not everything they did worked, for example I wasn't a fan of the Apollo 13 episode or the wine tasting episode, but when the show worked, it worked on a higher level then many other comedies on television. There were numerous points where this show was funnier then Parks and Rec, and that's saying something. This is another show that won't be on the ballot, even if it should be on it.
Another ambitious comedy that hit the mark most of the time is Louie. This is a show where each episode had many different tones and ideas behind them. Not every single episode clicked for me, but when the episodes did, this comedy was funnier then any other. Louis CK is a genius who deserves credit for writing such a damn good show.
There's another class of comedy that I haven't touched yet, comedies that aren't particularly deep, but are screamingly funny. Cougar Town is one of those comedies. It is screamingly funny each and every week, and even if it's not particularly deep, it does have characters that are relatable and performances that are a joy to watch each and every week.
I had a little trouble deciding what comedy to use for the last slot. I ended up going with the most consistent of my potential choices, and that's 30 Rock. The show had somewhat of a creative resurgence this season, turning out more good episodes then season four did. This show is a joke machine, and when the jokes are good, this is among the funniest comedies on TV. The performances from Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey continued to be fantastic. This show will be on the Emmy ballot and this season will deserve it.
Honorable Mentions: If The Office was consistently good this season, it would have been on my list. The Big Bang Theory was good, but it wasn't Emmy worthy. Modern Family was another show that suffered from many different inconsistencies and formulaic storytelling. The only thing I have to say on Mr. Sunshine is "yay".
As always, My first pick should be obvious from the picture at the top of the post. Parks and Recreation was one of the strongest comedies on television this season. It was not only hysterically funny on a consistent basis, but it deepened the characters and made them much more interesting to watch. In both the harvest festival story arc of the first seven and the standalone stories of the last nine, the show's storytelling was brilliant. This was the best comedy on television this season. It should be on the Emmy list, even if it won't be.
My second comedy lost the top spot by a hair to Parks and Recreation. Chuck did not have a perfect season this year, but when it fired on all cylinders, it was brilliant. This was my favorite show on television because it continued with what works about the show. The balance that the show strikes between comedy and drama is something that very few shows can pull off well. Also, Timothy Dalton provided the best performance of a villain on the show. The arc involving him was some of the strongest material the show has done. Even if it won't get a nomination, it deserves one.
There wasn't another comedy on television that was willing to take as many risks as Community did this season. This show never found a consistent format, but that was never a problem for the show. Not everything they did worked, for example I wasn't a fan of the Apollo 13 episode or the wine tasting episode, but when the show worked, it worked on a higher level then many other comedies on television. There were numerous points where this show was funnier then Parks and Rec, and that's saying something. This is another show that won't be on the ballot, even if it should be on it.
Another ambitious comedy that hit the mark most of the time is Louie. This is a show where each episode had many different tones and ideas behind them. Not every single episode clicked for me, but when the episodes did, this comedy was funnier then any other. Louis CK is a genius who deserves credit for writing such a damn good show.
There's another class of comedy that I haven't touched yet, comedies that aren't particularly deep, but are screamingly funny. Cougar Town is one of those comedies. It is screamingly funny each and every week, and even if it's not particularly deep, it does have characters that are relatable and performances that are a joy to watch each and every week.
I had a little trouble deciding what comedy to use for the last slot. I ended up going with the most consistent of my potential choices, and that's 30 Rock. The show had somewhat of a creative resurgence this season, turning out more good episodes then season four did. This show is a joke machine, and when the jokes are good, this is among the funniest comedies on TV. The performances from Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey continued to be fantastic. This show will be on the Emmy ballot and this season will deserve it.
Honorable Mentions: If The Office was consistently good this season, it would have been on my list. The Big Bang Theory was good, but it wasn't Emmy worthy. Modern Family was another show that suffered from many different inconsistencies and formulaic storytelling. The only thing I have to say on Mr. Sunshine is "yay".
That's a wrap on this category. If you have some thoughts that you would like to share on my predictions/picks, or some predictions/picks of your own, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Tomorrow: The Emmy nominations will be released at 8:45 ET. I should have my detailed analysis of the major nominations online at about 4:30 ET.
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