First, let's discuss Outstanding Comedy Series. The winners in this category include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls, 30Rock, Veep, Modern Family, and The Big Bang Theory. The only fresh nominees in the list are Girls and Veep, neither of which compare with the others. More importantly, if you are looking for a political comedy can you really do better than Parks and Recreation? Not likely. And where is Louie? Sometimes I am not sure if the show is a comedy or drama myself, but you are often witnessing an brilliant slice of life when you switch on an episode. Fortunately, both shows were part of other nominations, but they still represent a large gap in the comedy category.
Next, under Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, I was very happy to see Edie Falco for her work on Nurse Jackie and Amy Poehler for her work on Parks and Recreation. You can find the rest of the nominees at the link above, but I wanted to single out my two favorite blondes with very different techniques yet similar results - great comedy. Again, I would put Nurse Jackie in a drama/comedy category, but when it attempts humor it is always right on the mark.
Under Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, I tip my hat to both Louis C.K. and Alec Baldwin, as different as Edie and Amy in their work, but always a pleasure to watch. If I watch 30Rock at all these days, it is only to see the latest antics Baldwin's character, Jack Donaghy.
Finally, in terms of supporting actors and actresses, I was very surprised yet happy to see the four main actors from Modern Family on the actors list (Ed O'Neill, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell, and Eric Stonestreet) and the two main actresses from the same show on the actresses list (Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara). However, are we really saying that one comedy can capture 50 percent of the available nominee slots? This seems to be more a case of not wanting to offend anyone rather than picking the best of the best. Yes, I will say it again, but where are the supporting actors from Parks and Recreation? I would put the dry performances of Nick Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson, or Aubrey Plaza, who plays April Ludgate, above some of these other performers.
Award nominations are far from perfect and will never satisfy everyone. I just had to put in my plug for some worthy shows and performers that deserve the attention. I hope to say more about the other categories later.
Update: While Modern Family has been quite successful with Emmy nominations, it has gone through a rough patch trying to start season four. It seems the success of these actors and actresses has not translated into high enough salaries. This is not the type of publicity you want right now when the story should be the nominations.
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