Emmy Predictions: Comedy

For those of you that read this blog know I am a movie guy, but come award season I like to show that not only do I watch a lot of movies but I also watch a lot of television. I really need to get out more, but it’s too late for that so for now here are some of my best guesses for how this year's Emmy awards will be handed out. First we'll take a look at the comedy field.


Outstanding Variety, Comedy or Musical Series
The Colbert Report
Conan
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Real Time with Bill Mahar
Saturday Night Live

This actually isn't in the comedy field but I think it deserves mentioning just because how impressive it is. Last year I wrote a hell of a piece about why The Daily Show would finally lose. And I stand by it for all of those reasons but to sum it up it wasn't their best year and Conan and Colbert were both ON. Stewart didn't even show up last year which means assumedly he had something more important than getting one of the highest honors for television; already knew what it felt like to win and didn't want to go; or maybe thought the competition was better and more deserving. Well he still won, and now I am convinced if he wasn't going to lose last year he certainly isn't going to lose this year. The Daily Show will win its ninth straight award in this field. How many more years do you think Colbert has before he just loses it and goes postal on his past employer.


Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Jane Lynch, Glee
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

This is a tough category to predict. Last year’s winner is this year’s Emmy host and I don’t even know how she is going to do with that, I hope well but it is tough to tell. Last year she was the clear cut winner for her negative slams and one liners, but to end season one they tried to show her evolution and make her a better person. So this season they had to split her time between glee club hater and being sympathetic. The character was at her best when she was mean and awful that is why she won, to give her a heart and redeem no longer makes her the best. While I don’t watch Hot in Cleveland never count out Betty White, she is cute as hell and still hits all her marks. On merit the best performance would have to be Jolie Bowen, she doesn’t get all the laughs but she helps to make all the people around her funnier.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Chris Colfer, Glee
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ed O’ Neil, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

This is going to someone on Modern Family. Jon Cryer basically did a half season of work so how could he get the award, and Ryan Murphy took all the emotion and love that was in Kurt’s character from season one and instead made him a soapbox to send out his message. Any of the other four men could win it, putting Jesse Tyler Ferguson in a distant fourth. Eric Stonestreet won the award last year, but Ed O’Neil and Ty Burrell were better this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Burrell won but Ed O’Neil is the heart of the series. He wins the award on his first nomination, an award that he deserves.



Outstanding Actress in a Comedy
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Is Nurse Jackie a comedy? Do people laugh at that show? Getting past that, I have never enjoyed Raising Hope, so have a tough time pulling for Martha Plimpton. And while Melissa McCarthy was fantastic in the movies she has been good on Mike and Molly but not amazing.Amy Poehler has been fantastic on Parks and Rec. She leads a fantastic cast and shares the spotlight just as much as it shines on herself. She is the one I believe will win, but this is a tough category to predict and may face difficult competition from Laura Linney who not only manages to be funny but in a show that deals with cancer can also be very touching and Emmy voters love that mix.


Outstanding Actor in a Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Louis C.K., Louie
Steve Carrell, The Office
Johnny Gelecki, The Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

This may be the biggest lock of the night. There is no chance that Steve Carrell doesn't walk away with this award. That is not to say that he necessarily deserves it for his work this past season. The award would be given to him for the sum of his work over the past seven seasons on the office and his past six nominations. For all of that, mostly the first three seasons and a little bit for seasons four and five, he will win the award. While Carrell deserves it for all that he has done, Louis C.K. has been hilarious all season, watch the masturbation episode and tell me he’s not funniest actor on television right now.


Outstanding Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Parks and Recreation
30 Rock


Does Modern Family have what it takes to become the next 30 Rock, well 30 Rock certainly doesn’t. The show is still smart but for the past two years I have enjoyed the first half of NBC’s Thursday line up more than the second half. To that point Parks and Recreation had a fantastic season. While it was upsetting to not get a fall debut last year, by getting pushed back to the spring it allowed the creative staff to fine tune some of the earlier episodes which only made it funnier. Of the nominees this was the funniest show of the year, and I would be willing to wager that this may be the high point for the series because of the extra time they were allotted. The best show of the year though would probably still be Modern Family. The actors on the show are phenomenal as evident by all of the adults being nominated for acting awards. The jokes are good; there are countless laugh out loud moments but the difference may be the rather clichéd ending where the lone voice over tries to wrap everything up into a neat package. The reason this trick has become so clichéd is because it is effective at doing what they need, and that is tying the episode up. The show’s heart and the love the characters have for each other is what give Modern Family the edge.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

The movie opens with the heartbreak that drives the rest of the movie. Cal played by Steve Carell learns in the middle of a packed restaurant that his marriage is about to end and his wife Emily, played by Julianne Moore, cheated on him with a co-worker. This is not the start to the romantic comedy that we are used to, and from here it could go anywhere. They decide to keep the movie in the comedic wheel house but not without a few dramatic moments.

There is a lot jammed into Crazy, Stupid, Love but it never feels like you are missing out on anything. Dan Fogelman wrote his love story with three different generations all experiencing more or less the same thing. The first half of the movie seems to be full of punchy dialogue but as the movie progresses we lose the tart retorts and gain a sincerity and hope to the film. The emotions the characters feel seem much more genuine and their action more natural to what is going on around them even if the situations that started it all seem less likely.

While maybe not all totally believable the movie has a lot of heart and that has to count for something. The movie’s leading men hook up in a totally unrealistic fashion. There is no way some hot guy in a bar full of far too many attractive women takes a sad, pathetic 40-something man under his wings and guides him. But to be fair there is no chance a divorce ends that quickly or amicably without lawyers so it is best to just go with it. The dynamic between the male leads are great and lead to a lot of funny moments. It is not just the zingers that the actors deliver that receive audible reaction from the audience. This movie is also full of uncomfortable moments directly out of Carell’s “Office” playbook which makes sense as he also lends his hand as a producer on the film. I don’t know if I can remember a movie since Superbad that I was forced to look away from the screen by just how uncomfortable some of the funnier scenes in the movie got. The delivery is fantastic all around and there is little doubt to why that is.

The cast is full of incredibly talented people who continually get better with each role. Ryan Gosling is everything that is right with movies right now. His most recent roles have been amazing from the heart-breakingly beautiful in Blue Valentine, to the drug addled coach in Half Nelson, to the eternally romantic Noah in The Notebook. He picks amazing parts and knocks each of them out of the park. It was great to see him branch out into a comedic role and show just how far his talent can reach. Gosling is bound by nothing and it is going to be great to watch this leading man continue to grow. Carell returns to the big screen as the everyman romantic who once again spends the movie blurring the lines between being a total doofus and a complete charmer. His best scenes though are when he and Gosling work together in a Miyagi-esque relationship.

Their female co-stars don’t get quite the same detail written into their characters. After the initial outburst we learn very little about Moore’s Emily. There is a lot in the script about how Carell’s character deals with the break up, but most of Emily’s story comes from a response to the actions of her husband. Her best scenes feature her and Carell expressing the regret of their current situation. Emma Stone meanwhile plays Hannah the aspiring lawyer, and much like Gosling her character is far more interesting than the female lead. Her charisma flies off the screen especially the moments she shares with Gosling. She pops with her co-star and flaunts her perfect comedic timing. Of the four main actors, she probably gets the least amount of screen time. It is a shame we don’t see this romance till later in the story but these two young actors make every scene work.

Not only is this a talented leading group but the ensemble behind them are great as well. The third story line involves the older couple’s son who, typical of Hollywood, seems to be more knowledgeable than the adults who surround him. Also wonderful in the movie is Marissa Tomei who dials up the crazy a little bit and generates quite a few laughs herself. In fact the whole cast is able to get the audience going and it is a credit to the script that it was able to attract so many talented people.

The cast should attract a lot of people to this movie. Where it will win them over though is the amount of heart that shows on the screen. B-