I love award shows. Well, not all of them. I don't watch all 8 billion that seem to have come up out of nowhere in the last 10 years, but the big ones - the Oscars, Golden Globes, Tonys, Grammys, and Emmys - I always watch. And then I judge the people who vote for overlooking my favorites, like when they overlook Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons. So when the nominations come out, as they did this morning, I get very excited in reviewing them and trying to guess if my personal favorites stand a chance. Here is some early commentary on the nominees:
Lead Actor - Comedy: With much love to the gorgeous and insanely talented Matthew Morrison (Glee's Mr. Schuester), in this category my heart belongs to Jim Parsons as the insane, but brilliant Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory. Parsons has made this character the reason to watch this show, and that is saying something as the rest of the cast can certainly hold their own and the writing is outstanding. I never know what Sheldon will do next, but I'm certain that I will laugh, and even that will not be enough to show my appreciation. That said, this category has been dominated by Alec Baldwin recently, and I'm not sure that the voters will change things up, even though they really should. I've heard the Office has been weak (I rarely watch it) of late, but look for Steve Carrell to take this home next year after his last season of the show.
Lead Actress - Comedy: This is likely to go to the incredibly talented Toni Collette for The United States of Tara, which I really do hope to watch some day, but have yet to do. No tears will be shed here if Lea Michelle or Tina Fey walk away with that statue instead, as Rachel Berry and Liz Lemon are two of my favorite female characters on TV. They are both crazy, but in a lovable way. Usually.
Lead Actor & Actress in a Drama: I put these together because I have not watched any of these performances. I have seen earlier seasons of Mad Men and Lost, but my guesses here are based more on general pop culture knowledge. The Lead Actor category is incredibly tough and full of former winners. I would put even money on either Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad or Michael C. Hall of Dexter, even though my vote would go to Mad Men's Jon Hamm. I can't help it, I love Don Draper, even when I hate him, and Jon Hamm gets bonus points from me for appearing on The Nerdist podcast. For Actress they may as well just write Glenn Close's name on the award now, she has been cleaning up in this category since Damages began and I cannot imagine that will stop now. The only performances that I am familiar with are January Jones as crazy, depressed housewife Betty Draper and Kyra Sedgwick as the lovable, brilliant, but a little bit whacked Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson. I'd love to see either of them walk away with the statue in an upset.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Kurt, Barney, Mitchell or Cameron. I don't know if I could really chose which of them I love the best, but it doesn't really matter because Jon Cryer will probably walk off with the statue again. I think he gets it for putting up with Charlie Sheen, and constantly worrying whether or not they will have to cancel the show mid-season because Sheen is in rehab or jail. I do think that Cryer is talented and portrays Alan on Two and a Half Men quite well, I just think that show has been recycling the same material for a few seasons now. Chris Colfer gives a heartfelt and hilarious performance each week as Kurt, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is lovably neurotic as Mitchell, Eric Stonestreet is just lovable as Cameron, and Neil Patrick Harris has been winning this category (without actually winning it) since the first season of How I Met Your Mother. A win by any one of them would be something to cheer about. Since he's the only one I didn't mention, I will add that I do find Ty Burrell to be hilarious as Phil Dunphy. Modern Family is one brilliantly written show with amazing actors.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Just give the statue to Jane Lynch. Right now. I'm serious. Sofia Vergara is excellent as Gloria on Modern Family and gives her character a great deal of depth in a role that could easily come off very flat. I am not a big Kristen Wiig fan, but I admit she is quite talented. None of that matters, Jane Lynch is the winner here and anything else would be unacceptable.
Outstanding Supporting Actor & Actress in a Drama: Combining these, because again I don't watch too many of these shows. While you're writing Jane Lynch on the Comedy supporting actress award you can go ahead and put Michael Emerson on the Drama supporting actor award because everyone knows he is going to win. I only just got to his first appearance in season 2 of Lost and I already know he is going to be brilliant. Also, I cannot stop singing: "You're a liar Ben, you're a liar" along with the rest of The Oceanic Six's song, "Henry Gale." For the actress category, I again do not know much, but love the women of Mad Men - both Christina Hendricks as Joan and Elizabeth Moss as Peggy - and would never be disappointed to see Christine Baranski walk away with another win, even if it's for something I've never seen, as is the case with The Good Wife.
Guest Actor and Actress on a Comedy: Glee has made one of these categories an easy pick and another nearly impossible. For guest actor, while I love (as previously noted) NPH and appreciated (and eagerly anticipated) his guest spot on Glee, this award belongs to Mike O'Malley who was perfectly cast as Kurt's father Burt Hummel. I'm not sure what constitutes a guest role, as O'Malley has appeared in a number of episodes, but give him the award anyway. This character is outstanding and a big part of what I love so much about Glee. For guest actress, I cannot decide. I know that Betty White is likely to win this for her guest spot on SNL, and I cannot really argue with that choice. However, my top two are Kristin Chenoweth as the washed up former Glee sensation April Rhodes and Christine Baranski as Leonard's Sheldon-like mother on The Big Bang Theory. Two of my favorite actresses on two of my favorite shows, playing roles that highlight their acting talents. How could I possibly chose?
So the acting categories took up a lot of space, but I promise I'm almost done. There are a plethora of other categories and perhaps I'll write more later, or during the broadcast even, but for now, let's wrap this up with Best Comedy and Best Drama.
Best Comedy: The Big Bang Theory. Wait, it's not nominated? Alright then, the equally awesome How I Met Your Mother. Also not on there? Seriously? Just wanted to make the point that my two favorite shows were overlooked. Thankfully my next two choices, Glee & Modern Family, have been nominated. Even though I have watched far more Glee than Modern Family, I really would be happy to see either of these new shows take home the prize. Glee is an hour of ridiculous joy in the middle of my week that highlights to achievements of the not so cool kids and teaches us to be ourselves. And it's also got this edgy, biting humor to mix in with all that heartfelt stuff and the perfectly choregraphed dance numbers, thus making it more than watchable. Modern Family is an innovative family sitcom with amazing performances, characters who are not (to use my mother's favorite term) flat, and just enough heartfelt stuff to make you love them all.
Best Drama: I think this could go to Lost for its final season, although there might have been too much hype, in which case I could see any of the other shows talking home the statue. Even though I am not currently watching any of these shows, they are all in my Netflix queue. This is the type of television that makes me happy that there is televsion. It counters all the reality show crap that networks put up because it's cheap to make and too many idiots watch it. The shows that are nominated in these categories are what television should be. Innovative. Creative. Oh yeah, and good.
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