Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Emmy Race: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

The Emmy Award nominations are still a few weeks away, but this year looks to be even more competitive in all the major categories than last year when the switch was made from five to six nominees in the regular acting categories and series categories. At this point, I’d like to offer a rundown of the potential nominees, revisiting my predictions in early July. I’ve placed contenders in specific groupings that speak to their history and chances.

Last year’s nominees:

KRISTIN CHENOWETH as OLIVE SNOOK, PUSHING DAISIES (2 nominations/1 win)
Sad as it is, “Pushing Daisies” is no longer on the air. Look for Chenoweth in the Guest Actress category this year for “Glee.”

JANE KRAKOWSKI as JENNA MORONEY, 30 ROCK (1 nomination)
After two seasons of unconscionable snubs, Krakowski finally made it in last year. She really is criminally underused on the show, and when she does have something to do these days, it’s not nearly as good as what she used to do in the show’s first two seasons. This is a volatile category that often dismisses nominees year-to-year, but I think that Krakowski will probably stick around due to the popularity of her show and having only just received her first nod last year.

ELIZABETH PERKINS as CELIA HODES, WEEDS (3 nominations)
Perkins returned to the fold last year after missing out two years ago. Celia didn’t really have much to do on this season, but that hasn’t really been a problem before. She did have a few key scenes that would be enough to, based on past history, net her another nomination. It will really depend on how voters are feeling about her show, which I suspect won’t be entirely optimistic.

AMY POEHLER as VARIOUS CHARACTERS, SNL (2 nominations)
Poehler is no longer a cast member on SNL. Look for her (fingers crossed) in the Best Actress category this year for “Parks and Recreation.”

KRISTIN WIIG as VARIOUS CHARACTERS, SNL (1 nomination)
I’m not a regular SNL watcher, so I can’t say whether Wiig has been good or bad this year, but my gut feeling is that her film role in “MacGruber” (even if it wasn’t a hit) as well as movies like “Whip It” and “Extract” in the fall, should cement her popularity and enable her to return here with this bizarre recent rule that mixes variety performers with actors in scripted sitcoms.

VANESSA WILLIAMS as WILHELMINA SLATER, UGLY BETTY (3 nominations)
When star America Ferrera was snubbed last year, Williams still carried on the torch. For the show’s final year, I imagine that the inimitable Wilhelmina will be back again, especially considering she’s never won and really crafted quite a memorable character during her four years on the show. She could just as easily be snubbed to make room for new contenders, but I think she’ll be safe. If Jane Lynch wasn’t in the running, she’d probably even win (and still might).

Past nominees, primed for a comeback?

JENNA FISCHER as PAM BEESLY, THE OFFICE (1 nomination)
Fischer has only been nominated once, for the show’s third season, but it’s more than likely that she’ll be back at least once more before the show’s run is over (not currently in sight). This seems like the year, considering her two terrific hour-long episodes, “Niagara” and “The Delivery.” As past years have shown, it’s not a sure thing, but it is a pretty good bet.

CHERYL HINES as CHERYL DAVID, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (2 nominations)
Hines was nominated for the show’s second and fifth seasons, and now she’s back in contention for its seventh, in this category and not submitted as lead as originally reported by Tom O’Neill (he has since posted an update). Hines shared scenes with Jason Alexander this year in addition to reconnecting to Larry, and that certainly can’t hurt, but her chances are really a crapshoot since she was hardly the strongest part of her show, as opposed to some of the other people here.

CONCHETA FERRELL as BERTA and HOLLAND TAYLOR as EVELYN HARPER, TWO AND A HALF MEN (2 & 3 nominations)
These ladies first made a shocking appearance for their recurring roles back in 2005, and have both been back since. The once-good CBS comedy is definitely on its way out, especially in terms of the Emmys, where it was snubbed for Best Comedy Series last year. That hasn’t stopped these two in the past, but I think there’s just too much competition and Emmy voters may have stopped paying attention to this show.

New blood:

JANE LYNCH as SUE SYLVESTER and AMBER RILEY as MERCEDES JONES, GLEE
The biggest lock in this category is Lynch, whose insult-spouting cheerleading coach was hands-down the funniest part of the musical show. She’ll probably win, and there’s nothing more to say about her chances, since they’re excellent. Riley, on the other hand, is much more of a longshot. She’s one of the standouts on the show both musically and dramatically, but she’ll have to be part of an massive sweep that I’m not confident the show will manage.

JULIE BOWEN as CLARIE DUNPHY and SOFIA VERGARA as GLORIA DELGADO-PRITCHETT, MODERN FAMILY
These ladies face much less internal competition than their male costars, and hopefully they’ll both be able to score a nomination. Bowen is the subtler of the two, often playing straight man to her buffoonish husband, whereas Vergara steals most of her scenes as the very Colombian younger wife of the family patriarch. Vergara has the better shot, but I think they’ll both make it.

JANE ADAMS as TANYA SKAGLE, HUNG
While I think she more than deserves a nomination, I wouldn’t have placed Adams here if she hadn’t picked up a somewhat unexpected Golden Globe nod for her performance as Ray’s pimp on HBO’s great summer series. Adams faces the challenge of playing a more dramatic role compared to some of her competition, but I think a bigger hurdle will be the fact that few people have seen her show.

The roundup:
This category could see a massive makeover thanks to the addition of “Modern Family” and “Glee.” Krakowski, Wiig, and Williams should be back, and so should Fischer. Add in both Lynch, Bowen, and Vergara, and you have seven nominees. I don’t think that this category will be expanded, so that means that one person has to go. I’ll make a bold prediction and suggest that Krakowski won’t be back (probably unwisely).

Current predictions:
JULIE BOWEN, MODERN FAMILY
JENNA FISCHER, THE OFFICE
JANE LYNCH, GLEE
SOFIA VERGARA, MODERN FAMILY
KRISTIN WIIG, SNL
VANESSA WILLIAMS, UGLY BETTY


Who could win? Call me crazy, but I think Lynch won’t win this year, and I’d currently bet on Williams, provided she gets nominated.

Next up: Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series

3 comments:

Jorge Rodrigues said...

My predictions:

Jane Krakowski
Jane Lynch
Sofia Vergara
Jenna Fischer
Vanessa Williams
Elizabeth Perkins


- Kristen Wiig will be left out this year. Last year this category was a bit of a bummer with not so many candidates in good shape. And Kristen Wiig was amazing in almost every single episode of SNL;

- If one of the Modern Family ladies has to be out, it'll obviously be Bowen, since Vergara is #3 to win the trophy. Sadly, I think that will happen, not only because Bowen is much more subtle with her comedy, but also because I find it very difficult to bump Perkins, Williams and Krakowski off the line-up;

- Jane Krakowski'd better be among the nominees. She's more amazing in 2 minutes than Tracy Morgan is in 10. She wipes the floor with her cast (excluding Baldwin and Fey);

- The Office has yet to win an acting award. And I'm afraid it never will;

- Finally, I'd love to see Jane Adams in the nominees but I can't see it happen. If I think Thomas Jane is a very longshot... Jane Adams is even more. But I love her. In my opinion, she's top-10 for sure.

- You're not crazy. I love Lynch but we'll have to see how much love will Glee get from the Emmys. If we have some unexpected snubs, she'll have to tough it out to win. BUT - here is where I disagree - I don't know if Williams is the frontrunner (looking at last year, it may well be). What if Fischer was awarded instead?

Richter Scale said...

From what I saw, Ariel Winter is also eligible for an Emmy nod for Modern Family, though I doubt she'll get nominated (even though I would love it, she's amazing). It's hard for kids to get nominated, and in this case I wonder why Sarah Hyland and Nolan Gould didn't submit. They're all really good.

And, from the Glee cast, besides Jane Lynch I would love to see Jayma Mays nominated. She created a very endearing and eccentric character in Emma Pillsbury, and I feel most of her scenes carry some emtional weight. Another actress I'd love to see nominated is Eden Sher for The Middle. She is amazing in that show, as she's so lovable you always root for her, even when you know she's going to fail. I also love Alison Brie in Community (Abe, you might recognize her also as Trudy Campbell on Mad Men, in Community she plays Annie, the youngest and most innocent member of the study group).

Movies with Abe said...

Jorge: Nothing would make me happier than Jenna Fischer winning. I've come around to Vanessa Williams over the past few years and now like her a lot, but I've loved Fischer for the beginning and it would be truly fantastic to see her win.

Richter: So Jayma Mays isn't submitted either, but I do enjoy her performance a lot. I did recognize Alison Brie from "Mad Men," and while I think she's somewhat entertaining on "Community," I really don't like the show so I stopped watching a while ago. Now regarding Eden Sher, I don't like "The Middle" much either, but I think she should have been nominated four years ago for her fantastic work as the token daughter in another family, from ABC's "Sons and Daughters." If you didn't catch it when it aired, you likely won't be able to find it, but it was great!