Monday, August 9, 2010

AFT Awards: Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series

This is the eighteenth category of the 4th Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television this past season. This year, semi-finalists are included to recognize more of the impressive work being done on television today. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series


Last year’s nominees: Burn Notice, Chuck, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Pushing Daisies

Semi-finalists: Better Off Ted, Gravity, Hung, Monk, Psych, Royal Pains, White Collar

Finalists: Chuck rose to new levels of character involvement in the stories, and the whole ensemble made the transition a fun and seamless one. The cast of The Office was still in top form even if the writing wasn’t consistent. Ugly Betty went out on a wonderfully positive note thanks in great part to the efforts of its fabulous cast. Burn Notice was a blast due mainly to the wry sensibilities of the Miami team of ex-spies. 30 Rock was wacky and weird as ever, even adding a robot to its troupe.

The nominees:

Parks and Recreation came into its own with its first full season and winning portrayal of great peculiar characters. Glee found fantastic emerging talent who could not only crack jokes but also sing and dance. Californication brought in new women for Hank to seduce and created an even more sardonically funny ensemble. The now-defunct Party Down pulled its last shift with a witty crew of wannabe actors played by thespians with actual talent.

The winner:

Modern Family assembled an eclectic and heartwarmingly funny group to play one of the most memorable TV families in a long time.

Next up: Best Drama Series

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