AFT Awards: Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

This is the seventh category of the 5th 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 Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Last year’s nominees: Aziz Ansari, Ty Burrell, Nick Offerman, Eric Schaeffer, Eric Stonestreet

Emmy nominees: Ty Burrell, Chris Colfer, Jon Cryer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ed O’Neill, Eric Stonestreet

Semi-finalists: Adam Baldwin (Chuck), Paulo Costanzo (Royal Pains), Ted Danson Bored to Death), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Zach Galifianakis (Bored to Death), Willie Garson (White Collar), Alexander Gould (Weeds), Ed Helms (The Office), Dule Hill (Psych), Justin Kirk (Weeds), John Krasinski (The Office), Cameron Monaghan (Shameless), Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives), Oliver Platt (The Big C), Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation)

Finalists: Jeremy Allen White (Shameless) delivered an honest, unapologetic performance as the oldest son in an incredibly complicated family. Josh Cooke (Better With You) got all the best lines and delivered them with frantic gusto on this short-lived show. Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation) continued to gain dorky excitement out of the simplest of things and his attempts to work on his personal branding with little success. Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation) was the straight man and fish out of water in Pawnee, and conveyed his bewilderment with pitch-perfect astonished expressions. Kurt Fuller (Better With You) turned a conventional father into a character that earned many laughs with his staunch delivery of his dialogue.

The nominees:

John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C) made being homeless by choice and anti-establishment appealing with his scene-stealing performance. Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation) made universal enthusiasm about the dullest subjects seem real. Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) and Ty Burrell (Modern Family) turned in fine season two performances as the flamboyant exaggerator Cameron and dorky dad Phil.

The winner:

Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) used his mustache, love for meat, and distaste for actual productivity to craft this season’s funniest and most endearingly awesome character, Ron Swanson.

Next up: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series