Nominees are pictured and listed in alphabetical order. Submitted episode titles are in parentheses. Beware of minor spoilers for listed episodes.
Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, Modern Family (Good Cop, Bad Dog)
Burrell is competing with three other stars of his show, and while he definitely needs to win an Emmy someday, I’m pretty sure this isn’t his year. His episode allows his character to try to be something he’s usually not, the bad cop. It’s a fun role reversal, and Burrell performs admirably, but there just isn’t enough material to distinguish him from his costars and fellow nominees this time around.
Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel, Glee (Grilled Cheesus)
Despite a slight decline of enthusiasm for this show and a basic promotion of his character to lead status, Colfer returns here to the supporting category. Colfer has a few substantial advantages over his competitors, which include his starring on an hour long show, singing in his episode, and dealing with an immensely dramatic plotline involving his father’s ailing health. It’s a magnificent showcase for him, and I’d say he’s the frontrunner.
Jon Cryer as Alan Harper, Two and a Half Men (The Immortal Mr. Billy Joel)
Even if Cryer shouldn’t have been nominated over other actors, there’s no denying that he has a strong submission, at least in terms of what he’s asked to do. Posing as his brother Charlie allows him to have a lot of fun and make quite the fool of himself. I think Cryer’s victory two years ago will serve as his sole reward for this show, unless by some miracle Ashton Kutcher’s presence turns the show around this fall.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett, Modern Family (Halloween)
Ferguson returns with his second nomination for the ensemble comedy. His submission contains a hilarious visual of him dressed in a Spider-Man costume at work trying to scale the walls to escape after discovering that no one else dresses up for Halloween. If “Modern Family” follows a “West Wing” style rotation of supporting winners, Ferguson might actually be the most likely to get it this year, but I doubt it.
Ed O’Neill as Jay Pritchett, Modern Family (The Kiss)
O’Neill netted his first-ever Emmy nomination as the family patriarch on the popular ABC comedy after being snubbed last year. If O’Neill wins, which is a distinct possibility, it won’t be because of his episode submission, in which he’s considerably less featured than the other nominated players. Being tricked into making a fool of himself by Gloria doesn’t show off the best of his abilities, so that may hinder his chances a bit.
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker, Modern Family (Mother’s Day)
After winning for dressing up as a clown last year, Stonestreet is back with a superb submission, in which he’s pegged as a mother on the annual holiday. It’s a marvelous episode that gives him plenty of material, which he nails, and he could easily repeat unless voters want to spread the love to any of his three nominated costars.
Who should win (based on entire season): Stonestreet
Who should win (based on individual episodes): Stonestreet or Colfer
Who will win: I think that the presence of four stars from one show will lead to another actor winning, and that will be Colfer, unless Stonestreet can repeat or O’Neill can get his first career Emmy.
Next up: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
2 comments:
Abe,this is one place where I very much disagree with you. Unlike the Oscars, multiple nominees from one show rarely cancel each other out at the Emmys (see the first three years of The West Wing, or the three supporting nominees from Angels in America, or just Modern Family last year), and given the fact that they wouldn't let go of any of last year's nominees from Modern Family, and even added one more, makes me think they'll give it to one of them, so I honestly don't think Colfer stands a chance (his Golden Globe win was mostly because the HFPA is in love with Glee in a way that the Television Academy is not). Also, Ty Burrell is the predicted winner at Gold Derby right now, so I would not count him out at all, especially since his submission was pretty fantastic. Also, I don't think 45 minutes Glee gives Colfer an advantage, because the Modern Family men get 80 minutes if you combine all four episodes, so I think voters might take that into account (Ed O'Neill is fantastic in Mother's Day, so watching that episode for Stonestreet might help O'Neill). I'm also hoping watching these four episodes will help Julie Bowen win in her own category, because she's fantastic in all four of these episodes (to me she's the clear winner of her category, even though it probably won't happen).
You're right about the Emmys not tending to work that way, and I was thinking specifically of The West Wing before predicting this category. I'd love to see Burrell win; I think I'm just putting too much faith in episode submission. I'd love for it to work like The West Wing and have a different person win each year - I just think that Burrell had a better shot last year whereas Stonestreet, if anyone, is the Modern Family frontrunner this year. We'll see what happens!
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