AFT Awards: Best Directing for a Comedy Series

This is the fifteenth category of the 6th Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television during the 2011-2012 season. For the directing and writing categories, I’ve included only honorable mentions rather than semi-finalists and finalists. Nominees are listed in alphabetical order.

Best Directing for a Comedy Series

Last year’s nominees: The Office (Garage Sale), The Office (Goodbye Michael), Parks and Recreation (The Fight), Parks and Recreation (Harvest Festival), Shameless (It’s Time to Kill the Turtle)

Emmy nominees: Palestinian Chicken (Curb Your Enthusiasm), She Did (Girls), Duckling (Louie), Baby on Board (Modern Family), Virgin Territory (Modern Family), Pilot (New Girl)

Semi-finalists: The Big C (Crossing the Line), Californication (Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be), Eastbound and Down (Episode 21), Enlightened (Pilot), Enlightened (Sandy), The Finder (Pilot), Girls (Hard Being Easy), Hung (Fuck Me, Mr. Drecker or Let’s Not Go to Jail), Life's Too Short (Episode 7), Modern Family (After the Fire), Modern Family (Aunt Mommy), Modern Family (Door to Door), Modern Family (Phil on Wire), New Girl (Cece Crashes), New Girl (Backslide), Parks and Recreation (Citizen Knope), Parks and Recreation (Ron and Tammys), Parks and Recreation (Win, Lose, or Draw), Shameless (Just Like the Pilgrims Intended), Suburgatory (Entering Eden), Suburgatory (Independence Day), Suburgatory (The Motherload), Suits (Pilot), 30 Rock (Leap Day), 30 Rock (Live from Studio 6H), Veep (Nicknames), Veep (Tears), Weeds (Do Her/Don't Do Her)

Finalists: House of Lies (Pilot), Wilfred (Pilot), Modern Family (Express Christmas), Veep (Pilot), Girls (Pilot)

The nominees:

Girls (She Did) Enlightened (Not Good Enough Mothers) Curb Your Enthusiasm (Palestinian Chicken) New Girl (See Ya)

The season finale of HBO’s breakout hit captured its best qualities and sent it out on a spectacularly ambiguous note. HBO’s more serious comedy had one of its best installments with a marvelously meditative take on motherhood and responsibility. Yet another HBO series employed its token wackiness to its most memorable episode of the season. FOX’s breakout comedy hit a high note with its deeply entertaining and warm finale.

The winner:

House of Lies (The Mayan Apocalypse) ended its freshman season with a delirious and magnificently-assembled finale.

Next up: Best Writing for a Comedy Series