It wouldn't be an awards season without obsessively making my own picks. The Emmy nominations come out this week, and there are a lot of opportunities for them to get things right, but perhaps just as many pitfalls along the way. Shows likely to be honored like The Big Bang Theory and Boardwalk Empire continue to not live up to any such hype for me, and even the likely big winner Modern Family has stopped being one of my favorite comedies. So instead, I offer my own selections, many will show up, but others will likely not. So it goes.
I'm keeping my picks to what was actually submitted to the Emmys and where. I may not agree with who is a lead vs. supporting, or what is a comedy vs. drama, but I'll humor them. That's also why a show like Sherlock is nowhere here when it might have been everywhere because it is technically a miniseries to them. When I looked back over my choices, I noticed that at least half of them are repeats from years before. By no means was this a lackluster TV season, and it was hard to cut some shows out, but for the most part, my favorites in each category continued to deliver, even in the case of my two picks for the best shows on television.
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Community
Girls
Happy Endings
Nurse Jackie
Parks and Recreation
Veep
For the third straight year in a row, Parks and Rec continues to be my favorite comedy on TV, as it consistently remains fresh, funny and captivating, even in a season that saw two HBO shows debut with strong quality and old favorites deliver some great seasons.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Homeland
Mad Men
Revenge
The same is true for Breaking Bad, which has been my favorite drama on air for three years now, despite a close follow by its channel-mate Mad Men and strong seasons for a number of other consistent dramas.
LEAD COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Louis C.K., Louie
Rob Lowe, Parks and Recreation
Joel McHale, Community
Joel McHale, Community
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation
This category is a bit of a wasteland, with Adam Scott easily standing tall among a crowd that I could not even bother to fill to capacity. Besides McHale and Baldwin, I was not passionate about many leading comedy performances this year, but luckily Parks & Rec can more than fill that void.
LEAD COMEDY ACTRESS
Laura Dern, Enlightened
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Jane Levy, Suburgatory
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
Alternatively, this category is a death trap. At any given pont, I was considering picking any of these six ladies (which is weird considering how Zooey Deschanel is somehow beating all of them to other awards). Two young new talents emerged and caught eyes this year, two veterans debuted powerful new roles, and an old favorite gave her show the kick in the pants it needed, but to me, Poehler remained the woman to beat for another season.
LEAD DRAMA ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Jason Isaacs, Awake
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Another category where I could not deny an already rewarded favorite, but even as dramatic acting was at a peak this year, there is simply no topping Cranston in any year he's in the competition.
LEAD DRAMA ACTRESS
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Emmy Rossum, Shameless
Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
It was a great year for all of these ladies, but perhaps none more than Danes, who took TV's best new show and anchored it around an incredible performance, although Emmy Rossum continues to be my choice for most underappreciated actress on TV.
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
Adam Pally, Happy Endings
Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation
Danny Pudi, Community
Damon Wayans Jr., Happy Endings
Ron Swanson had a quieter year, so much so that I considered one of the Happy Endings boys who stole so many scenes, but in the end Offerman continues to be one of the most reliable actors on TV and Swanson continues to be a character who cannot be beat.
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Eliza Coupe, Happy Endings
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Busy Phillips, Cougar Town
Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation
Merrit Wever, Nurse Jackie
Casey Wilson, Happy Endings
If I take a slot from the Lead Comedy Actors, I might as well put it here, as I could not possibly narrow these 7 down any further. Picking a winner was near impossible, but Coupe made the most impression out of any actress this year, managing to become the MVP on a show filled with them.
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Michael Pitt, Boardwalk Empire
John Slattery, Mad Men
Another actor I have already championed, but even though his co-star was right by his side threatening to steal his spotlight, Paul still worked wonders on Breaking Bad in a way that gave him the edge over my pick last year, Peter Dinklage, despite having an even stronger second season.
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Megan Hilty, Smash
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Hendricks did something near impossible this year: she managed to get even better at a role I already had given her this win for. This category hollowed a bit; actresses like Clarke and Baranski had less to do but still delivered, while darker turns like Heady and Gunn made me notice actresses I had been neglecting, and Hilty managed to lighten a show that quickly soured.
ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY
Community
Cougar Town
Happy Endings
Nurse Jackie
Parks and Recreation
Veep
ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Mad Men
Shameless
WRITING IN A COMEDY SERIES
"Catherine," Veep
"Citizen Knope," Parks and Recreation
"The Debate," Parks and Recreation
"Remedial Chaos Theory," Community
"Pilot," Girls
"Pregnant," Louie
WRITING IN A DRAMA SERIES
"72 Hours," The Killing
"Blackwater," Game of Thrones
"Box Cutter," Breaking Bad
"Crawl Space," Breaking Bad
"The Other Woman," Mad Men
"Pilot," Homeland
DIRECTION IN A COMEDY SERIES
"Baseball," Veep
"Consider Helen," Enlightened
"The Debate," Parks and Recreation
"Duckling," Louie
"She Did," Girls
"The St. Valentine's Day Maxssacre," Happy Endings
DIRECTION IN A DRAMA SERIES
"Blackwater," Game of Thrones
"Crawl Space," Breaking Bad
"Pilot," Homeland
"Signal 30," Mad Men
"Slaughtehouse," Justified
"To The Lost," Boardwalk Empire
"Citizen Knope," Parks and Recreation
"The Debate," Parks and Recreation
"Remedial Chaos Theory," Community
"Pilot," Girls
"Pregnant," Louie
WRITING IN A DRAMA SERIES
"Blackwater," Game of Thrones
"Box Cutter," Breaking Bad
"Crawl Space," Breaking Bad
"The Other Woman," Mad Men
"Pilot," Homeland
DIRECTION IN A COMEDY SERIES
"Consider Helen," Enlightened
"The Debate," Parks and Recreation
"Duckling," Louie
"She Did," Girls
"The St. Valentine's Day Maxssacre," Happy Endings
DIRECTION IN A DRAMA SERIES
"Crawl Space," Breaking Bad
"Pilot," Homeland
"Signal 30," Mad Men
"Slaughtehouse," Justified
"To The Lost," Boardwalk Empire
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