Dream Emmy Ballot: Comedy

On his delightful TV blog, Alan Sepinwall posted an Emmy nominee ballot based on the just-released list of eligible performances from the season that just concluded.  It seemed like a fun, speculative diversion, so: six picks each for lead, supporting and guest actors and actresses in Drama and Comedy (I really didn't watch that many miniseries or movies, but of those I did watch I can't imagine many people doing better work than Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange in Grey Gardens or Alexander Skarsgard, James Ransone and Lee Tergesen in Generation Kill). The categorical designations are based on the Emmy list. The crazy length seemed to demand two posts; first, comedy:

Lead Actor, Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Steve Carell, The Office

Zachary Levi, Chuck

Ken Marino, Party Down

Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies

Adam Scott, Party Down

Reading down the options for comedy performances, I started to sort my television-watching into different categories.  All of these come from Shows I Watch; however, there are also Shows I Intend to Watch, Eventually (The Big Bang Theory, Flight of the Conchords, United States of Tara), Shows I've Watched Before and Gave Up On (Cupid, Entourage, Eastbound and Down (I like Danny McBride as an actor, I'm just not so sure I can get behind his and Jody Hill's kind of humor), My Name is Earl) and Shows I Do Not Intend to Watch (Two and a Half Men, anything from Tyler Perry). I was left with these: Baldwin remains probably the most consistent performer on 30 Rock, even when the show isn't as good as it can be; Carell demonstrated new shades of Michael Scott with his relationship with Holly and the rise and fall of the Michael Scott Paper Company; Levi imbued what could be a stock geek character with charm and a drive to change his circumstances that helped to take the show to another level; Marino and Scott formed the hapless boss/straight-man employee backbone of what was ultimately a very good, funny show (however, I would be shocked if Party Down garnered any nominations) and finally Pace as the heart and soul of the tragically cancelled Daisies.

Supporting Actor, Comedy

Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother

Ed Helms, The Office

Scott Krinsky, Chuck

Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock

Chi McBride, Pushing Daisies

Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock

That Neil Patrick Harris remains Emmy-free for playing Barney Stinson is both baffling and enraging; Helms has moved past an annoying introduction to make Andy weirdly endearing in his own right; Krinsky sells Jeff's unsettling creepiness with unbelievable commitment; 30 Rock wouldn't be the show it is without McBrayer and Morgan; I pray that wherever McBride ends up next, he will have the opportunity to continue delivering "Oh, hell no!" in his own unmistakable way - Emerson's cynicism is an integral part of Daisies.

Honorable Mention: Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live; Ryan Hansen, Party Down; John Krasinski, The Office; Vik Sahay, Chuck; Andy Samberg, Saturday Night Live

Hader and Samberg are some of the most consistent members of the current SNL cast, but remain criminally underused; Hansen is practically unbeatable at playing charismatic assholes; Krasinski not only knocked the finale out of the park, the antagonistic relationship between Jim and Idris Elba's Charles gave the salesman new shading; Sahay has made Lester a likably weird part of the Buy More contingent on Chuck.

Guest Actor, Comedy

Scott Bakula, Chuck

Idris Elba, The Office

Stephen Root, Pushing Daisies

Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

Chris Parnell, 30 Rock

Steven Weber, Party Down

Bakula was perfectly cast as Chuck's long-lost father, projecting a perfect mix of techie know-how and paranoia; Elba's Charles was the ultimate straight man, demonstrating definitively why insanity actually works for the Scranton branch; I fear the storyline that introduced Root's Dwight Dixon to Pushing Daisies may not be resolved in the show's finale, but he was a perfect sinister foil for the show's earnest protagonists while it lasted; Timberlake continued to demonstrate the lasting effects of Disney training as he proved once again to be a great SNL host (only reinforcing my desire to see his former MMC costar Ryan Gosling host); Parnell's Dr. Spaceman is consistently like a master class in line delivery; and, really, any Party Down guest could have gone here, but Weber's recently-acquitted-for-murder creepy Eastern European mobster was laugh-out-loud funny. 

Lead Actress, Comedy

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies

Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck

This one was rough.  Based on past seasons, I assume that Marcia Cross, Mary-Louise Parker and America Ferrera did respectable jobs on their respective shows (Desperate Housewives, Weeds and Ugly Betty) but I can't say for sure.  If this was "Who I Think Will Be Nominated" I'd probably include Christina Applegate, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and possibly Toni Collette, all women whose work I enjoy but whose shows I do not watch.  Amy Poehler was okay on Parks and Recreation, but the show hasn't really settled into itself yet.  That left me with the incomparable Liz Lemon; Friel, who always grounds her performance in a sense of Chuck being very aware of what she's missing in being "alive again"; and Strahovski, who used the appearance of Sarah's dad and the increasing tension between Sarah and Chuck to introduce new shades to the CIA agent.

Supporting Actress, Comedy

Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies

Jenna Fischer, The Office

Jane Lynch, Party Down

Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live

Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother

Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

I could probably switch out one of these for Vanessa Williams from Ugly Betty, as she is pretty consistently awesome on that show. I wish Chenoweth hadn't had the sitcom that failed way back whenever that was (IMDB says 2001) because her work as Olive on Daisies makes me want her to get another show of her very own; Fischer is underappreciated as a member of the Office ensemble - she completely sold Pam's decision to join Michael in leaving Dunder Mifflin; Lynch was hilarious as a deluded actress/caterer; Poehler's departure made it clear how much of SNL's quality (especially "Weekend Update" - I like Seth Meyers a lot, but he does not have the comic timing to carry that segment on his own) was dependent on her presence; Robin's wayward search for work (and eventual landing at an early-morning news/talk show) this season was some of Smulders' best work; Wiig's characters can be annoying, but she always commits 100% to them and delivers where some of her male colleagues falter.

Guest Actress, Comedy

Kristen Bell, Party Down

Sarah Chalke, How I Met Your Mother

Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live

Amy Ryan, The Office

Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock

Oprah Winfrey, 30 Rock

I don't actually have much to say about these; if Tina Fey (who is specifically nominated for her turn as Sarah Palin) isn't holding this Emmy at the end of the ceremony come September, I'll be shocked.  Otherwise, I'll observe that Ryan's Holly Flax was one of the best guest characters The Office has ever had, and that it fills me with glee every time Stritch appears on 30 Rock. I'd join in the complaining about that show's preponderance of guest stars if they weren't mostly seriously well-executed.