Dream Emmy Ballot 2012: Guest Actor in a Comedy

Max Adler - "Dave Karofsky", Glee
Jimmy Fallon - "Host", Saturday Night Live
Will Forte - "Paul", 30 Rock
Dermot Mulroney - "Russell", New Girl
Paul Rudd - "Bobby Newport", Parks and Recreation
Doug Stanhope - "Eddie Mack", Louie

I noticed when I was pulling these together that a lot of the guest comedy performances mirrored across the gendered divide. To wit: it's always baffled me that the Glee writers have never given Adler more to do instead of dragging him out intermittently to advance his character in a generally heartbreaking direction. But nevertheless, he's maintained an emotional consistency across those appearances that paid off in his big showcase this season in "On My Way." Like Maya Rudolph, Fallon brought a sense of sheer glee in simply returning to SNL that enlivened his whole show. (And the Weekend Update joke-off was a highlight of the season, if not the past few years.) Forte fits in with 30 Rock's tone, and particularly its more absurd flights of fancy, in a way that feels less forced than almost any other guest actor the show's used over the years. Mulroney brought groundedness to Russell that provided a needed counterpoint to Zooey Deschanel at that arc's point in the New Girl season. Rudd scaled Bobby's good-natured idiocy just right, making him frustrating but fundamentally un-hateable. While I didn't love "Eddie" as much as some critics, I can't dismiss Stanhope's misanthropic performance at the heart of the episode. Louis C.K. glories in showing off the talents of the people he uses on Louie, and Stanhope was Season Two's exemplar of that impulse.

Honorable Mentions: Christopher Abbott, Girls; Dane Cook, Louie; Sean Hayes, Parks and Recreation; John Goodman, Community; Jason Lee, Up All Night; Justin Long, New Girl; James Marsden, 30 Rock; Chris O'Dowd, Girls; Mike O'Malley, Glee; Carl Reiner, Parks and Recreation; Chris Rock, Louie; Michael Kenneth Williams, Community; Dean Winters, 30 Rock

I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See: Alan Alda, The Big C; Ed Asner, Hot in Cleveland; Matt Bomer, Glee; Bobby Cannavale, Nurse Jackie; Michael J. Fox, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Ricky Gervais, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Jon Hamm, 30 Rock; Don Johnson, Eastbound and Down; Greg Kinnear, Modern Family; Liam Neeson, Life's Too Short; Carl Reiner, Hot in Cleveland; Ray Romano, The Middle