Make an Argument
Why the Emmys are shaping up to be doozies
By Eric Hughes
July 7, 2010
24: Suffering its worst average viewership since its freshman series, 24 didn’t exactly exit the airwaves in style. At one point, even NBC was interested in picking up the show for a ninth season before it backed out on a potential deal when the network finally came to its senses. 24 hasn’t been nominated for a Best Drama Emmy since winning the prize in 2006. I only include it here if the academy, on impulse, surprises us with some 24 love.
To be honest, I’m less invested on how Best Comedy pans out. Yet to play fair, here’s my analysis on how things may play.
I’d bet my firstborn on it
- 30 Rock: The NBC darling has not only been nominated every year it’s been eligible, but it’s won every year it’s been eligible, too. Season four was a bit weak in the knees, yet I’d be shocked if the show didn’t at least score a nod. The academy loves this program.
- Glee: I can’t stand Gleeks, yet there’s no denying that Glee is the biggest thing on television since the first season of Lost. This one’s scoring a nomination, if not a win.
- Modern Family: Modern Family would be my pick for the best new comedy of the 2009-10 television season. It’s consistently one of TV’s smartest comedies, and tied Family Guy in adults 18-49 (Live +7) in its freshman season. Folks, that ain’t easy. I’m anxious to see how series regular Sofia Vergara reacts to the news when Modern Family gets a Best Comedy nod. She’s presenting the nominations alongside Community’s Joel McHale on Thursday.
Have a good shot
- Better Off Ted: Critics raved about this one’s second season, yet embarrassing returns in the ratings marked this one for dead fairly quickly. Will a Best Comedy nod give Better Off Ted some life after death (a la Arrested Development?)
- The Big Bang Theory: People seem to really dig this show. I’ve never seen it because the laugh track scares me. Also this. However, because it’s the highest rated comedy on television in adults 18-49 (Live+7), it’d be silly for the academy to ignore the most popular kid in the room.
- Community: Community’s team of writers has one thing a ton of writers’ rooms don’t: guts. How else to explain the Goodfellas-based “Contemporary American Poultry” episode or the utterly fantastic “Modern Warfare” ep that paid homage to action movies? With Community, viewers never really knew what to expect. What other TV show can you say that about?
- Curb Your Enthusiasm: Curb Your Enthusiasm’s season-long arc about assembling a Seinfeld reunion show made the HBO program relevant again. Though Curb wasn’t nominated for Best Comedy last year, it did score nods in five of its first six seasons.
- Family Guy: Family Guy scored a surprise win for animated comedy when it earned a Best Comedy nomination in 2009. For those keeping score at home, this marked an animated program’s first appearance in the Best Comedy category since The Flintstones’ nomination in 1961. For that reason, I’d say this one has a decent shot at a repeat, even though it actually winning the thing would never, ever happen.
- How I Met Your Mother: Though not as popular as it once was, How I Met Your Mother still makes some noise around the watercooler.
- The Office: Sure, The Office has earned at least a nomination for every year it’s been eligible. (It won the prize outright in 2006). Still, I can’t help but think we’re all getting pretty tired of this show. In its sixth season, ratings for The Office dropped to their lowest levels since the show’s debut season. And on a personal note, I went from a religious Office viewer for five solid seasons to one who caught the show if I felt like it. To me, a Best Comedy nomination for The Office would be one done out of habit, not because it’s deserved.
- Parks and Recreation: In many ways, Parks and Recreation experienced a creative growth spurt not unlike the one The Office experienced in its second year. For it to steal The Office’s spot as a Best Comedy nominee would feel right to me.
Dark horses
- Bored to Death: The little-seen comedy lived to see a second season when the episode that followed Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Seinfeld reunion episode scored a series high 1.1 million viewers. Bored to Death’s comedy is distinct in that it’s amongst the driest I’ve ever seen. And Zach Galifianakis, as per usual, is a real treat. In 2009, Flight of the Concords stunned the public by earning a Best Comedy nomination. Could Bored to Death do the same this year?
- Cougar Town: Cougars are so hot right now.
- Entourage: Does anybody still watch Entourage?
- Nurse Jackie: Though its second season was fairly mediocre, Nurse Jackie’s cast of main and secondary characters is among the best that television has to offer. Will the academy come to its senses and realize that Edie Falco isn’t the only one who can act on the show?
- Party Down: Boo to Starz for canceling one of the funniest shows on TV. A comedy nomination, which would be a mega surprise, would be sweet, sweet redemption for the little show that could.
- Weeds: Its weakest season – its fourth – was also the first to receive a Best Comedy nomination. Will the academy do the same for season five, which was arguably worse than season four?
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