Dan and I are almost done with our picks for who should and will win the major Emmy categories on Sunday night. In our next-to-last post, it’s time to look at the contenders for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Your nominees:
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Girls”
“Modern Family”
“30 Rock”
“Veep”
Should win
Alan’s pick: “Parks and Recreation,” the best pure comedy on television, isn’t here. Nor is “Louie,” which isn’t exactly a comedy all the time, but is great and was eligible here (as evidenced by its nominations in other comedy categories). Of the ones that are left, I’m choosing between “Girls,” which had very promising debut season and didn’t feel like anything else on television; “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which had three all-time classic episodes and a bunch of others that weren’t all that special; and “30 Rock,” which had one of its strongest seasons to date late in the run. I like “Girls” a lot, but I’m gonna go with Liz Lemon and friends, who made me laugh loudly and often throughout those 22 episodes, and forever changed the way I think of banjos.
Dan’s pick: “Louie”! No? “Parks and Recreation”! No? Hmmm… Well, it was a very good season for “30 Rock,” a somewhat under-the-radar comeback given how acclaimed many of NBC’s other comedies are. But does “30 Rock” really need my support? Nah. Probably not. So my imaginary vote goes to “Girls” for successfully navigating a tightrope that saw the show tiptoe right up to the edge of “obnoxious” without ever toppling in the wrong direction. I’ve been raving about that balancing act since spring and I’d like to support it one last time.
Will win
Alan’s pick: Emmy voters love “Modern Family.” This is well-established. Its mix of single-camera mockumentary style and more traditional multi-camera jokes gives it broad appeal among many constituencies in the TV Academy. And while I didn’t think this season overall was the show’s best, there were enough good episodes to make a successful Emmy sampler. “30 Rock” (which did well in the past) or “Curb” could sneak in, but a “Modern Family” threepeat seems like one of the night’s more inevitable results.
Dan’s pick: Until proven otherwise, it’s my assumption that “Modern Family” is unbeatable.