On the great big list of things to quibble about from the 2014 Emmy Awards, the Academy’s selections for Lead Actor in a Drama and Lead Actress in a Comedy are way, way down near the bottom. Bryan Cranston and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were both very deserving for Breaking Bad and Veep, respectively, and on a night when previous winners across many categories added to their hardware collections, it made sense that noted Seinfeld power couple Tim Whatley and Elaine Benes would each snag their fifth trophy. No complaints here, not from me. But I do have one quick favor to ask for next year, and I want to get it in early to be sure people see it: Let’s give Jon Hamm and Amy Poehler some Emmys.
It’s not an unreasonable request, either. Both of them have been nominated a ton of times without winning (Hamm – 8, Poehler – 11), and both of them star in high-profile, critically-acclaimed shows that will come to an end this season. That’s catnip for Emmy voters. And let’s look at the competition. Hamm won’t have to face Cranston or mid-McConassaince Matthew McConaughey next year, so barring an Earth-shattering performance from a newcomer, or the voters awarding Kevin Spacey or Jeff Daniels because their shows deal with ***important political issues***, it’s got to be his category to lose. Poehler has a slightly bumpier road because the Emmy voters will have to figure out a way to avoid writing “Julia Louis-Dreyfus” without replacing it with “Edie Falco,” which I’m imagining will be very difficult for them. It’s definitely doable, though. Maybe if Amy Poehler started wearing a name tag everywhere? It could work. Let’s keep brainstorming.
My point here is this: It’s kind of insane that Jon Hamm and Amy Poehler still don’t have an Emmy. They’ve been incredibly good sports about it to date, even going so far as to host an Emmy Losers Party where the winners can only attend if they donate to charity, but we but only have one chance left if we want to award them for these shows. For the love of God, let’s not screw this one up.
