My Picks For This Years Emmys: Best Supporting Actor In A Comedy

I think we can all agree that Alec Baldwin has overstepped his bounds so often that he will not receive a nomination for his work on SNL. So far, the early front-runners would appear to be Henry Winkler (who triumphed in the Broadcast Critics) and Tony Shalhoub (who won Best Actor in a Comedy for the SAGs.)  This is still a versatile category, and there are a lot of nominees I agree with. (Even some from Veep!) Here is my listing

Alan Arkin, The Kominshky Method

Who would’ve thought Arkin’s Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine would only be the start of his greatest level of fame? His work as Norman, the wry agent and Sandy’s reluctant best friend is incredibly impressive, and its remarkable that he’s able to find humor in so much, considering his wife died in the first episode, his daughter overdosed halfway through, and he considered killing himself on numerous occasions? It’s hard to imagine any other actor (save perhaps, for the ones in Grace and Frankie, who should also merit consideration) dealing with the autumn of life so well, with funerals and proctologists and looking at Cocoon ‘differently when you’re in the demographic’. He is a national treasure, though I’m sure Norman would have something sarcastic to say about what those are.

Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

To be perfect honest, the entire supporting cast from Terry Crewes on down, deserve a nomination. But Braugher has always been a remarkable source of comedy, and each year, as he fights for the path of career advancement while getting more and more involved in the shennanigans of the squad, he remains a force of pure deadpan humor not seen since the days of Aubrey Plaza on Parks and Rec. Admittedly, there was no Halloween episode for him to demonstrate his skills, but his interruption of Jake and Amy’s honeymoon more than makes up for it. He is funny. A funny man. A human funny man. Give him a nomination. If you wouldn’t mind

Tony Hale, Veep

The one actor on this series who remained the constant source of humor. As Gary, the one person who gave Selina unabashed love, even though (maybe because) he got nothing in return, Gary’s one real attempt at getting more responsibility led to his ultimate undoing, and frankly, the fact that Selina turned on him in the final minutes of the finale may have been the most heartless thing she ever did (and that’s in a season where she had no problem with her ex-husband being killed) Hale’s remarkable work was always engaging, and as the one person who seemed to real miss Selina at her funeral pretty much tells you all you need to know about his character. He doesn’t need to win again (twice is enough), but in the case of his character (and no one else) it’s an honor just to be nominated.

Marc Maron, Glow

I’ve always been an admirer of Maron’s work, and his exceptional work as the coke-snorting, unlikely father, impresario of GLOW is easily the best work he’s ever done anywhere, I find it rather appalling that he fell under the scope of lesser actors just as Titus Burgess and Ty Burrell last year. Then again, his character who was used to dealing with failure, but can’t handle success, might understand. His snarky, snide, but still appealing kind of humor is perfectly suited for his role, and I really hope the voters are more willing to recognize his work this year. He’ll get more opportunities, I know, but I’d like to see him as a nominee.

Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

In a career that goes back to the early days of Wings,  Shalhoub has received a fair amount of recognition over the years. That said, I find his work as Abe Weismann above and beyond the best thing he’s ever done, and yes, I’m including the three Emmys he got for playing Adrian Monk. As Midge’s father, he plays a man who is clearly a genius, but can’t deal with anything that goes outside the natural order of things. His put downs and sarcastic retorts have an air of haplessness that makes you never quite able to keep him seriously. And his way of dealing with his wife and daughter shows a level of compassion mixed in with the confusion that I find more appealing than I’ve ever seen him. He has gotten his share of recognition, I know. So what’s one more nomination between friends?

Henry Winkler, Barry

Even though I predicted his win last year, I thought it was given more out of sentiment than actual ability. Having seen the second season, I can tell you not only did he deserve it last year, there’s a strong case that he deserves to  repeat. Gene’s ego was less in play this year than it was before, as he dealt with the greatest trauma’s he’s ever had to do. But as he dealt with it, haphazardly with his own son, compassionately when it came to dealing with Barry’s greatest trauma (though he still doesn’t know the extent of what’s going on) he kept a level of gravitas (though not until the finale did he fully deal with it) that you wouldn’t have expected from a man who was so clueless much of the time. Barry more than deserved a second season, and Winkler’s incredible work more than made it worth watching.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

William Jackson Harper, The Good Place

Harper has never quite gotten his due, as the ethics expert who could never make a decision in real life. But in the third season, he more than showed how good he was. Falling in love, first with a woman who under normal circumstances he could’ve been happy with, then with his most unlikely of soulmates, realizing there’s no point to the ethical world he’s spent his life studying, finally finding happiness with Eleanor, and than realizing that for the good of humanity, he has to sacrifice his happiness – anyone of these would be worthy of a nomination. He did them all this season. With one year left to go, the whole series deserves recognition. Chidi would have trouble advocated for the necessity of awards. So I’ll do it for him. Give him a nomination. If it’s not too much trouble.