Wednesday, December 7, 2022

My Overwhelmingly Positive Reaction to this Year's Critics Choice TV Nominations, Part 2: Comedy Series

 

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

If I truly have any disappointments about the nominees, it is the omission of Atlanta for its last two seasons. However, it has received its due from other critics awards and one can hardly complain for the lack of diversity among the nominated series – or indeed, the racial makeup of the nominees themselves. Let’s begin.

Abbott Elementary, Barry, Hacks and Reservation Dogs are all going to appear on my top ten list this year, so I am thrilled to see all of them present and accounted for, especially Reservation Dogs which is the only one of the four I didn’t think would make it. I’m overjoyed to see Better Things here even if the nomination for Best Comedy is the only one it got. I’ve already started on The Bear and it looks like it will live up to the hype and I’ve been looking for an excuse to watch Reboot anyway. This is a good reason.

I don’t have a problem with Ghosts – given the amount of attention it got from the HCA this summer it’s clearly loved by a huge amount of people. Is it more worthy than What We Do In the Shadows or Only Murders in the Building? Still, this is a good group, and its not like the last two haven’t been getting love from other critics group before.

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Well, with no Ted Lasso at least this year it will go to a different leading man.

Thrilled beyond words to see Bill Hader and Steve Martin here. Overjoyed to see D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai for Reservation Dogs (he has earned it) and equally happy to see Jeremy Allen White finally getting recognized for more than a decade of great acting. (I’ll go into detail about his work in The Bear later but it’s already clear he’s earned it.) Hard to argue with anything Keegan-Michael Key has ever done.

Matt Berry isn’t a bad choice, per se. But was he truly better than Martin Short and Donald Glover? Well, someone was going to get left out.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

I’m almost perfectly satisfied with this category though there is one questionable choice.

Quinta Brunson and Jean Smart were inevitably going to be here and one of them is the likely winner. Overjoyed that Christina Applegate is here for the final season of Dead to Me. Completely respectful of Kaley Cuoco’s return to this category for The Flight Attendant. Absolutely ecstatic to see Devery Jacobs here for her work in Reservation Dogs; by far her work was the most entertaining and the most moving of the entire cast.

I don’t object to Renee Elise Goldsberry’s presence. Girls5eva is a hysterical series and she’s a great talent.  I just would have preferred to see either Pamela Adlon here for Better Things or Linda Cardellini for Dead to Me. Goldsberry will have another chance; this was the last chance for either Adlon or Cardellini for their respective shows. But again, personal preference and I do approve of not going the route of repetition and giving a spot to say, Rachel Brosnahan.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY

This one I really don’t have any problem with. I’m overjoyed to see Chris Perfetti and Tyler James Williams mimic their Emmy nominations. Anyone who has seen the third season of Barry knows how great Henry Winkler was. James Marsden  getting nominated for his work in Dead to Me is one of those things I count on Critics Choice to recognize. And no one can argue with the appropriateness of Leslie Jordan being nominated here. Brandon Scott Jones was here last year in this same category, so I can’t even argue with him being here.

Would I have liked to have seen, say, Bryan Tyree Henry for Atlanta or Carl-Clemons Hopkins for Hacks? Sure. But I can’t really say who I would have either replace.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Hard to argue with this lot either. It was inevitable that Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James would duplicate their Emmy nods for this category; the question is now which one of them ends up winning this year. (This is a show with ties.) Thrilled to see Paulina Alexis, who steals every scene she’s in on Reservation Dogs. I’m inclined to give Ayo Edebiri credit for her work on The Bear one episode in. And Annie Potts has had a fairly good track record in this category for Young Sheldon.

I don’t have a problem with Marcia Gay Harden getting nominated for anything. Indeed, if she’d been nominated for her work in So Help Me Todd we wouldn’t be discussing this. But it’s really hard to justify her place in this category over Hannah Einbinder for Hacks or say Sarah Goldberg for Barry or Zazie Beetz for Atlanta. Harden’s nomination is one of the only ones I can’t get behind, though again, I do like to see her in it.

Tomorrow I will wrap it up with Best Limited Series and other addendum. Let’s just say I’m much happier with the nominees in those category than I was with last year’s Emmy nominations. (Though given what was there, that’s not a high bar.)


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