My Predictions (And Hopes) For the 2024 Emmy Nominations, Comedy Concluded: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy

 

There is an excellent chance that this category will contain some of the greatest actresses in history. Meryl Streep is a heavy favorite to win in this category and depending on how much love Palm Royale gets some of the greatest actresses of all time will be present. I can hardly say I wouldn’t be thrilled to see Alison Janney, Laura Dern and/or Carol Burnett nominated. (The latter I feel the most strongly for because as we all know she was robbed of an Emmy nomination for her work in the final season of Better Call Saul.)

But because I have yet to see Palm Royale, it will be absent from my considerations. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be paying tribute to some of the greatest performances on television nor that I won’t be highlighting some iconic actresses of my own who I feel have been ridiculously overlooked for their work in television over the years, not just for their work in these classic shows. So here’s my list:

Paulina Alexis, Reservation Dogs

Alexis work as Willie Jack has always been one of the most rollicking performances on Reservation Dogs. She was always more for comic relief compared to so much of the trauma that surrounded Bear and Elora, but she was also dealing with far darker issues – her aunt was in prison, her mother was dead and she was more tied to the reservation than the others. Willie Jack was always willing to fight more for her friends than anyone else, she seemed both the most foolish, but also the most enlightened. In the final season she spent much of her time trying to take on the wisdom of the elders, working to unite a dying elder with his cousin and overseeing the final rites. Her work in the final episode – including her brilliant scene played with the great Lily Gladstone – was one of the most moving and simultaneously funniest of the season.

Alexis has been nominated twice for Critics Choice awards for her work in this series but, like the show she is a part of, has never been nominated for an Emmy. Given the level of competition she faces in some of the other performances, the odds are harder for her than some of the others. Perhaps she needs a combination of the elders and White Jesus on her side to get her in. She shouldn’t have too, though: her work speaks for itself.

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

No performer has benefited more from TV awards of the HCA (now Astras) then Hannah Einbinder the incredible talent behind Ava on Hacks. In it’s inaugural year, she shared the very first Supporting Actress in a Streaming Comedy with Hannah Waddingham for Ted Lasso. The next year she repeated in that category and didn’t have to share it with anyone. Both times she lost at the Emmys and honestly, few could blame the Academy for their choices: Waddingham deserved to win as much as everyone else for Season 1 and no one will ever claim they weren’t grateful Sheryl Lee Ralph did for Abbott Elementary the next year.

Einbinder will win in this category: it’s practically inevitable at this point, the only question is when. She’s deserved to win as much as Jean Smart did the first two seasons of Hacks. And it speaks a lot to Einbinder’s absence of ego that even though Ava is as much a lead as Deb is, she is more than willing to be considered a supporting performer. Ava’s journey has been, if anything, more monumental then Deb’s: her rise has been just as impressive and the very complicated dynamic these two complicated women have has been as parasitic as mutually beneficial. There’s an argument that these two will bring out the best in each other as much as the worst in each other and Ava would be better off out of Deb’s shadow. But in a way the two can’t quit each other – which is why I don’t consider the twist at the end of Season 3 a bridge too far but rather the next logical step in their relationship. It’s sad it happened to be sure but if Ava hadn’t taken the step she did in the season finale, then her character would not be able to grow.

The moment Hacks premiered Einbinder started to rise like a rocket in the odds in this category and by the end of the season, she’s now the favorite to win the Emmy this year. It won’t be easy to be sure and maybe she won’t get it this year. But Einbinder, like the character she plays, isn’t going anywhere. She’ll win one day. We know it.

Abby Elliott, The Bear

I’m fully aware that there might very well be more than one nominee from The Bear in this category. That being said, I would be more than fine if the Emmys only recognized Abby Elliott because she’s someone who deserves recognition.

Abby Elliott is probably the most underrecognized nepo baby in Hollywood, in fact she’s part of Hollywood royalty. I didn’t know that her father was Chris Elliott, one of the most iconic comic actors in history and I certainly didn’t know her grandfather was Bob Elliott of the groundbreaking ‘Bob and Ray’ show. She spent four years on SNL but considering she was there in the shadow of Seth Meyers, Kate McKinnon and Kristin Wiig you could be forgiven if you hadn’t known she was there. (I have no memory of her. She has been appearing mostly in one episode roles in so many series (Inside Amy Schumer, Difficult People) and starring in series you never saw Odd Mom Out.) And understandably even though she has a sizable role as Natalie, Carmy’s sister, she has been eclipsed by the more sizable talents over the first season.

Now promoted to regular Elliot, like Natalie, is coming into her own. She’s now far more involved in making sure the new restaurant succeeds, is struggling with her own issues, and is still struggling for respect from Richie and Carmie. She has always known what she was doing but because she’s not a cook, Carmy ignores her. And she has been struggling with her demons: in her best work on the show she confides to a plumber in a bathroom all the trauma she’s been feeling – and tells the audience that she’s pregnant, something she’s been hiding from everyone else.

Elliott is as much a veteran as some of the older and more likely winners in this category and deserves as much respect. A nomination is what she deserves – if only for all of the dismissal her character has already taken over the first two seasons.

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

Some people claimed that Ava didn’t get nearly enough screen time this year. Ava Colman would claim that’s ridiculous, she’s always onscreen even when she isn’t. I myself find that impossible to believe: if Ava was being underused on Abbott every teacher on the show would be grateful for the relief.

I felt no sign of Ava’s absence because Janelle James did what she’s basically been doing ever since the series began. Commanding the screen, making a fool of herself even when she’s being seriously, humiliating everybody without even watching to react (Roman Roy didn’t have the level of putdowns Ava does) and always willing to make herself the center of attention even if she’s the only person in the room. We also got more signs of the softer side of her, particularly in her friendship with Barb involving the choir, the way she tried to do her job more seriously (with only slightly less incompetence) the way she tried to win everything from a schoolboard meeting to a playground competition (with her arch-rival) and a book club meeting that you really wish all your book clubs were like.

James’ took the Supporting Actress in a Broadcast or Cable Comedy from the HCA TV awards in 2022 but I guarantee you she was as happy to lose to Ralph, not only at the Emmys but at quite a few other functions. That’s fine. James’ eventual victory at the Emmys is, like the character she herself plays, an inevitability. You can’t fight her, so why try?

 

Annie Potts, Young Sheldon

In my lifetime there have been few better comic actresses than Annie Potts. Setting aside her iconic work in both the Ghostbusters and Toy Story franchises, she has been a television legend since her work on Designing Women. Since then she has been one of my favorite actors in some of the most underrated series in my lifetime, some cancelled too soon (Love & War, the TV version of Dangerous Minds, GCB) some tragically overlooked by the world (Any Day Now, Joan Of Arcadia)

Then she took on the role of Sheldon’s beloved Mee-maw on Young Sheldon and we fell in love with her again as the most foul-mouthed, chain-smoking granny we’ve ever seen. She has been a laugh a minute every time she is on screen and always a sort of fun and dirty romance.

Potts it’s worth noting has never gotten any respect from the Emmys deserving with her work: she was nominated twice for a SAG award for her work in Any Day Now and twice for a Critics Choice Award for Young Sheldon but somehow her entire career has gotten her just one nomination. This is unfair. As Young Sheldon fades into the past, its long past time we paid tribute to this legend for creating a memorable – and hysterical – TV character.

 

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

After Ralph’s victory at the 2022 Emmys went viral, so did Ralph herself: a fitting tribute to one of the greatest character actresses in history. Her speech at the Critics Choice Awards when she deserved won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy was nearly as magnificent and I figured she was an inevitability to repeat. I’m also sure no one was happier than she was to see Edebiri prevail, mainly it had been more than thirty years between the first victory in this category and the second and a one year gap between the second and the third. For a performer like Ralph, this must have shown the times they are a-changing.

I have to say whenever I see Ralph at any awards show I always have to do a double take because that’s how great the difference it is between her and the brilliant work she does as the buttoned down, matriarchal, deeply religious Barb the character she has inhabited since Abbott Elementary debuted. Barb’s work on Abbott is the beating heart of the series even more than Brunson’s. It would have been too easy for the show to turn Barb into somewhere between the mother figure we see in so many series but like everyone else on the show, there’s always much more beneath the surface. We see that she is as much a woman as any of her younger colleagues, clearly as good a friend, that she is capable of being overshadowed (as we saw in her struggles with the choir) and that she deals with mourning as we saw in her brilliant work in the Mother’s day episode as she dealt with the lost of her own mother, mainly by taking care of everyone but herself. We love all the characters on the show in different ways, but I think it’s fair to say we all love Barb the most. I certainly do.

Ralph will be in the ranks of nominees as long as Abbott is on the air. How many more awards she gets will be up to the Emmys but it’s always going to be too much and never enough.

Megan Stalter, Hacks

It says a lot that despite all of the immense comic talent on display that every time Megan Stalter is onscreen my attention immediately is drawn to her. Mainly that’s because every line out of her mouth is comic gold but it’s also because after three seasons the teaming of her and Jimmy have become this incredible comedy show’s secret weapon.

Kayla has been growing perhaps more than any character on this show, most of whom do so reluctantly and only with a shove. Perhaps the reason it’s clear we see Kayla’s arc is because the writers (including her partner in scene stealing Paul W. Downs) have shown that while she is both foolish and kind of naïve, she can every so often be right. It is the kind that is the equivalent of a broken clock but it registers. She also shows no shame about being a nepo baby as well as being a relentless source of optimism in a show where everyone else is relentlessly cynical. Her partnership with Jimmy has been the best thing for both of them: you can argue it’s making them both better people. Besides every line out of her mouth is still a gem, and she makes me smile when she’s not making me laugh.

Hard as may be for anyone to overlook the character she plays; it is very likely the Emmys will overlook Stalter for a nomination. She is currently ranked eleventh on the list but there are some very heavy-hitters well ahead of her. (I’ve actually dealt with most of them in the above entries.) Perhaps this isn’t going to be Stalter’s year but I’d like to hope she does. After all, aside from Jimmy, who doesn’t love Kayla? (Then again, maybe that’s a future storyline.)

Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building

In January Meryl Streep received the recognition she has been searching for her entire career. The People’s Choice Awards nominated her for Best comic performance for her work in Only Murders in the Building. This is clearly why she’s still acting considering she peaked decades ago and now she has no reason not to quit.

Joking aside, there’s very little not left to say about the most nominated and winning performer in the history of, well, everything. And frankly the idea that Meryl Streep is lacking recognition for her work would be ludicrous at this point for any logical person to say. But it does say something about the greatest actress of all time that she was able to do something in Only Murders that we didn’t think she was capable of doing; play an actress with no talent who never made it.

Streep was the early frontrunner in this category, and in fact actually won the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. (In typical fashion, she wasn’t there to pick it up.) Now Hannah Einbinder has shot past her in the frontrunner category and I seriously doubt Meryl will object. She has after all won three Emmys already. (I’ll confess I’m still bitter she lost for Big Little Lies but that’s on me.) But she’ll nominated which means there will be a lot of Meryl Streep jokes. (Though try not to humiliate her in front of her children, some of whom will be there for their own shows.)

 

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm

As I said I never liked Curb Your Enthusiasm. But that was never the case for Cheryl Hines’s work as Larry’s forever put upon wife, who you always wondered why she got married to him in the first place and why she stayed with him as long as she did. That was her first major role and since then I’ve kept an eye on her.

Hines has always had the ability to give the kind of support that makes a good show great: she was spectacular in the underrated Suburgatory and did brilliant work in the second season of The Flight Attendant. Whenever she guest stars on a series, it’s always memorable as it was in her one episode stint on Scrubs, her brief arc on Brothers & Sisters and she’s been one of the peerless voice actresses of our time.

Now I’m very aware that in this case politics may very well get in the way. (I think we know who Hines’s husband is, and if you don’t you’re better off not knowing.) But she has been nominated twice in this category before and you do know how the Emmys loves to nominate previous nominees. (Yes, there will be an eighteen year gap, that doesn’t really stop anything) Of all the nominations Curb might get, if Hines were nominated I wouldn’t be, well, pretty, pretty, pretty, upset.

And now I’m done with the comedy. Next week I move on to Limited Series. This category is going to be a killer.

Note: I’ve recently seen that I’ve overpredicted the number of nominees in every single acting category. In all of the supporting categories, I’ve actually gone two over instead of just one. In my opinion this reflects far worse on the Emmys than myself. They nominated six actors in 2022, then dropped to five last year. Then they nominated eight actors in the supporting categories had seven last year and now seem to be back on six.

I’m going to argue that since every other awards show has more nominees for comedy and drama than the Emmys, this is another of the rules of the Academy that is most in need of changing. The fact that they seem determined to go backwards – for years they had only five nominees in each category before expanding to six – reflects more on their rigidity and not the quality of the performers. I will double down on the in the Limited Series category in particular.