OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY ET AL
So far in this decade each year has produced a
different winner. And the odds are heavy it will happen again this year with an
overwhelming frontrunner. That said this is still arguably one of the strongest
categories in the Emmys overall and yet again one of the most diverse. Once
more into the breach.
Liza Colon-Zayas, The Bear
Larraine Newman was really upset when
Colon-Zayas won last year and I won't pretend I was overjoyed either. But as we
know this category has been prone to upset victories over the distant and
recent past, usually when the cream rises to the top. (Exhibit A: Sheryl Lee
Ralph.) No one denies that Colon-Zayas' work as Maria hasn't always been steady
and entertaining over the years to watch. The trouble is it's always harder to
watch her work on the show and make the case that The Bear is a comedy.
Colon-Zayas was one of the few performers in the
cast to make it through the mixed reviews of Season 3 pretty much with her
reputation intact. After all, she starred in the one episode that everyone
considered was a gem in Season 3: 'Napkins', a flashback that told how she
ended up becoming part of the original sandwich shop and will likely earn
nominations for Jon Bernthal for Guest Actor and Ayo Edebiri for direction. It's
likely for that reason that she was the only nominee for The Bear for
the Critics Choice Awards, even though she lost to Einbinder this time.
It's possible her work in that episode will allow
her to repeat in this category but as I said it's unlikely. But for all the
flaws of Season 3, no one questions her coming back this year (except maybe Larraine
Newman)
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
I predicted that Einbinder would end up winning
last year in this category, for the simple fact that she is well past due.
Einbinder already has a wall full of prizes for her work on Hacks – three
Astras awards and winning the Critics choice award this past winter.
In a narrow sense Ava is a co-lead rather than a
supporting actress and this continues to be just as true in Season 4. Having finally
been willing to do the worst thing possible to get what she wanted she spent
the first half of the season openly feuding with Deb and proving that, in her
own way, she's just as unprepared for the burden of the spotlight as she is.
The two of them eventually manage to find a way to move past it by the halfway
point. Then in the most critical episode of the series so far, she is exposed
and the network forces her to be fired, forcing Deb make the most selfless
decision she's made in her career. The season finale which showed how devoted
Ava is to Deb despite everything was just as funny and moving.
What may stand in the way of Einbinder's victory
may be her politics: she has made some political remarks over the past year
that have gone too far even for Hollywood. But she's still the overwhelming favorite
in this category in my book – though as with Smart the tides may be changing.
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Many people watched James's work in Season 4 and
considered it 'the season of Ava'. I've no doubt if asked Ava would say:
"Every season is about me" which is not wrong. James has always been
the comic diamond of an extraordinary cast of performers: the go-to move when
the series needs a laugh. Witness the Hollywood episode where she dresses as
"Blade, bitch."
But as hard as it might be to have believed at
the start of the series, Ava spent much of Season 4 showing the most emotional
growth. She's now clearly good at her job in a way even the district is
impressed by and is making more and more talks. She's comfortable with the
politics of her job and in being willing to take bribes. We've seen bonds grown
between some of the characters, particularly her and Barbara (see below). And
even when she ended up being fired after making an awesome sacrifice for her
teachers (something I didn't think she'd have been capable of last season) she
landed on her feet. But she decided to come back and I think we were all
stunned to see the entire community rally behind her. You throw in that she seems to having a truly
mature relationship with a boyfriend and may be reestablishing her bond with
her father after years of being estranged and this entire season has to be her
best work yet.
I want Janelle James to win someday. Indeed I
advocated it for the first season of Abbott. It's hard to imagine Ava
Colman being eclipsed but no one can argue just how incredible the three woman
who ending up winning the last three years have been (all of them are certain
to get nominated this year). But if the Emmys were willing to give Ava the love
she is certain she deserves – and really she does – would anyone object?
Catherine O'Hara, The Studio
Catherine O'Hara is, as they say, having a moment.
Just four years after leaving Schitt's Creek (with every single acting
award imaginable as a parting gift) she has returned to television in grand
style. She is certain to receive an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama
nomination for her magnificent work in The Last of Us. And while that
was going on she came back to comedy as Patty Leigh, the messy executive on The
Studio.
Now to be fair a lot of her co-stars might be in
this category. She might be joined by newcomer Chase Sui Wonders who was nominated
for a Gotham TV award earlier this year and an Astra. It might also go to
Kathryn Hahn, who the Emmys might want to recognize after likely ignoring her
for her work in Agatha All Along. But the fact is O'Hara did manage to
win Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy from the Astras which I was certain
would go to Einbinder. And that double dipping might help more than a few
actors.
O'Hara can never get enough recognition from the
Emmys in my book, same as with quite a few other nominees in this category. Right
now she is the most likely one to show up here.
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Ralph has diminished slightly in awards circles
since she managed to prevail in the Emmys in Abbott's first year but
that doesn't mean Ralph has on the show. Barbara continues to be as much a
force of nature on Abbott, still occasionally stepping out of her comfort
zone, sometimes to her own level.
Much of her best work in Season 4 was with Ava,
as the unlikely friendship led to her standing on her own two feet at a choir
presentation. We also saw her take over a music class as a request by Ava, saw
her go viral by her students but then managed to find a way to work with it.
We've seen Barb deal with the issues of technology, go to dinner at the Shemanski
home, continue to make new traditions and deal with the reality of getting
older, but still being able to change.
The relationship between Barb and the younger
teachers on Abbott has always been special as it continues the always
pleasing trend of the boomer generation getting along with much younger ones.
We've seen how well this has played out on both Hacks and Only
Murders and its always been both moving and hysterical. Ralph has no need
for another trophy at this point but if she got one, no one would mind.
Meg Stalter, Hacks
At this point Meg Stalter's Kayla is the only performer
who has not received an Emmy nomination of any kind for her work on Hacks. And
I suspect Kayla herself might be the only person in the world who would be untroubled
by that face.
Stalter has been able to steal scenes ever since
she started playing Jimmy's incompetent assistant in Season 1. And in an act of
comic genius on a show that doesn't lack it by far, the writers have been
expanding Kayla's role with each season, deciding that is incredibly funny
woman-child who wears the nepo baby proudly has depths and can actually be good
at whatever life throws at her. Each season she keeps taken (usually against
the will of Jimmy) more responsibility and somehow she keeps managing to not
only succeed but excel at her job. You'd
think by now Jimmy would have stopped being surprised by this but honestly his
comic amazement at this is as much part of the fun.
By this point Meg Stalter has become one of those
standout characters who I could see, as with Bob Odenkirk's Saul Goodman or
Carrie Preston's Elsbeth, carrying her own series some day: she's that good at
it. The next step is to give her an Emmy nomination and I keep hoping they will.
Maybe this year.
Jessica Williams, Shrinking
Williams's nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress
in 2023 was a balm to my soul because of her grounded and charming work as Gaby
on Shrinking. I didn't expect her to win in 2023 there were just too
many good candidates. Now yet again she will be in the arena for her wonderful
work, which like every other character in Season 2 expanded.
Gaby spent the first few episodes breaking up the
FWB relationship she'd started with Jimmy at the end of Season 1 and having a
kind of touchy relationship over the first half of the season. We saw her deal
with her life as a teacher and a therapist, saw her try to begin a relationship
with Derek No. 2, and more importantly saw her tricky relationship with both
her mother and her sister which involved a very messy family dynamic where both
had to take separate roles taken care of an addict. In the midst of this she
had to deal with the strange mix of the friend group she was a part of and the
saga that was unfolding involve both her colleagues and friends at the therapy
group.
Williams is going to be part of the Emmy conversation
for years to come, though I'm not sure if she'll win for her work here – there are
too many great candidates already and their will continue to be in the future.
But she deserves all the recognition she gets.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Stephanie Koenig, The English Teacher
Honestly Stephanie Koenig should have been
recognized by the Emmys already considering just how many great TV series of
any genre she's had a major role on. Whether Sabrina on The Flight
Attendant, Andrea Eastman on the undervalued The Offer or Fran, the
busybody colleague in Lessons in Chemistry she's always had talent. And
it looked like her work as Gwen on English Teacher was going to push her
over the top. The series that she had co-created with Brian Jordan Alvarez got
a lot of early buzz and she was nominated for awards from the Critics Choice Awards,
the spirit awards and the WGA. Then accusation came to Alvarez last winter and
everyone associated with the show kind of became radioactive.
That's unfair to the entire cast but it's
particularly unfair to Koenig. Her work as the podcast listening friend on the
faculty to Brian, the deluded girlfriend to a loser boyfriend who spent the
entire digging a hole in his backyard and calling it a pool, who seemed to be
the deepest thinker on the series but could slip back into bad habits just as
anybody, was a true work of comic gems that I'm reminded of the work of Tina
Fey on 30 Rock. But by the time of the Astras like the rest of the cast she
was persona non grata.
I understand why she'll likely be excluded but I
think it's horribly unfair. That's why I truly believe she deserves to be
considered. She doesn't deserve to be branded for the accusations against
another person.
GUEST ACTOR AND ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
It's a certainty that last year's winners in this
category, Jon Bernthal and Jamie Lee Curtis for The Bear will be among
the contenders. But their chances of repeating have diminished immensely.
There will no doubt be several nominees from The
Studio likely including performers playing themselves. The certainties right
now are Bryan Cranston and Zoe Kravitz.
From Hacks look for Julianne Nicholson to
join perennial contenders Kaitlin Olson and Christopher McDonald back for their
annual comic joy. And don't rule out the possibility of Olson being nominated
for her work in the Abbott Elementary crossover.
Melissa McCarthy looks likely to return for her
work in Only Murders and don't rule out Eugene Levy coming back to the
ranks.
Finally one long shot nominee for each category
I'd personally like to see. Bradley Cooper for his wonderful spot in the season
premier of The Righteous Gemstones and Wendie Malick for her superb work
on Shrinking.
Next Week I bring events to their conclusion with
Outstanding Limited Series. Expect some different faces then what the Emmys
will be arguing for.
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