As we finish up with this category
with The Studio not in contention and as always with a lack of clarity
where SNL will finish in the discussion there will definitely be some
new faces in this category as well as some justifiably familiar ones. There is
a clear frontrunner in this category but she's been the frontrunner before and
it didn't turn out that way. With that in mind here we go with the seven
nominees I'm predicting.
Hannah
Einbinder, Hacks
Unlike the majority of the world
I'm able to separate the artist from the art. I find the increasing and
strident politicizing of Hannah Einbinder on almost everything in the world
ironic because its who her character on Hacks was at the start of her
journey but by the end of it she's shown so much growth that she would have
little use for the Gen Z's who engage in polemic like Hannah Einbinder has
basically been doing non-stop for the last year.
And yet there's no denying that Hacks
can't work without the incredible dynamo that is Hannah Einbinder's Ava.
Part of the reason I love watching her perform so much of the time is that Ava
represents almost unironically the worst parts of Gen Z: a woman so unwilling
to offend people in the world of comedy that it basically affects every aspect
of her personal life. This was shown most hysterically when she ended up dating
a sex worker who she met at a gig and she was so proud of how much he enjoyed
what he was doing that she actually seemed offended that this was just
something he was doing to realize his dream of becoming a magician.
But what has changed about Ava is
her deep and abiding love for Deb, which
has become critical to the final season. At first she was so desperate to get
out of her funk that she blindly agreed with everything she said. Then she
continued on this journey, to a fan convention, to a tribute to the Paley
center, to posing as the romantic lover of Deb to try and get a prop, to
finally realizes where Deb was – and actually making a dark but happy ending.
I was overjoyed when Einbinder
finally won last year in this category: the Emmys have not been nearly generous
enough to her over the show's run (though there has been a lot of great
competition as you'll see)I may loathe Einbinder's politics but I love her work
and that's enough for me to advocate for her.
Janelle
James, Abbott Elementary
I was stunned – but overjoyed –
when the Critics Choice Awards gave Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
to James for her incredible work as the other Ava in this category. The
thing is, unlike the character she plays so brilliantly the Emmys have never
been willing to recognize (yet) the incredible force that Janelle James has
been.
It's always stunning to see just
how much Ava has grown and how much she remains quintessentially Ava. Yes, she
still wants to put in the minimum amount of work as principal and yes she still
puts down almost everyone on the faculty. But the thing is, in Season 5, she's
clearly trying in a way she wasn't back in the early seasons. She's fighting
more for the faculty with the district, when the furnace exploded she spent her
winter vacation finding a replace to teach the students (yes it was an
abandoned mall but it was the best she could do) she spent much of the time
hiding from the parents but also trying to get the district to help, she kept
contorting the policies to fit her ventures, she ended up first hurting, then
helping Jacob's run for district representative, then tried to help Ava get
over her breakup with Gregory by getting drunk (and being horrified by what
drunk Janine looked like) trying to build Ava Fest while getting Gregory and
Janine back together (it happened despite her best efforts) and finally
managing to keep Abbott open despite doing nothing.
All of this is done with James
continuing to have the most extraordinary comic dialogue in this series
whenever they give her a chance to. When she does the school's podcast, when
she acknowledges all the gifts she gives, when she takes every opportunity to
put down Janine, she is always wondrous. But by now we know she has a heart
buried deep within the product, particularly in her new romantic relationship
where she's increasingly bothered by her boyfriend being as good looking as
her. Naturally he tried to hide himself but "They can tell you have a good
heart."
I want James to win in this
category eventually. This year it would be unlikely even if there wasn't an
overwhelming favorite but I would love to see it play out. Ava thinks the world
revolves around her and the thing is whenever Abbott Elementary does,
you really wish it did.
Justine
Lupe, Nobody Wants This
It's been clear from the start of
this series that Morgan is by far the most self-destructive member of the
entire cast. Beneath the hysterical byplay between her and Joanne you can tell
there's just something in her that wants to immolate herself - in a fabulous outfit of course. Justine
Lupe has been a great actress on TV for awhile but as Morgan she's gotten a
chance to shine in a way she never has before.
More than any other character in
Season 2 we got the clearest sense of how broken Morgan was when she revealed –
at a family birthday – that she was dating her therapist. Even Joanne knew how dangerous this one and while
she tried to support her the words "He knows how broken I am and it hasn't
scared him off" realized how scarred she was by the family they'd lived
in. When she got engage and really seemed to be determined to go through the
wedding despite how everyone was convinced this was a horrible idea, it was
like watching a slow-moving, albeit gorgeous, trainwreck. Only at the end of
the season did she finally realize for herself how horrible things were and
just how toxic her problems were.
This was highlighted by the way
she seemed isolated from her friendship with Sascha, which she clearly needed
more than she thought. It's clear that Morgan's never had an adult friend
outside of Joanne and we've seen throughout Season 1 how fragile that was. This
led to hysterical moments we needed.
Lupe has been nominated for a
Critics Choice Award in this category last fall but since then some of the buzz
around her and the show has begun to die. Lupe is my longshot in this category
ahead of some of the more obvious choices (Carol Burnett in Palm Royale was
the biggest one) I'm rooting for Lupe the way I root for Morgan and I think she
deserves to be here.
Michelle
Pfeiffer, Margo's Got Money Troubles
It took a decade from when her
husband began his creative rebirth on cable and streaming for Michelle Pfeiffer
to breakdown and work in one of his series. Watching her work as Shayenne, the
ultimate GMILF, it was more than worth the wait.
When Shayenne learned that Margo
had gotten knocked up as a teenager, she was upset because she was certain this
would ruin her future. Much of the first season was built on this complicated,
messy, loving relationship between mother and daughter. Lorelai and Rory they
are not, particularly considering that she made it very clear she was not
getting involved with the baby. Shayenne
was trying to build her own life with a new and relatively good man (Greg
Kinnear would be a good choice for an Emmy nomination himself) but it was
completely the opposite of who she was. And she was not thrilled when Jinx
showed up on their doorstep after years of absence.
The irony is that Shayenne was, in
her messy way, correct about the bad decision both her daughter and her former
lover had made in their lives. But she handled it, as you'd expect, badly
(though how would you react if your daughter was on OnlyFans?)In a time of
struggle as the custody battle became dark, she proved how loving and
considerate she was and how she was more than willing to punch a bully in the
face. The season finale showed her
highpoint as the grandson who never seemed to like her showed it at the right
time – and her nadir when she learned who called DCF on Margo setting the chaos
up.
Like Harrison Ford Pfeiffer
somehow has gotten to this point in her career without a single award in her
trophy case. Now she's appeared on the small screen in a one-two punch and this
is her best chance at getting an Emmy down the road. And its good to know, nearly forty years
after The Fabulous Baker Boys, that she still has an incredible voice.
Sheryl
Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
As with Quinta Brunson the Emmys
honored Sheryl Lee Ralph right off the bat when she won in one of the greatest
moments in the ceremony's in 2022. Ralph
has been nominated every year since and will almost certainly be nominated. If
you've seen Abbott you don't need me to give a reason to advocate for
her.
Ralph's Barbara is the heart and
soul of Abbott Elementary ever since the first season. She's the mentor,
the best friend, the elder stateswomen, the religious but not forcing it on
everybody kind, the teacher who can do everything. Most of the time Barb's
humor comes when she unintentionally is, like when she watches Avatar: Fire
& Ash with Melissa and Mr. Johnson having never seen the first two
movies and pauses to ask questions after every scene. By this point her
inability to understand pop culture seems so much part of the Zeitgeist then
when the cast did a taped sequence to open the SAG Awards, it was understood
that Barbara didn't know the difference between Jennifer Lawrence and Jennifer
Coolidge.
Barbara has spent much of Season
Five getting her spark back and gently pushing everyone in Abbott to be
happier. Don't get me wrong, she still misreads people (as with one student
played by Luke Tennie) but everyone knows she's the Mama Bear and will fight
for them in her subtle ways when she needs to. She doesn't like getting
involved but when she does (as she did by helping Janine realize her issues
with Gregory really had to do with her mother) it always works. And of course
in the season finale when she took the band hostage, created an open bar and
then did crowd surfing (something we didn't see but she denied afterwards even
though it happened) she proved how much fun she could be.
Like Einbinder, Ralph is one of
two previous winners I've shortlisted for nominees this year. It would be nice
if she won again but I don't think she needs too, not this year. That said
maybe she could do a musical number with her Pfeiffer and maybe Meryl Streep?
It would be fun.
Megan
Stalter, Hacks
I really do think Kayla was a
throwaway character when the writers created Hacks. She certainly didn't
do much but drive Jimmy crazy in Season 1. Then somehow during Season 2 the
writers decided that despite being clueless Kayla had dreams like everyone else
connected to Hacks. Then they decided to stop making her a clueless
lovebird with Jimmy and decide for the two of them to try and be friends, if
not partners. Suddenly Kayla's cluelessness was mixed with heart.
With each season driven by the
force of nature that is Meg Stalter Kayla become increasingly ride or die with
Jimmy to the point that by the time we reached the final seasons fans were
begging for a spinoff with Jimmy and Kayla running an agency. And the thing is
I'd absolutely watch if it meant I could spend more time watching Stalter do
anything even read the phone book.
Because even though she still can
read the room or overcorrects with everything in her heart, who whenever given
the opportunity will absolutely say the wrong thing or make a bad situation
worse (though always hysterically funny), Meg Stalter has taken what could have easily
been a cliché character and turns into the heart of Hacks. She may be
loud, she may be clueless, but she absolutely cares about Jimmy and all of the
clients around her. She hasn't failed
upward, she's actually good at her job, and she knows what she's doing. By the
time we reach the end of the series Jimmy and Kayla have managed a victory just
as astounding and astonishing as anything Deb or Ava have accomplished. That's
something that I would have found impossible to believe at the end of Season 1.
To be clear Stalter absolutely should
have been nominated for an Emmy as early as Season 2. I do admit the categories
have been overwhelmingly stacked over the years but don't pretend for a moment
that anything Liza Colon-Zayas has ever done on The Bear is as funny as
Stalter can do in a single line of dialogue. Stalter, like the character she plays, is a
force of nature as much as comedy and she has a bright future. She deserves a
nomination as the lights dim on Hacks.
Jessica
Williams, Shrinking
Jessica Williams has in many ways
been the center of so much of what happens on Shrinking – taking care of
Paul even when he doesn't want it, trying to help Alice when she doesn't need
it, building her way into the relationship of Derek and Liz, trying to find a
way to rebuild with her broken family, finding a career of her own. Gaby spent
the season trying to build her way as a teacher, trying to figure out her
relationship with Derrick #2, having a crisis of confidence about everything,
rebuilding with Paul and then at the end of the season, making a happy
discovery.
Williams has always been a joy for
me ever since she began her career on The Daily Show back in 2012 and
the fact that the Emmys are making her a regular is a great pleasure. I don't
think she'll have much of a chance this year to win but I'm fine with that.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Nicole Kidman, Margo's Got Money
Troubles
Another David E. Kelley
production, another appearance by Nicole Kidman. But I'll be honest, this is
the most dynamic work she's done in any production of his since the second
season of Big Little Lies ended and, with the sole exception of her work
in Lioness, the best performance she's done on TV this decade.
And its because Kidman, for the
first time, is playing a David E. Kelley character. Lace is a former
female wrestler who knew Jinx from the circuit (they were clearly lovers) has
done work on OnlyFans and now works as an attorney. Kelley has enough
intelligence to keep Lace as a side character (Kidman only appears in four
episodes) withholding her until the custody battle unfolds where she has to be
the grownup among a family in crisis. With an iron glove she leads Margo and
the Millets telling them the hard things they have to do, including getting
Jinx out of the house when he OD's, tells them that the odds are against them
as things progress, and gets them to the final scene. And because she's Nicole
Kidman she does it with grace, humor and wearing fabulous outfits.
My favorite moment of her work –
the one that I'm willing to submit her for consideration – is the scene between
Lace and Shayenne before the final hearing. Shayenne is in tears because she
believes somehow all of this is her fault and Lace tells her something she
might never have been told in her life: that this isn't on her. I suspect
Kidman will be nominated for producing this series but an acting nomination
would be, well, a lace bow on top of the picture.
That's everything for comedy.
Starting Monday I'm going to get, well, dramatic as I deal with what I think
should be contending for Drama this year.
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