Emmys: The Lead Actresses: Comedy Series

One frontrunner, many potential spoilers.

You heard my spiel in the video I posted, and it’s true: once the nominees are set and they (and their “people” and/or the network) pick the one episode for Emmy voters to judge their past year’s performance on, I watch all of them. Yes, ALL. (Nerd alert!)

I figure, if you’re going to be an armchair awards prognosticator, you need to do your homework. Thank goodness for summer travel and all its trains, planes and subways, because that, my friends, is a lot of TV.

So, after watching a little over three hours of great performances, here are some musings from the Pop gallery:

  • Lena Dunham, “Girls”: As Hannah, Dunham’s first line in “Beach House” is “I have to piss so badly I’m going to shit myself,” and that’s about the status quo from there-on. Spending the vast majority of the episode in a punchline-inspiring green bikini, Dunham continues to put it all out there with confidence and ease, but her Hannah is unsympathetic, whiny and sharp, with only a few chuckle-worthy deliveries. When Shosh calls Hannah a narcissist during the infamous group fight scene, voters may be inclined to agree.
  • Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”: A past winner in this category, Falco never disappoints as pill-popping Jackie, premium cable’s ultimate anti-heroine. She’s reliably great in “Super Greens,” but the episode primarily shows Jackie in parental moments that don’t leave a lasting impact.
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “VEEP”: Louis-Dreyfus is the reigning champ for a reason: her rendering of Selina is pure comedic genius. In “Crate,” though, she comes off a little two-note, either playing up Selina’s cool, brittleness or taking narcissistic (are we seeing a category pattern here?) glee in the president’s misfortunes when she’s told she’s becoming POTUS, followed by an admittedly funny bathroom scene with Gary. All that said, Louis-Dreyfus is an Academy favorite and the lack of layers in her reel likely won’t matter.
  • Melissa McCarthy, “Mike & Molly”: McCarthy turns in a wonderfully funny, touching and understated performance in “Mind Over Molly,” where her character agrees to go to therapy for the first time. She runs the gamut of emotions in great scenes with both her husband and therapist, perfectly walking the delicate line that blends comedy with drama. A past winner, and a potential spoiler.
  • Amy Poehler, “Parks & Recreation”: The general consensus is that Poehler is overdue, and she really gets to go to town as Leslie in “Recall Vote.” Stunted by a tough loss, Poehler conveys Leslie’s depression hilariously, and plays drunk to very funny effect. Perhaps her best shot at scoring a win yet.
  • Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is The New Black”: Schilling is on the buzziest show in the line-up, and stands at the center of a strong ensemble as Piper in “The Chickening.” Like so many of her fellow nominees, though, Piper isn’t particularly sympathetic in this outing, ditching the business conference call Polly set-up to chase a chicken after oozing resentful anger at Alex. Schilling handles all of these shifts with aplomb, and while I honestly think she had better episodes from the first season to submit, this is still a contending effort.

The Breakdown: It’s very likely going to go to Louis-Dreyfus again, and that would be fine. But McCarthy and Poehler are ones to watch, and Schilling could benefit from widespread love for her show.

It’s a tight one. What do you think? Is another JLD win a foregone conclusion? Next up: The Series: Drama

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