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Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s 2010 Emmy coverage. Here’s his scorecard assessing the Outstanding Comedy Series race:
GLEE (FOX - Ryan Murphy TV Prod w/ 20th Century Fox TV)
Why It Was Nominated: Beside the fact it’s a buoyant but edgy show, it has the style and energy that voting members of the TV Academy rarely find among broadcast network fare. Creator/showrunner Ryan Murphy is seen as a trendsetter whose Glee appeals to tweeners and geezers alike. It’s also a plus that he couldn’t possibly have made a more different show from his very adult Nip/Tuck. That kind of versatility is rewarded, or in this case, awarded.
Why It Has To Win: Broadcast TV still employs a controlling number of voters, and they like to honor their own when at all possible. The Emmys also have a long tradition of rewarding first-year comedies, and this show is also bolstered by phenomenal casting which produced a breakthrough acting ensemble. Bottom line, as one producer put it to me, “It makes the people who vote on these things look young and smart, even if they’re neither. And the gay voters are going to flock to it.”
Why It Can’t Possibly Win: In the Primetime Emmys’ long history, only one hour-long comedy ever has won the biggest award: Ally McBeal in 1999. Desperate Housewives couldn’t do it. Neither could Ugly Betty. Glee could well be too much of a hybrid for its own good. The TV Academy has also never given a top comedy prize to a show that’s anything like this one in terms of tone and subject matter. Then there’s the fierce competition from Modern Family.
MODERN FAMILY (ABC – 20th Century Fox Television)
Why It Was Nominated: It’s has a pair of well-respected producers in Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan, the latter looked upon by the TV community as a rebel with a cause for the way he talks back to the networks and ignores executive notes. The show is quirky and surprising and – not least – uproariously funny. Every once in a while, actual humor tips the scales for a nomination.
Why It Has To Win: Co-creator/exec producer Lloyd has won in this category – a lot: 5 times for Frasier (1994-98). Modern Family has frontrunner buzz because it’s some of the best writing on a comedy since, well, Frasier. It hit the ground running in its first episode and never slowed down, and that momentum makes it a tough Emmy competitor. As one category voter told me: “I’m voting for this show because we need to reward intelligent writing or we shouldn’t even bother weighing in.”
Why It Can’t Possibly Win: Sometimes you can be too cool for the room, and that may prove to be the case here. Some may also figure that Lloyd has received enough accolades and snub it out of jealousy. By contrast, Glee is pure feel-good. Could the buzz have shifted since voting began to Glee? And for some reason, ABC just never wins this category, the last time 22 years ago for The Wonder Years.
30 ROCK (NBC – Broadway Video & Little Stranger w/ Universal Media Studio)
Why It Was Nominated: Until Glee and Modern Family arrived this past season, 30 Rock was the quality gold standard. And it’s still right there near the top. There remains a great respect for producer-writer-star Tina Fey and anything she’s involved with, as well as affection for Alec Baldwin and his scandal survival skills. So after winning this category 3 years running, nominating 30 Rock again was a no-brainer.
Why It Has To Win: It always wins. And if we know anything about the TV Academy, it’s that it likes to honor repeatedly. The writing remains tight and imaginative, if sometimes inconsistent. But the show had the balls to make fun of Ben Silverman when he was a failing NBC boss, and that wins points. Voters love a show that defiantly refuses to pander and makes them feel they’re in on the joke, and no show blends industry with absurdity better than 30 Rock.
Why It Can’t Possibly Win: It’s no longer the plucky underdog. It remains ratings-challenged. It wasn’t its best season. It’s clear Fey has been given an embarrassment of riches as well as a new feature career. And after 3 years of being TV’s cheekiest insider – and best comedy by default – voters finally have reason to look elsewhere. But a vote for another show might also be a protest vote against NBC for eliminating Industry jobs when it turned its back on a normal development season to try Leno at 10 PM. Why reward failure?
THE OFFICE (NBC - Deedle-Dee Prod & Reveille w/ Universal Media Studios)
Why It Was Nominated: This is its 5th straight nomination in part out of habit, in part because of a popular cast. “It invariably becomes a case of the academy not knowing how not to nominate something after it’s been around a while,” one writer tells me. Star Steve Carell and creator Greg Daniels also command a lot of respect in the business as good guys with well-honed comedy chops.
Why It Has To Win: Because Glee, Modern Family and 30 Rock could cancel each other out. And The Office did win once, albeit back in 2005. Plus, Carell will be leaving.
Why It Can’t Possibly Win: The feeling is that this mockumentary has stayed at the party five minutes beyond its shelf life. It continues to have still surprising daffy moments, just fewer of them. Overall, the writing has lost a step or two in sharpness. Plus, Carell will be leaving.
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO – HBO Entertainment)
Why It Was Nominated: The number of Jews (just kidding) and Seinfeld fans (redundancy alert) who populate the nominating body of the TV Academy continues to be vast. For them, and the rest of us, Curb can do no wrong. “There are people who will still be voting for this show long after it’s off the air,” quips one producer.
Why It Has To Win: It’s still as painfully funny as ever. And Larry David was clever enough to find a way to incorporate a Seinfeld reunion show without actually making a Seinfeld reunion show.
Why It Can’t Possibly Win: It’s still seen as a niche show. That was enough to earn it a Golden Globe (in 2003), but not an Emmy. Larry won’t campaign enough to make that happen – and make no mistake, brown-nosing must occur. Moreover, some will never vote for an HBO comedy simply out of spite because of the pay channel’s longtime Emmy domination in the dramatic categories.
NURSE JACKIE (SHOWTIME - Lionsgate TV, Jackson Group Ent, Madison Grain Elevator, Delong Lumber, Caryn Mandabach Prod)
Why It Was Nominated: It’s a quality series with the much honored Edie Falco. It also enjoys creative freedom in terms of situations and language that network broadcast sitcoms can only dream about. A level playing field this is not.
Why It Has To Win: A sizeable chunk of TV Academy voters can relate to a lead character who struggles with drug addiction.
Why It Can’t Possibly Win: It probably spoke volumes about the backlash against Chuck Lorre’s success that Nurse Jackie was nominated but not The Big Bang Theory. Equally significant, no multicamera comedy was able to penetrate the single-camera nomination stranglehold. Finally, the pay channel can get its actors Emmys (like Toni Collette for United States Of Tara), but… “No matter what anyone says to the contrary,” a producer told me, “the Academy isn’t ready yet to give this kind of an award to a Showtime show.”
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in your “why Modern Family cant win” you say Glee is pure feel good. What the hell is MF? IMHO, it’s Way more feel good and WAY more consistent. Glee might win b/c it’s a phenomenon, but the BEST COMEDY and most consistent and best written over 24 eps this year is Modern Family by a long shot. I think your comment about ABC not winning says a lot. DH was a higher rated show in 2005 and the frontrunner and didnt win. Glee gets press every single day and has won every major award this year. I’d love to see MF win the EMMY and I bet most of Hollywood, save Ryan Murphy, cast and crew and the Fox network would too. Whether they vote that way is another story. It’s be a shame if MF loses to Glee b/c I personally think 30 Rock only won 3 years in a row due to lack of competirion. Let’s face it, no matter what people say, it’s no Mary Tyler Moore.
Not true. Glee won neither the WGA Award or the DGA Award – which Modern Family did. Modern Family also won the Best Comedy Series at the TCA Awards and while Glee won Best Program at those awards, it’s curious that they couldn’t win the very category they’re competing in at the Emmys.
I say that despite the hype surrounding Glee, Modern Family will still be rewarded.
If Glee or Nurse Jackie win, this award has lost all meaning. Will someone please create a Dramedy category already so we can stop comparing them to real comedies?
Great Jew joke.
RE: your comment on – backlash against Chuck Lorre’s success? why is that….he is a great talented producer and showrunner/writer…..people should have included both 2.5Men and TBBT in the Comedy series – BIG MISTAKE to keep BOTH shows out of the running for a 2010 EMMY……people wake up….the ratings speak louder then the lame EMMYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wrong. Wrong. Just plain wrong. “The Big Bang Theory” is the best and most importantly, bravest writing on TV. Making a show about four nerds and somehow making them all men any woman worth an ounce of salt would shag is far harder than writing about yet one more dysfunctional family. And frankly, the other shows in the category are not really funny, you know.
Funny was “All in The Family” when Sammy Davis came to call; Funny was “Chuckles the Clown.” Have you ever really, seriously peed your pants watching “30 Rock” or “Modern Family?’ Oh they’re clever, but funny? Not funny like Spongeworthy or The Challenge.
“The Big Bang Theory” has had dozens of truly funny moments and, additionally, I’d willingly spend a day with the five characters on the show. I wouldn’t cross the road to meet the characters on any of those other shows.
Chuck Lorre may be reviled but his characters are’t.
Totally agree. The fact that Big Bang Theory was not nominated, but Glee was (wtf?) makes me not want to watch the Emmy’s this year. Not only that, but am I the only one who doesn’t find 30 Rock funny? I thought that show was painfully unfunny since the beginning, thanks to Tina Fey who was a less funny version of Molly Shannon anyways. Curb Your Enthusiasm is an amazing show, but different than the others in a good way. The Seinfeld stuff this year was brilliant.
Yes… you are the ONLY one who doesn’t find 30 Rock. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are comic gold. They invented the people who invented comedy.
Just because you like characters doesn’t mean it’s a good show. That’s down to the actors as much as it is the writing. I’m not putting down The Big Bang Theory – it’s hugely popular and it makes people laugh. But the writing can not be called brave. Writing about male nerds is probably the least edgy subject matter there can be. If it was a story of female nerds, you might say its brave. But no show that has Kaley Cuoco befriending nerds can be called “brave”.
Modern Family isn’t just about a dysfunctional family, it’s about all the different family units that exist today. I personally think it’s braver to feature a gay couple with a child and an immigrant in a show, than four nerds who break into a sweat when they hear the words, “Leonard Nimoy”. I’d consider the satire featured on 30 Rock brave too or the inclusion of a whole range of minority characters on Glee, particularly disabled characters, far braver than Big Bang Theory.
Have to disagree. While I find the show amusing, I am not engaged with the characters.
The actors are what make the show funny, not the writing.
Why not go to a bar to make friends and not expect T.V writers to create some for you? Give me the Bluths or Nurse Jackie instead of the losers from Big Bang or Friends any day.
The losers from Big Bang? You mean the losers with the Ph.D’s in physics and astro-physics? LOL…
When was the last time 30 Rock made me laugh my ass off? Even though the most recent season was also its weakest, I can think of plenty of times: Kathy Geiss singing “I Dreamed a Dream,” Liz’s dream where she confuses her exes with the Jamaican nurses, Tracy’s recollections of his life in the ghetto coming back to him all at once…*
It doesn’t surprise me that someone who thinks The Big Bang Theory is hysterical would dislike the humor on 30 Rock. It’s a completely different style of humor. It has its funny moments, like all of Chuck Lorre’s shows, but it also has plenty of extremely lame jokes. Are we supposed to think it’s hysterically funny that Sheldon mooned a bunch of scientists after asking if they wanted to see the dark side of the moon? And that he threw in, “And here’s Uranus?”
If you love the characters, great. If you think it’s funny, great. But there’s nothing even remotely brave about it. That’s the absolute last word I would use to describe that show. It’s a conventional sitcom in just about every way, and it doesn’t even have the bravery to trust the audience to figure out what’s funny for itself, instead of using a laugh track that goes nuts every single time a joke is told, regardless of how bad it is. (Whether they’re sampling the laughter from the studio audience, or the audiences really are “warmed up” enough to laugh at everything…it really needs to stop.)
* Not to mention Liz attempting to find something romantic in the bible at Floyd’s wedding and failing miserably, Nancy telling people from Boston that Jack is in prison for manslaughter because the truth about him living in New York would be too embarrassing, and pretty much everything about Jenna’s relationship with a Jenna impersonator, and Liz’s relationship with Wesley. And that’s just off the top of my head – there were probably 5 times as many moments over the course of the season.
Good or bad, the fact that Nurse Jackie is as much drama as comedy is going to hurt it. Particularly if the voters actually watch the dvds. It is always harder on the more sardonic and/or humor in the pain comedies when they are directly contrasted with the more laugh out loud type shows like Modern Family or 30 Rock.
While some of this analysis is true. Some of it is just going to be what makes the voters laugh the most.
There is practically NO comedy in Nurse Jackie. Even Edie Falco was surprised to find out she’s been doing a comedy. This show has no place is this category. Period.
I’m sorry but I don’t agree that modern family is the best comedy by a mile. I’ve watched maybe three episodes, perhaps the wrong ones, but none of them made me feel like they were hilarious enough to make it appointment television — of the nominees — Glee is the best comedy — if not for it’s great first 13 episodes which were so well done and twisty and took you to places you never dreamed of and its not the type of show that you would think would have succeeded. I wish that the adventures of old christine was nominated here — which is laugh out loud funny. Also, how i met your mother and rules of engagement. 30 Rock did not win for lack of competition, it won because it was insider look into the industry.
New Adventures of Old Christine was such a good/underrated show. I wish it were nominated. I am happy Julia at least got a nom. I totally don’t agree with you on the Modern Family comment though, obviously we are all entitled to our own opinions and tastes, but Modern Family is just all around funny and smart. I as far as quality of comedic writing goes, apart from Sue Sylvester’s lines, it holds its own against Glee
I just hope Carell wins an Emmy before he leaves The Office. Should have already won one.
ALWAYS SUNNY is the best comedy on TV, bar none, and consistently overlooked. Just by virtue of a cable platform their range sets them head and shoulders above network shows, not to mention the consistent hilarity. Modern Family is fine but an Office knock-off stylistically and not nearly as good as three shows over on NBC. The only reason Modern Family gets all the press it does is because it’s been years since ABC had a traditional half hour comedy with any real mass appeal and people are tired of looking at NBC as the dominant network flagbearer in this category, even though it still is. Watch out though NBC, FX (while not network) is tailing you with strong offerings in SUNNY, LOUIE, ARCHER, and THE LEAGUE. Bottom line, the Academy is a joke, as always.
In agree, in terms of straight out funny Philadelphia is the funniest show on TV. It doesn’t quite have the cool cred with the right people it needs to get nominated just yet – by which I mean most of them have probably never watched it. I could see them getting a nomination next year, though the show will never win. Of the five shows nominated here, either Glee or Modern Family needs to win, though Glee isn’t really a comedy-comedy. The other shows are great (though 30 Rock got a legacy nod here – it’s running on fumes) but these two have been a sensation. That should be rewarded.
Glee was hilarious at the end of the season but no where near 30 Rock’s level of hilarity. Curb Your Enthusiasm is the best show on television hands down. They deserve to win but wont because of the reasons you pointed out above, Larry wont campaign for it. HBO could tell the rest of the cast too but they don’t tell Larry what to do.
Pee during 30 Rock? I bring a change of underwear every week. Glee and Modern Family are painfully overrated loud stereotypes that will be gone in a couple of years at most.
CURB!!!! Larry can do no wrong!
Glee is not a comedy. It does not offer laugh out loud consistency. It’s cute, charming and warm, but not even close to Frasier brilliance. I’m probably the only person in America who doesn’t watch Modern Family. I’ve tried to watch it about three times, and change channels within 10 minutes. It annoys me, much the same way that Seinfeld annoyed me.
I agree that The Office has out-stayed its welcome. I can’t speak for Nurse Jackie or Curb Your Enthusiasm, as I don’t watch them. Within the network competition, only 30 Rock can be truly classified as a comedy. I mourn the loss of shows like Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, Will & Grace, and other true comedies. Glee is more akin to Ally McBeal, a quirky drama with funny moments. But it certainly shouldn’t compete with true dramas. Therefore, I agree that the one hour DRAMEDY should be added as a new category.
Join my club. I can’t watch ANY of this unholy quintet of unfunny shows which get by on their “cool” factor alone. The writers of these shows are NOT FUNNY. Their scripts are NOT FUNNY.
It’s just like when Stephen Hawkings book came out. Everyone had one on their coffee table to prove they were cool. But nobody’s copy was read past page fifteen.
To say that a show like “30 Rock” is an equal of the great comedy shows of the past is ridiculous. It’s moronic, sophmoric humor written by people with zero life experiences.
Glee, while great for casting a positive light on the picked-on kids has had one joke. Just one. The milkshakes in the face. SOmebody should tell them about the power of three.
Nurse Jackie is as funny as a rectal exam. She’s a drug addict. Great humor there. She’s a thief and a liar. Hilarious.
Curb, Modern Family and The Office are us laughing at ugly prople in awkward situations. That is only funy for a moment. Like gasoline, it smells cool for a second or two, then begins to rot your brain.
Not finny. Just not funny.
“Nurse Jackie” is as funny as a rectal exam.”
Hilarious! And very true.
You’ve obviously never watched any more than the commercials for Glee. From the character of Sue Sylvester to Brittany’s one-liners to Puck’s delivery of his dialogue to Kurt’s acerbic throwaway lines to peripheral characters like Figgins or Sandy Ryerson, there’s a hell of a lot more jokes/comedy in Glee than the kids getting slushies thrown in their face.
I understand if you don’t like it, but you’re only showing your ignorance by saying there’s only one joke in Glee.
Excuse me, Amy but you quoted one-liners and throw away lines. Those are jokes. Not comedic writing. There was never a single one-liner in Seinfeld. Every word uttered moved the plot line along. They were very clever words mind you and many enter the vernacular, but not one of them was a throw away line.
Frasier was brilliantly written. Niles never said, “You know…..” His descriptions of Maris were horrific, but they always got paid off later in the script.
I have watched “Glee” quite a bit and it seems to me to be a nicely written minor drama with music; it’s a cake iced with humor, but not baked with it.
“Nurse Jackie is as funny as a rectal exam.”
Hilarious! And very true.
“Curb, Modern Family and The Office are us laughing at ugly prople in awkward situations.”
Well, they’re not, but okay. Hope you have your WGA membership revoked.
Hope you get a part on “Nurse Jackie.” And you know just which role I mean….
If none of these ARE funny, what is?
Just kind of sounds like you don’t like comedy or humor or fun. In which case, maybe you’re not the best authority?
Based on your references to Chuckles the Clown on MTM, Sammy Davis kissing Archie Bunker and multiple Seinfeld episodes, I come to one conclusion: you’re old.
If not, then you’re one of these sad cases of fans of entertainment who long for it to be the way it was. The past is always rosier than the present when it comes to TV and movies.
All of the golden oldies you cited are great, great television… of their era. So while you may not appreciate the current prevailing trends in humor (as evidenced by your fervent love of a Big Bang Theory, a multi camera sitcom with joke writing as deliberate as a WASP’s order at a Mexican restaurant), the fact it to many of us, our pants are well soaked with shameless urine by some (not all) of the shows nominated in this category in 2010.
Your one-liner write-offs of all these shows are cute, glib, and seriously lacking in actual criticism. (Ugly people in awkward situations…. ARCHIE BUNKER GETTING KISSED BY A BLACK JEW MAYBE?)
If you’re looking for the feel good, heartwarming sitcoms of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I’m sorry and at the same time delighted to tell you they are dead. Stop wishing for the past, and start writing the future. Maybe a sitcom about a modern family, or some misfit kids singing their way through high school.
Or you can ignore me and just watch Mary Richards titter her way through Chuckle’s funeral on Hulu. Bring a towel.
You obliviously have never seen Jane Lynches performance in Glee. Which I might add earned her an Emmy nom.
Of course Jane Lynch is the exception to the rule, but she’d be hilarious at a wake. Here’s the problem: “Frasier” had FOUR Jane Lynchs – Frasier, Niles, Daphne and Martin; all amazingly well crafted characters, all pee-your-pants funny and each one far, far richer in dramatic development than the coach on “Glee.”.
Jane Lynch is a very good actress who drolly delivers sharp one liners. Niles Crane was funny down to his cuff links; Daphne was so well built as a character that Jane Leeves could bring me to both tears and paroxysms of laughter in the same paragraph.
I never, ever laugh/cry like that watching these five shows.
Glee is no more a great comedy than Hot Rocks is a great Stones album. It’s karaoke + patter, people. Guilty pleasure, but come on. Was Baywatch nominated for best drama just because it was popular? The show that everyone’s sadly forgetting (or that nobody saw, because nobody has Starz), is Party Down. Cancelled or not, it’s the best written/acted comedy on TV, bar none.
A Baywatch comparison is hardly fair. Any show which features lines like, “”I realize my cultural ascendancy only serves to illuminate your own banality. But, face it, I’m legend. It’s happened.” Or, “I went to a misogynist when I pulled my hamstring,” has a lot more to it than a series like Baywatch.
You are so right about Party Down. It was brilliant. Sad it was canceled. Like Starz had something better to air.
Modern Family should win. Because it is FUNNY. You laugh and smile when you watch it.
Glee died after it’s winter break. I’ve given up on it. There is no story anymore. I watched 2 episode after the break and then left it. It was just plaint boring. And then i watched finale and it’s like i’ve never missed all those episodes. It was absolutely the same. I didn’t even had to ask myself: “Why is this happening and who is this person?” Glee got all their awards in winter season. They don’t deserve Emmy.
And could they just stop given every award to 30 ROCK, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin? Because they are just killing that nominations. No one cares about them.
Honestly, the level of idiocy here is staggering.
“Modern Family” too cool for school? Really? The very reason the show HAS a chance is that it’s very much a traditional comedy with down-home humor. Yes, you get a gay couple, but that only helps a show’s image in Hollywood. There’s nothing overly gimmicky or “cool” about this show–it’s the safe alternative to shows like 30 Rock and Glee.
Glee, on the other hand, very much runs the risk of being “too cool.” It’s a bit too quirky, and some of the episodes won’t register if you’re not into the flamboyant pop culture scene. That being said, it hands down features the best DRAMA in comedy (anything involving Kurt and his dad–who both, from an ACTING standpoint, deserve to win Emmys in their categories this year) and also features the wittiest dialogue (people saying it’s not funny clearly aren’t watching Jane Lynch or listening to Mark Salling’s voiceover monologues).
Modern Family is a bit more tautly cast and consistent, but it’s not in a different league.
For what it is worth, even though it has little chance of winning, The Office had the best episode of comedy this season with “Niagara.” But it’s just not a trendy choice…AT ALL.
For all those people advocating in favor of Big Bang, you’ve clearly been “tricked.” You know why the show is such a hit–it’s one of the safest, least imaginative shows on TV. Yes, it’s hysterical, and Jim Parsons is a gem, but just because it’s about smart, dorky guys doesn’t mean the HUMOR is smart. It’s a traditional sitcom. The level of humor is no different than that of Lorre’s 2.5 Men, it’s just that the jokes are delivered by dorkier guys.
“Making a show about four nerds and somehow making them all men any woman worth an ounce of salt would shag”
And WTF kind of stupid comment is that?
Since when are “Nurse Jackie” and “Glee” comedies? There’s so much more comedy in “True Blood”. The Academy needs to pay attention.
I always thought Frasier won 5 Emmys in a row for best comedy because people were just jealous of Seinfeld’s incredible success. Years later, Seinfeld is often considered the greatest show of all time and Frasier, while not forgotten, receives no where near that attention or respect. I thought 30 Rock was the best comedy by far of the last 3 seasons, but it was really uneven this year and I also think we’ve seen all their tricks– more of the same is never good for a sitcom. The true breakout comedy has been Modern Family (Glee is really a musical dramedy– essentially a different category). MF has been able to be painfully funny, smart and relatable. This last thing is something that other funny shows, Curb, Sunny, etc. have never been able to do. This is why I think MF is the more deserving show. Nurse Jackie, Californication, Hung are really 30 minute dramas. They’re tone and rhythm are not that of comedies and they have almost no laughs.
The production entities for 30 ROCK and THE OFFICE are reversed in the listing…
On further reflectio… okay, in the bathroom, I realized I had not given Jane Lynch her full due as an actress. She’s a national treasure. Her work is consistently amazing in anything she does, especially the films of Christopher Guest.
My big problem is that she is the one funny element in a show that, otherwise, is not a comedy.
I believe the big problem this year (as it has been for several years now) is that the comedy category has been captured by the cool kids (who never, historically, have been as funny as they believed they were) and they and their cronies are working overtime to downplay the one truly funny series on television today, “The Big Bang Theory.”
The fact that BBT didn’t get nominated for Best Comedy isn’t hatred for Chuck Lorre; it’s about pure jealousy. Say what you will about Chuck Lorre, but he is a comedic master, an OLD STYLE comic master, not like many of the young turks churning out the bleak show of today.
I get depressed just trying to watch “30 Rock” and “Nurse Jackie” (which isn’t even remotely a comedy series) and I don’t really find anything fresh or new in “Modern Family.” I hate the characters in “Curb Your Enthusiasm”(although I have to acknowledge the brilliance Larry David has shown in the past) and “The Office” is a pale imitation of the British original.
In conclusion, it seems to me that “The Big Bang Theory” has been shut out of Best Comedy three years in a row for one reason only: nobody wants to acknowledge that in three seasons of soulless shows,
It is the best comedy on TV.
Agreed on a “Dramedy” category – GLEE over COMMUNITY for comedy writing, e.g.?
Community only submitted its pilot for writing consideration – it didn’t deserve a nom. Had it submitted Modern Action Warfare, you’d have a case, but Community’s pilot was very mediocre and not deserving of any accolades.
That’s ridiculous (on the part of the producers)! How could they not submit Chicken Fingers? Something tells me politics got in the way of rewarding real talent there.
I know, right? I’m not necessarily a fan of Community, but by all accounts, the second half of its season was excellent, so I don’t know why they didn’t submit any of those episodes for consideration. I don’t know whether it was Dan Harmon’s fault or whether NBC advised the show not to submit more than one episode, but either way, it was a woeful mistake.
Chicken Fingers was a failure. They beat the chicken-fingers-as-cocaine analogy TO DEATH. The premise would barely support a 5 minute sketch. I’d like Community a lot more if it wasn’t already so impressed with itself. And ending the season with every female character wanting desperately to fuck the lead was a mistake.
In a year without “Glee” or “MF”, “Curb” might have pulled it off. The member ballot I looked at this morning had “MF” #1, “Jackie” #2, and “Glee” #3 (to put more space between it and “Family”s #1 rank). The member in question is no LD fan, so “Curb” slipped to #6 on this ballot.
I don’t think much of Modern Family — it’s not a bad show, but just like the same creators’ Back To You it feels like an impersonal collection of TV tricks. Some of the plots as well as the terrible end-of-show morals would get this show hissed off the stage if it were a multi-camera show.
I don’t back up everything anotherwgamember says about Big Bang Theory but it definitely does take more chances than Modern Family, particularly in terms of the story structure. One reason Lorre has been successful is he’s been willing to disregard rigid screenwriting-class rules of how much story you need in every episode and how much conflict/resolution you need. Big Bang is willing to take small stories, play the characters off each other and not worry about having a contrived epiphany every week. Over-plotting was killing TV comedy; the more plot you try to cram into these tiny 20-minute running times the less time you have for the longer character interactions that make TV comedy memorable. (Also, obviously, if the characters are good that’s a reflection on the writing, not just the actors. Not even Jim Parsons can do this stuff unless the writers recognize his strengths and write to them.)
But it’s not just bias against Chuck Lorre or against multi-cam, since the Emmys also ignored Community, which while uneven produced some of the best comic characters of the year, or Parks and Recreation, which uses the mock-documentary format in a far more interesting and personal way than Modern Family. I think basically the Academy just has a very limited idea of what constitutes a good comedy: none of that nasty audience laughter, lots of plot, neat and tidy resolutions, and (except Curb) maybe a moral at the end. Hopefully the people trying original things will continue to do what they do.
You can say Modern Family is contrived or you can say that it actually has something to say, unlike The Big Bang Theory which is just nerd cliche after nerd cliche each week. The fact is The Big Bang Theory is nowhere near as sharp or even socially relevant as Modern Family is. Jim Parsons’ performances are very funny, but the writing is horribly mediocre. I wouldn’t have been averse to it receiving a nomination over Nurse Jackie, but why people are suddenly praising it as though it’s great comedy is beyond me.
Also in reference to your assertion that Parks & Recreation uses the mockumentary format in a more interesting way, I definitely disagree. I actually think the mockumentary format is one of the downfalls of P&R and completely unnecessary for its narrative. And I’m a huge fan of P&R.
My personal favorite is 30 Rock. Just had it’s best season yet. All of the nominees are deserving except for Glee. It’s amazing that we are all going to pretend that Glee is a good show. Especially with so many other deserving shows for that slot. The Sarah Silverman Program, Parks & Rec, Party Down, Cougar Town, Better Off Ted and even Weeds which has fallen recently is still far better than Glee.
It was obviously not eligible this year but we can start the complaining for next year already with Louie. It was almost instantly one of the top 3-4 comedies on tv and I’m sure has almost no shot at an Emmy nod.
Not one show listed rises to the laugh-out-loud status of Arrested Development, the industry’s gold standard which America was too stupid to watch.
Frankly, The Middle is as funny as Modern Family. And no, 30 Rock has not lost its funny…it’s LOL stuff every week. Same with The Office and Parks & Rec.