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The nominations for the 68th Emmy Awards are still a couple months away — July 14th, mark your calendars — but it is NEVER too early to start making sure that voters don’t forget the best shows and performances of the year. For the next few weeks, then, we’re going to make sure that some potentially overlooked accomplishments don’t get missed. The Emmys, more than any other award, can fall back on inertia, nominating the same stuff year-in and year-out. The idea with these posts is to shake up the status quo. And shake it we will.
And yes, we realize that there are only six possible nominees per category. So we’re technically setting the Emmys up for failure by demanding ten. We’re incorrigible that way.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
It’s so hard to remember what a powerhouse category this was back in the 1980s, when men like Ted Danson, John Goodman, Michael J. Fox, and Bob Newhart were battling it out for the trophy. These days, Lead Actor in a Comedy is reliably one of the weakest categories on the ballot. But it doesn’t have to be.
Last Year’s Nominees
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent (WINNER)
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Louis CK, Louie
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
William H. Macy, Shameless
Last year’s crop was a marked improvement over recent years, with Tambor, Anderson, and Forte providing much-needed fresh air for the entrenched nominees from Showtime. This year, both Louie and LeBlanc are ineligible, so there will definitely be a few openings at least. So who will step in?
Rob Lowe ('The Grinder')
We’re only a few days removed from the news that The Grinder didn’t get picked up for a second season. Generally, dead-show-walking options don’t ten to do too terribly well with the Emmys. Here’s hoping they reconsider in the case of Lowe, who is so underrated as a comedic actor. He plays Dean with the perfect combination of obliviousness and sweetness. And a nomination would also be a nice nod to his underrewarded work on Parks and Recreation.
Fred Savage ('The Grinder')
While Lowe is the flashier of The Grinder‘s two leads, Savage is the steady hand and likeable center who makes the whole thing work. It’s a deceptively tricky role, and Savage nails it. It would also be his return to this category for the first time since 1990.
Rob Delaney ('Catastrophe')
Delaney is already well known in the comedy community, but after two seasons of the relationship comedy Catastrophe, he deserves to be just as well known among TV audiences. Here’s hoping the shine that ‘Transparent’ brought to Amazon last year ends up trickling down to a great show like Catastrophe.
Chris Geere ('You're the Worst')
In TV’s best current exchange program, Rob Delaney is making one of television’s best British relationship comedies, while Chris Geere is killing it on one of television’s best American relationship comedies. In You’re the Worst‘s second season, Jimmy runs up against the brick wall of Gretchen’s mental illness, and Geere keeps a great handle on Jimmy’s humanity while keeping him as silly as ever.
Thomas Middleditch ('Silicon Valley')
We’ve already gushed about Middleditch’s performance on Silicon Valley, but it bears repeating: he’s a genius. Just this past week, he delivered a desk joke that might be the funniest thing on TV all season. Silicon Valley has broken through into the ranks of Outstanding Comedy Series nominees; it’s time for its actors to get the recognition they deserve.
Aziz Ansari ('Master of None')
Ansari is the contender on this list most likely to make it onto the Emmy ballot. Master of None was a huge critical hit, and his authorship over it makes him a prime candidate for recognition. Ansari’s strengths as an actor are maybe not as comprehensive as his competition on this list, but the same holds true for Louis CK, and that hasn’t held him back.
Bill Hader ('Documentary Now')
Hader nabbed a couple nominations for his work on Saturday Night Live, so there’s a good chance he’s already on voters’ radar. And the Emmys have certainly been friendlier to stranger fare in these categories in recent years. What better occasion, then, to recognize Hader’s peerless character work on this mockumentary anthology?
Billy Eichner ('Difficult People')
Even after knowing how funny Eichner was via Billy on the Street, Eichner still managed to be a pleasant surprise playing a character on Difficult People. He’s fantastic at sneaking a barbed line into a scene, and even better, he took care in presenting a real character underneath the barrage of pop-culture bile.
[Where to stream Difficult People]
Randall Park ('Fresh Off the Boat')
Back when Park was on Veep, he was among the more unheralded comedic talents working on TV. He plays the sitcom dad to perfection on Fresh Off the Boat, balancing the requisite foolishness with an earnest striving that is impossible not to root for.
Andy Samberg ('Brooklyn Nine-Nine')
The Emmys don’t need any reminders about Andy Samberg. He hosted the show last year. Yet he’s never been nominated for his Brooklyn Nine-Nine work, which is such a shame. He brings fantastic energy and welcome strangeness to a role that could easily play boringly brash.
