My Predictions for Who Should Win for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:
- Jeffrey Tambor in Amazon's Transparent - "The Letting Go": After a lifetime of many great and memorable performances, Tambor's work on Transparent may have been his best yet. It was so phenomenal and transformative. He tackled this incredibly damaged and complex woman and gave her so much life without fully escaping from the harshness of the world around her. It was one of the best performances of the entire year.
- Will Forte in FOX's The Last Man on Earth - "Alive in Tucson": The FOX end-of-the-world comedy was the most original comedy to air on a broadcast network in years. The pilot set a very distinctive tone that was fresh, smart and amusing. Sure, the rest of the first season was problematic. But so much of the show worked because of Forte's wonderful performance.
- Louis C.K. in FX's Louie - "Bobby's House": C.K.'s episode is very strong. It's also nominated for writing and fully deserves it too. He is great in it. He has such great moments of emotion and comedy with Pamela Adlon and Robert Kelly.
- Anthony Anderson in ABC's black-ish - "Sex, Lies and Vasectomies": I like Anderson's show but I don't love it. There's really only a few elements that I actually enjoy - with his character going back and forth on said enjoyment. At times, it's a very amusing and funny show. But I'm not sure I ever thought that came from his lead performance. His episode is quite good though.
- William H. Macy in Showtime's Shameless - "A Night to Remem... Wait, What?": Macy's episode submission features a story for his character that I absolutely hated when it aired. It's a Hangover parody without a lot of actual fun. It's simply karma happening once again to keep Frank from getting what he wants. That grew stale so many seasons ago.
- Matt LeBlanc in Showtime's Episodes - "Episode Five": LeBlanc's show has always been divisive amongst the critic community. Some love it and some hate it. I got no amusement from the first episode and have never checked back in.
- Don Cheadle in Showtime's House of Lies - "It's a Box Inside a Box Inside a Box": Cheadle is in another show where the very first episode did nothing for me but it continues to exist outside of my perspective - to the enjoyment of someone, I assume.
My Predictions for Who Will Win for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:
- Jeffrey Tambor in Amazon's Transparent - "The Letting Go": This seems like a two person race between Tambor and Forte. Both of their shows go head to head in a number of categories. It will depend on which way that the voters want to go. If they go for the best performance, Tambor will win....
- Will Forte in FOX's The Last Man on Earth - "Alive in Tucson": But if the voters want to reward the funniest performance, than Forte will win. It's a question of which way they will swing in a year where the voting is completely different.
- Louis C.K. in FX's Louie - "Bobby's House": Every year, he gets nominated as an actor, writer and director. He has won several trophies. But never in this category. With the uncertainty of when the show might be coming back, the voters may feel the need to reward him now or risk never doing it.
- Matt LeBlanc in Showtime's Episodes - "Episode Five": Unlike the other Showtime leading men in this category, the voters actually seem to watch his show and not just check his name because of recognition. Sure, that hasn't led to a win yet. But he's much more competitive in this field than one might think.
- William H. Macy in Showtime's Shameless - "A Night to Remem... Wait, What?": Name recognition gets him into the race. That typically doesn't led to a win through he is given a very deliberately comedic story in his episode that might play better than his tape a year ago if voters are looking for funny in this category.
- Anthony Anderson in ABC's black-ish - "Sex, Lies and Vasectomies": I would feel more comfortable about him being a dark horse threat for the win if the family comedy was nominated elsewhere on the ballot.
- Don Cheadle in Showtime's House of Lies - "It's a Box Inside a Box Inside a Box": He remains the only person to be nominated for the show. If he somehow won, it would be the biggest upset of the night.
Do you agree or disagree with my reasonings? Who do you think should and will win in this category? Speculate below in the comments!
