2015 Nominees:
Anthony Anderson for ABC's black-ish
Don Cheadle for Showtime's House of Lies
Louis C.K. for FX's Louie
Will Forte for FOX's The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc for Showtime's Episodes
William H. Macy for Showtime's Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor for Amazon's Transparent (WINNER)
This category had seven nominees last year. And yet, the field still didn't have room for four time winner Jim Parsons. Voters still embraced the three Showtime guys. But they were done with Parsons. That was weird. There will be at least one open slot this year - with Louis C.K. and Matt LeBlanc not eligible since there shows didn't air this year. Parsons could easily slide back into the race. That would be boring and predictable though. It's much more excited to talk about the other contenders who have a shot. If voters are missing Louie, they could nominate Aziz Ansari for his phenomenal Netflix show, Master of None. Or this could be the year where Silicon Valley breaks into the acting categories and not just the series, writing and directing fields. Or Gael Garcia Bernal could surprise after a Golden Globe win earlier this year. Or name recognition could carry Zach Galifianakis, Ashton Kutcher and Patrick Stewart to nods. If the voters really want to shake things up, not all of last year's nominees could return. Cheadle always feels like he could drop off the list for someone more deserving. But he has been nominated for every season of House of Lies so far and will likely get a final season boost. I'm expecting this to be a bigger year of nominations for black-ish. So, Anthony Anderson is pretty safe. So is last year's winner Jeffrey Tambor who continues to do transcendent work on Transparent. William H. Macy only got nominated once Shameless made the transition to comedy - though that was completely due to name recognition. This was a considerably weaker season of the show too. But I doubt voters really care about that. Will Forte could be vulnerable as well because The Last Man on Earth doesn't seem to have as much buzz this year - though it still had a pretty solid season. So voters really could go a number of ways in this race. They could completely overhaul things and embrace new blood. Or they could once again fall into a familiar pattern.
Anthony Anderson for ABC's black-ish
Don Cheadle for Showtime's House of Lies
Louis C.K. for FX's Louie
Will Forte for FOX's The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc for Showtime's Episodes
William H. Macy for Showtime's Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor for Amazon's Transparent (WINNER)
This category had seven nominees last year. And yet, the field still didn't have room for four time winner Jim Parsons. Voters still embraced the three Showtime guys. But they were done with Parsons. That was weird. There will be at least one open slot this year - with Louis C.K. and Matt LeBlanc not eligible since there shows didn't air this year. Parsons could easily slide back into the race. That would be boring and predictable though. It's much more excited to talk about the other contenders who have a shot. If voters are missing Louie, they could nominate Aziz Ansari for his phenomenal Netflix show, Master of None. Or this could be the year where Silicon Valley breaks into the acting categories and not just the series, writing and directing fields. Or Gael Garcia Bernal could surprise after a Golden Globe win earlier this year. Or name recognition could carry Zach Galifianakis, Ashton Kutcher and Patrick Stewart to nods. If the voters really want to shake things up, not all of last year's nominees could return. Cheadle always feels like he could drop off the list for someone more deserving. But he has been nominated for every season of House of Lies so far and will likely get a final season boost. I'm expecting this to be a bigger year of nominations for black-ish. So, Anthony Anderson is pretty safe. So is last year's winner Jeffrey Tambor who continues to do transcendent work on Transparent. William H. Macy only got nominated once Shameless made the transition to comedy - though that was completely due to name recognition. This was a considerably weaker season of the show too. But I doubt voters really care about that. Will Forte could be vulnerable as well because The Last Man on Earth doesn't seem to have as much buzz this year - though it still had a pretty solid season. So voters really could go a number of ways in this race. They could completely overhaul things and embrace new blood. Or they could once again fall into a familiar pattern.
So now, here's my thoughts on the actors most likely to be nominated for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:
- Jeffrey Tambor for Amazon's Transparent
- Anthony Anderson for ABC's black-ish
- Don Cheadle for Showtime's House of Lies
- Will Forte for FOX's The Last Man on Earth
- Aziz Ansari for Netflix's Master of None
- Thomas Middleditch for HBO's Silicon Valley
And now, for some serious threats that could break into the list:
- Gael Garcia Bernal for Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle
- William H. Macy for Showtime's Shameless
- Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki for CBS' The Big Bang Theory
- Patrick Stewart of Starz's Blunt Talk
- Zach Galifianakis for FX's Baskets
- Ashton Kutcher for Netflix's The Ranch
- Jerrod Carmichael for NBC's The Carmichael Show
- Tommy Dewey for Hulu's Casual
- Fred Armisen for IFC's Portlandia
- Bill Hader for IFC's Documentary Now!
- Denis Leary for FX's Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll
- Dwayne Johnson for HBO's Ballers
- Rob Lowe and Fred Savage for FOX's The Grinder
- Jason Jones for TBS' The Detour
- Andy Samberg for FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Some considerable long-shots:
- Randall Park for ABC's Fresh Off the Boat
- John Stamos for FOX's Grandfathered
- Billy Eichner for Hulu's Difficult People
- James Brolin for CBS' Life in Pieces
- David Cross and Bob Odenkirk for Netflix's W/ Bob & David
- Will Arnett for Netflix's Flaked
- Bruce Campbell for Starz's Ash vs. Evil Dead
- Jim Gaffigan for TV Land's The Jim Gaffigan Show
- Jay Baruchel for FXX's Man Seeking Woman
- Rob Delaney for Amazon's Catastrophe
- Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon for CBS' The Odd Couple
- Chris Geere for FXX's You're the Worst
And now, just some colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:
- Andrew Daly for Comedy Central's Review
- Greg Poehler for Audience's You Me Her
- Paul Rust for Netflix's Love
- Craig Roberts for Amazon's Red Oaks
- Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi for PBS' Vicious
- Jessie T. Usher and RonReaco Lee for Starz's Survivor's Remorse
- Jay R. Ferguson for ABC's The Real O'Neals
- David Cross for IFC's Todd Margaret
- Ben Feldman for NBC's Superstore
- Ken Jeong for ABC's Dr. Jen
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know in the comments below!
