By CNtributor: Katie Epperson
It’s that wonderful time of year again! For someone who watches television like sports, The Emmy’s are like my yearly sports draft. So of course, like every year, I awoke at 5:30 without the assistance of my alarm clock, ready to hear who was competing in this years battle royale…. (too harsh?) And really? It was more of the same…
Here are this years Emmy Nominations for Comedy:
COMEDY SERIES:
The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Girls, HBO
Louie, FX
Modern Family, ABC
30 Rock, NBC
Veep, HBO
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES:
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development, Netflix
Louis C.K., Louie, FX
Don Cheadle, House of Lies, Showtime
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes, Showtime
Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory, CBS
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock, NBC
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES:
Lena Dunham, Girls, HBO
Laura Dern, Enlightened, HBO
Tiny Fey, 30 Rock, NBC
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation, NBC
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep, HBO
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie, Showtime
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES:
Adam Driver, Girls, HBO
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family, ABC
Ed O’Neill, Modern Family, ABC
Ty Burrell, Modern Family, ABC
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live, NBC
Tony Hale, Veep, HBO
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES:
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Jane Lynch, Glee, Fox
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family, ABC
Julie Bowen, Modern Family, ABC
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie, Showtime
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock, NBC
Anna Chlumsky, Veep, HBO
VARIETY SERIES:
The Colbert Report, Comedy Central
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Comedy Central
Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, NBC
Real Time With Bill Maher, HBO
Saturday Night Live, NBC
WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES:
The Colbert Report, Comedy Central
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Comedy Central
Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC
Portlandia, IFC
Real Time With Bill Maher, HBO
Saturday Night Live, NBC
GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES:
Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Nathan Lane, Modern Family, ABC
Bobby Cannavale, Nurse Jackie, Showtime
Louis C.K., Saturday Night Live, NBC
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live, NBC
Will Forte, 30 Rock, NBC
GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES:
Molly Shannon, Enlightened, HBO
Dot-Marie Jones, Glee, Fox
Melissa Leo, Louie, FX
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live, NBC
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live, NBC
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock, NBC
WRITING FOR COMEDY SERIES:
Episodes, Showtime
Louie, FX
The Office, NBC
30 Rock ("Hogcock!"), NBC
30 Rock ("Last Lunch"), NBC
DIRECTING FOR COMEDY SERIES:
Girls, HBO
Glee, Fox
Louie, FX
Modern Family, ABC
30 Rock, NBC
This year we see something new in Netflix Original Content being nominated as we see with Jason Bateman’s well deserved nomination. There are also nominations for 30 Rock’s farewell season for Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, Will Forte, Elaine Stritch, Writing, and the series itself. Modern Family continues to make a good showing, with several nominations but is not dominating every category like in previous years. The show that I am most excited about is HBO’s Veep, with nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who now surpasses Lucille Ball’s record with 14 comedy Emmy nominations. Amy Poehler has once again been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Actress and I know we will all wait with bated breath come Emmy night for Amy’s due notice. But as Ron Swanson says “Awards are stupid." Bill Hader receives his second nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his final season of SNL, and SNL hosts sweep the Outstanding Guest categories with Louis CK, Justin Timberlake, Melissa McCarthy, and Kristen Wiig all getting nods.
And as your resident Late Night Correspondent here at CNU, let me just take a moment to go on a quick rant about this years Emmy nominations in the category of Variety; I do believe it is time that we all heed Jon Stewarts advice and stop giving him awards. I understand, The Daily Show is awesome! I watch it…daily. It’s great! But after having won the Emmy 9 years running, let’s all acknowledge that you can’t get better than The Daily Show and give some recognition to some of the other great efforts that are being made in the Variety category. For example, I really thought last year was Fallon’s year. The writing was incredible, they had great content, most of which went viral, and amazing guest segments whether it be History of Rap with JT or Bruce Springsteen Week. In Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’s 4 years, they really hit their stride last year. This year, The Colbert Report has also been incredible and was en pointe with the primaries, election season, and Super Pacs. Hopefully the Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences will give consideration to these great achievers in the Variety category.
Who will win? We have to tune in to find out September 22nd on CBS!
Katie Epperson is a comedy writer from Southern California. She has studied with The Groundlings, The Second City, and The Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. Currently she is finishing her degree at The New School University in New York.