2011-2012 TV Season in Review Nominees

I'm calling half-hour shows comedies and hour-longs dramas even though a show like Nurse Jackie is usually more drama than comedy (although not as much this year).  But here are the nominations for 2011-12 TV Season in Review.

Nominees are in alphabetical order:

Best Comedy

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  (FX)
Life's Too Short (HBO)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family  (ABC)
Nurse Jackie  (Showtime)
Parks and Recreation  (NBC)

With all due respect to Girls and Veep, the new much-buzzed about HBO comedy block on Sunday nights following Game of Thrones, they are still too early in their careers (3 episodes in when I wrote this) to merit inclusion here but they are definitely starting out strong -- disjointed, too graphic (in the case of Girls), maybe a little too awkward (Veep) but both are very memorable and oftentimes awfully funny so I'm looking forward to what they will be doing in the coming weeks (and years... both have been granted 2nd seasons already).  As for the actually nominated shows, I'll say some words here about the ones that aren't going to win -- Curb and Sunny are showing significant signs of age (Curb particularly) but can still put out quality episodes (the Pakistani chicken was this year).  Life's Too Short was a frighteningly hilarious but short-lived BBC import (first season was only 7 episodes I believe, but it will be back for a second season) that featured some of the greatest laughs of any show this season -- Liam Neeson doing a comedy table read was frighteningly brilliant but also pretty much every perfectly embarrassing thing that Warwick Davis does was good.  And of course I love everything Ricky Gervais does. Which leaves the battle for Best Comedy between 2011 Vague Space Show of the Year -- Parks and Recreation -- and 2010 Vague Space Show of the Year -- Nurse Jackie.  Plus Modern Family and Louie.  This battle will go down to the wire -- Parks and Louie are done with their seasons and Modern Family is about to be done but Nurse Jackie is only halfway through hers.  We will find out the winner next week.

Best Drama

Game of Thrones  (HBO)
Ringer (CW)
Shameless  (Showtime)
True Blood  (HBO)

I don't watch a lot of hour-long series and these four are the only ones I watched through their seasons in 2011-2012.  Ringer was an embarrassing guilty pleasure that I started watching because Buffy was the star and kept watching for the sheer insanity of the evolving and sometimes entertaining plotlines.  True Blood has dipped in quality significantly since its first season and is almost camp at this point but... well, I did watch it.  The remaining two will battle for Best Drama of the year and both will be fighting with the best comedies above for the Vague Space Show of the Year.  Game of Thrones has been nothing short of brilliant so far this season.  Shameless was brilliant for the whole season.  This will be a tough call.

Best Reality Show

America's Got Talent (NBC)
The Next Food Network Star (Food)
The Next Iron Chef (Food)
Real World / Road Rules Challenge  (MTV)

I don't watch much reality television.  I didn't actually watch Amazing Race this season for the first time in a decade so it has thinned the bench here.  America's Got Talent just started last night and only makes the list because I have listened to Howard Stern talk about it nonstop for 4 months on his radio show.  So that leaves a couple entertaining Food Network series (I still watch a lot of Food Network) and the erstwhile glory of the Challenge. 

Best Actor, Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louie
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Warwick Davis, Life's Too Short
Charlie Day, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I don't know how Charlie wasn't on this list last year.  Ty Burrell is the defending champ and won easily.  But this year it's much less certain.  Louis CK, even playing himself, might be the favorite, although Warwick Davis was a revelation... plus there's Charlie, the best part of Sunny.

Best Actress, Comedy

Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Veep
Mary Louise-Parker, Weeds
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

This is the same as last year's list, with a little Elaine thrown in for good measure.  I think I chickened out and gave a split title to Poehler and Falco last year and may do that again.  The others are likely fighting for 3rd place.

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy

Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rob Lowe, Parks and Recreation
Rob McElhenny, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation
Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation

This is where Charlie was last year.  OK.  Well, I'm not going back and changing it.  So in this case "Mac" is a supporting actor while Charlie is not.  Just move on.  Looks like someone from Parks & Rec is going to win this in any case.

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy

Eve Best, Nurse Jackie
Alyson Hannigan, How I Met Your Mother
Rosamund Hanson, Life's Too Short
Rashida Jones, Parks and Recreation
Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation
Anna Deavere Smith, Nurse Jackie
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie

This will be a tough category and five of them were here last year.  The two new actresses to make the cut are Merritt Wever -- the spunky Chloe of Nurse Jackie who I couldn't stand when she was first introduced in Season 1 but have grown to absolutely love -- and Rosamund Hanson, who plays Warwick Davis's assistant and is either the greatest actress in the world or actually a "special needs" person simply playing herself.  And I'm really not sure which.  The entire "new dishwasher" scene was ridiculously hilarious.

Best Actor, Drama (Supporting or Main)

Stephen Dillane, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
William H. Macy, Shameless
Cameron Monaghan, Shameless
Alexander Skarsgard, True Blood
Jeremy Allen White, Shameless

So the lack of drama series that I watch means I need to lump together supporting and main character actors as well as load up on all the male stars of Game of Thrones and Shameless because really, who was I going to put on here from Ringer?  All are absolutely deserving, but I think it comes down to Dinklage vs. Macy in a battle of the main male stars of those shows.  And yes, there is a chance that two award winners this season will be little people, and bravo for that.

Best Actress, Drama (Supporting or Main)

Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Joan Cusack, Shameless
Louise Fletcher, Shameless
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Anna Paquin, True Blood
Emmy Rossum, Shameless
Chloe Webb, Shameless

Ditto the male category.  Except in this case we have three generations of psychotic Gallagher women (Louise Fletcher was brilliant as the fucked up grandmother of this fucked up clan) that help to show just why and how Frank (William H. Macy) became such a fucked up father that poor Fiona (Emmy Rossum) had to become an adult as a child. 

Best Late Night or Variety Program

The Colbert Report  (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart  (Comedy Central)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon  (NBC)
The Late Show with David Letterman  (CBS)
Real Time with Bill Maher  (HBO)

Same as last year.  Saturday Night Live almost snuck in there but it did not.  I'm not sure why I'm mentioning it then.  But ex-SNL member Fallon is very good, probably the best of the talk shows now.  Other than the ones on Comedy Central.

Best Late Night or Variety Host

Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report
Jimmy Fallon, Late Night
David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman
Seth Myers, Saturday Night Live
Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Just to mix things up, I'm calling Seth Myers a "host".  He does host Weekend Update.

Best Late Night Performer (Non-Host)

Samantha Bee, The Daily Show
Jason Jones, The Daily Show
Aasif Mandvi, The Daily Show
John Oliver, The Daily Show
Jason Sudeikas, Saturday Night Live
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

Last year it was all Daily Show stars but this year a couple SNL people snuck in there.

Best Overall Program

The Colbert Report  (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart  (Comedy Central)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family  (ABC)
Nurse Jackie  (Showtime)
Parks and Recreation  (NBC)
Shameless (Showtime)

Lots of possibilities here.  Actually, pretty much any of the above could end up winning in what has been a really strong year for American television.  Outside of Fox and CBS, of course -- the two highest rated networks -- on which I watch a combined single show of (How I Met Your Mother).  I guess I still refuse to follow the mainstream -- none of the shows on the list are actually "popular" -- Game of Thrones at about 3.5 million viewers a week is likely the highest rated.  But actually, Showtime, HBO, FX, and Comedy Central are among the cable stations putting on nonstop brilliant television -- and that's not even counting the shows that others are raving about that I never got the chance to catch up with this year, largely because, yeah, I don't watch many hour-long shows (sorry Breaking Bad and Homeland and Mad Men).  But this was a really strong year for television and last year's winner, Parks & Recreation, will be hard-pressed to repeat in this environment.

Next week I will announce the winners and I can say at this point, a solid 5 of the 8 above could win program of the year (including the two from comedy central).

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