Billie Piper, Secret Diary of a Callgirl: Not only does the one-time pop chanteuse and Doctor Who sidekick score big laughs with the most subtle of punch lines, but she carries the series' moody, meditative weight solely on her shoulders. Of course, I'd give her an Emmy just for convincing me her character's boyfriend was an unreasonable lout simply because he dumped her after catching her in bed with another man, and discovering she was a prostitute in the process.
Kyle Bornheimer, Worst Week: So what if his show was a little spotty (and ultimately a little canceled)? Bornheimer's frantic energy gave a jolt of hilarious unpredictability to Worst Week's sometimes formulaic guy-tries-to-please-in-laws shtick. Whether his Sam Briggs was setting a classic car on fire or urinating on a carefully prepared goose dinner, you could practically feel his panic sweat dripping from the TV set.
Eva Longoria-Parker, Desperate Housewives: You may find her off-camera persona off-putting, but who cares? There's no denying Longoria is the funniest woman on ABC's Sunday-night lineup. Her Gaby Solis has always been a hoot, but she's funnier than ever paired in battle against her spoiled beast of a daughter, Juanita, a rival she can neither run from nor destroy, and that's made her truly Emmy-worthy.
Okay, there you have my three Emmy underdogs for nominations in the Lead Actor and Actress in a Comedy categories, now it's time to sound off in the comments section with your must-see nominee lists for those divisions, and why you're picking 'em. (If your brain needs a jump start on the major contenders, check out Gold Derby's inside-track lists for the ladies and the gents!) And remember: If your favorites don't rate with Emmy this year — and if you make a strong enough case for 'em on our message boards — they might wind up with a nomination in EW.com's second annual EWwy Awards. Hey, it's better than going home with a box of Rice-a-Roni and some Turtle Wax!
Related stories:
Michael Ausiello's picks in the Lead Comedy Acting categories
'Worst Week': Yep, I enjoyed the timeslot buddy of 'Two and a Half Men'
2008's EWwy winners!
Comments (1-30) of 154 Add your comment
love your picks slizzy. and i’m so glad you’re doing this and not aussi what’s his face.
Jordana Spiro in My Boys would be on my love list. She’s the center of that show – one of the consistently funny shows out there.
Yvonne Strahovski of CHUCK totally deserves a nod. She, more than any other characte, is responsible for bridging the super-spy aspects of the show with those of Chuck’s “normal” life, and she pulls it off amazingly.
Yvonne Strahovski of CHUCK totally deserved a nod. She plays the character that is primarily responsible for bridging the super-spy aspect of the show with Chuck’s own “normal” life, and she does so with amazing grace and skill.
I say give props to the USA folks. Jeffery Donovan in Burn Notice is quick witted along with his quick reflexes.
If we’re talking underdogs, I fully back Eva and Cobie Smulders from How I Met Your Mother. They’re hilarious and always make my night.
Portia de Rossi for BETTER OFF TED.
JAMES RODAY FOR PSYCH — please! He is so underrated and overlooked for far too long. He is the original Mentalist!
Anna Friel from Pushing Daisies! She was great in this sadly short lived show and it deserves all the recognition it can get!
James Roday must be nominated for Psych. Do they have to nominate the same people year in and year out especially while ignoring one of the best — roday in Psych is hilarious.
Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke each deserve a nomination this year for giving true Scrubs fans the closure we were so robbed of by NBC. Not only are they both consistently hilarious, but they give this sitcom the much needed heart that is absent on 90% of current rating winners. Yeah, House lovers, I’m talking to you. How many actors can pull off JD’s genius daydreams and remain completely believable at the same time? Braff should get more than just a nom. The slap in the face an Emmy win would mean for the folks over at NBC would be just an added bonus.
I’m just picking a few underdogs for my picks (obviously I want to see The Office and 30 Rock castmembers get nominations, but those are no-brainers; I’m not worried about them cuz they’ve got nominations in the bag already).
For Lead Actor in a Comedy, I think Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) definitely deserves a nomination. I would also love to see Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted) receive a nomination.
For Lead Actress in a Comedy, I’m sticking with the same two comedies. I’m hoping Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) can garner a nomination, as well as Portia de Rossi (Better Off Ted). Portia de Rossi is absolutely hilarious in BOT. I’m thinking she should even win the award. But is she being considered for lead or supporting? I would assume she’s a lead role.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Zachary Levi for “Chuck.” Not only was he overlooked by the Emmys last year, but by the EWwys too! How is that possible?! The guy is totally hilarious and charming every week. That’s more than Charlie Sheen and Tony Shalhoub accomplish… combined! Emmy, I say.
I’m going to go for the major underdogs here:
Portia de Rossi (BETTER OFF TED) – I completely forgot how great of an actress she is since Arrested Development. Now, with a new character, she’s even funnier than before. I look forward to seeing her on screen. Brilliant comic timing.
Lee Pace/Anna Friel (PUSHING DAISIES) – No need for much explanation here.
Zach Braff/Sarah Chalke (SCRUBS) – Come on, the show has now ended. How long do they have to wait to acknowledge the cast’s talent?
I would love to see JIM PARSONS get nominated for Lead Actor in a Comedy. Not only has his Sheldon become the new Niles, but he is now one of the most interesting characters on TV. You gotta give the man props for that.
This is probably in the wrong category, but I don’t care. COBIE SMULDERS is so good as Robin. Usually now most women characters in sitcoms have been getting stereotypical roles. But with her, and Alyson Hannigan, it shows that you need to give the girls some credit. She plays Robin with great enthusiasm, plus I love it when she’s a Robin Sparkles. Plus she’s totally hot, but that’s not the point… but she is. Sorry.
Is Eva really such a diva off-camera? I’ve heard the opposite…
Anyway, I vote Lee Pace for Pushing Daisies even though he took himself out of the running. Heck, I’ll throw in Anna Friel for lead actress too!
And Better Off Ted’s Jay Harrington deserves nod as well, as well as Portia de Rossi (although I think she’d fit into Supporting).
And I have a strange feeling that Toni Colette will pull an upset for the very good, United States of Tara.
And I’d most definitely renominate the 4 leading Desperate Housewives back.
Lee Pace
Jim Parsons
Toni Collette
I really agree with with your Kyle Bornheimer. I thought he did a great job on Worst Week.
My other underdog picks would include: James Roday for Psych, Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory, Clark Gregg for The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Adam Scott for Party Down.
Adam Scott for Party Down- Perfect Straight man
Danny McBride for Eastbound and Down- Should get a nod just for that hair
Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation- She is holding that show together nicely.
Alexandra Wentworth for Head Case- This show has been overshadowed by Party down but is just as funny.
umm.. hello?! yvonne strahovski (sarah) on Chuck and everybody from eli stone. such a shame that show was cancelled:(
I second Kyle Bornheimer. I only watched a few episodes but every one of the show’s laughs were because of his priceless deliveries. I’d love to see Eastbound and Down’s Danny McBride get a nom too if only to the great scenes of him listening to his own autobiography-on-tape. And this is a little out there, but I think Spencer Grammer is fantastic on Greek; great timing, great physicality, and she’s really good at balancing the show’s sentimental heart and clever, subversive humor.
PSYCHED to see Zachary Levi on the Front-runners list in the Inside track list you provided! Chuck has an all-around great cast and it would be great for someone aside from viewers to start noticing that.
Lee Pace all the way! The man is sublime in Pushing Daisies.
Jim Parsons and Zachary Levi also deserve nods.
Ryan Kwanten (True Blood)- Hes the heart of the show, evoking intense sympathy and uproarious laughter within the same scene.
Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) – She plays a conceited, conniving, spoiled brat and yet she steals every scene as the standout female lead… sorry Blake
Shawn Hatosy (Southland) – A compelling, gritty, realistic performance. Hatosy was dealt some of Southland’s best storytelling this season and he hit it out of the ball park.
Jessica Lowndes (90210) – a LONG shot, but this girl encapsulates how much this show turned around in its freshman season. When the creative direction took a turn for the better she made the most of it and outshined shows headliners Shenae Grims and Annalyne McCord.
Marcia Cross gets my vote. She’s long overdue for Emmy gold for her turn as Bree.
I agree that Danny McBride, Jim Parsons, Adam Scott, Colbie Smolders, and Kyle Bornheimer are all good choices. I’d also like suggest Steven Pasquale for a supporting emmy. His show (Rescue Me) is justly considered a drama, but he is one of the funniest actors on tv. Nobody plays such a uniquely oblivious stupid character like he does. I’m not sure if Rescue Me is eligible, since only a handful of episodes have aired this season, and last season was skipped due to the writers strike. But Steven and Dennis Leary deserve nods, and wins.
BECKI NEWTON IN UGLY BETTY.
OhmyGod this lady is amazing. They always nominate America and Vanessa but never poor Becki.
Gotta give some love to Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives) — way overdue– and Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck). Also, Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) and Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice).