KT's 2012 Emmy Nomination Wishlist

Tomorrow morning Nick Offerman and some other lady that I sort of recognize will announce the official nominees for the 2012 Emmy Awards which will televise on September 23rd.  The Emmy's are my favorite award show.  I've grown to hate the Academy Awards and the Grammy's for different reasons, but the Emmy's have a sense of comfortability and a casual attitude that I find endearing.  It's not as pretensious as The Oscars, and it's not filled with as much crap as the Grammy's.  Jimmy Kimmel is the host, and I personally find him to be rather funny and a good emcee.

DISCLAIMER
These are not my predictions.  These are who I would pick.  I haven't seen every show, so for those it'll be based on word of mouth and critical reviews.  Yes, it'll be flooded with Parks and Recreation.  I'll try to be as biased as possible.  Let's get it.

LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
*Last year's winner: Melissa McCarthy from Mike and Molly

KT's Ballot
Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation
Tina Fey in 30 Rock
Kaitlin Olsen in It's Always Sunny...
Julie Bowen in Modern Family
Lena Dunham in Girls
Christina Applegate in Up All Night

Tina Fey is grandfathered (or grandmothered) in.  I don't watch 30 Rock, but I eventually will.  I also don't watch New Girl and Zooey Deschanel will get a lot of love from Emmy voters.  Lena Dunham has been called this year's Louie CK, and while I don't neccessarily find her hilarious, I get that she definitely has something and should be nominated.  I can't see Applegate getting a nod here, but she was fantastic in Up All Night.  I think she's funnier than Will Arnett in that show.  Julie Bowen might not even be a candidate for this award but i'm putting her there anyway.  Anyone who watched Modern Family knows Phil and Claire are the rock of that show, and Claire is definitely better than Sofia Vergara.  I've beamed about my love for what Dee Reynolds did last season in It's Always Sunny.  I can't talk enough about how great she was, but she'll get overlooked as It's Always Sunny always seems to do.  The winner better be Amy Poehler.  Her progression as Leslie Knope has continued to incline as the series has gone on.  She's my winner, although I expect they'll give it to the fat chick from Mike and Molly or Elaine from Veep.  Meh! Meh! Ooooh double meh!

LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
*Last Year's Winner: Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory

KT's Ballot
Louie C.K. in Louie
Joel McHale in Community
Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm
Adam Scott in Parks and Recreation
Rob McElhenny in It's Always Sunny...
Ty Burrell in Modern Family

Rob McElhenny is on the list only because of the balls to pull off what will be known as Fat Mac.  He doesn't stand a chance on the actual ballot.  Last year's winner for supporting actor Ty Burrell should be in this category, but he'll again be relagated to the supporting role. Joel McHale and Adam Scott definitely took their characters further, and they are two of my favorite current actors but I can't really give them the nod either.  I've seen very few episodes of Curb, but I know Larry David deserves a nod over Hank Moody, Kenny Powers, Ed Helms, or any of the guys from The Big Bang Theory.  My winnner here is Louie C.K., and it's not really that close.  I guess you could make the argument that he's not really acting because that show feels so real, but I think he will win and he'd be my choice if I was given out the award.  That's high praise, considering the double man crush I have on Joel McHale and Adam Scott.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
*Last year's winner: Julie Bowen in Modern Family

KT's Ballot
Gillian Jacobs in Community
Aubrey Plaza in Parks and Recreation
Kristen Wiig in Saturday Night Live
Jane Lynch in Glee
Alison Brie in Community
Cobie Smulders in How I Met Your Mother

I obviously don't watch Glee, but Jane Lynch is awesome in pretty much everything so i'm counting her in.  Technically Julie Bowen and Kaitlin Olsen would be up for this category, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me because they should both be considered leads in my opinion.  To replace them i'm having to dig deep.  After digging deep i've come to realize that i'm probably not very well certified for this category.  I'm rolling with my girls from Community because they were awesome, specifically Gillian Jacobs who definitely outperformed Alison Brie and Annie's Boobs this season.  Cobie Smulders and Kristen Wiig get consistency votes, but my winner this year is Aubrey Plaza.  People that know me are well aware of my undying love for her, but she really was amazing in this season of Parks and Rec.  She's gone from an attitudinal intern, to a loving wife and a bit of a problem solver on the show.  She's shown some heart.  She was really good and she gets my vote for the win.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
*Last year's winner: Ty Burrell of Modern Family

KT's BALLOT
Nick Offerman in Parks and Recreation
Eric Stonestreet in Modern Family
Tony Hale in Veep
Jim Rash in Community
Donald Glover in Community
Bill Hader in Saturday Night Live

Ty Burrell will be up for this category again for some reason.  I feel like it's pretty clear that he should be defined as a lead, but I could be wrong.  Hell, i'm probably wrong.  As much as i'd like to say Ron Swanson should be the winner here, he really shouldn't.  It was sort of a down year for Ron Swanson.  A down year for Ron Swanson is better than most years for other actors though.  Tony Hale basically played Buster Bluth on Veep. Eric Stonestreet continues to be extremely gay, but extremely funny on Modern Family.  Two guys from Community stepped their game up as their national recognition has gotten higher.  Jim Rash, after winning an Academy Award for helping right The Descendants, was hilarious in his role as the Dean of Greendale Community College.  Donald Glover now has a legit rap career as Childish Gambino, and he was funnier than ever as Troy Barnes in Community.  My winner though, goes to Bill Hader.  With Jason Sudekis possibly leaving, Bill Hader has put himself in prime position to be the male lead on SNL next season.  Stephon, Clint Eastwood, Generic Game Show Host...you name it, he probably has done it.  Bill Hader gets my vote.

BEST COMEDY SERIES
*Last year's winner: Modern Family

KT's Ballot
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Community
Louie
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Curb Your Enthusiasm

I'm sure 30 Rock, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, and Glee will all get nominations.  I don't think The Big Bang Theory is funny at all, but I know a ton of people who do.  Glee is more of a drama than a comedy I hear, but I really can't be certain of that.  The Office had a down year, and pretty much everyone will vouch for that.  I thought New Girl was just stupid more than funny, and I haven't seen enough of Happy Endings to know, but I hear it really got funny after the first few episodes.  Curb makes the list because it's always funny.  I'm not a P1 of the show, but I know it's great.  Modern Family and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia were great again, but probably a notch below their prior form.  Louie may be the best thing going overall, and could almost even be ruled a drama.  Community had a very good first half, but sort of tapered off on the back end.  That leaves Parks and Recreation, the show that continues to get better and better.  It's better than The Office in it's prime.  How it still goes largely unnoticed will forever be a conundrum to me. The show is damn good.  

Gotta speed things up now.

LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
*Last year's winner: Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife

KT's Ballot
Clare Danes in Homeland
Elizabeth Moss in Mad Men
Jessica Pare in Mad Men
Emmy Rossum in Shameless
Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife
Katey Sagal in Sons of Anarchy

KT's WINNER: CLARE DANES in HOMELAND

LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
*Last year's winner: Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights

KT's Ballot
Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad
Jon Hamm in Mad Men
Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire
Damian Lewis in Homeland
Timothy Olyphant in Justified
Jeremy Irons in The Borgias

KT's WINNER: BRYAN CRANSTON in BREAKING BAD

This was a tough one between Cranston and Hamm.  "I am the one who knocks" helps take the cake though.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
*Last year's winner: Margo Martindale in Justified

KT's Ballot
Christina Hendricks in Mad Men
Kelly Macdonald in Boardwalk Empire
Morena Baccarin in Homeland
Anna Gunn in Breaking Bad
Kiernan Shipka in Mad Men
Lena Headey in Game of Thrones

KT'S WINNER: ANNA GUNN in BREAKING BAD

This was down to Gunn and Macdonald.  As much as I hate Skyler, I played into account how great of a job she did in making me hate her.

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
*Last year's winner: Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones

KT's Ballot
Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones
Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad
Giancarlo Esposito in Breaking Bad
Mandy Patinkin in Homeland
Michael Pitt in Boardwalk Empire
Johnathan Banks in Breaking Bad

Holy crap, what a category.  Dinklage, Paul, Esposito, Pitt, and Banks are all a step ahead of Patinkin.  I'm going with Aaron Paul.  He took Jesse Pinkman to new depths.  Everybody else was awesome.  If I had to rank this category it'd be Paul, Pitt, Esposito, Dinklage, and Banks.  Man, this is tough though.  Yeah. Okay. I'm going with Aaron Paul.  Yeah Bitch, Magnets!

KT'S WINNER: AARON PAUL

BEST DRAMA SERIES
*Last year's winner: Mad Men

KT's Ballot
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
Justified

KT'S WINNER: BREAKING BAD

The others are awesome, but that season 4 of Breaking Bad had me trembling.