Emmy Watch: Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 7:04PM
Abe Friedtanzer in Andrew Scott, Emmys, John Malkovich, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, comedy

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Can someone from Space Force, like John Malkovich, storm in with a relatively sparse field of players?

Comedy isn’t as crowded as drama this awards season, in part because more than half of last year’s nominees in the race aren’t eligible this time around, and there’s no wave of returning nominees set to automatically refill those slots. Henry Winkler, Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root will all need to wait for whenever Barry premieres its third season. Two-time winner Tony Hale (Veep) won’t be back because his show ended. That leaves just two potential consecutive returning nominees, and it would be a big surprise if either of them missed: defending champion Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method). They could easily be joined by a handful of eligible past nominees if voters are feeling nostalgic

The past four years...

 

There’s just one contender who was nominated the last time he was eligible, and that’s Louie Anderson (Baskets). He won on his first try, earned bids for the second and third seasons of the show, and might now return for the fourth and final installment. There are three other past winners who might make a return to the race: Alec Baldwin (Saturday Night Live), whose six episodes so far make his Donald Trump impression eligible, Ty Burrell (Modern Family), who was nominated for eight out of ten of the show’s seasons, and Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family), who contended for the show’s first three seasons, winning twice. Their previously nominated costars Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), and Ed O’Neill (Modern Family), are also eligible, as is Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine). And don’t forget seven-time nominee and past winner Sean Hayes (Will and Grace), who last earned a bid for the conclusion of the show’s initial run back in 2006.  

Will there be a 'sorry about last season' nomination for Andrew Scott?

Plugging in past nominees would hardly be the most interesting way to populate this category. Andrew Scott (Fleabag) would have had an easy time getting in if his show had aired this season instead of last year! Interestingly, he’s actually eligible for Modern Love since Amazon decided to submit it is a comedy series and seemingly chose performers at random to compete in supporting or guest. I wouldn’t count on him to show up, even to make up for his snub last year. It’s likeliest that popular actors from returning shows who haven’t yet been nominated will be at the top of the list this year. Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) is an obvious choice whose show broke through in the lead acting races last year, though some readers of this site have argued that he should be billed as a lead. It’s hard to believe that William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) has never been nominated, but there’s little to suggest voters will notice anyone aside from Ted Danson again this year. Michael Zegen (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) has been doing great work on his show for three years now, but he’ll likely be eclipsed by two-time Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), who Amazon has confirmed will be competing in this category, and maybe even by another costar, Leroy McClain, who played Shy Baldwin. Curiously, Kevin Pollak wasn’t submitted by Amazon, but perhaps five men from the same show would be excessive. 

There really aren’t too many contenders from new shows, with John Malkovich (Space Force) a possibility for a late-breaking show no one’s seen yet, and Josh Gad (Avenue 5) a distant possibility if voters want some Armando Iannucci absurdity. It’s also possible that Peter Gallagher (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) could garner votes for his sentimental portrayal of the title character’s ailing father – and he sings and dances too! 

So, where does that leave us? Without much clarity, but this category gave three nominations to one show last year, so why not predict a similar swerve this time around.

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).