Jmunney's Blog

Apparently, some television actors don’t know how big or small their roles are on their shows.  Or they just don’t care.  Or they prefer to be in the category that they think has easier competition.  Whatever the reasons, every year, there are lead performers who submit in the supporting category, or vice versa.  I scoured the ballot (http://www.emmys.tv/ballots/2013) to find this year’s offenders. Here they are, listed in order of “Definitely Wrong Category” to “Probably The Right Category But An Argument Could Be Made Otherwise.”

-Amy Schumer (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for Inside Amy Schumer) – The show’s named after you, you’re in every sketch, and at least 90% of the sketches revolve around your character…
-Anthony Jeselnik (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for The Jeselnik Offensive) – Umm, again, look at your show title.
-Rob Lowe (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for Parks and Recreation) – Rob Lowe, you are not a lead.  You’re just not.  There are four others (Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones) with bigger roles than yours, two of whom submitted as Supporting.  And there are three others (Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt) whose roles are at least as big as yours.
-Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein/Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for Portlandia/Key and Peele) – Guys, these are your shows.  Keegan and Jordan, it’s your eponymous show.  You can support each other as co-leads.  Also, Fred, you’re competing with yourself on the Supporting ballot (SNL) instead of spreading yourself around!
-Portia De Rossi (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for Arrested Development) – I don’t know if you could really say that anyone had enough screen time in AD S4 to be considered a lead.  We can accept Jason Bateman, because everything more or less still goes through Michael, but other than that, I don’t see the justification.
-Sarah Wayne Callies (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for The Walking Dead) – When you die about halfway through the season, that kind of makes it hard to be a lead.
-Katie Cassidy (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for Arrow) – This is not a show with multiple leads.
-Sarah Paulson (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for American Horror Story: Asylum) – There were a lot of characters in AHS: Asylum, and somehow just about everything went through Lana.
-Jim Beaver (submitted as Guest instead of Supporting for Justified) – The whole seasonlong storyarc kind of revolved around him.
-Jake Johnson (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for New Girl) – Yeah, his screen time was aplenty, but this is still Zooey Deschanel’s show.
-Adam Scott (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for Parks and Recreation) – Despite being the husband of the main character, I would argue he is at most the third most significant character.
-Freddie Highmore (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for Bates Motel) – Apparently the focus is more on Mrs. Bates, but I’m hearing this is just the latest example of a child actor apparently not being old enough to enter in the lead field.
-Jessica Lange (submitted as Lead instead of Supporting for American Horror Story: Asylum) – She could maybe make a case as a secondary lead.
-Mike O’Malley (submitted as Guest instead of Supporting for Justified) – He may have been in only half the episodes, but he was the season’s main villain.
-Walton Goggins (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for Justified) – He had about as much screen time as Timothy Olyphant.  Who says the antagonist can’t be considered a lead?
-Mads Mikkelsen (submitted as Supporting instead of Lead for Hannibal) – I haven’t started watching yet, but I hear this may actually be the right choice despite his name being in the title.
-Garret Dillahunt (sumbitted as Lead instead of Supporting for Raising Hope) – You gotta call Lucas Neff the top lead, but I guess he, Dillahunt, and Martha Plimpton all have enough screen time for there to be 3 leads.  Apparently Lucas Neff didn’t even submit himself anyway.
-Tatiana Maslany (submitted as Lead instead of Everything for Orphan Black)