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Jmunney’s Emmy Thoughts 2012, Part 1: Comedy

July 17, 2012

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Emmy nominations are coming on Thursday (July 19)! So here is what and who Ibelieve should be nominated. I made my selections based on what categories I think the shows and the actors should be in, not necessarily what category they were submitted in. So, if an animated show submitted for animated series (and was thus not eligible to also submit for comedy series), I still considered it for best comedy, or if an actor submitted for lead but really should have submitted for supporting, I considered that person in the supporting field. Or if guest actors weren’t submitted, I don’t care. There are certain potentially deserving nominees on shows that I do not watch or just started watching that I have heard enough good things about to consider along with those I am familiar with; such contenders are marked in italics. My choices are listed in order of most deserving first.

(Thanks to fishsticktheatre.com for the Community screencaps.)

Best Comedy

Remember when 30 Rock was (deservedly) dominating this category? And now Modern Family is (undeservedly) dominating? Both of those shows miss my short list. Boy, are we living in a golden age of comedy. Is it time yet for everyone else to realize how incredible Community is?
1. Community (Check out this episode: “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
2. Parks and Recreation (Check out this episode: “Citizen Knope”)
3. Louie (Check out this episode: “Duckling,” from what I’ve heard)
4. Happy Endings (Check out this episode: “Big White Lies”)
5. Girls (Check out this episode: “Vagina Panic”)
6. Bob’s Burgers (Check out this episode: “Bad Tina”)
Also worth consideration: Archer, Suburgatory, 30 Rock, The Middle

Lead Actress

There sure are a lot of great comedies fronted by funny ladies these days. Zooey Deschanel sure is awesome. (You hear that, people who don’t like her?!) But Amy Poehler is even more awesome, and it continues to be a disgrace that she hasn’t won yet.
1. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (Check out this episode: “The Debate”)
2. Zooey Deschanel, New Girl (Check out this episode: “Jess and Julia”)
3. Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope (Check out this episode: “Jimmy’s Fake Girlfriend”)
4. Lena Dunham, Girls (Check out this episode: “Vagina Panic”)
5. Tina Fey, 30 Rock (Check out this episode: “The Tuxedo Begins”)
6. Jane Levy, Suburgatory (Check out this episode: “The Motherload”)
Also worth considering: Krysten Ritter, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep, Dreama Walker, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, Laura Dern, Enlightened

Lead Actor

The more and more I think about it, the more I realize how much Joel McHale as Jeff Winger belongs in the pantheon of perfect casting.
1. Joel McHale, Community (Check out this episode: “Origins of Vampire Mythology”)
2. Louis C.K., Louie (Check out this episode: “Duckling,” from what I’ve heard)
3. Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (Check out this episode: “Today You Are a Man”)
4. Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (Check out this episode: “The Stag Convergence”)
T5. Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele, Key & Peele (Check out this episode: Episode 1)
Also worth considering: Will Arnett, Up All Night, Danny McBride, Eastbound & Down, Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Supporting Actress

Thanks to the debuts of Suburgatory and Up All Night and the maturation of Happy Endings, this category is more crowded than ever. But, uh-huh, Alison Brie is still the best. But she does have some solid competition on her own show. And oh how I wish I could also pick Aubrey Plaza!
1. Alison Brie, Community (Check out this episode: “Regional Holiday Music”)
2. Gillian Jacobs, Community (Check out this episode: “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
3. Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation (Check out this episode: “Live Ammo”)
4. Eden Sher, The Middle (Check out this episode: “Leap Year”)
5. Casey Wilson, Happy Endings (Check out this episode: “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”)
6. Carly Chaikin, Suburgatory (Check out this episode: “Down Time”)
The difference between these last two slots and the first two out was razor-thin; I could easily switch Casey and/or Carly out with a castmate, and then turn around and switch them back the next day.
7. Elisha Cuthbert, Happy Endings
8. Allie Grant, Suburgatory
Also worth considering: Eliza Coupe, Happy Endings, Ellie Kemper, The Office, Maya Rudolph, Up All Night, Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory, Zosia Mamet, Girls, Yvette Nicole Brown, Community, Ana Gasteyer, Suburgatory, Kaitlin Olson, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Supporting Actor

Nick Offerman was more awesome than ever as Ron Swanson this season, and I thought that this would be the first season that I would pick him over Danny Pudi, but then Community went and had a run of incredible Abed-centric episodes in the back half of the season, and I’ve got to give it to Danny again. Both of them deserve to have won multiple times already. I would also be okay with Jim Rash getting one step closer to an EGOT.
1. Danny Pudi, Community (Check out this episode: “Virtual Systems Analysis”)
2. Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation (Check out this episode: “Campaign Ad”)
3. Jim Rash, Community (Check out this episode: “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux”)
4. Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live (Check out this episode: “Zooey Deschanel/Karmin”)
5. Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock (Check out this episode: “Today You Are a Man”)
6. Damon Wayans, Jr., Happy Endings (Check out this episode: “The Code War”)
Also worth considering: Adam Pally, Happy Endings, Ty Burrell, Modern Family, Max Greenfield, New Girl, Donald Glover, Community, Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation, Jason Segel, How I Met Your Mother, Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation, Adam Driver, Girls, Alan Tudyk, Suburgatory, Chevy Chase, Community, Charlie Day, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, James Van Der Beek, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, Glenn Howerton, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Danny DeVito, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Rob McElhenney, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Atticus Shaffer, The Middle, Aziz Ansari, Parks and Recreation, Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock, Tony Hale, Veep

Guest Actor and Actress

Oh, guest actor category, you drive me crazy, what with your mix of recurring characters who don’t appear often enough to enter into the supporting field and characters who only appear for one episode or one arc. Community’s resident Hispanics – fight it out! As for the ladies, I can safely pick Kathryn Hahn ahead of all others; let’s make her more of a household name!
1. Richard Erdman, Community
2. Luis Guzman, Community
3. Paul Rudd, Parks and Recreation
4. Norm MacDonald, The Middle
5. Giancarlo Esposito, Community
6. Jim Carrey, 30 Rock
Also worth considering: William Baldwin, 30 Rock, Steve Buscemi, Saturday Night Live, Will Forte, 30 Rock, Kyle McLachlan, Portlandia

1. Kathryn Hahn, Parks and Recreation
2. Zooey Deschanel, Saturday Night Live
3. Kristen Wiig, Portlandia
4. Whoopi Goldberg, The Middle
5. Emma Stone, Saturday Night Live
6. Leslie Mann, Modern Family
Also worth considering: Ursula Parker, Louie, Lizzy Caplan, New Girl

Best Episode of the Season: Girls Season 1

July 16, 2012

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Season Analysis: Girls may be the voice of its generation, or at least a voice of a generation. But really, whether Lena Dunham realizes it or not, what Girls gets is that everyone is lost in their twenties, and this particular show is honest about the experience of a particular group of lot people in their twenties.

“Vagina Panic”

“You couldn’t pay me enough to be 24 again.”
“Well, they’re not paying me at all.”

(Full disclosure: I am currently 24. They are currently paying me. But I guess it’s not for being 24.) Abortion may be the most polarizing subject in the country. It is not so controversial as to be completely off-limits for television, though. I have seen abortion covered on plenty of shows, but never before as it was covered on Girls. I never would have conceived it being dealt with the way that Girls did, and I am a bit surprised it didn’t lead to something of an uproar. Jessa’s decision to have the abortion never seemed like it was that big a deal for her, or for Hannah, Marnie, or Shoshanna. It wasn’t that it was treated like nothing, just that it was nowhere near the biggest decision Jessa could ever make. Her friends were there for her, but they weren’t really there. Hannah saw it as an opportunity to get checked for STD’s, Marnie was ultimately most concerned about Jessa being late for her own abortion, and Shoshanna didn’t how to deal with the situation and ended up kind of turning it into a party. 24-year-olds have a lot going on, and that seems all the more true for acutely self-conscious 24-year-olds. A baby scare for yourself or your friend is not going to make everything else go away. Hannah Horvath and her friends are just about the pinnacle of self-consciousness, which can make them petty at times, enough so that they turned the most polarizing topic in the country into something petty.

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 7/14/12

July 14, 2012

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment

I’m too busy watching Billy Eichner to write a snappy comment.

Original Version
1. Rihanna – “Where Have You Been”
2. Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa – “Payphone”
3. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”
4. Gym Class Heroes ft. Patrick Stump – “The Fighter (Unplugged)”
5. Kelly Clarkson – “Dark Side”
6. Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
7. Usher – “Scream”
8. David Guetta ft. Sia – “Titanium”
9. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
10. Ed Sheeran – “The A Team”
11. Demi Lovato – “Give Your Heart a Break”
12. Calvin Harris ft. Ne-Yo – “Let’s Go”
13. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
14. Linkin Park – “Burn It Down”
15. Emeli Sandé – “Next to Me”
16. Train – “50 Ways to Say Goodbye”
17. B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift – “Both of Us”
18. Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
19. The Lumineers – “Ho Hey”
20. fun. – “Some Nights”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Lights
2. Titanium
3. Where Have You Been
4. Wide Awake
5. Ho Hey
6. Good Girl
7. Call Me Maybe
8. Give Your Heart a Break
9. Let’s Go
10. Next to Me
11. Burn It Down
12. Some Nights
13. Scream
14. Dark Side
15. 50 Ways to Say Goodbye
16. The A Team
17. Everybody Talks
18. Both of Us
19. Payphone
20. The Fighter

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 7/10/12

July 11, 2012

jmunney Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television 9 Comments

Ummm … let’s do the time warp again?

Original Version
1. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
2. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”
3. Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa – “Payphone”
4. Gotye ft. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know”
5. Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
6. Usher – “Scream”
7. Pitbull – “Back in Time”
8. Breathe Carolina – “Hit and Run”
9. David Guetta ft. Sia – “Titanium”
10. Rihanna – “Where Have You Been”
11. Mac Miller – “Party on Fifth Ave.”
12. One Direction – “What Makes You Beautiful”
13. Justin Bieber – “Boyfriend”
14. Karmin – “Brokenhearted”
15. Flo Rida ft. Sia – “Wild Ones”
16. Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder – “The Fighter”
17. Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
18. Usher ft. Rick Ross – “Lemme See”
19. Kanye West ft. Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz – “Mercy”
20. fun. – “Some Nights”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Somebody That I Used to Know
2. Titanium
3. Lights
4. Where Have You Been
5. Wide Awake
6. Call Me Maybe
7. Mercy
8. Brokenhearted
9. Some Nights
10. Boyfriend
11. Wild Ones
12. Back in Time
13. Scream
14. Everybody Talks
15. Hit and Run
16. Payphone
17. What Makes You Beautiful
18. Party on Fifth Ave.
19. Lemme See
20. The Fighter

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 7/7/12

July 7, 2012

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment

Bing!

Original Version
1. Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa – “Payphone”
2. Rihanna – “Where Have You Been”
3. Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder – “The Fighter”
4. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”
5. Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
6. David Guetta ft. Sia – “Titanium”
7. Kelly Clarkson – “Dark Side”
8. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
9. Demi Lovato – “Give Your Heart a Break”
10. Usher – “Scream”
11. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
12. Ed Sheeran – “The A Team”
13. Calvin Harris – “Let’s Go”
14. John Mayer – “Shadow Days”
15. Nicki Minaj – “Starships”
16. Linkin Park – “Burn It Down”
17. Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
18. Emeli Sandé – “Next to Me”
19. B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift – “Both of Us”
20. The Lumineers – “Ho Hey”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Starships
2. Titanium
3. Lights
4. Where Have You Been
5. Wide Awake
6. Ho Hey
7. Good Girl
8. Call Me Maybe
9. Give Your Heart a Break
10. Let’s Go
11. Next to Me
12. Burn It Down
13. Scream
14. Dark Side
15. The A Team
16. Everybody Talks
17. Both of Us
18. Payphone
19. Shadow Days
20. The Fighter

Best Episode of the Season: Awake Season 1 (First and Only Season!)

July 3, 2012

jmunney Awake, Best Episodes of the 2011-2012 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Television Leave a comment

Season Analysis: Seemingly burdened by a concept that looked like it would work better as a movie or at most a miniseries, Awake did a more than passable job of stretching it out to a full season and looked like it was ready to make it work over multiple seasons if given the chance.

“That’s Not My Penguin”

Most of Awake’s episodes followed the tried-and-true cop show formula to an almost painful degree, but they were always saved (at least somewhat) by the twist that the lead detective was working two separate cases concurrently in two different worlds that tied into each other obliquely. “That’s Not My Penguin” thankfully mixed up the formula by having Detective Britten held hostage by mental hospital patient Gabriel. A hostage situation is not an unusual one for a stunt episode, but it did work strongly in Awake’s favor, allowing it to really take advantage of its premise in astute and truly weird fashion. Gabriel’s mental construction of an alternate reality obviously paralleled Britten’s situation, suggesting that Britten might be crazy enough for institutionalization but also presenting a contrast that showed that even if he is crazy, he has found a way to make it work (for now). Britten’s hallucination of Dr. Lee in the hospital actually served to demonstrate his ingenuity in solving this crisis, and it added to the whole show another layer to chew over by showing that hallucinations could possibly be appearing within Britten’s hallucination/dream. Combine that with the penguin hallucination in the other reality, and it seemed to be that Britten’s mind could be going in any number of directions at any time no matter what the location. More than any other episode of Awake, “That’s Not My Penguin” pressed the rhetorical question, “What’s so crazy about being crazy if you know how to make it work?”

Best Episode of the Season: Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 Season 1

July 3, 2012

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2011-2012 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, Television Leave a comment

Season Analysis: After a seven-episode first season, Apartment 23 hasn’t met its full potential yet (or at least, I hope it hasn’t met its full potential yet), but it has enough promising elements that it could very quickly become one of the best comedies on the air at some point in its second season just like another ABC sitcom that used to air Wednesdays at 9:30.

“The Wedding…”

Who ever thought that June was boring? She is uptight, sure (though not uptight as all get out), but uptight hardly means boring. Uptightness may make someone allergic to fun, but the uptight person could very well be fascinating as far as her uptightness is concerned. So when June’s former fiancée called her boring, and Chloe’s response to that accusation was, “That’s, like, the worst thing you can say to anyone,” my reaction was, “Yes, it is, especially if you’re a character on a TV show. So good thing June’s not boring.” While June set out to show everyone at the wedding that she is an interesting person, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 set out to show that it is a program that is putting all of its pieces in order. Chloe has been rubbing off on June, and June has been influencing Chloe, though not necessarily definitively, but enough so that she cares enough to help June out with the whole charade to prove that she is not boring. The fact that James van der Beek exists in these characters’ world has become something that is just accepted, which is surely necessary but sort of bittersweet (as June says wistfully, “I used to have a poster of you”). And Eli is no longer just the creep who masturbates across the hall, with his gig in the wedding band making him more recognizable as an actual person than any other episode thus far.

Best Episode of the Season: Modern Family Season 3

July 1, 2012

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Season Analysis: During its first season, Modern Family was good – really good, easily one of the best comedies of the season. In its third season, it wasn’t really bad, but it wasn’t exactly good either. And the thing is, it still seems like the same show that it always was, which has led me to wonder if Season 1 really was as good as I remember it, or if I just imagined it.

“Treehouse”

Season 3 of Modern Family did not feature any overall brilliant episodes, but there were some episodes that had their moments. The B- (or C-) storyline of “Treehouse,” with Cam attempting to prove that he could successfully fake being straight and pick up a woman in a bar, was pleasant enough, especially since it is always nice to see Leslie Mann. She infused a great deal of personality into what was an otherwise nothing role. But the best moment of this episode – and of the whole season – came at the very end of the titular A-plot. I think that most viewers were as disappointed as Phil was that Luke eventually gave up on the father-son treehouse building, but all was forgiven in the sweetest, most unexpected epilogue of perhaps the whole series. Phil’s interaction with Andre touched on the question of “How well do we really know our neighbors?” (Phil and Andre have lived next door to each other for nearly a decade and this is this their first conversation) as well as the struggles for male adults at making friends (Andre’s declaration of “Honey, the guy in the tree’s cool” represented a delightful overcoming of this struggle), and it also introduced plenty of people to the criminally underused Kevin Hart.

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 6/30/12

June 30, 2012

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment

I would say that I don’t think “Lights” is popular enough to be #1, but apparently this countdown is based on viewer voting, so instead I’ll say, “Cool.”

Original Version
1. Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
2. Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder – “The Fighter”
3. Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa – “Payphone”
4. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
5. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
6. Rihanna – “Where Have You Been”
7. David Guetta ft. Sia – “Titanium”
8. Demi Lovato – “Give Your Heart a Break”
9. Ed Sheeran – “The A Team”
10. Kelly Clarkson – “Dark Side”
11. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”
12. John Mayer – “Shadow Days”
13. Nicki Minaj – “Starships”
14. Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
15. Pitbull – “Back in Time”
16. Calvin Harris ft. Ne-Yo – “Let’s Go”
17. Linkin Park – “Burn It Down”
18. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – “Never Go Back”
19. Usher – “Scream”
20. Emeli Sandé – “Next to Me”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Starships
2. Titanium
3. Lights
4. Wide Awake
5. Where Have You Been
6. Good Girl
7. Never Go Back
8. Call Me Maybe
9. Give Your Heart a Break
10. Let’s Go
11. Next to Me
12. Burn It Down
13. Back in Time
14. Scream
15. Dark Side
16. The A Team
17. Everybody Talks
18. Payphone
19. Shadow Days
20. The Fighter

Best Episode of the Season: The Middle Season 3

June 28, 2012

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Season Analysis: This was the first season that I watched The Middle. I have heard from other critics who have been watching since the beginning that this was the best season yet. I won’t argue with that assessment.

“The Play”

It seems that I have not given myself the opportunity to write articles here relating to Norm MacDonald very often, so let me just make it clear that Norm is by far one of my favorite comedians, so any episode of The Middle with Uncle Rusty is practically guaranteed to be a fine episode in my book. Norm’s observational, satiric style is different than the normal comedic style of the Heck family’s misadventures, but his persona of being easygoing while also keeping himself at a slight remove actually fits his role of the flaky uncle and the show as a whole quite well. His memorable quotes from “The Play” are plentiful enough to fill up an entire one of these posts, but let me just point out the one (“Coffee’s bad. Cigarettes are bad, too. I’m gonna go have both, but let me be a cautionary tale for you”) that best exemplifies how it seems like he is on a completely different plane of existence than the rest of the Hecks while actually fitting into their world quite seamlessly (which I guess is pretty much how it goes with absentee family members). Now, as much as I love Norm and as big as a reason as he was for this episode being the best of the season, I do not want to imply that the usual stable of actors on The Middle are not able to hold their own, because they are, and in fact, they were all quite sharp in this episode. Neil Flynn particularly raises his game whenever he has to confront Rusty and actually display some emotion. And in the storyline that this episode gets its title from, Patricia Heaton and Eden Sher bring out the best in each other, as Frankie gets a major role in a community theatre production of The Wizard of Oz, while Sue gets cut from the show due to her crazy eyes. Frankie is forced to hide the fact that she is still in the show, since this was something that she and Sue were supposed to be doing together. It was nice to see Frankie actually let loose a bit, and just as amusing to see Sue go a bit dark (in a way that was not very threatening but was completely devastating) upon discovering her mother’s deception.

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