There are a lot of wonderful programs out there that, unfortunately, time has not permitted me to see (I only caught up the The West Wing this year).
Here are the hows
we watch:
COMEDY | DRAMA | REALITY |
Simpsons
How
I Met Your Mother
New
Girl
The
Middle
Modern
Family
Community
Parks
and Recreation
Big
Bang Theory
The
Office
The
Soup
SNL
The
Mindy Project
Go
On |
Walking
Dead
Castle
Game
of Thrones
Arrow
Nashville
Revenge
Bunheads
Beauty
and the Beast
Downton
Abbey
Elementary
Sherlock |
Amazing
Race
Survivor |
The winners, therefore, must be taken from this list. If anyone has any recommendations for shows I should add to our nightly viewing, let us know.
So, without further ado, this year's winners are:
Best
Drama:
Sherlock
Every
mystery show in some way has been influenced by Sherlock Holmes. And
so if you are going to do a show about the preeminent detective, you
had better bring your A-game. And that is exactly what the producers
of the BBC show Sherlock have done. The concept is simplicity
itself: tell the Holmes stories in today's world. In fact, most of
the stories have their basis somewhere in the original Arthur Conan
Doyle mysteries. No small amount of credit should be given to the
lead actors: breakout stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin
Freeman as Watson. Cumberbatch brings a lot of flawed, nearly
psychotic tendencies to Holmes. But he makes him fascinating enough
to watch. Freeman gives us enough of an everyman connection to keep
us emotionally tethered to the stories. One other excellent
innovation is that each episode is 90-minutes. This makes it feel
like a self-contained movie, with full arcs and character development
in one sitting. But above all, the show is smart. And this season
watching Holmes match wits with his equals in Irene Adler and James
Moriarty has made for some amazing television.
Runners-up
-Castle
-Downton
Abbey
-The
Walking Dead
Best
Comedy
Community
Once
again, this show wins top spot. Only 12 episodes of Community aired
in 2012. But there was more wit, creativity, and genuine belly
laughs in those 12 episodes than can be found in many sitcoms today.
It doesn't look like Community is long for this world, which is a
crime against TV. Community not only understands and dissects pop
culture and media genres (look at last year's brilliant send up of
Ken Burns' documentaries and Law and Order, not to mention the love
letter to 8-bit video games that was “Hawkethorne”), but they use them as a means of character development. As silly as everything is on the
show, it still beats with a very real heart. The season finally tied
up main character Jeff's (Joel McHale) entire character arc from the
pilot episode. In the very first episode he espoused moral
relativism and that truth was whatever he said it was. But after
finding true friendship, he knows that there are things out there
that are real. They may be really weird, but they are real. When the
show comes back in February, do yourself a favor if you haven't
watched it yet (and I say this without hyperbole) : check out one of
the best shows in TV history.
Runners-up
Parks
and Recreation
The
Big Bang Theory
The
Office
Best
Actor in a Drama
Andrew
Lincoln – The Walking Dead
Most
actors who win in these dramatic categories tend to do so because of
their emotional intensity, which Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes has in
spades. As the leader of the small band of survivors, Rick must make
decisions that are decisive but may be deadly. And it is Rick that
has to live with the consequences. Lincoln gives Rick the sense of
solid strength we need to see from someone that others would trust
with their lives. And he shows how this trust wears away at his
soul. He takes on all of the burdens and gets all of the blame.
Lincoln makes us understand Rick, even when we disagree with him, and
makes us care about him enough to keep watching his journey, even if
we can see no hope in the end. The level of emotional darkness that
Lincoln has had to plumb already in this season show us a man whose
soul is slowly being clawed apart.
Runners-up
Nathan
Fillion – Castle
Johnny
Lee Miller - Elementary
Benedict
Cumberbatch - Sherlock
Best
Actress in a Drama
Sutton
Foster – Bunheads
It
is easy to dismiss Foster as simply a reboot of Lorelei Gilmore from
Amy Sherman-Paladino's other classic show Gilmore Girls. And to be
sure, the personality and vocabulary are identical. But Foster
infuses her dancing fish-out-of-water Michelle with a lot more quirky
energy that adds layer upon layer of texture. Unlike Lorelei who had
to grow up because of her daughter, this is what Lorelei might have
been if she had never gotten pregnant. The result is that Foster
must portray this neurotic, lost, intensely witty character while
also showing us the the emptiness she has from being rootless. She
peppers her performance with charismatic and unique voice inflection
and body language that make clear there isn't another actress like
her on television today.
Runners-up
Stanna
Katic – Castle
Sarah
Wayne Callies – The Walking Dead
Emily
Van Camp - Revenge
Best
Supporting Actor, Drama
Peter
Dinklage – Game of Thrones
Tyrion
Lannister, the character Peter Dinklage plays on Game of Thrones is
not a good man. He is lecherous, deceitful, and ambitious. But
unlike many of the characters on the show, he tries. He tries to be
good as best he knows how. And that is the wonderful struggle that
Dinklage shows us. And he does it with such amazing charm that you
cannot help but root for Tyrion, even when he is wrong. And he gives
Tyrion so much gravitas that he convincingly rallies his deserting army
to defend their city. His plea is not for glory, but a simple
heartfelt appeal to protect the basic things of life: home and
family. And he delivers his last line of the speech with a
matter-of-factness that implies the imperative of duty: “There are
brave men on the other side of these walls. Let's go kill them.”
Runners-up
Colin
Donnell - Arrow
David
Morressy – The Walking Dead
Martin
Freeman - Sherlock
Best
Supporting Actress, Drama
Lara
Pulver – Sherlock
Sherlock
Holmes is the stuff of legend. He is the ultimate opponent in a
battle of wits. Lara Pulver's Irene Adler from the show Sherlock
needed to be as good and as believably legendary. And Pulver
delivered. Her Adler is playful but predatory. She chameleon-like
adapts to any situation she is in and gives the appearance that she
is in complete control (even when she is not). And she makes us
believe that she could have true feelings for Sherlock. But we are
never quite sure if that's real or just an act. Adler is that good of
an actress. And so is Pulver
Runners-up
Laurie
Holden – The Walking Dead
Lauren
Cohan- The Walking Dead
Lena
Heady – The Game of Thrones
Danai
Gurira
– The Walking Dead
Best
Actor, Comedy
Nick
Offerman - Parks and Recreation
Outside
of Amy Poehler, Offerman's Ron Swanson is the most iconic character
on the show. The writers deserve a lot of credit for not making him
simply a punching bag for his non-liberal views ala All in the Family
and Last Man Standing. But Offerman plays Ron so uncompromisingly
sure that it is a surprise that he is so likeable. He is so
perpetually annoyed with everyone and everything, but in a way that
gives voice to your own frustration. Offerman is able to convey a
great deal of comic intensity in great stillness. His deadpan is so
funny because you can't tell if he's joking or about to kill you,
which makes it all the funnier.
Runners-up
Jim
Parsons – The Big Bang Theory
Ty
Burrell – Modern Family
Joel
McHale - Community
Best
Actress, Comedy
Amy
Poehler – Parks and Recreation
Once
again Amy Poehler takes the best actress spot. There are a lot of
good women comedians out there, but Poehler is the funniest one
working in television today. Her Leslie Knope is full of an insane
amount of energy that you work hard just to keep up. And it is very
difficult to play someone fully sincere while at the same time not
making them stupid. But Poehler's Knope is smart, but she wears her
heart on her sleeve. She gives herself over to any emotion she
feels, like Homer Simpson if he we was oriented towards
public-spiritedness. What's great is watching Leslie try to overcome
things that she can't. After she has a mini-breakdown from lack of
sleep because of her heated campaign for city council, I dare you not
to laugh.
Runners-up
Zooey
DeChannel – New Girl
Kalee
Cuoco – The Big Bang Theory
Patricia
Heaton – The Middle
Best
Supporting Actor, Comedy
Dany
Pudi -Community
When
Pudi's Abed is his normal self and not pretending to be someone else,
the actor has a very limited palate to work with. Abed's emotional
deficiencies mean that Pudi must continually limit his range of
feelings. Abed feels things but doesn't know how to express them or
see them in others. And yet he is very observant and caring. And
witty. Abed has some of the best lines on the show, because he
delivers it with an understanding that they are on a TV show. But
where we see his skill work best is when he confronts “Evil Abed.”
There is a believable character difference between the two beyond
the superficial. In his narrow window, Pudi builds a mirror-universe
version of Abed that is as emotionally unavailable but also morally
repellent. He does that mostly with subtle changes to voice and body
language, but he also does it to great comedic effect.
Runners-up
Neil
Patrick Harris– How I Met Your Mother
Donald
Glover – Community
Nick
Offerman – Parks and Recreation
Best
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Mayim
Bialik – The Big Bang Theory
When
they first introduced Bialik's Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang
Theory, she was meant to be a female Sheldon. And if you look at her
early performances, they were not very good. She gave stale, flat
answers as a way of conveying lack of emotion. But a character is
not about what isn't there, but what is. And so Amy was only a flat,
uninteresting character. But slowly Bialik has built an inner life
to Amy so that we can now see her in 3 dimensions. Unlike Sheldon,
she has a raging, beating heart in her, but it is smothered by
over-intellectualism and social awkwardness. But Bialik shows you
this emotionally raw and primal person hiding beneath her frumpy
exterior. And it is when this emotional repression finally leaks
through her brainy exterior that the laughs come flowing.
Runners-up
Aubrey
Plaza – Parks and Recreation
Yvette
Nicole Brown – Community
Alison
Brie – Community
Martha
Plimpton – Raising Hope
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