The 2014 Emmy ballot is out. Before I post my nomination wish lists (and possibly predictions), here are my thoughts on some oddities and other points of interest:
-Mads Mikkelsen submitted as Lead for Hannibal after submitting as Supporting last year. An argument could have been made either way for Season 1, but in Season 2 he was definitely a lead. (Meanwhile, Laurence Fishburne was not even submitted.)
-Despite not even appearing in the last nine episodes, Rob Lowe STILL submitted as Lead for Parks and Recreation.
-Allison Tolman submitted as Supporting for Fargo, even though she’s arguably the main protagonist.
-Last year, Tatiana Maslany’s roles for Orphan Black were listed as “Sarah, Beth, others.” This year, that was wisely expanded to “Sarah, Beth, Cosima, Rachel (and more).” (Why didn’t she include Alison?)
-Amy Schumer once again submitted as Supporting, even though she appears in every one of her show’s sketches, and her name is in the title. Also, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein for Portlandia, and Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for Key & Peele, all submitted as Supporting, ignoring the fact that it is possible to have two leads in one show. Maybe they are thrown off by the weirdness of sketch and alternative comedy performers competing against sitcom performers. I mean, really, where does something like Comedy Bang! Bang! truly belong? Maybe it is the collaborative ethos of improv comedy that led Scott Aukerman to submit as Supporting even though he’s the host of his show. *
-Several Mad Men regulars took advantage of the vagaries between the Supporting and Guest categories and submitted as Guest. This is nothing new, but it was particularly egregious for Robert Morse in a year that Bert Cooper died and then had a posthumous song-and-dance number.
-Speaking of Guests who were really Supporting, Damon Wayans, Jr. is a regular now on New Girl.
-Miniseries do not have a Guest category, so folks like Key & Peele – who have only been in the last few episodes of Fargo – must enter as Supporting; meanwhile, fellow anthology series True Detective entered the Drama field, so Alexandra Daddario was able to opt for Guest.
-Here is the summary for Charles Grodin’s guest submission for Louie: “Dr. Bigelow is philosophical.” (All of the Louie guest summaries are wonderfully minimalist.)
–The Neighbors’ Clara Mamet’s last name was misspelled as “Memet” (unless that was intentional and she’s trying to branch off from her famous family).
* – I have been told that this may be because performers on shows submitted in the Variety category are not allowed to submit in the Lead field. See this article.
Jeff Malone is a voracious entertainment consumer and entertainment creator. He currently resides in New York City, where he is working on a Master’s in Media Studies at The New School. In addition to his pieces on TMRzoo.com, you can check out his blog (jmunney.wordpress.com), where he provides regular coverage of Community and Saturday Night Live, as well as other television, film, music, and the rest of pop culture.
