End-Of-Year: 2009 TV Winners

Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas! On Monday, I posted my personal picks of the best TV performances/shows of 2009.

Today I give you the winners...

Best Actor, Drama
John Barrowman, Torchwood
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
John Noble, Fringe
Russell Tovey, Being Human
Kiefer Sutherland, 24

It's funny reading over this list and thinking how insane it would be if all of these men (as their characters) were to meet and have a conversation. Noble and Tovey would blather on and probably talk about the wonders of the latter's werewolf-ism while Sutherland and Hamm might be too busy deeply brooding mayhaps thinking about their troubled past and odd family dynamics. Barrowman? He would have sex with all of them. If I have to pick the best actor though I'd give it to Noble who plays crazy Walter just as easily as he plays evil Walter, sad Walter, and weird Walter.

Best Actor, Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Nathan Fillion, Castle
Scott Michael Foster, Greek
Zachary Levi, Chuck
Joel McHale, Community

Y'all might be thinking, Foster? Where did he come from?! But when Foster is in a scene, you almost forget that the show is about the Cartwrights because he's such a scene-stealer. He was fascinating to watch this season especially as he pretty much forced himself to grow up. As opposed to McHale and Fillion who plays two grown men who still seem like teenagers. They're both funny individually, but their great chemistry with their respective co-stars really elevate their work. Levi makes you believe that Chuck is a real person dealing with real super spies, insane friends, and impossible choices while Baldwin makes you forget about the real world, because he takes you into his own warped one. There can only be one winner though and it's goes to Fillion. Because he dressed up as Mal and it was epic.

Best Actress, Drama
Julianna Marguillies, The Good Wife
Mary McDonnell, Battlestar Galactica
Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men
Eve Myles, Torchwood
Annie Wersching, 24

All of these are tough women. There's Marguillies who manages to balance the mom role with the lawyer role with ease while Wersching was so kick-ass that I began to think that if Jack Bauer ever died, it would be OKAY since she could just take over. Then there's Myles who plays Gwen Cooper with so much heart, her emotions always on her sleeve and I can't forget her heartbreaking monologue. Moss didn't really do that much this season, but the little she did still made a pretty good impact. And while all of these women are so awesome in their own way, the award goes to McDonnell in her final year as President Laura Roslin who even in the face of death remained full of grit and grace that made her character so wonderful.

Best Actress, Comedy
Courtney Cox, Cougar Town
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Stana Katic, Castle
Lea Michele, Glee

To be honest, I'm oddly less enthused about this category. I mean don't get me wrong, I love each and everyone of these actresses and the characters they play. I wouldn't have nominated them if I didn't, but I don't really feel passionate about any of them the way I do other actors I've nominated. In any case, Katic is the perfect blend of sexy and tough and she plays off her co-lead so well. Cox and Michele play manic characters that are a hoot to watch, but it's moments when they slow down, be it talking to her son or sing a heartfelt ballad, where they shine. And so we come down to Fey and Ferrera who have won awards playing the characters they currently play. Fey deals with "smarter" comedy, but Ferrera just has that something extra that tug at your heartstrings while still making you laugh, so she edges Fey a bit for me especially since I'm sorta loving the makeover she had this season.

Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Tricia Helfer, Battlestar Galactica
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Dichen Lachman, Dollhouse
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost

I don't know anyone who doesn't want more of Hendricks on Mad Men. In fact this year, she was criminally underutilized and yet she still shined with the few scenes she did have. Similarly Panjabi and Lachman are mostly unknown, but they infuse commitment and energy to both of their roles, the latter especially using her magnetic chemistry with a fellow co-star to wonderful fruition on-screen. But it was between two blonde ladies who a few might argue could be considered leads. Helfer, playing the different versions of Six, continued to astound even to the final moments of the show while Mitchell played tough and vulnerable to pitch perfection delivering a specially harrowing scene to end Lost's season. This is why Elizabeth Mitchell gets the prize.

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy
Alison Brie, Community
Yvette Nicole Brown, Community
Kaley Cuoco, Big Bang Theory
Alyson Hannigan, How I Met Your Mother
Jane Lynch, Glee

This was tougher than I first thought when I made this list. Seriously. Cuoco is delightfully as Penny especially when she plays the foil to Sheldon's eccentricities. Brie and Brown are hilarious individually, but they also make a potent comedic duo. And then came Hannigan and Lynch. My initial thought is that Lynch has this award sewn up, because Sue Sylvester is THE breakout TV character of the year if you ask me. But it's hard to discount Hannigan who manages to make the increasingly manic Lily character not only believable, but also lovable. Then again I can say the same thing about Jane Lynch, right? Jane Lynch it is then.

Best Supporting Actor, Drama
Misha Collins, Supernatural
Gareth David-Lloyd, Torchwood
Michael Emerson, Lost
Enver Gjokaj, Dollhouse
Fran Kranz, Dollhouse

Do not make me choose. Please do NOT make me choose. Collins plays an angel and Kranz plays a goofy super smart scientist. The writing of the show is good enough that these two characters do not utterly fail, but the actors full commitment to their roles elevate these two characters as people who are completely endearing. Then there's David-Lloyd. My poor poor dead Ianto. It was uber depressing to see him die, but he went out with a bang. And so it's between Emerson's super villainy Ben Linus or Gjokaj's multi-faceted Victor/Anthony/Topher/party girl/FBI agent. This is pretty much a coin flip, but I'm giving it to Enver Gjokaj.

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy
Dan Byrd, Cougar Town
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory
Danny Pudi, Community
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

This might actually be more difficult than its counterpart in the drama category! Byrd has great comedic timing for someone so young and really humanizes Courtney Cox's character. Pudi and Stonestreet are newcomers, but already they may me laugh countless of times even though they are part of very talented ensembles. And now with a heavy heart, I have to compare two Emmy-nominated CBS heavyweights in Parsons and Harris. It's pretty obvious that these two roles (Sheldon and Barney) played by these two comic geniuses are the breakout characters of their popular shows and are usually the character with the most interesting storylines. And while I am still very much impressed with what Harris is doing, I have to give this award this year to Parsons.

So now finally, we have the Best Show categories. I'm afraid you'll have to wait just a bit longer to find out the winner here. Not too long. I should be posting my ranked list of Top 30ish shows of 2009 in a day or two. For now, let's refresh your memories...

Best Show, Drama
Battlestar Galactica
Being Human
Dollhouse
Mad Men
Lost
Torchwood

Best Show, Comedy
Big Bang Theory
Castle
Glee
Greek
How I Met Your Mother
Modern Family