Tuesday, January 8, 2013

End-Of-Year: 2012 TV Winners

It only took me long enough, but here are my winners finally. Wish I had more time to devote to actually writing on each and everyone of my nominees. Enjoy!

Best Ensemble: Shameless
Runner-Up: The Hour
Other Nominees: Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, The Good Wife, Parks and Recreation

Not shocking that I love all of these shows and their kick ass cast. I mean is there any awesome actor living in New York that hasn't been in The Good Wife? In any case, I picked Shameless this year because I'm a sucker for that fucked up family containing some of the better young actors out in Hollywood right now. As for the runner-up, The Hour, it's not so shocking since I pretty much nominated everyone in the cast this year, so there you go.

Best Actor, Drama: Andrew Lincoln, The Walking Dead
Runner-Up: Jonny Lee Miller, Elementary
Other Nominees: Bryan Cranston, Jason Isaacs, Damian Lewis, Ben Whishaw

Is it weird that all of my nominees, but one are British men? Possibly. It's even weirder still that Emmy-favorites Cranston and Lewis didn't win, but I have this weird thing about appreciating severely underappreciated performance (see my nominations for Isaacs and Whishaw as well). Objectively Cranston and Lewis is probably heads and shoulders above the others here, but I need to give props to Lincoln for shouldering a genre show that could fuck up any second but has managed to not mostly due to his consistency. Meanwhile, Miller's take on the great detective is just super refreshing and always interesting to observe.

Best Actor, Comedy: Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation
Runner-Up: Matt Smith, Doctor Who
Other Nominees: Alec Baldwin, Joel McHale, Jim Parsons, Elijah Wood

Sure Scott plays the straight guy more often than not, but his chemisty with most of the cast, including lead actress Poehler, is quite flawless and the show has only gotten better with his increased role in it. My pick last year, Smith, is runner-up this year mostly because we didn't have that many episodes and most of his best moments were a bit dramatic. And while I like-love the rest of the nominees, this is the one and only category where I felt I had to look for worthy nominations. Perhaps I just don't watch many comedy shows with lead actors? I probably need to get into Louie.

Best Actress, Drama: Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Runner-Up: Emmy Rossum, Shameless
Other Nominees: Claire Danes, Romolai Garai, Elisabeth Moss, Madeline Stowe

I went back and forth a lot since I could pretty much make a case for about four of the nominees to win, but I decided to go with Dockery because Mary was one of the best things about the uneven S2 and very memorable in S3. My pick last year, Rossum, is still so underappreciated, it practically hurts me since she's just SO good in the role and she was probably even better this season than the last. And while they didn't win, underestimate the rest of my fierce nominees at your peril.

Best Actress, Comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Runner-Up: Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Other Nominees: Courtney Cox, Tina Fey, Jane Levy, Dakota Johnson

Though I was "upset" that Louis-Dreyfus beat Poehler at this year's Emmy Awards, I really wasn't since I actually think she gave a better comedic performance this year. Her Selina is such a mess and it's been so terribly amusing seeing how she handles it all. But Poehler is still damn aces most especially in dealing with life-changing stuff (winning election, getting engaged, meeting Joe Biden). Johnson's nomination was mostly to honor her sweet show, but I think she's quite lovely in it as well. Fey, Levy, and Cox I've nominated in year's past and they still rock. No brainer.

Best Supporting Actor, Drama: Martin Freeman, Sherlock
Runner-Up: Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Other Nominees: Peter Dinklage, Gabriel Mann, John Noble, Aaron Paul

THIS was my Sophie's Choice. Year in, year out this always seems to be my most difficult category and this is because all six of these performances are not just good, but out-of-this-world good. Emmy winners Paul and Dinklage as well as newcomer Mann are my favorite things about their shows, which is saying a lot, and the fact that Noble hasn't been given an award for his Walter is a travesty. And while his show may have gotten more critiques this season, Patinkin has only gotten better. In the end, I gave my award to Freeman whose heartbreaking moments in the final episode of the season sealed it for me.

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy: Jake Johnson, New Girl
Runner-Up: Adam Driver, Girls
Other Nominees: Arthur Darvill, Nick Offerman, Jim Rash, Damon Wayans Jr.

Max Greenfield should probably be nominated here, but there just wasn't any room and so instead I give his castmate Johnson the big win here since his Nick character is pretty much my spirit animal. Driver as the runner-up may be surprising considering the amount of AMAZING the rest of the nominees have (and also considering how I've pretty much declared my love for all of them at one point or another), but his character was the few pleasant surprises that show offered up.

Best Supporting Actress, Drama: Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter
Runner-Up: Cristina Hendricks, Mad Men
Other Nominees: Laura Carmichael, Anna Chancellor, Anna Gunn, Maise Williams

I really thought Hendricks had this in the bag for most of the year giving us a more desperate Joan in the latest season and Gunn did her best to unseat her by displaying a shell-shocked and fearful Skylar, but unfortunately for both of them Carpenter was just brilliant as the MVP on this season of Dexter having to deal with the fallout of finally knowing Dexter's big secret. Can't forget to give props to Chancellor, Williams, and Carmichael whose relative small screentime belie their screen presence.

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy: Zosia Mamet, Girls
Runner-Up: Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation
Other Nominees: Mayim Bialik, Anna Chlumsky, Eliza Coupe, Jane Krakowski

My love for what Bialik, Coupe, and Krakowski all do on their show knows no bound. Most times I only look forward to an episode of their shows to see what crazy thing they would say or do. Meanwhile newcomer Chlumsky is also quite great in a less flashy role. Plaza has grown so much in character and that has only made her better, but it's Mamet who stole my heart the past year with her hilarious portrayal of neurotic Shoshanna. Her reaction to taking drugs alone would've been enough to give her this win.

Best Limited Role, Actor: Sebastian Stan, Once Upon a Time
Runner-Up: Andrew Scott, Sherlock
Other Nominees: Peter Capaldi, Matthew Perry, Andrew Rannells, Ray Stevenson

Best Limited Role, Actress: Oona Chaplin, The Hour
Runner-Up: Jenna Louise Coleman, Doctor Who
Other Nominees: Felicia Day, Kathryn Hahn, Carrie Preston, Laura Pulver

These limited role nominations are totally my excuse to honor more people, but then again the Emmys do also have their similar "guest categories" so I feel okay having this as well. These categories are a bit more difficult to narrow down (to nominations) and then narrow further for winners, because each role/performance by its nature is very limited, but all are memorable enough to make the shortlist. Picking Stan and Chaplin mostly because I also enjoy what they did in other shows this year (him in Political Animals and her in Game of Thrones) while Scott and Coleman do extremely well in speaking Moffat's words. I'd talk more about the other nominees, but I just implore you to see the few episodes they were in. You will be amazed.

I'll save my picks for Best Shows when I post my list of Favorite Shows of 2012 in a few days. In the meantime, here are the nominees to refresh your memories:

Best Drama:
Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Homeland, The Hour, Shameless, Sherlock
Best Comedy: Community, Doctor Who, Happy Endings, New Girl, Parks and Recreation, Veep
Best New Show: Awake, Ben and Kate, Girls, Last Resort, Political Animals, Veep

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop me a line. Instead of being Anonymous though, pick a name. Any name would do. Thanks again!