Downton Abbey

Alex and Becky watch a lot of TV. Probably too much. But that means that they sort of know what they’re talking about when the annual Emmy nominations come out. For reference’s sake, Becky has seen most of the programs we talk about here. Alex has seen some of them. He may be talking out of his ass a lot more.

Comedy Series

Will Win: Right off the top, it’s worth noting that this might be the strongest set of nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series in Emmy history. The voters done good! They can follow up on that by giving this award to anything not named Modern Family. ABC’s mainstay has won this award every year since it debuted, which would make it six if it triumphs again. There’s a chance that it happens, since it’s the only series in this lineup that we would call “traditional.” But five seems like (more than) enough and its relative lack of other nominations points to the voters agreeing. We think Amazon’s freshman dramedy Transparent is in the best shape to finally take the crown.

Should win: Speaking of Transparent, it’s a really great show! Problem is, it’s not very funny. It’s essentially a half-hour drama that is handled with a light touch, which is enough to be called a comedy. Still feels weird to us, but we won’t yell if it wins. Our personal pick is another new show: Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. We love its screwball energy and the wonderfully committed performances from its regular cast. Worth giving a shout-out to Parks and Recreation, which got its second Series nod for its outstanding final season. It’d be great to see Pawnee get some long overdue recognition.

WTF?: Modern Family needs to be stricken from the ballots. It stopped being even passably entertaining in its third season and its Emmy success has gotten more grating every year since then. Another win would be deadening. [Read more…]