Emmys 2009, Part 2: Make Me Laugh

This part is going to be a little easier. Best comedy: 30 Rock. Best actress in a comedy: Tina Fey in 30 Rock. Best actor in a comedy: Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock. Best supporting actress in a comedy: Jane Krakowski in 30 Rock. Best supporting actor in a comedy: well, Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer are going to have to slug it out. Yes, both of them are on 30 Rock.

Okay, I'm kidding. Sort of. Fey, Baldwin, and the show all won last year, and expectations are going to be high for all of them to repeat. Looking at the competition, I'd say it's possible, though not a foregone conclusion. Let's look at the other nominees.

Comedy series: The Office had what I thought was an uneven season. The writing is still good, but some of the situations are wearing thin, and it won three years ago, when it definitely deserved it. Weeds: I have to be honest, I've never seen the show, but it looks like I'd enjoy it. Gonna beat 30 Rock? Not this year. Entourage: zzzzzzzz, enough already. Flight of the Conchords: I love this show, and I love that it got nominated, but it's even more loopy and out there than 30 Rock. How I Met Your Mother: four seasons in, the show is starting to get some deserved recognition. but in this race I'd call it a long, long shot. Family Guy: huh? Who does Seth MacFarlane have dirt on? It isn't even that funny anymore.

Comedy actors: heaven help us if Tony Shalhoub wins again. Charlie Sheen, Jim Parsons, Jermaine Clement: all of you play your characters well, but that doesn't mean that any of you should be nominated. The one factor that may keep Alec Baldwin from repeating is that Steve Carell has yet to win an Emmy after five seasons of playing Michael Scott and four consecutive nominations. I thought he really delivered some great performances this season, especially in the stories involving Holly and in Michael's attempt to start his own paper company. Let's give this one to Steve.

Comedy actresses: looking at the five women besides Tina Fey who are nominated--Sarah Silverman, Mary-Louise Parker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Toni Collette, Christina Applegate--there was excellent work by all of them (some of whom I admit I've only read about). I feel about Sarah and her show the way I feel about Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm: it's a kind of humor I just don't get. Mary-Louise: see Weeds above. Julia won three years ago, and I enjoy her show, but she wasn't up against Tina at the time. Toni: I have no idea. Christina: ABC treated her show horribly, yanking it for several weeks in succession in January, in favor of extending Dancing with the Stars to two hours, but each time they did so it was so last-minute that my TiVo still thought it was recording Samantha Who? There's a slight chance she could get this award as a sort of consolation prize.

Comedy supporting actors: almost the same as last year's group, except 30 Rock's pair knocked Jeremy Piven off the list. Once again, most of them don't make sense: guy from Entourage, again; Jon Cryer's one-note whiner, again; Rainn Wilson over Jon Krasinski, again. As much as I'd like to see a 30 Rock sweep (I'd give the edge to Tracy Morgan), I really think this one should go to Neil Patrick Harris for Barney on How I Met Your Mother.

Comedy supporting actresses: Vanessa Williams, Amy Poehler, and Kristin Chenoweth all repeat as nominees. Elizabeth Perkins is nominated for Weeds; maybe she'll be the one to snag a win for the show. I think most people are familiar with at least one of Kristin Wiig's Saturday Night Live characters; the problem is that if you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. I think she can be genuinely funny, but isn't given enough of a chance to do so; the show's quest for laughs causes them to keep going back to the same shallow wells over and over. If this one is not going to Jane Krakowski, it should go to an SNL actress, and if that's the case it should be Amy Poehler. Still, Wiig winning here might be preferable to William Shatner winning in his category.