This is the final installment of 30 Rock Emmy Dreams before the Emmys take place tomorrow.
Today we analyze the big prize:
Outstanding Comedy Series
Modern Family:
Tape A: “Old Wagon” & “Someone to Watch over Lily”
Tape B: “Mother’s Day” & “Caught in the Act”
Tape C: “Manny Get your Gun” & “The Kiss”
I’ve seen all these tapes and they each have one outstanding episode (…Lily, Caught in the Act, Manny Get Your Gun) but the other episodes are average and mostly forgettable. The ensemble and writing shines in all these episodes though. Praise for this show only dwindled slightly in its second season and the competition (with the exception of Parks) stayed about the same. With a field that changed this little, it would be the easy vote for a voter and I expect it may win again.
30 Rock:
Tape A: “When it Rains, it Pours” & “Live Show (West Coast)”
Tape B: “Reaganing” & “Double Edged Sword”
Tape C: “Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning” & “TGS Hates Women”
Tape wise, 30 Rock as always was on fire. Whoever picks the tapes does a great job, though I would have put in “Mrs. Donaghy” and the satire heavy “Brooklyn Without Limits.” The inclusion of “Live Show” is risky. Of course there are those that didn’t like it but I think it shows 30 Rock has range as is determined to try new things. But I fear they left out a solid episode like “Mrs. Donaghy” that shows off what’s truely great about 30 Rock: the writing (as well as a strong Liz/Jack dynamic episode). “Brooklyn Without Limits” should have been switched for “TGS Hates Women” which may be greating. BWL seemed like the obvious choice as we seem to focus more and more on the 2012 election. BWL provides a lot of great satire and that’s often what 30 Rock does best.
Sure there were some misses this season, but at Emmy time its about who can put together the best tapes, and I think 30 Rock did that here. Still it suffers from Awards fatigue and an inability to top itself as critics apparently demand. IF voters voted purely on tapes, 30 Rock would have a decent chance of taking this, but I fear they will pay attention to other factors.
Glee:
Tape A: “Audition” & “Silly Little Love Songs”
Tape B: “Original Songs” & “The Substitute”
Tape C: “Duets” & “Never Been Kissed”
Glee is not as much of a phenomenon as it was in its first season. Buzz for this show has died a lot and it’s clear that this show lacks the traditional elements to make a Series winner (developed characters, strong writing, strong acting ect.) There are still many elements that Glee is strong on (Directing, musical numbers, vocal talent) but I think these will once again get overlooked or rather ignored as voters search for funny shows. I admit my tv watching knowledge has a bit of a gap in this show, but I’m surprised they omitted one of the episodes I saw: “Grilled Cheesus” in which a character deals with his dad almost dying. It was pure awards bait, but I guess it’s nice they stayed away from after school specials in their submissions. On the contrary the other episode I watched after the super bowl “Sue Slyvester Super Bowl Shuffle” was right to be excluded cause it was terrible. I’m less nervous about this winning than last year. I think it has less of a chance then before.
Parks and Recreation:
Tape A: “Flu Season” & “Ron & Tammy: Part 2″
Tape B: “Fancy Party” & “Harvest Festival”
Tape C: “The Fight & “Lil’ Sebastian”
This show was perfect last season. They went 16/16 with great episodes. There wasn’t a bad storyline or moment in the bunch. I do think 30 Rock can produce funnier tapes, but as far as consistency and characters go, this show was unparallelled last season. In my opinion this show deserves the win. Of course I’d love to see 30 Rock win again, but they already have three, so I’m more eager to see deserving shows recognized. The tapes were near perfect. I’d only switch out Ron & Tammy for maybe “Jerrys Painting”, “Media Blitz” or “Road Trip.” This show had a lot of critical praise this year and I was expecting more nominations (NICK OFFERMAN!!!). It should be in the writing and supporting acting categories as well this year, so while I’d love to see this pull an upset, it’s lack of support thus far has kept me pessimistic. Still I’m hoping for a 30 Rock Season 1 type win that comes out of nowhere to surprise me.
The Office:
Tape A: “Andy’s Play” & “China”
Tape B: “PDA” & “Threat Level Midnight”
Tape C: “Garage Sale” & “Goodbye, Michael”
Well one of the tapes, Tape C, is dynamite. But I can’t see The Office coming back to win here. I do think this past season was better than the last 2 or 3 seasons, but the buzz is gone on this show and it’s unfortunately starting to fade away. In fact, with Carell gone, I predict this will be The Office’s last nomination in this category. (Though I’d love to be proven wrong.) Andy’s Play, China and PDA are still solid episodes. Threat Level Midnight, while great for longtime fans will be awkward and unappealing to voters who only casually get watch this show. Plus it was a decisive episode critically.
The Big Bang Theory:
Tape A: “The Herb Garden Germination” & “The 21 Second Excitation”
Tape B: “The Justice League Recombination” & “The Engagement Reaction”
Tape C: “The Love Card Displacement” & “The Agreement Dissection”
I’ve only caught a few of these episodes (Agreement Dssection, Justice League, 21 Second Excitation) and the episodes I do see I like. I do believe it was worthy of a nomination here, but overall I can’t see this winning. It had a typically rocky 4th season and fell a little out of favor with the critics. It is the only 4 camera traditional sitcom in the group that will appeal to some voters, but I don’t see how it can overcome the competition.
Community:
Just kidding Community wasn’t even nominated… WTF Voters?!
Rankings:
Modern Family – 50%
Parks and Recreation – 22%
30 Rock – 15%
Glee – 10%
Big Bang Theory – 2%
Office – 1%
Preference:
Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, Modern Family