2014 Emmys: ‘Silicon Valley,’ ‘Enlisted,’ ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ supporting actors vie for CarterMatt glory
If there was a category for the Primetime Emmy Awards that we feel is in a big need of a shakeup, it’s the Supporting Actor in a Comedy field. There are about 20 or so great people who are worthy here, and many have either been brimming under the surface for some time, or just arrived in the past year with an incredible performance worthy of usurping some longtime position holders.
Given the absence of Adam Driver and most of the “Modern Family” cast, we imagine already that our list is going to be very different from the ones that the Emmys actually name as nominees later the summer. Nevertheless, these extremely funny people all brought something great to the medium we love in the past year, and often didn’t need to dominate a scene to do so.
Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (Fox) – The moment that we found out that Braugher was cast in a comedy, we were excited. Then, we saw him perform in it and were even more excited. Ray Holt may be the most serious person at the Nine-Nine, but he still has just enough silly in him to be the perfect foil for every character on the show.
Alex Karpovsky, “Girls” (HBO) – Ray is the best character on “Girls,” bar-none. He is a walking contradiction in a way, a lonely guy who still continues to find ways to push people away from him and hurt others. Even though he is starting to find a little bit of success, we also still feel like he still struggles to know just what to do with it or with himself. Karpovsky’s performance is almost effortless as he makes Ray feel like someone all of us know.
Kunal Nayyar, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS) – In between the Emily relationship and him starting to understand himself, season 7 was the year of Raj for the mega-hit sitcom. Nayyar has always been the overlooked original cast member, and following this great for him it is time for that to change.
Christopher Evan Welch, “Silicon Valley” (HBO) – A brilliant character actor who is gone long before his time. We remember watching the early episodes of “Silicon Valley” marveling at this many talk about millions of dollars at one second, and then debating Burger King the next. Welch elevated all of his material, and we are going to miss every little thing he brought to this part.
Zach Woods, “Silicon Valley” (HBO) – It’s rare that we put two actors from a single show on this list, but that is an indictment on both this show and on how good Woods was in differentiating awkward Jared from awkward Gabe on “The Office.” We spent the entire first few episodes begging for him to have more screen time, so the whole episode of him getting stuck on robot island was our Christmas.
Parker Young, “Enlisted” (Fox) – In case you missed it, “Enlisted” is that awesomely funny little show that never had a chance on Fox, and Young’s take on Randy is one of the best things about. He is surrounded by a group of people who could really care less about being proper soldiers much of the time, but we feel like there is still some sort of fire in him. It’s just such an earnest, easily influenced character, and watching Young soak in the traits of those around him and then project them outward led to at least three or four brilliant moments this season. (The scenes with the candy supply are just the tip of the iceberg.)
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