Emmys 2017: Gina Rodriguez, Speechless, Timothy Olyphant among readers’ comedy picks

Who were some of the best comedy performers of the year, and what’s the most deserving comedy series of them all? Throughout the past several weeks we’ve had readers from all over vote in the latest edition of our Emmy Preview series. Some categories have been close, others have been blowouts. As a whole, though, it’s been fun to gauge what readers think about some of the various shows that are on the ballot.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll find out what the actual winners for the year are bright and early on the west coast — though not anywhere near as early as in years past.

Quick reminder – These aren’t official Emmy wins or even guarantees of nominations — they are just who our readers thought were the most worthy contenders.

Comedy Series – Speechless. It was a super-close vote, but with 38% of the vote the supremely underrated / very-funny family comedy managed to edge out slightly Jane the Virgin. This is a show that is somewhat of a longshot to get an actual nominate, but we hope that it does so that the Emmys send a message that network TV is still great and matters a great deal.

Actor, Comedy – Timothy Olyphant, Santa Clarita Diet. We had some close contests in the comedy realm this year, but this one was a complete runaway for Olyphant — which we understand after watching the show. While we knew him to be rather great from his time on Justified, this exposed us to a new, different, and fantastic side to him as a performer. SO much fun.

Actress, Comedy – Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin. The Emmys have dropped the ball on giving Gina her due credit the past two years, and we do want to hope that things are different this time around. She deserves it for so many different reasons — not only is she one of the funniest people on the CW series, but she brings so much heart to the title character and you get to see such a wide range of emotion.

Supporting Actor, Comedy – Micah Fowler, Speechless. There’s a good chance that Fowler could get a nomination for playing JJ, and we absolutely hope that it happens. He’s so funny, and what makes his performance so effective here is that he embraces the challenge of finding new and unique ways to make people laugh, while also having them relate to the character that he’s playing. Fowler won in a close vote with Bobby Moynihan of Saturday Night Live in second place.

Supporting Actress, Comedy – Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live. She’s probably a lock to score a nomination, and all site readers had to do was look at her resume to understand why. She had Hillary Clinton, Olya, the Whiskers R We co-owner, the drunken patron in the Last Call sketches, Hollywood icon Debette Goldry, and the woman at the center of all of the supernatural encounters. A pretty great body of work, no?

What do you think about the winners this year in these categories? Be sure to share in the attached comments and stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow.