2013 Critics’ Choice TV Awards: ‘Parks and Recreation,’ ‘Girls’ guest stars lead category

Guest actors are the backbone of almost any show, since they keep things fresh, and allow you to continuously find new things to like about the characters we already have. The Critics’ Chose TV Awards this year did a good job of nominating six very talented guest actors here, and then made one decision that we don’t understand.

Want to view the rest of our Critics’ Choice TV Awards pieces? Then all you have to do is visit the link here. Just a quick programming note: We’re not doing “surprises” and “snubs” for the guest categories, mostly because we’d be here all day listing people. We’ll just go with what is given.

Nominees – Melissa Leo and David Lynch, “Louie” (FX), Bob Newhart, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS), Patton Oswalt, “Parks and Recreation” (NBC), Molly Shannon, “Enlightened” (HBO), Patrick Wilson, “Girls” (HBO)

Who should win – Hands-down, this goes to Wilson for “Girls.” His episode was perhaps the most polarizing thing that Lena Dunham has ever put on the show, but we found it to almost be a modern-day sort of “Awakening” experience about having everything, and still feeling like you have nothing. We’re sad that we will probably never see him again, but happy we had the experience that we did.

Who will win – Since Wilson’s episode was in fact polarizing, we’re not betting on him for the win. While critics do love “Louie” and Patton Oswalt is enormously popular for good reason, we have a hard time seeing anyone pass on an opportunity to honor Bob Newhart. His role as Professor Proton on “The Big Bang Theory” was pretty silly, but the legendary comic proved he is still as sharp as he’s always been.

Photo: Critics’ Choice TV Awards