If I picked the Emmys 2018-2019 (Comedy categories)

Comedy Shows: 
AP Bio
Arrested Development
The Good Place*
Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Miracle Workers
Trial and Error
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Arrested Development" concluded their runs this year with the back halves of seasons that ran over two years. "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" is a more episodic show that lives or dies based on the quality of the episodic plot and it had a pretty high hit-to-miss ratio as it approached the end. "Arrested Development" started off clunky and didn't have as much stunt casting to rely on. Some might have even preferred the up-in-the-air status of things at the end of the fourth season, but the show managed to really focus on the labyrinthine plotting and organically earn its happy ending. Right after watching "The Good Place", I felt like the season dilly-dallied too long in Australia but looking back that seems like a minor blemish. The show world-builds like an adderrol-addled toddler playing with legos but it has such a plethora of quotable lines and pretty much every character on screen is memorable in some way.

Actor:
Adam Clayton-Holland, Those Who Can't
Daniel Radcliffe, Miracle Workers
Glenn Howerton, A.P. Bio*
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Tim Robinson, I Think You Should Leave

Howerton's transition from ensemble player in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" to headlining his own show is the epitome here of how to retain popular elements of your screen persona and do something fresh with them: He's still a bit psychopath and unfeeling and is every bit the know-it-all as Dennis Reynolds but somehow it's just different. My runner-up here would be a close call between the TV veteran Danson and Ramy Youssef. Even though Youssef is playing a version of himself reading his own script (something that could lower the degree of difficulty) there's a lot that's affecting about his performance.

Actress:
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidtt
Geraldine Viswanathan, Miracle Workers
Kristen Bell, The Good Place
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll*
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Rachel Brosnahan, Marvelous Mrs Maisel

It's hard to ignore Bloom, Brosnahan, Kemper or Bell because those shows are great female-driven comedies that put those actresses front and center. Brosnahan has had an incredible journey from the lower rungs of comedy actor obscurity so she's been quite rootable. Allison Brie is another great pick and I might have included here but I felt the second season of "Glow" was a fast turn towards boring and I'm not sure if she did anything new. Bell is a close-runner up here but Natasha Lyonne really dos an excellent job of channeling her low-filter id-driven screen persona and creating a comic lead out of it. Lyonne's character is so simultaneously kind-hearted and rude, watching her is an examination of  the more superficial elements of typical cordiality.

Supporting Actor:
Chris Redd, SNL
David Cross, Arrested Development
Mikey Day, SNL
Rob McElhenney, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Steve Buscemi, Miracle Workers*
Tony Shalhoub, Marvelous Mrs Maisel

One of my favorite characters on TV is Jason Mendoza but I think it's the way the character is written more than the actor. In contrast, Shalhoub is being fed the most stereotypical blather by Amy Sherman-Palladino and he still finds a way to turn it into something substantive. SNL nominations typically award people for having a hit political impression that catches but Redd and Day really deserve a lot of praise for doing a lot of the grunge work and carrying their weight so early in their careers. It's kind of a six-way tie between the four non-SNL guys with Buscemi taking it by a nose.


Supporting Actress:
Alia Shawkat, Arrested Development
Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Kristin Chenoweth, Trial and Error
Juliette Lewis, Camping*
Lyric Lewis, AP Bio
Meredith MacNeill, Baroness von Sketch Show

This is a wealth of talent in this category with a wide range of variation. O'Hara has long been a fan favorite (and a real Emmy nominee this year) and you either love her or hate her snooty character on "Schitt's Creek" which is a testament to the actress. MacNeill is one of a very talented quartet but she really sticks out for her knack for physical comedy. Shawkat was the most dynamic character on "Arrested Development" this past season and you have to give it up for anyone who can simultaneously hold the affections of a septugenarian AND their first cousin. Lyric Lewis is one of a murderer's row of characters on "AP Bio" including a trio of teacher friends whose banter is so well-established they could convince the audience that pizza slapping is a thing. Lewis has slightly more sass than the others and plays best off of Durbin (Patton Oswalt). However, I'm going with Juliette Lewis who has been chugging along since getting Oscar nominated as a teenager, is wicked fun as a thorn in Jennifer Garner's side on "Camping."

Guest Star Actor:
Adam Scott, The Good Place
Jason Matzoukas, The Good Place
Jerry Minor, Those Who Can't
Joel McCrary, Trial and Error
Michael McKean, The Good Place*
Norm Lewis, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Norm McDonald, The Orville

Lest you think Jason was a Season 2 presence, he appeared in the Season 3 finale to show off his refinement and help pump out babies. His delivery on the line "Hi, I'm Derek" is pretty much all he needs to be placed in this category. For those who need a refresher, McCrary was a judge with a prominent singing voice whose accident got him reduced to a near mute that only Peckers can here; Norm Lewis was the Broadway performer who introduced Titus to the Cats hoax; and McDonald is a member of the Orville's engineering staff who also happens to be an amorphous blob of slime (not making that up). Generally, a good one-off guest star is one who makes an immediate comic impression with something off-kilter that sticks out and McKean's worrisome apologeticness lends itself to some very good scenes.

[Update: Luke Kirby of Marvelous Mrs Maisel won this category]

Guest Star Actress:
Amy Sedaris, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Elizabeth Alderfer, AP Bio
Maria Bamford, Arrested Development
Maya Rudolph, The Good Place*
Mindy Kailing, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Susie Essman, Those Who Can't
Tami Sagher, Russian Doll

I was so happy for Tobias to be able to hold on to DeBrie a little longer and I practically fell in love with Elizabeth Alderfer myself, so there are a lot of appealling choices. For those who can't recall, Susie Essman is a loud-mouthed hustler at Smoot High and Tami Sagher was the secretary to an Orthodox Rabbi who somehow manages to withstand Natasha Lyonne's patience for a good while. In terms of omissions, SNL hosts often go in guest categories but I didn't really think this was a stand-out season with any highlights in terms of who they bought in. Perhaps Emma Stone would be closest if this category weren't so packed. Maya Rudolph takes the cake here because not only is she a distinct comic character whose every line is quoteworthy, she looks like she's having tremendous fun being there.

[Update: Jane Lynch of Marvelous Mrs Maisel won this category]

Dialogue/Writing:
Arrested Development
BoJack Horseman
The Good Place*
Miracle Workers
Trial and Error*
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

I'm going to throw a bone to "Trial and Error" considering it didn't get picked up for Season 3 (who knows, it might get life elsewhere?) and give it a co-win. The sheer absurdity of East Peck really works itself nicely into much of the loopy dialogue (particularly Dwayne) and the show enjoys a lot of fun play off the motiffs. I can't leave "The Good Place" behind: I likely can take any random line and throw it in my twitter feed because it's just that consistently good. For "BoJack", I wasn't fond of the "Free Churro" episode and i thought the season didn't have as much significant movement, but the dialogue is always sharp and there were a few ambitious episodes like the one with four Halloweens or the Henry Fondle episode.


Theme Song/Title Sequence:
Baroness von Sketch Show*
The Big Bang Theory
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Lodge 49
Man in High Castle
Orange is the New Black

I didn't see the new "Man in High Castle"  or even know that the show was still running until I checked so that's nice for the theme song. "Lodge 49" is appropriately psychedelic. "Baroness von Sketch Show" just encapsulates who the four women are to the soundtrack of "Dancing Underwater" by Brave Shores

My Annual Top 12 Shows List

My Big Top 12 TV Shows of the Year has been an Annual Tradition since 2009

Credit: IGN

1. Daredevil (Netflix)-After giving up on season 2, I couldn’t have been more surprised by how transfixed I was here. In terms of technical elements, the color palate is carefully selected, and the fights are a combination of camera virtuosity and choreography that blows most CGI out of the water. Like Christopher Nolan’s films, the story easily transcends the trappings of the superhero genre with a villain whose relationship to his suit is transitive: A means to get things done and can be dropped if need be. The season wrestled with questions of faith and friendship (the bond between Murdoch and his two closest allies drove the show’s emotional push) with a villain (Vincent D’Onofrio) that could provoke genuine anger and fear in an era of superhero glut (not to mention the actual news) where it’s more common to see villains as showcases for actors to ham it up. And then there was Bullseye who took the complexity of the plot (he’s a doppelganger of sorts) to another level.

2. Sneaky Pete (Amazon Prime)-Created by Bryan Cranston and David Shore ("House"), "Sneaky Pete" built on a nail-biter of a first season and continued to find new ways to expand its core cast. As sacrilegious as it is to unfavorably compare "Breaking Bad" to an up-and-coming show, I'm going to go there: This show has a lot to offer that "Breaking Bad" didn't in terms of characters that are honest with themselves over exactly how evil they are and cop characters who don't fall under broad cliches. With the development given this season to Carly (Libe Bearer) and Taylor (Shane McRae), "Sneaky Pete" has earned its stripes as a family melodrama without losing site of the serialized con storyline. Jane Adams also provides great contrast as a psychic threatening to drive Marius/Pete crazy

3. Silicon Valley (HBO)-This show had a distinctive tone in its first season but it didn’t necessarily have a laugh-out-loud cadence with the exception of the twist ending at the end or the occasional gag like the “pros and cons of killing Blake” board). By the fifth season, the character beats are solid enough that the laugh-per-minute humor and overall plot are now on par with Mike Judge’s brilliant screen comedies. The fifth season is even more incredible considering that the group dynamic survived the departure of the show’s funniest stand-alone character Erlich Bachman (T.J. Miller) while characterization continued to march on with Richard developing a harder edge. The show treaded so much in tragedy initially that it’s refreshing to see Pied Piper net a win or two.

4. Crashing (HBO)-The adorably naive Pete Holmes continues his evolution into late adulthood as he finds himself further down the road towards his stand-up dreams and faces increased pressure to decide between personal integrity and fast money (not to mention, all the other dangers that come with being friends with Artie Lange). Also, he somehow lands a girlfriend that looks remarkably like his ex-wife (Lauren Lapkus) in an uncanny bit of casting. TV shows about comics playing themselves are a dime a dozen but few celebrate the joy of mutual creation and camaraderie as well as this, and fewer yet are as thematically thoughtful.

5. Another Period (Comedy Central)-Think “Downton Abbey” crossed with trashy reality show. The show has tremendous fun satirizing historic mores of the aughts and key figures: Sigmuend Frued’s misguided psychotherapy theories are turned into a cringey orgy; Scott Joplin (Cedric the Entertainer) becomes a fill-in for Kanye West;  Eleanor Roosevelt’s feminist leanings get turned into full-on seduction, and yes they even take a shot at sweet pre-teen Hitler because why not? This is a show that, more often than not, goes low-brow and doubles down on low-hanging fruit (lots of incest, an ugly duckling sibling, etc.) but it’s also supremely clever and boasts well-developed comic characters (even the incestuous ones).

Caption: Indiewire

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6. Maniac (Netflix)-The likely one-off season by genius director Cary Fukunaga (“Beasts of No Nation” “Sin Nombre”) takes place in a quasi-futuristic world (a la “Black Mirror”) emphasizing the disconnect between humans (friends are for sale here). A story of mutual healing of two damaged souls (Emma Stone and Jonah Hill) and unlikely friendship (sorry shippers!) becomes a trippy exploration of subsconscious desire, the elusive search for the magic silver bullet that will cure our problems, and the elasticity of trauma.

7. The Mick (Fox)-Lately, I’m finding myself measuring the quality of a comedy through an imaginary decibel meter that records my laughs. “The Mick” isn’t particularly innovative and it’s not even the only place on TV you can see Kaitlin Olson debasing herself, but that doesn’t take away how much I looked forward to this show every week before it’s unceremonious axing. The comedy works through the clash between the snootiness of spoiled children (Thomas Barbusca and Sophia Black-D’Ella) and their unfiltered white trash live-in aunt, but let’s not underestimate the wild cards in wildly overconfident Alba (Carla Jimenez) and Jimmy (Scott MacArthur) who is always dishing inappropriate wisdom to any takers.

8. Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amazon Prime)-The challenge of following up a hit with a sophomore season that builds upward and maintains the novelty is not easy and “Maisel” came through. The second season had some refreshing location changes (I’ve never wanted to visit the Catskills so badly), a very organic new romance for Midge, bigger arcs for side characters (Joe becoming sympathetic? imagine that!), and a hinting that Midge could become a star down the road. Perhaps the smartest move of the second season was lampshading (particularly, through a frustrated coworker who’s wedding was ruined through Midge’s showboating) how Midge is annoyingly on all the time.

9. Trial and Error (NBC)-The uber-eccentric  small-town comedy traded in aloof bisexual professor John Lithgow for haughty socialite Kristin Chenoweth. Like before, there was no shortage of sight gags (shout out to whoever thought up the daily cannon ball), eccentric characters, and rare illnesses for Sheri Shephard’s character to contract. The podcaster who gets entangled into a love triangle with Josh didn’t do much for me but it allowed Josh to run and duck like Jack Tripper and it strengthened the romance between Carol Anne and Josh which was quite sweet. The show took a while to reach last year’s levels of sublime mania (perhaps the change from defending to prosecuting Lavinia midway broke up the flow?) but it finished strong enough to make this year’s list again.

Courtesy: NBC

10. The Good  Place (NBC)-Mike Schur’s hybrid ethical manifesto/long-form sitcom is still one of the best things on TV but the transition into the third scene took a dive in immediacy as the gang was stranded a little too long in Australia. Even off-episodes still had great content to offer and “The Ballad of Donkey Doug” and “A Fractured Inheritance” provided comic highlights as they combined the “Very Special episode” sitcom format with Jason and Tahini’s ridiculous back stories. Towards the end of the year the show started accelerating fast into game changing twists but unlike the first season, our preconceptions haven’t been shattered so it’s still holding steady.

Courtesy: Variety

11. Ozark (Netflix)-Much of the first two seasons here were spent squeezing the protagonist between various characters, capable of inflicting death or worse, who exact opposite demands on him like “Malcolm in the Middle” with psychotic thugs. The tension on this show has gone from satisfying to an adrenaline high but there’s a point when you start to wonder if credibility gets sacrificed. Don’t blame this show: It’s been the template of much of peak TV since “Breaking Bad” and “The Americans”: The more implausible obstacles your antihero is faced with, the better the show. “Ozark” has some great characters, even better acting, and a strong sense of place but it really started to distinguish itself towards the latter half of the season when Marty tried to actively look for a way out (as any sensible character would do) which made his moral conflicts so much more interesting.

12. Disenchantment (Netflix)-Matt Groening mined the genre of futuristic tropes for an anachronistic playground in “Futurama”, and he does the same here with medieval Europe. The visual details are rich in a way that humor can be mined out of all the Easter eggs in the backdrop. John DiMaggio doesn’t do much with King Zog to make him interesting but the rest of the cast is pretty solid and like Groening’s two other creations, there’s already an array of solid side characters. To give an idea, Zog’s second wife is a salamander who talks like Eva Gabor and one of the red shirt knights is named Mortimer the Expendable.  It’s not a finished product yet but it’s a good bet that this show will get significantly richer in future seasons.

Honorable Mention:
Baroness von Sketch Show, IFC-These four seasoned ladies continue to kill it with innovative sketches that vary by length and consistently deliver fresh and original commentary on human nature. Meredith MacNeill, in particular, is a great physical comedian who will bend and contort in any which way for a laugh. 
BoJack Horseman, Netflix-#1 last year, "Bojack" felt like it was treading through familiar beats to some extent but there were several positive developments to show character growth including BoJack maintaining a relationship with Hollyhock, going through both ends of the #metoo movement with a determination to cure himself of alcoholism. and holding down a job (harder than it looks for BoJack). The show found avenues for everyone's arc to continue to be worthwhile five seasons in (although Dianne has a ways to go, we'll be pulling for you next season).  On the humor front, it was hard to top Henry Fondle and on the experimantation front, the show batted one for two in my book (the episode with four Halloweens was the season's MVP to me although some prefer "Free Churro") 
Camping, HBO-Co-written by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, this show feels like a spiritual successor to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff" if the party size was doubled and extended to an entire weekend camping trip. Jennifer Garner stars as Kathryn, an uptight mother in a sexless marraige, who's good graces belie her deep insecurities. Juliette Lewis plays the free-spirited Jandice who is the perfect foil to Kathryn's facade and the season is a slow burn to watching Kathryn unravel. In between these two are a ragtag group who collectively demonstrate that adulting isn't always as complete a process as it seems.
Derry Girls, Channel 4/Netflix-This Irish import found a distinctive voice (quite literally with the thick brogues) and plot format rather quickly. It's rooted in a strong sense of place and a point of view that adolescence is cruel but has moments of rose-tinted nostalgia here and there.
Impractical Jokers, TruTV-On the surface, this looks like four goofballs laughing too hard at their own shennanigans, but this show involving four Staten Island men daring each other to say and do absurd things with strangers involves highly skilled improv packaged in a format that encourages edge-of-your-seat escalation.
Me Myself and I, CBS-A family comedy starring recent SNL alum Bobby Moynihan and John Larroquette that has two things going for it. The gooey morality fables found in the TGIF sitcoms of old, and labyrinthine Sienfeldesque plotting that takes place across the past, present and future of a man's life. Unfortunately the sitcom was cancelled but burned-off episodes are available online. 
Orange is the New Black, Netflix-One of the best ensemble shows in the television history, there are high points and storylines that work in every season. The new dynamic with the two fueding sisters and the moral shading of the guards based on their varying stopping points to a sadistic game of fantasy prisoner were this year's highlights. The tour de force that had the power to get the audience angry enough to want to take action (hello criminal justice reform bill?) was the show's focus on the trial of Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson in all its rawness. The show might have cracked the top 12 if it didn't feel like such a hard reset from last season. 
Rise, NBC-The show was flawed by a protagonist who had such tunnel vision in directing his school play that he was willing to put a not-yet-out gay student in the crosshairs of his conservative family, deny the primadonna her lead role, and screw with the football team's winning formula for the sake of his precious vision. And that's to say nothing of the dues-ex-machinas that continually saved him. But what can I say, somehow this show really worked for me. It hit the right timbre in its emotional relationships (think "Glee" without the whiplash) and has a very strong sense of economically margainalized Red State America
Succession, HBO-There’s not much to write here beyond “spoiled rich family schemes and quibbles and schemes some more” and it’s a lot of fun. A murderer’s row of character actors—Jeremy Strong, Matthew McFayden, Kieran Culkin, Brian Cox, Alan Ruck—lend slightly different shades of nasty to their characters and they’re largely attending a lot of formal events where they’re acting inappropriate.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix-The 4th season regained some of the mojo that the show has had with it's stronger runs when the characters had a consistent thru-line. Kimmy's three supporting characters have come out of the gate more self-assured: Titus had a more definite arc forward in contrast to Jackie's newfound stability. Meanwhile, Lily had much more opportunity to be a wild card that could break an episode open on the humor front as she caused a sexual revolution in nerdom in "Kimmy Breaks the Paradigm." And Xanthippe made another appearance! If the show had more than six epsiodes, it could have really found a groove.

Others Shows I Watched That Didn't Make the List:
9-1-1, Fox*; 13 Reasons Why, Netflix; ACS: Versace, FX; Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV; Alex Inc, ABC*; AP Bio, NBC*; Arrested Development, Netflix; Barry, HBO; Billy on the Street, Lyft; Big Mouth, Netflix; BoJack Horseman, Netflix*; The Break with Michelle Wolff, Netflix; Brockmire, IFC; Comedy Knockout, TruTV, Corporate, Comedy Central*; Casual, Hulu%; Camping, HBO; The Cool Kids, Fox; Corporate, Comedy Central; Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW; The Flash, CW; Derry Girls, Channel 4/Netflix; Electric Dreams, Amazon%; Empire, Fox*; Family Guy, Fox; Gifted, Fox; Glow, Netflix; God Friended Me, CBS; Good Girls, NBC; Great News, NBC; It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FXX; I Feel Bad, NBC%; Jack Ryan, Amazon*; Jessica Jones, Netflix; Kidding, Showtime%, Killing Eve, BBC; Last Man on Earth, Fox;  LA to Vegas, NBC; Last Week Tonight, HBO; Late Night with Seth Meyers, NBC; Lost in Space, Netflix; Modern Family, ABC; Mom, CBS; No Activity, CBS All-Access; Once Upon a Time, ABC: Queer Eye, Netflix*; Mozart in the Jungle, Amazon; Norm McDonald Has a Show, Netflix; Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO; Schitt's Creek, Pop TV; Sick Note, Netflix; SNL, NBC; Superstore, NBC; Timeless, NBC%;  A Very British Scandal, Amazon;  Westworld, HBO%

*=Considered for honorable mention
%=Didn't see more than one or two episodes