Emmy Breakdown: Outstanding Comedy Series, or The First Race to Give Me Real Mixed Emotions

Here's a fun fact for you. Did you know that of the 54 Outstanding Comedy Series awards that have been given out over the years, 46 of them have been awarded to just 2 networks? Yup, NBC and CBS can each claim 23 Best Comedy trophies. It's only fitting then that those two networks have the shows with the best shot of winning, but we'll get to that shortly. Let's look at the nominees:

• Family Guy
• Entourage
• Flight of the Conchords
• How I Met Your Mother
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• Weeds

This is the fourth nomination for The Office, the third for Entourage and 30 Rock, and the first for the rest. First off, let me give kudos to the Academy for the number of first-time nominees. It's nice to see that they are broadening their horizons. Second, can we talk about how wonderful it is that Family Guy has been nominated? Because it is, in a word, fucking fantastic. I know some people fault it for being too similar to the Simpsons (which it really isn't), or poor plot structure (which is actually something I appreciate--I like being able to watch clips without needing context). There are very few other shows which can make the mile-a-minute pop culture references work (incidentally, 30 Rock is one of them). Here's some evidence from this season:



Did you enjoy that? Good, because unfortunately I don't think its prospects of winning are actually very good. This is one of those "It's an honor just to be nominated so enjoy it and don't bitch" situations. The same goes for Flight of the Conchords. Entourage is quickly becoming irrelevant, so no award for it this year, and as I've said before I don't watch Weeds, but I'd also put it's prospects at slim to none. That leaves us with The Office, HIMYM, and 30 Rock. The Office had some moments this season (namely when Dwight taught the office about fire safety), but in general the show was a little uneven. 30 Rock and HIMYM are both fantastic. You've all heard me say so, so there's no real reason to extol both of their virtues more. 30 Rock is coming off a 3rd season which wasn't quite as wonderful as its second one, while HIMYM is coming off a season in which it saw a sharp rise in ratings (something notable in our DVR age) and what I'm considering a general breakthrough (in my own social circle I can count at least 10 people that have just started watching the show over the last 6 months, and while that may be because I pushed it on them like a drug dealer from one of those old "don't do drugs" commercials, I don't care.) Every part of my soul hopes the Academy will recognize this show for succeeding in a format--the sitcom--that is slowly beginning to disappear from network television and for doing so with both wit and heart. I love Tina Fey and I love 30 Rock, but I truly, truly believe HIMYM deserves the win. That being said, I'm bracing myself for 30 Rock to take home the award. So....

Who Should Win: How I Met Your Mother (please, please, universe, make this happen)
Who Will Win: 30 Rock

Check back tomorrow for a look at the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama category, as well as a debrief of what I'm sure is going to be a fantastic True Blood season finale.