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I looked a decade into the past to look at the comedy series categories at the Emmys. It was a time of Veep (yay!) and Modern Family (boo!). Now, I turn the calendar back another decade. That means going from 2014 to 2004. Again, I am only considering the actual nominees, not simply naming who I would have given an award to. Also, I am only doing the comedy categories because I don’t feel my drama knowledge has enough depth to it. That is even truer in 2004 compared to 2014.
Supporting Actress: Yeesh. Three different Sex and the City women were nominated, with Cynthia Nixon winning. I’ve never particularly gotten into that show, and none of those women have really popped for me as performers. Megan Mullally is great, but her turn as Karen on Will & Grace has always been too much for me. She’s turned up to 12, much less 11, and I have never been able to tolerate it in anything beyond brief doses. Then, there’s Doris Roberts on Everybody Loves Raymond. Well, I like Claudia O’Doherty’s impression of Kim Catrall as Samantha on Sex and the City, so I will give it to Catrall.
Supporting Actor: This is way easier. David Hyde Pierce won for Frasier, and I love Frasier. That show rules. Niles rules. Pierce rules. This was the final season of Frasier, and interestingly in 2004 supporting actors got to submit two episodes. Pierce is a great choice, but shout out to Jeffrey Tambor for Arrested Development.
Lead Actress: Bonnie Hunt was nominated for the forgotten Life with Bonnie. That’s fun. Anyway, Sarah Jessica Parker won. I like her than the supporting actresses, but I would maybe go with Jane Kaczmarek for Malcolm in the Middle. That show isn’t all that good, but her performance is strong.
Lead Actor: Tony Shalhoub won three times in four years between 2003 and 2006…but not in 2004. Kelsey Grammer got one last Emmy for Frasier, and rightfully so. He was great during the original run of Frasier, and he was not phoning it in during the final season. By the way, Larry David was nominated for Curb Your Enthusiasm, a show that just ended. What a run.
Comedy Series: Grammer and Pierce may have gotten their goodbye Emmys, but Frasier was not even nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series. Had it been, though, I would not have awarded its final season over the first season of Arrested Development. This was the peak for that show, wasn’t it? The brilliant first season won Outstanding Comedy Series. The ratings didn’t pick up. The show got canceled after three seasons. It became a cult classic, a beloved sitcom. Then Netflix rebooted it and, well, those seasons are best forgotten.
