Ranking the Emmy Nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards are this Sunday (September 12th). Any of our more devoted readers will know that I cover the Academy Awards extensively here on Films Fatale, and was hoping to do more with the Emmys. Having said that, there are far too many categories to go through all of them and discuss them at great length. Nonetheless, I feel like ranking each of the major categories will suffice (I didn’t get around to all of the limited and miniseries this year, but maybe next year, this will be included as well). Tomorrow, the nominees in the drama series category will be ranked and reviewed with little blurbs. Today, I’m handling the funnier counterpart. Which of these sitcoms and series are the most interesting? Which made me laugh the hardest? Which have a bright future ahead? Which surpass their labels as funny series and are flat-out a part of the bigger picture (being the best shows on television right now)? Here is my ranking for all eight of the nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series at this year’s Primetime Emmys.
Note: Entries may contain spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.
Additional Note: Only the nominated seasons are going to be considered, so please keep that in mind while reading.
8. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Season 11
I hate placing Larry David's series last, because Curb Your Enthusiasm is easily my favourite show of this batch (it’s unquestionably one of the funniest series I’ve ever seen). However, I'm going solely by the nominated season alone, and season 11 is easily the weakest of both this category and in Curb history. Is it funny? Of course. Anything Larry David makes, outside of Sour Grapes, will be. It is just far too messy to avoid feeling let down. The plot points that usually collide into one cluster of a climax barely even land in the same vicinity here: season long build ups lead to very tame finales (the punchline involving that whole fence schtick is incredibly weak for David’s standards). I'll always be happy when there is new Curb, but season 11 is only just okay if I need to be real.
7. Abbott Elementary
Season 1
This new sitcom about a Philadelphia school is just getting started, but it's already looking like a fairly solid series. At times, it did feel like just another offspring of the American Office, but it has slowly come into its own build, with its lore developing (particularly its ability to speak the minds of every teacher watching: by best representing them and some of the oddities and frustrations they deal with on a regular basis). Is it neat that it's getting so much Emmy attention right away? Sure. I think this is only the beginning, and that Abbott Elementary will be even better once it shakes off any season 1 jitters (the very few it had) and evolves into the series it can easily become: a reliable weekly comedy.
6. The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel
Season 4
I didn't dislike the latest season of The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel as a few viewers did, but I am starting to feel like the show is running in circles (it feels like Midge is going through a nearly identical arc that she needed to have in seasons 1 and 2). Still, a weaker season of Mrs. Maisel is still a well made one. With the jaw-dropping details of the late 50s to bask in, and the performances always being in tip top shape (let's not forget that lightning fast banter), Mrs. Maisel is still strong enough to be interesting (at least to me). I also appreciate some of the moments that maybe didn’t work as well as one would have hoped (Midge having to perform at a burlesque club, to get that angle of feminist commentary), because risks were still made. Who knows where the show will go in its final season, but I still was invested enough this year.
5. Only Murders in the Building
Season 1
Season 2 has been great, but the nominated season here is the first one, which is still good but not nearly as confident as it's followup would be. Still, the introduction to this kooky premise – three drastically different walks of life that bond over their love of true crime, that start a podcast as a means to solve an actual murder – is quite good. Even if the series is overly convenient with its revelation of information (clues are dug up at exactly the right time, which is a wee bit too on the nose), the jokes are sharp and the twists are even sharper (the final revelation of the who-did-it in this whodunit is pretty well executed). Only Murders in the Building is a nice form of escapism, and actually more intriguing than I ever imagined it would be.
4. What We Do in the Shadows
Season 3
Season 4 of this vampiric mockumentary series is wrapping up (in fact, the finale happened the evening of when I finished writing this article), and this is season 3 that has been nominated. Every season of What We Do in the Shadows is relatively the same in tone and scope, particularly with the jaw dropping sets and the cheeky level of humour, but season 3 does all of this kind of better than the rest (yes, even more than this current season, which is still great). I feel like part of this charm comes from how familiar we are getting with each character and their bizarre traits (is Laszlo Cravensworth the most suave goofball in television history or what?), and how much further with this concept the cast and crew are prepared to go. This could have easily been a monotonous slog of a series that relied on the same jokes. By the third season, it is clear that this show was meant to be.
3. Ted Lasso
Season 2
By now, most people have seen America's current comfort watch about an incompetent U.S. football coach, the titular Ted Lasso, that is in charge of a premium British football team (AFC Richmond). Season 1 was about this fish-out-of-water experience, but this second season is a little more multifaceted as a series of cheers and cringes. The cast is loveable in every way (even antagonistically, where this applies), and the show really digs into your core. Word on the street is that Ted Lasso is going to be short lived, with allegedly one more season to wrap things up. It's a shame on one hand that we wont have more, but I also like that something as genuine as Ted Lasso won't be squandered by greed. It definitely warrants repeated viewings, and that’s likely the fate it will endure for at least the foreseeable future.
2. Hacks
Season 2
The first season of Hacks is great and the sleeper hit of its year, but this even-better return doubles down on everything that makes the show so good. The insults are darker. The stakes are higher. Even though the series takes place on the road, Deborah Vance turns every venue into her Las Vegas residency, and we are at home once again (this is especially true when Vance bites off the heads of anyone that defies her). The love-hate relationship between her and Ava, her struggling writer, is larger than before, with their bonding feeling sincere and endearing, whilst their attacks towards one another are getting far worse (a lawsuit? Really?). This feels as loveable and progressive as Schitt’s Creek, whilst as savage and unpredictable as Succession. Hacks is one of the most fun and hectic shows on television, and I love every minute of it.
1. Barry
Season 3
It seems strange to consider Barry a comedy still, considering how dark and thrilling this hitman-actor show has gotten (some of 2022’s most emotional moments on the small screen come from this Bill Hader passion project). We've dived into the psyche of Barry "Block" Berkman and it is clear that he is no longer a good person doing bad things: that line is beyond blurred. Furthermore, now that his personal life is converged with his murderous job, he's being asked to do favours for those close to him (people are actually ingratiating themselves with him to choose violence). Barry is hysterically grim but easily the most engaging and riveting show in this group. It leaves its best punchline for last: the inevitable can still be hugely surprising when a show is handled properly (Barry is clearly handled expertly by this point). It won't win, but Barry season 3 is easily my favourite nomination of this category.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.