The Arthur Spooner Award- Supporting in Comedy

Named For: Arthur Spooner (King of Queens)
Awarded To: The best supporting character in a comedy series
2009 Winner: Kevin Malone (The Office)
2010 Winner: Leon Black (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

Place. Nominee (Series) Points (My Vote)

10. Adam Rhodes (Rules of Engagement) 1 point (5th)

9. Ryan Howard (The Office) 6 points

8. Tracy Jordan (30 Rock) 7 points (3rd)

7. Kevin Malone (The Office) 8 points

6. Frank Reynolds (It's Always Sunny) 10 points

5. Taco McArthur (The League) 12 points

4. Pierce Hawthorne (Community) 13 points (4th)

3. Luke Dunphy (Modern Family) 15 points

2. Chris Traeger (Parks and Recreation) 15 points (2nd)

and the Poolie goes to...

1. Troy Barnes (Community) 34 points (1st)

This is Troy Barnes first nomination and first ever win for the Arthur Spooner Award.  Earlier this season, Troy won the Louis and Twitty Award for Best Buds along with Abed Nadir.

We here at the Quiet Pool Perspective are proud to welcome Poolie voter Jaydon, who has some very nice things to say about Troy Barnes, Donald Glover, and the people of Community.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Community is a show that responds to itself and makes choices based on how well things work. Probably the best example of this so far has been incorporating the disdain fans felt for Britta and her shallow, moralistic bent into how the characters feel about her. Not only did they address the issue, they made Britta aware of her nature and let her struggle with it. This made her a more likable character without changing who she is. A more controversial example is positioning Pierce as an antagonist to the study group over the course of season two. They could have embraced the doddering old fool in him but went with his mean-spirited core since there are plenty of other foolish options and no other true foils to pit the group against. Some felt that Pierce had displayed unforgivable behavior and his continued inclusion in the group seemed at the least, a little off (These kind of analytical fans probably attend conventions and write horrifying homo-erotic slash fiction).

What does this have to do with Troy Barnes? Troy was a star quarterback in high school. Troy was prom king. Troy started the series wearing his letterman jacket. This season Troy curled up in a ball of whimpering terror and sang the theme song to Reading Rainbow after contracting spontaneous lockjaw upon meeting LeVar Burton.  He's best buds with Abed with good reason. He's really, really strange.  The show has done a good job of letting his oddness develop in a freak friendly environment. But Troy isn't Abed. Weirdness aside, they're complimentary opposites. Where Abed's Aspy disconnection from reality and humanity allows for much of the more off the wall aspects of the show, Troy is the most emotional character. This allows for moments of bug-eyed banshee wailing, of which Donald Glover is an expert, as well as sincere moments like Troy's 21st birthday anti-celebration.

There's a popular misreading of Community that considers the show merely a cartoonish pop culture reference fest. The character work they've done reveals an attention to structure and internal coherency that can be lost amidst the themed episode chaos. This is a show where the ensemble gels so well together that the less likable characters feel somehow essential. It makes likable, funny characters like Troy an absolute delight. He's a sexy Dracula and he's got a monkey named Annie's Boobs. Kiss the ring.

~ Written by Jonathan Stuart