The Phoebe Buffay Award- Female in Comedy

Named For: Phoebe Buffay (Friends)
Awarded To: The best female character in a comedy series
2009 Winner: Liz Lemon (30 Rock)
2010 Winner: Erin Hannon (The Office)
2011 Winner: Erin Hannon (The Office)

10. Jenna Maroney (30 Rock) 4 points
4th by Jaydon and Matt

9. Penny Hartz (Happy Endings) 5 points
2nd by Bonz, 5th by Me

8. Jane Williams (Happy Endings) 7 points
4th by T-time, Larry, and Jack

7. Annie Edison (Community) 9 points
1st by Matt

6. Jess Day (New Girl) 12 points
2nd by Matt, 3rd by Me

5. April Ludgate (Parks and Rec) 13 points
1st by Cecil

4. Carly Shay (iCarly) 13 points
1st by Jack, 2nd by Me

3. Dee Reynolds (It's Always Sunny) 16 points
1st by Larry

2. Alex Kerkovich (Happy Endings) 17 points
1st by Bonz, 1st by Me

and the Poolie goes to...

1. Britta Perry (Community) 18 points
1st by Jaydon and T-time, 4th by Me

This is Britta Perry's first nomination and win for best female character in a comedy series.  In 2010, Britta was nominated for the character you most love to hate in a comedy.  Here to explain her rise to prominence, is Poolie voter, T-time.

___________________________________________________

As so often with Community, the things viewers are thinking wind up in the mouths of the characters. Never was this more apparent than when everyone from the study group to the priest that presided over Shirley’s wedding started calling Britta “the worst.” Until of course, the moment late this season when Troy let Britta in on the secret that we had all realized months ago. “You’re not the worst,” he told her in all sincerity. “You’re the best.”

It was true. Somewhere along the line of Community’s embrace of how awful a character Britta Perry was, she had become the best character on television. Part of this has to be credited to the writers. Realizing that they had written a character that was tough to like, they resolved to write her as annoying as possible. This was evident as early as the D&D episode of last year, where the group collectively groaned at Britta’s predictable outrage at the condition of gnomes in a made-up universe. But the more she became a parody of someone that would be absolutely insufferable in real life, the more she became an absolute joy to watch on the silver screen.

Much more of the credit has to go to Gillian Jacobs and her willingness to commit to the character. From the Me So Hungy dance (and its quasi call-back in the Me So Christmas dance) to deadpanning every line about being a psych major, Jacobs has executed her lines with comedic  timing that has verged on inconceivable. The pride in her voice when she announces that she can alter the crime scene photo to wild west colors.  The honest inquiry when she asks if Abed’s plan has to do with regionals. The comedy on Community usually requires a precise inflection. Whatever was asked for this year, Jacobs delivered.

And like the aforementioned dance, it hasn’t just been the dialogue that has set Britta apart this season. The awkward hug she exchanges with Troy while filming the dean’s commercial was fantastic. The constant peering over the shoulder of the psychiatrist while taking notes was one of the funnier moments of this season or any. I could go on mentioning moments indefinitely but we all saw this season of Community. It wouldn't be tough to argue that over the course of the year, Britta Perry gave us more than any other character on TV.

by Tim Forcella