Emmy Submission Mission- Supporting Actress in Comedy

The 2011 Emmy Awards will be hosted by Jane Lynch September 18. In the weeks leading up to the event, TVF staff writer Dan Forcella will watch every episode submitted by various actors in various categories and present to you his analysis on each contender.

It's the TV Fanatic Emmy Submission Mission, readers, and it started with Lead Actor and Lead Actress in a Comedy, then moved on to Supporting Actor in a Comedy.

Next up? Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, in which the MC herself is a strong contender, if not the odds-on favorite. Here's TVF's breakdown:

Betty White

It seems as if the year of Betty White has been going on for over two years at this point. She hosted SNL, which she won a guest acting Emmy for, she was in hit movies, and she recently won the SAG Award for Best Actress in a Comedy.

While her new show Hot In Cleveland is much too broad in its comedy stylings to register with the in crowd, White’s performance as Elka has never been the problem. In her submission episode, “Free Elka,” the comedy legend takes advantage of the fact that the elderly blatantly making fun of people and cursing like sailors never gets old.

Between opening the episode playing a harmonica and singing “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen,” a guest appearance by Mary Tyler Moore, and a bunch of perfectly timed zingers by White, there is reason to say she doesn’t have a chance to take down all of the returning nominees in the category.

If she wants to find someone to blame on Emmy night, it might as well be Kristen Wiig. With her third straight nomination in the category for her work on Saturday Night Live, Wiig decided to submit the episode of SNL, “Host: Jane Lynch.”

To read the rest of my Emmy Submission Mission for Supporting Actress in a Comedy, head over to TV Fanatic.

The Chris Farley Award- Sketch Show Performer

Named For: Chris Farley, Saturday Night Live performer from 1990-95
Awarded To: The best sketch show performer from June 1, 2009 - May 31, 2010
Last Year's Winner: no award

Place. Performer (Show) Points (My Vote)

5. Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live) 3 points

4. Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) 8 points

3. Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live) 12 points (1st)

Runner-Up
2. Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live) 14 points (2nd)

and the Poolie goes to...
1. Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live)
23 points (3rd)

Here with his thoughts on Bill Hader is Poolie voter, T-time...

Last year, Bill Hader was just one of a young ensemble cast. This fall, like Aykroyd in season two, Hader emerged as the star of SNL. He began popping up everywhere, impersonating James Carville, hosting an Italian talk show and displaying alarming reactions on Hollywood Dish. He sold the small bits, such as his acceptance of being bumped yet again by D'Andre Cole. He nailed the signature skits like Greg the alien. The highlight is his impression of Dateline's Keith Morrison who becomes overly interested in the news stories and attempts to delve deeper into irrelevant details.



by Tim Forcella

SNL- Megan Fox and U2

What a completely lackluster season premier of Saturday Night Live. I guess when I saw Seth Meyers with his laptop in a private room at the ESPN Zone, he was not working on the show. Instead, he must have been conducting a fantasy football draft, because this premier episode was nothing to write home about. It was something to write on the internet about, but not write home about. As we all know, an SNL ep can only go as far as its host, and Megan Fox isn't funny.

Cold Open- boring.

Peeing Commercial- good idea, not executed that well.

Airplane Scene- this was a good sketch. Funny idea, and of course, Kristen Wiig was at the head of the thing. When she said, "I'm gonna try and sneak you guys some pretzels" I lost it.

Russian Girls- Two good ones in a row...it can only go down from here. Will Forte was great in having a tough time deciding between Megan Fox and Fred Armisen as his wife. It reminded me a lot of the Patrick Swayze/Chris Farley Chip 'n Dales sketch. It is very sad to know that both of the guys from that classic sketch are now gone.

1st Digital Short- What? Not good at all. Pick your game up Akiva.

Burn Up the Bedroom- Blahh.

U2's 1st Song- garbage.

Weekend Update- per the usual, I will make a comment on how Seth Meyers is awful and weekend update is terrible. Now that we got that out of the way, I will now get to the important part of Update, the guests. This week we got two classic recurring characters, Jean K. Jean and Judy Grimes. Both of their shticks are thoroughly enjoyable for me. Kristen Wiig's talent is immeasurable in my opinion. When she just pointed at the chart and said just kidding...unbelievable.

Live Lounge- not good.

U2's 2nd Song- better song, but Bono's intensity is insane. Is he serious with this? Maybe if he softened up a bit, I could believe anything he was singing. A little too out of control.

Biker Chick Chat- This is why you don't give someone the lead of a sketch on their first night. F BOMB. What a joke. It would've been one thing if she was actually funny and slipped up, but she was God awful in her first SNL sketch ever, and threw out the F on top of that. Kristen Wiig (obviously) and Megan Fox both destroyed her at this character. It's only her first night, but I don't think I'm gonna like this new girl.

2nd Digital Short- Now we're talking. Quality digital short here. Anytime you combine Andy Samberg, Transformers and The BAG, I am going to love it.


Talking to Megan Fox- What was it again? Kristin Wiig. Decent sketch. Kristen's face after she made a comment was classic.