Cory Matthews Award - Lead in Comedy

The Cory Matthews Award for the Best Lead Character in a Comedy Series
2009: Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)
2010: Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
2011: Michael Scott (The Office)
2012: Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
2013: Nick Miller (New Girl)
2014: Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny)
2015: Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny)
2016: Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny)
2017: Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny)

2018 Results

10. Joel Hammond (Santa Clarita Diet) 4 points
3rd by Cecil

9. Rooster Bennett (The Ranch) 5 points
3rd by Loose

8. Tandy Miller (The Last Man on Earth) 6 points
3rd by Jack, T-time

7. Jake Peralta (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) 7 points
2nd by Brady

6. Dylan Maxwell (American Vandal) 9 points
1st by Bonz

5. Winston Schmidt (New Girl) 10 points
2nd by Lenny, Tippy

4. Nathan Fielder (Nathan For You) 13 points
2nd by Jack, T-time, Jaydon, Bonz

3. Michael (The Good Place) 17 points
1st by Loose, Larry, Jaydon

2. Nick Miller (New Girl) 20 points
1st by Tippy

1. Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) 38 points
1st by Jack, T-time, Tyson, Brady, Marsh, Lenny, Cecil

Winners' Breakdown
1st: Jack, T-time, Tyson, Brady, Marsh, Lenny, Cecil
2nd: Loose
3rd: Larry, Jaydon, Bonz
No Votes: Rizzo, Tippy

Louis and Twitty Award - Best Buds

The Louis and Twitty Award for Best Buds
2011: Troy and Abed (Community)
2012: Phil and Luke (Modern Family)
2013: Mac and Dennis (It's Always Sunny)
2014: Tyrion and Jaime (Game of Thrones)
2015: Gilfoyle and Dinesh (Silicon Valley)
2016: Gilfoyle and Dinesh (Silicon Valley)
2017: Erlich and Jian Yang (Silicon Valley)

2018 Results

9. Wendell and Domenick (Survivor) 6 points
1st by Tippy

8. Dustin and Steve (Stranger Things) 6 points
3rd by Loose, Jack, T-time, Lenny

7. Colt and Rooster (The Ranch) 7 points
1st by T-time

6. Tandy and Mike (The Last Man on Earth) 8 points
1st by Loose, Jack

5. Winston and Cece (New Girl) 10 points
1st by Larry

4. Philip and Stan (The Americans) 10 points

1st by Jaydon

3. Hitchcock and Scully (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) 10 points
2nd by Loose

2. Al and Darius (Atlanta) 18 points
1st by Lenny, Cecil, Rizzo, Brady

1. Larry and Jeff (Curb Your Enthusiasm) 19 points
1st by Tyson, Bonz

Winners' Breakdown
1st: Tyson, Bonz
2nd: Jack, Larry, Lenny
3rd: Jaydon, Cecil, Brady
5th: Loose
No Votes: T-time, Marsh, Rizzo, Tippy

The Cory Matthews Award- Lead in Comedy

Named For: Cory Matthews (Boy Meets World)
Awarded To: The best lead character in a comedy series
2009 Winner: Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)
2010 Winner: Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
2011 Winner: Michael Scott (The Office)

10. Pete Riggins (Bent) 0 points

9. Daniel Sims (Angry Boys) 2 points
5th by T-time, 5th by Me

8. Andre Nowzick (The League) 5 points
3rd by Cecil

7. Dwight Schrute (The Office) 7 points
3rd by T-time

6. Wilfred (Wilfred) 15 points
1st by T-time, 1st by Me

5. Phil Dunphy (Modern Family) 20 points
2nd by Cecil, Rizzo, and Matt

4. Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny) 20 points
1st by Rizzo, 4th by Me

3. Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny) 20 points
1st by Jack, 2nd by Me

2. Schmidt (New Girl) 23 points
1st by Tyson, Cecil, Larry, and Matt

and the Poolie goes to...

1. Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) 34 points
1st by Mags and Bonz, 3rd by Me

This is Larry David's third nomination and second win for best lead character in a comedy series.  Coinciding with Raylan Givens's win for the Frank Pembleton Award, Poolie voter Mags is here to discuss the success of both characters.

________________________

As the suave, handsome, southern gentleman on FX’s Justified, Raylan Givens is known for his quick trigger and smooth demeanor.  Playing himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David is infamous for his hilarious tendency to argue inane points to no end, as well as his complete lack of swagger. I would find it difficult to find two other characters which display such stark contrast.

Raylan is the preeminent modern man with a mix of traditional confederate values. He is able to talk his way through or around any situation and does it with an unmatched level of charm and swagger. That a man can wear skinny jeans, plaid shirts and cowboy boots/hat in 2012 and not look like a complete ass says enough about him. Add to that the fact that every woman south of the Mason-Dixon Line wants to sleep with him, and you know the guy is verified.

Juxtapose Raylan with Larry David. The short, bald, bespectacled goon dresses poorly and has a penchant for annoying those around him. Larry will debate any point with anyone at any time, and also harbors extreme prejudice to anyone not just like him. Despite this, he is responsible for what may be the funniest show on television.

Congratulations to Raylan on his winning The Frank Pembleton Award For Best Lead Character in an Action Series. The same goes to Larry for The Cory Matthews Award For Best Lead Character in a Comedy Series. Despite their differences, both are certainly deserving of their respective Poolies.

by Kyle Magnus

Curb Your Enthusiasm 810 Review- Start The Violin Music

Leon- "Michael J. Fox bout to be Michael J. f**ked up in a minute."

This eighth season was billed as Curb Your Enthusiasm coming to New York. The show worked Larry leaving for NYC in so hilariously that I overlooked the fact that it took half the season to get him here. And while I was ready to criticize the season for not having an overarching theme to the 10-episode run, "Larry vs. Michael J. Fox" brought the New York era to an end in such a funny and poetic manner that I'm ready to forgive the uneven season.

Back in "The Vow of Silence," Larry broke down and went to New York because he kept using it as an excuse to get out of a charity event. It was such a fitting ending, therefore, to have to do the same thing in order to get out of a Michael J. Fox's charity event in New York. Only in typical Curb fashion, they threw a perfect curve ball in not sending LD back to L.A., but to Paris, where Leon bought himself a chalupa!

And that was the thing about "Larry vs. Michael J. Fox," not only was it constructed beautifully as an episode and as an ender to the season, but it was ridiculously hilarious along the way. I noted more funny moments, and compiled more quips for our Curb Your Enthusiasm quotes page, than I did for any other episode this season.

The scene in the park would have made the episode a winner all on its own. Between Larry buying Greg a replacement gift even though the flamboyant seven-year old obviously loved his sewing machine, the kid giving Susie a hand-sewn pillow sham with a swastika on it, and Jeff taking a bullet for Susie, the five-minute span made for multiple laugh out loud moments, as well as a number of times to acknowledge the cleverness of it all.

To read the rest of my review of last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm season finale, head over to TV Fanatic.

Curb Your Enthusiasm 810 - "Larry vs. Michael J. Fox"
Review
Recap
Quotes

Curb Your Enthusiasm 809 Review- You Bucknered It!

Larry- "That's a remarkably idiotic thing that you just said but you know, the fact that you're wearing glasses, I perceive it as a little less idiotic than I normally would."

In a word, the penultimate episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm's eighth season was... enjoyable. With its therapist blunders, sexual accidents, backwards civil rights activism, and heartwarming Bill Buckner moments, "Mister Softee" was an extremely fun half hour of television.

For my money, Fred Melamed put forth some of the best comedic work of the summer in his small role as Larry's therapist. The subtlety he used in blatantly spilling information on his clients, while acting like he wasn't, was absolutely brilliant. He merely mentioned it was an illustrious director Star Wars that frequented prostitutes. That isn't obvious, right?

When LD's broken car seat came into play with Ana Gasteyer having herself a good time in the passenger seat, I wasn't sure if it was going to go to a funny place. But then Susie came running out of the building and towards Larry's car and the game changed. There have been few things as disgusting and as hilarious as watching Susie in the passenger seat, along with LD's reaction while driving that now gross car.

Everyone loves them some Leon Black, but when he tries to take things to another level, he's even better. Like when he pretended to be Danny Duberstein last season. Leon killed it as a Black man with glasses in this episode. Although we didn't get to listen in on his conversation with the security guard or Dr. Thurgood, imagining what he was saying was still funny.

To read the rest of my review of last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm, head over to TV Fanatic.

Curb Your Enthusiasm 809 - "Mister Softee"
Review
Recap
Quotes

Curb Your Enthusiasm 808 Review- It Was The One-Armed Man!

Larry- "I am going to go do something nice, right now."

Susie- "It's about time."

All of the one-armed man references in "Car Periscope" must have been from The Fugitive because there never actually was a one-armed man in The Mask - even though Jim Carrey so memorably announced It wasn't me. It was the one-armed man! - and Wrongfully Accused featured a one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed man as the villain.

While playing off of The Fugitive for the one-armed man thing certainly ran its course through the 90s, enough time has passed to make it acceptable again, and Curb Your Enthusiasm did a great job of incorporating it into the rest of this week's funny episode. The idea made for plenty of great LD sound bites, but more importantly, it created some of the best Larry-and-Jeff-as-detectives moments there has ever been.

The invention from which this episode got its name proved to be a key factor in allowing those two goons to scour the city for the one-armed man while retro cop movie music played in the background. It wasn't the best Curb episode of the season, but it certainly was different, and that was a nice change.

"Car Periscope" also gave us Larry's way of interpreting a man's integrity, it told us to never try to invent the pool cue skis, and it allowed us all to munch and pee if it becomes necessary.

To read the rest of my review of last night's Curb Your Enthusiasm, head over to TV Fanatic.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - "Car Periscope"
Review
Recap
Quotes

The Cory Matthews Award- Lead Character Comedy

Named For: Cory Matthews played by Ben Savage in Boy Meets World
Awarded To: The best lead character in a comedy series from
June 1, 2009 - May 31, 2010
Last Year's Winner: Tracy Jordan- 30 Rock

Place. Character (Show) Points (My Vote)

10. Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death) 0 points

9. Dwight Schrute (The Office) 7 points

8. Tracy Jordan (30 Rock) 7 points (5th)

7. Jack Donaghy (30 Rock) 9 points

6. Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny) 13 points (4th)

5. Jeff Winger (Community) 15 points

4. Cameron Tucker (Modern Family) 18 points

3. Michael Scott (The Office) 20 points (3rd)

Runner-Up
2. Phil Dunphy (Modern Family) 28 points (2nd)

and the Poolie goes to...
1. Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
48 points (1st)

Here with his thoughts on Larry David is Poolie voter, T-time...

Larry David's run in this category is similar to Shaq's in the early part of this decade. He dominates the field but when it comes to collecting votes for MVP, he is competing not only against the other characters, but against his own prior performances. It may not be fair to hold him to this higher standard, but it is the way of the world. We, as voters, look for reasons not to give the award to Shaq, to Jordan before him, and now to Larry David. We expect greatness and refuse to reward him unless he surpasses his own lofty standards.

Having said that, the highlight of season seven was the interaction between LD and Jerry Seinfeld. The pairing provided a glimpse of what must have been going on behind the scenes at Seinfeld for years. After witnessing the two of them discuss the minor details of human behavior, it's easy to see where many of the plotlines from two classic shows came from.

Even before that, Larry was having a season for the ages. We learned he knows all the words to West Side Story and that he enters names into his cellphone with descriptors such as Denise Handicapped. We watched him kill a swan, protest tipping and berate a 9-year old for over-texting. In the most exceptional Larry move of the season, he launched a Seinfeld reunion, involving all the stars of the show, in an effort to win back Cheryl. He began by attempting to break up with a cancer-stricken Loretta and ended with a hilariously-off attempt to play George. Everything in-between was gold.

by Tim Forcella

The Marriage Ref- How It Can Be Funny

With all of the critical backlash against The Marriage Ref recently, I figured I would explain why the common viewer may really enjoy the Jerry Seinfeld produced show. Don't get me wrong, there are a few aspects that will detur anyone from loving this show, but there aren't enough wrong-doings to make up for the hilarity of a quality panel.

The audience can be extremely distracting, as their need to laugh and clap at every single comment made can get quite annoying. Then again they might help the panelists get their juices flowing. Then there is the Ref himself, Tom Papa. As Tyson so elequently put it while I was watching this week's ep with a few broskies in NYC*, "He's corny." Although he is extremely corny, he occasionally pulls off a good line to make up for the rest of the episode.

*There is definitely something to be said about watching a comedy with a bunch of dudes that enjoy the same type of humore as you. This week's panel, which featured Larry David and Ricky Gervais, was probably the best so far, but my position on the subject might have been exaggerated by the constant cracking up by everyone in the room.

The stories about the married couples are rarely funny themselves, but who cares? We're there to watch funnymen like LD, Gervais, Seinfeld and Alec Baldwin make ridiculous comments about random people. Baldwin and Seinfeld were a good duo to start the series with, but last night LD and Gervais showed you why this show can be unbelievable at times. It is made or broken by the panel. David's undeniable humor combined with Gervais's infectious laugh made it work this week. Next week's panel does not show as much promise. Jason Alexander, Cedric the Entertainer and Martha Stewart...no thanks.

Watching Larry David talk about anything would be hilarious. That's why Curb Your Enthusiasm is fantastic, that's why this week's Marriage Ref was very funny, and that's why if I got to pick one celebrity to just hang out with for a day, LD would be my number one choice. His disgust with human beings, and the fact that he doesn't mind sharing his negative feelings for said humans never gets old.

Other Points

-Seinfeld should have just had himself and LD be on the panel every week and rotated the third guest.

-Ricky Gervais's laugh is incredible, making The Ricky Gervais Show on HBO that much better.

-Episode two, featuring Seinfeld, Tina Fey and Eva Longoria proved that you can't have a good panel with two females. Never try that again.

-Madonna was surprisingly good this week. Maybe she just got caught up in the greatness of LD and Gervais, but I laughed a few times at what she had to say. Something that can't be said for Fey, Longoria or week one's Kelly Ripa.

Curb- Seinfeld Reunion and Finale

This week's season finale was not quite up to par with last week's stellar episode. Having said that, I still thoroughly enjoyed almost everything about it. I especially liked that it was 40 minutes long. So much good stuff that they had to extend their normal 25-27 minute range for the second straight week.

Other than getting to actually see another Seinfeld ep (on Larry's tv) the best part of the night was definitely Larry and Jerry's conversation a the party for Jason's book. Jerry stepped up big time and proved why his character on Seinfeld (which is almost identical to his real life persona) is in my top ten characters of all-time. I lost it when he was explaining to Jason that the title of his pamphlet could have also been Acting with Acting. He then ties in the entire convo he had with Larry, by saying to Jason "Having said that, I think this is a terrific title."

Jer also came up huge by doing the LD stare down to LD. Although not as good as the original, Jerry's final burst of bug-eyed stare was fantastic. Final note on Jerry was that I loved his very Seinfeld-esque observation that Larry's unimaginable love for wood meant that when he is at a funeral, he is more concerned for the coffin than the deceased. Classic.

How were the other people on the stage not cracking up at Larry's version of George? It was hilarious.

And final note on the Curb side of things, George doing LD's pretty, pretty, pretty good was also extremely enjoyable to see.

Great season.

Now to all the haters out there that were unhappy with the Seinfeld finale back in 1998. What were and are you thinking? It was a great finale. It did what a finale should do. It summed up the show in a way that gave it a complete ending. Going through and bringing back all the old characters to show how sick and twisted Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer were was both eventful and fulfilling. I would have been extremely unhappy at the time, if the finale had been something like what Curb's Seinfeld ep within an ep was. There was no closure on the characters. In '98 the four guys go to jail because of all of the trouble we've seen them get into. It was a perfect end to a perfect series.

Sepinwall, like most I assume, disagrees...

In fairness, placing this "Seinfeld" reunion in the confines of a "Curb" episode makes it easy for it to stand out. It's all the good bits, none of the plot mechanics: just joke, joke, joke, joke, joke. But what we did see of it, here and in "The Table Read," felt much more along the lines of what the finale should have been: just one last collection of stories involving these four socially maladjusted people.

In a final mini-rant, I'll say that I don't want my series finale to be just like any other episode, which he is basically say here. I want it to be momentous, like the original finale was. Having said that, this reunion ep inside of Curb was great for what it was. A way to get these four actors, and at times characters, together again for one more time in a way that they would all enjoy.

Poolies Watch- Corey Matthews Award

For last year's Corey Matthews Award there was a solid five pack of nominees that were in the running. Jack and Tracy from 30 Rock, Michael and Dwight from Office and of course LD. So far this year, I have two guys that are in the upper echelon of the category. Every time Larry David or Tracy Jordan are on screen, I'm laughing hysterically. This fact gives Curb the edge since LD is on screen the entire show.

Leading the Pack
Larry David- Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tracy Jordan- 30 Rock

Next we have a sturdy group of dudes that performed well a season ago, but aren't knocking me out of the park so far this season. I like Dwight the best of the three, but with the increase of love in the Modern Family guys, some spots could begin to fall with these three.

Steady Locks
Dwight Schrute- The Office
Jack Donaghy- 30 Rock
Michael Scott- The Office

The next five guys are currently holding my final nomination spots. Some are in more concrete a spot than others. Gary Brooks is the most likely to fall to the wayside if he doesn't step his game up. All five of these guys are in their first or second season. The Modern Family boys are extremely impressive in their first season. Kenny Powers may be at the top of the heap, if and when Eastbound comes on the air this year.

In For Now
Chad Dylan Cooper- Sonny With a Chance
Gary Brooks- Gary Unmarried
Jay Pritchett- Modern Family
Kenny Powers- Eastbound & Down
Phil Dunphy- Modern Family

Here are the five dudes that have a shot of breaking into the nomination pool. Well except for Jim, he's not gonna get a spot. He hasn't been funny in a while. Puddy v. -2.0 is solid but never great. I think I like Haverford's blatantly obvious comedy the best of the group. Although I love Joel McHale on The Soup, he's not all that hilarious in Community. Don't get me wrong, I love his character, just not that funny so far. And then there is the problem I have with comparing cartoon characters to actual people. Peter Griffin gets the short end of the stick on that one. He deserves better.

Outside Looking In
Jeff Bingham- Rules of Engagement
Jeff Winger- Community
Jim Halpert- The Office
Peter Griffin- Family Guy
Tom Haverford- Parks & Recreation

Who else deserves some love?

Preseason Character Rankings

Honorable Mentions

Don Draper
Jon Hamm- Mad Man

Ari Gold
Jeremy Piven- Entourage

Ben Linus
Michael Emerson- Lost

Eric Northman
Alexander Skarsgard- True Blood

Matt Saracen
Zach Gilford- Friday Night Lights

Nathan Scott
James Lafferty- One Tree Hill

Top 20

20. Chloe O'Brian
Mary Lynn Rajskub- 24

19. Mark Sloan
Eric Dane- Grey's Anatomy

18. Johnny Chase
Kevin Dillon- Entourage

17. Alex Russo
Selena Gomez- Wizards of Waverly Place

16. Greg House
Hugh Laurie- House, MD

15. Jack Bauer
Kiefer Sutherland- 24

14. Morgan Grimes
Joshua Gomez- Chuck

13. Jack Donaghy
Alec Baldwin- 30 Rock

12. Julian Baker
Austin Nichols- One Tree Hill

11. Gabriel Sylar
Zachary Quinto- Heroes

10. Miley Stewart
Miley Cyrus- Hannah Montana

9. Michael Scott
Steve Carell- The Office

8. Cappie
Scott Michael Foster- Greek

7. Chuck Bartowski
Zach Levi- Chuck

6. Tim Riggins
Taylor Kitsch- Friday Night Lights

5. Dwight Schrute
Rainn Wilson- The Office

4. Patrick Jane
Simon Baker- The Mentalist

3. Larry David
Larry David- Curb Your Enthusiasm

2. Tracy Jordan
Tracy Morgan- 30 Rock

1. James 'Sawyer' Ford
Josh Holloway- Lost

The Corey Matthews Award (2009)

The Corey Matthews Award for
Best Lead Character in a Comedy Series

Rank. Character (Show)- Total Points...(My Rank)
10th. Randy Hickey (My Name Is Earl)- 0 points

9th. Cappie (Greek)- 0 points

8th. Jemaine (Flight of the Conchords)- 1 point

7th. Gary Brooks (Gary Unmarried)- 4 points

6th. Kenny Powers (Eastbound & Down)- 9 points...(5th)

5th. Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)- 17 points

4th. Dwight Schrute (The Office)- 18 points...(2nd)

3rd. Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)- 21 points...(4th)

Runner-Up
2nd. Michael Scott (The Office)- 24 points...(3rd)

The Poolie Goes To
1st. Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)- 26 points...(1st)

And now with some words on Tracy Jordan here is Lar...

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Tracy Jordan is a pretty great character. He was definitely the best nominee in this category. That had to be a paragraph! What, that was only two sentences?.....Alright, here comes the fun cooker!