The TV IV:IVy Awards/2006/Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Candidates to be considered the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for work in a series which first aired one or more episodes in the United States between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006. Please read carefully the Definitions and Guidelines before putting a candidate up for nomination.

Definitions

comedy

Any live-action (non-animated), scripted (non-documentary, talk or news) episodic (airing on a recurring basis), non-limited series categorized as a Comedy on the TV IV. In the case of shows which are categorized as both Comedy and Drama (and only in those cases), the show will be categorized on the basis of runtime: Less than 40 minutes should be considered a Comedy, 40 minutes or more should be considered a Drama.

actor

A human male performer in a scripted series, including voice actors and male actors portraying female characters.

supporting actor

An actor who is Billed or Top Billed in an episodic series at any point during the eligibility year except if he or she is also First Billed in that same series at any point during the eligibility year. (Example: Imagine that this season of Taxi had started off with Alex Rieger as the hero and Judd Hirsch in the First Billed role. Jeff Conaway was Top Billed as Bobby Wheeler in those episodes. But in the fourth episode, Hirsch left the series to work on a film career, and Bobby became the hero, and Wheeler was then First Billed. Both Hirsch and Wheeler would be eligible for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy, but neither of them would be eligible for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy.)

Guidelines

Please feel free to propose as many or as few candidates as you like in each category. If you change your mind or wish to retract a candidate, don't worry about editing the page, as it could cause some confusion down the road. (If you propose one unworthy enough, it will most likely not make it past the nominating process, anyway.) Feel free to discuss yours or others' proposals as much or as little as you choose. Tell us why you feel a candidate should be considered, or why someone else's candidate is a horrible choice and should not be considered. (Just remember to follow standard TV IV discussion rules regarding civility.)

Please mark all proposed candidates in bold, and link the show titles, even if the linked articles are empty or stubs. Try to avoid using bold elsewhere in the discussion. (To mark a candidate in bold, surround the name with two sets of three apostrophes, and use double brackets for linking, '''[[like this]]'''.) We must have a series for which each actor is being nominated, so be sure to include one. (For instance, to propose John Larroquette for Night Court, write: "John Larroquette, Night Court".)

Candidates Discussion

• Will Arnett, Arrested Development: Here's another nomination I will gladly champion. For three seasons now, Arnett, as GOB Bluth, has stolen every scene and established himself as one of the finest living comic actors. He is, like Enrico Colantoni, the MVP of an All-Star team, the best of the best, and the fact that both Emmys and Golden Globes have ignored that simple and undeniable fact is nothing short of criminal. What sets him apart is his commitment to his character's insanity: No matter how despicable GOB's actions, he sets about them so earnestly that it becomes endearing. Whether swallowing a roofie to forget his reunion with his illegitimate son or serving as pimp (via a dummy) to a prostitute who may be his own sister, GOB is consistently the most twisted, hilarious and strangely lovable member of the Bluth clan. And when you realize that his competition for that title includes David Cross and Jeffrey Tambor, that accomplishment becomes nothing short of superheroic. Yet even Cross and Jason Bateman have publicly singled Arnett out as the most outstanding actor in the ensemble, and to miss him in the nominations list would be, well, "a huge mistake."
• John C. McGinley, Scrubs: Were Will Arnett not on the air in Arrested Development, this category would be a walk for McGinley in my mind. His performance as Dr. Cox is consistently one of the best, most brilliant performances on television. Nobody else on that show—not even Zach Braff—accomplishes its careful balance of absurdist comedy and tear-jerking drama quite so perfectly. His comedy lines are the ones you find yourself quoting the next day; his dramatic twists (like veering close to alcoholism in 5x21 - My Fallen Idol) are the most painful to watch; and McGinley does it all so flawlessly, he makes it look easy. It's not easy, though. It's the work of a maestro at his art.

If you want further proof of his mastery of acting, watch Office Space again; the character he plays is a polar opposite to Dr. Cox. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to even think of a leading character from any show this year who even came close to matching his abilities. --Nmfree 03:09, 6 June 2006 (EDT)

I think his dramatic acting is pretty weak and unbelievable. I had much trouble believing that this wasn't just a guy pretending to be sad. I didn't buy it. --MateoP 17:09, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

• Jeremy Piven, Entourage: "Let's hug it out, you little bitch." Those of us who love this show know Piven is, simply put, the single best reason to watch. Period. He is so perfectly sleazy, so adorably unlikable, so hilariously hideous that he lights up the show in every scene he's in.
• Rainn Wilson, The Office: This is a good year for Galaxy Quest aliens, in my mind. First there's Enrico Colantoni in Veronica Mars, then Wilson in The Office. Steve Carell is undeniably a heavy-hitter, yet Wilson as Dwight manages to steal scenes even from him: Trying to use the Jedi mind trick on Michael's dummy (2x05 - Halloween), becoming sweet and cuddly due to a concussion (2x12 - The Injury), upstaging Michael at a conference with a speech inspired by Mussolini (2x17 - Dwight's Speech). Wilson is the perfect comedy wingman to Carell, and he most certainly should be given serious consideration for an IVy.

JCaesar 18:28, 2 June 2006 (EDT)

Agreed, but i'm not sure he should win it because he had a tendancy to be over the top at times making the role a tad bit unbelievable (which didn't happen with his UK Office counterpart). --MateoP 17:05, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

Turns out Crews is eligible for the Best Lead Actor category, so he's been moved. JCaesar 22:16, 2 June 2006 (EDT)

• Kevin Dillon, Entourage: Sure Ari is gold, but maybe I just enjoy Johnny Drama's character more. As good as Jeremy Piven is, it seems like the Drama character has more depth to it and Kevin Dillon basically playing himself in the role makes it perhaps to easy for him to do a good job with

--Boco_T 02:20, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

• Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother: More than a decade after Doogie Howser, and almost as long since Starship Trooopers, most people probably thought NPH was gone for good from acting. But with his hilarious bit part in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, he re-invented himself as a comedic actor, and Barney might end up being the character he's remembered for when it's all said and done. His Barney is a breath of fresh air in the Sitcom world, always managing to cut the most sugary sweet moments with the perfect biting comment that grounds us right back in reality. Even though his moments are always brief, he constantly steals the show from the other actors, and always manages to make the most of his few dramatic moments to remind us that underneath his over the top macho exterior, he's still got feelings.

--mangler103 22:19, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

• Ethan Suplee, My Name is Earl: It's difficult to play someone as naively stupid as Randy and have it seem both realistic and endearing while not becoming annoying. Ethan really understands this balance and has molded the character into the perfect sidekick for Jason Lee's Earl. Randy's standard staring at/playing with something random that no one else notices or cares about was entirely Suplee's invention. He just started doing it on camera in the pilot and everyone loved it so much they made it a standard of the character. He knows his character so well the writers don't even write most of his background bits and just leave sections for him to improv it. Also Randy's lack of temper and trusting nature set him apart from Suplee's previous anger prone and paranoid characters truly showing his range even in playing outwardly similar characters. The-jam 14:39, 5 June 2006 (EDT)