The TV IV:IVy Awards/2006/Best Guest Actor or Actress in a Comedy Series

Candidates to be considered the Best Guest Actor or Actress 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.

actress

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

guest actor or actress

An actor or actress who has a guest starring role in one or more episodes of an episodic series at any point during the eligibility year except if he or she is also First Billed, Billed or Top Billed at any point during the eligibility year. (Example: Imagine Kelsey Grammer was Billed on Cheers for the first half of the season. He then disappeared for a long break, only to return as a Guest Star-credited actor in the final episodes of the season. He is eligible for the Supporting Actor category, but he is not eligible in the Guest Actor or Actress category.)

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 an actor or actress is being nominated, so be sure to include one. As most candidates will likely only have appeared in two or three episodes or fewer, it might also help to include links to episodes to refresh other voters' memories. (For instance, to propose Jon Lovitz for his work on NewsRadio, write: "Jon Lovitz, NewsRadio (Jumper)".)

Candidates Discussion

• Iris Bahr, Curb Your Enthusiasm (5x08 - The Ski Lift and 5x09 - The Korean Bookie): As Rachel Heineman, the Orthodox Jewish daughter of a doctor whose car Larry backs into, Bahr is responsible for two of the most memorable moments of the season: When Larry discovers the money he paid to repair her father's car was spent instead on her boob job, and when she and Larry are trapped on a ski lift as the sun is about to set. I still giggle when I think of her insisting to Larry that one of them must jump off the ski lift to avoid being out together after sunset, and Larry just looks down and replies, in classic deadpan, "What're you, fuckin' nuts?" Their interplay is classic CYE.
• Brett Butler, My Name Is Earl (1x10 - White Lie Christmas): This is one of the greatest, most memorable guest starring roles in a comedy series in years. The casting is perfect: Who better to play the mother of the smart-as-a-whip Trailer Park Queen Joy than TVs most intelligent White Trash Mama of the 90s? Yet Butler elevates even the casting coup to transform her episode into one of the true highlights of the series. Her virtuoso performance as a gambling addict ("Don't you judge me.") is pure genius from start to finish, and I truly believe nominating Butler for her work there would be one of the best moves the IVies could make this year.
• Andy Richter, Arrested Development (3x09 - S.O.B.s): As himself, and his brother Donny, and his brother Rocky, and his brother Emmett (wait... that can't be Emmett, they're not allowed to show him on screen), Richter makes one of the best celebrity "as himself" appearances in a series which has, over its three seasons, been better at using hilarious celebrity cameos than any other series since The Simpsons in its prime. (Remember Carl Weathers in Season One?) Richter's appearance here reminds you what a truly talented comic actor he is, and it makes me, at least, really, really look forward to the promise of Andy Barker, P.I..
• Charlize Theron, Arrested Development (3x02 - The British Bombshell, through 3x06 - The Ocean Walker): More proof of Arrested Development's celebrity casting "balls," as Stephen Colbert would no doubt call it. How many other series would cast an Oscar-winning movie star sex symbol such as Theron as Michael's "MR F" (mentally retarded female) virgin girlfriend who still calls sex "pop-pop"? But it's a good thing they did, as Theron proves she is perfectly capable—unlike many accomplished dramatic actors—of playing comedy equally well. She avoids the pitfall of making the character seem like a cruel joke on the mentally ill and instead seems to slide right into the looney logic of the series like it was a match made in Heaven.

Disagree. The characters in Arrested Development, aside from Jason Bateman's, are so unbelievably one dimensional (which is what makes it funny) that it is hard for me to give support to a guest star for this show. While Theron did a decent job in her role, her requirements were nothing more than to act incredibly goofy half the time and deeply in love the rest. --MateoP 00:26, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

• Kate Winslet, Extras (1x03 - Episode Three: Kate Winslet): Speaking of accomplished dramatic actresses playing unforgettable comic roles. Winslet may be no Oscar winner yet (although she's working on that in this episode—Holocaust will do it every time), but she's still a respected movie star, which is why it's all the more hilarious that she would allow herself to be seen here—as herself—complaining about not having an Oscar, dressed in a nun habit while playing with her nipples and "talking dirty to Anne Frank and Joseph Goebbels." HBO's decision to air the episodes out of order for American audiences may have been entirely unnecessary, but if they were going to do that, it makes perfect sense that Winslet's guest shot would be the first one they air, to really hook American audiences on the series. It worked for me.

JCaesar 03:38, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

• Giovanni Ribisi, My Name Is Earl, (1x03 - Teacher Earl, 1x13 - Stole P's HD Cart): When I was trying to think of my favorite episodes of My Name Is Earl Giovanni's two appearances were definitely right up there on the list. His character doesn't disrupt the dynamic so much it's jarring he mostly just accents the group of regulars making them extra funny. Ribisi is so good at portraying the scheming Ralph that sometimes you even start to believe his crazy schemes might work. In both his appearances he pulls off a redeeming moment but subtly enough that the devious nature of the character isn't subverted and Giovanni's acting style really drives this point home.The-jam 17:34, 5 June 2006 (EDT)
• Scott Baio, Arrested Development (3x03 - Forget Me Now, though 3x08 - Making a Stand) : Replacing the hilarious Henry Winkler was not an easy thing to do, but fellow Happy Days star Scott Baio ended up being the perfect choice for boring lawyer Bob Loblaw.

the42guy 00:13, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

I agree that his character is boring, which is exactly why I have to disagree on this as a nomination. Like my above comments on another guest on this show, the actor here (Baio) was required to do very little (and his role was quite small) so it is difficult to give him an award for acting when little acting was required. Mostly this character consisted of one joke about his name and nothing else. --MateoP 00:29, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

After think about what you've said, I can see the irony in nominating a boring character for Best Guest Actor. I also agree that little acting was required, so looking back, perhaps this wasn't the best nomination. Still, I will leave the nomination up for posterity. --The42guy 18:02, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

Even if you'd deleted the nomination out, I'd've reverted it back. Don't worry about editing out nominations, just trust that the unworthy candidates will be voted down. (Also don't worry about moving nominations for eligibility rules. If that's necessary, I promise I or someone else will take care of it.) And personally, I don't see that Baio is all that "unworthy." Sure, he played a straight man in a deadpan manner. I don't know how much experience different people have in playing comedy, but playing the straight man—particularly a deadpan straight man—isn't as easy as you think. Far from it. There's a reason Vaudeville used to split the money for comedy duos 60/40 to favor the straight man. Unfortunately, there is an unfair and inaccurate assumption in the minds of many viewers that it's easy, which is why the work of straight men such as Baio too often go overlooked. Plus, any actor who can pretend not to be aroused when Portia di Rossi is throwing herself at him, may in fact be one step away from Laurence Olivier. :) JCaesar 18:29, 8 June 2006 (EDT)

• Patrick Stewart, Extras (1x06 - Episode Six: Patrick Stewart): As great as Kate Winslet was, Patrick Stewart was the Extras guest star that got to me. Maybe it's the Star Trek geek in me, but nothing made me laugh harder than him saying "Make it So." --Gma 21:58, 15 June 2006 (EDT)

Due to their ineligibility in this category, the guest appearances for The Simpsons have been moved to this page's discussion page. JCaesar 06:27, 12 June 2006 (EDT)