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Supporting Actor in a Comedy series is very close to being a done race. There is one episode submission that stands out from the pack and stuck with me throughout my viewing of the tapes. Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) submitted the episode “Message Received” where he tries to get money for his wedding and ends with an emotional argument with his father over the disapproval of his wedding. It had range, impact, he had funny moments. It’s really a fantastic tape. Even better for him, his screen time clocks in at just under 8 minutes excluding the final “monologue,” which in this episode is an answering machine recording. It’s really a fantastic tape.
Ty Burrell (Modern Family) really screwed up his submission. I can see why he chose the episode, but he only had around 4.5 minutes of screen time and Ferguson has a more prominent storyline. Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) also submitted poorly. While he is part of the main storyline and has a good amount of screen time, he doesn’t have any material to show for it.
Saying Ferguson is a lock might be presumptuous, but you can’t deny he’s the frontrunner here. If anyone takes him down, it’s Braugher for lazy name ticking, but I think he has it right now.
1. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (“Message Received”)
2. Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (“Christmas”)
3. Fred Armisen, Portlandia (“Pull-Out King”)
4. Ty Burrell, Modern Family (“Spring-A-Ding Fling”)
5. Tony Hale, Veep (“Crate”)
6. Adam Driver, Girls (“Two Plane Rides”)
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.