Best New Comedy: Ok, lots of people have praised “Everybody Hates Chris� and many have raved about Neil Patrick Harris’s work on “How I Met Your Mother.� But for my money, the best new comedy has been NBC’s “My Name Is Earl.�
“Earl� follows a petty criminal (Jason Lee), who discovers that being a good guy has its advantages and sets about righting the many, many wrongs in his life.
For one thing, it matched pretty much its entire cast with the roles they were born to play (more on them later). Also, what other show combines the Buddhist concept of karma (which Earl believes is guiding him on his quest) with plots involving “Smokey and the Bandit� and mother-daughter beauty pageants?
Genius.
Best New Drama: Ok, it debuted on TNT in the summer, so lots of people probably missed “The Closer,� but it was worth checking out. Its strength wasn’t a novel concept or great plotting. It was basically a standard crime drama about a fish out of water Georgia cop heading an elite homicide task force for the LAPD.
Ah, but what a fish Kyra Sedgwick’s Brenda Lee Johnson is. Abrasive and cranky with a weakness for junk food and little regard for personal grooming, Johnson was a great creation and Sedgwick, God love her, recognized this as the role of her life and played it to the hilt.
Best Comeback: Jason Lee, “My Name is Earl�
Again, I know that everyone else is agog over Neil Patrick Harris’s Doogie-killing performance as a womanizer on “How I Met Your Mother,� but it’s Lee whose career has gotten the biggest boost this year.
Best known as a second banana in movies like “Mallrats� and “Almost Famous,� Lee seemed to be on the fast track to a stint on “The Surreal Life.� Not any more.
He is a revelation as the goofy, enlightened Earl Hickey. Lee’s been funny before, but never has he commanded center stage with such off-kilter grace. His broad facial expressions, lazy drawl and other mannerisms would seem phony in other actors’ hands, but Lee pulls off his over-the-top performance beautifully.
Funniest Person We Didn’t Know Was Funny: Jaime Pressly, “My Name is Earl�
Usually confined to cruddy B-movies, Pressly seemed for the longest time like one of those modestly-talented pretty girls who got work based mainly on her looks. Sorry, Jaime. We underestimated you. As Earl’s white trash vixen ex-wife Joy, Pressly is hilarious.
Whether scamming her way into a beauty pageant by presenting her “dead� mother’s ashes (they were really cigarette butts) or growling winsomely at her dim ex, Pressly lives up to her character’s name. Who knew that the co-star of “Not Another Teen Movie� was so gifted?
Best Facial Hair: Is there any doubt? Jason Lee’s mustache in “My Name is Earl� is the best lip garnish since Thomas Selleck’s Magnum.
Worst Facial Hair: Maybe I’m late to the party with this, but what is up with George Eads’s ‘stache on CSI? He looks like Eric Roberts in “Star 80.� Not a good look for law enforcement.
Best Character Turnaround: Chloe (Mary Lynn Raksjub) on “24�
Remember when “24� first introduced the character of Chloe? A scrubby little computer nerd who whined and got in everyone’s way, she was beyond annoying.
Yet, at some point in the fourth season, she became cool. Yes, she was still obnoxious, but in a good way. Blunt, aggressive and just as defiant of authority as Keifer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer, Chloe emerged as a hero when she blew away a bad guy on a rare field assignment.
Best Parents: Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) on “Gilmore Girls� and Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) on “Veronica Mars�
It goes without saying that Lorelai is the coolest mom in TV history, with her hip wardrobe and pop culture inflected speech. But this season, she proved herself to be a genuinely good mom, not afraid to lay down the law with daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel), even though it caused a rift between them.
Keith, meanwhile, has his own tough, strong-willed daughter to deal with (Kristen Bell’s scrappy Veronica), and does it well. Like Lorelai, he’s a single parent who worries about being both father and mother to his child. I admit I choked up a little this season when Keith lovingly told his 18-year-old daughter “Honey, to me, you’ll always be nine – going on 30.� It’s the lament of all of fathers of daughters.
Best Siblings: Well, I’m a broken record now, but it’s, of course, Earl and Randy (Ethan Suplee) on “My Name is Earl.�
They’re the white trash equivalent of Wally and the Beav: brothers who don’t always agree, but who are endlessly devoted to each other. Part of Earl’s goal in improving himself is to be a better brother to the sweet, dopey, impressionable Randy. And Randy, despite not quite grasping his brother’s quest, is a loyal sidekick and helpmate.
Brotherly love has never been so sweet and funny.
Biggest Cliffhanger: No, it wasn’t the identity of the Carver on “Nip/Tuck� or the contents of the hatch in “Lost.� It was simply this: Is “Arrested Development� canceled or not? The smart, funny Fox show’s fate has been in jeopardy its entire run. Now, this season it seemed like the show was finally going to be axed. Maybe.
Fox cut back the show’s order, so it didn’t look good. But no one officially said the show was canceled. Now there are reports that even if Fox cancels it, “AD� may get picked up Showtime or ABC.
When will we know? What will happen? Stay tuned.