FEC: Comedy Guest Actress

FEC aka For Emmy Consideration is a post series that unites discussion of every Emmy nominee according to submitted episodes. I've been predicting the winners/nominees of every major award since I don't remember when. But it is actually first time when I am going to watch all nominated episodes. I am sure that will make better judgement to make my final list.

So, today I start with Comedy Guest Actress nomination. And the nominees are:

Dot-Marie Jones ("Glee") - "Shooting Star"

Melissa Leo ("Louie") - "Telling Jokes/Set Up"

Melissa McCarthy ("Saturday Night Live") - "Host: Melissa McCarthy"

Molly Shannon ("Enlightened") - "The Ghost Is Seen"

Elaine Stritch ("30 Rock") - "My Whole Life Is Thunder"

Kristen Wiig ("Saturday Night Live") - "Host: Kristen Wiig"

Before my final raking of the nominees, here is the short outline of each episode and each performance I saw:

Melissa Leo, "Louie"

In this episode Louie is having a dinner at friends house and is set up a date with Laurie (Leo). Their "relationship" starts awkwardly at the dining table and then continues with a lot drinks at bar and then with an affair in Laurie's car.

Well, let me tell this. In this particular episode (S03E02) her character is not funny at all, except the last minutes when her violent drive to have sex with Louie brings a smile on cheeks. But it does not goes further. Based on episode "Telling Jokes/Set Up" she is not the best candidate to win this category. If it was a submission for Drama Actress, I'd be more sure about Melissa's chances.

Pros: She is a strong performer. Since there is no requirement of her being funny, she can easily win.
Cons: She is not funny. Comedy shall be comedy, in any sense. And she has very small screen time, with fewer dialogues.

Melissa McCarthy, "Saturday Night Live"
Kristen Wiig, "Saturday Night Live"
(two different episodes)

Saturday Nigh Live is brilliant chance for Guest Actors/Actresses to prove their talent in many different funny situations. McCarthy's episode is great. It's nice to see her on the screen with this funny, very light and cute jokes. The beginning musical number is awesome, however later I kind of lost her. It may be hard to watch her until the very end of the episode, so she is not a safe choice for predicting as a winner of nomination.

Pros: A diverse range of performance and most of them are equally deserving to win. She also happens to be funny.
Cons: She sometimes is obviously trying too hard to be funny.

Kristen Wiig, on the contrary, has the funniest hour ever. She does best of her in every situation during the whole show. I literally enjoyed every joke or mimics of her. She does not seem to try too much to be funny and acts pretty naturally.

Pros: She is very good actually, the best part of whole episode
Cons: The episode itself is not strong. If critics don't like it, it will hurt Wiig's chances too.

Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock"

Elaine plays Jack's 87 year old stubborn mother, who can control her son in any sense she wants. Taking around 10 minutes of screen time, she does outstanding job by making very funny jokes, performing everything int the funnies possible way. She actually makes the whole episode very enjoyable. Here is a thing, for those who do not generally watch 30 Rock this woman will be like a hero, because the only thing they will understand is her jokes. It will definitely help her to win.

Pros: Her character is funny and her performance is great. It's not only about jokes, but the mimics she makes is hilarious. The same time, Elaine is the best part of submitted episode.
Cons: A very short time may be disadvantage.

Molly Shannon, "Enlightened"

Again, she is good actress, pretty impressive performance. But she does not make much smile. Since I do not watch Enlightened I have to judge Molly according to single episode and it's not a good comedy act. So, it is not a proper choice to win Comedy Guest Actress Nominations.

Pros: Enlightened gets much love from Emmys. It might help her win.
Cons: Judging only this episode, she does not bring a strong comedy performance.

Dot-Marie Jones, "Glee"

I think Dot's performance is emotionally powerful in this episode. She tells Will about her feeling towards him and hopes for the same. However, obviously Schuester can not love her back in the way she wants it. This friendship love drama makes a good material for being nominated but I don't see her performance to be winning worthy.

Pros: Emotions can win sometimes, especially in not major categories
Cons: Glee is a fading star. Maybe the critics will consider nomination enough. The same time, Dot's character Shanon is minor in this episode and one can not easily remember her.

So, considering everything written above, here is my final ranking of nominees:

1. Elaine Stritch ("30 Rock") - "My Whole Life Is Thunder"
2. Kristen Wiig ("Saturday Night Live") - "Host: Kristen Wiig"
3. Melissa Leo ("Louie") - "Telling Jokes/Set Up"
4. Melissa McCarthy ("Saturday Night Live") - "Host: Melissa McCarthy"
5. Dot-Marie Jones ("Glee") - "Shooting Star"
6. Molly Shannon ("Enlightened") - "The Ghost Is Seen"

Have you seen any of them? What you think?