Emmy 2010 Preview: Guest Acting in a Comedy

Its August now, and you know what that means: the Emmys are coming at the end of the month! I've been playing with the idea of live-blogging the ceremony, but that's going to completely depend on my work schedule/other various factors. But for now, I'm going to start running through the major categories, and hopefully I'll get through them all by the time the ceremony begins August 29.

So, for starters, here's a look at the guest acting nominations for comedy.

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Mike O'Malley, Glee

Neil Patrick Harris, Glee

Fred Willard, Modern Family

Eli Wallach, Nurse Jackie

Jon Hamm, 30 Rock

Will Arnett, 30 Rock

There's several really good nominations here. O'Malley had some great scenes in Glee, and its nice to see the longtime bit-player get some recognition, but a lot of his scenes are more serious than funny, which they may hold against him. The same goes for Wallach, who has great scenes with Edie Falco but they're more dramatic. Hamm, though great, is the puzzling nomination, since he had less than two minutes of screentime; he's probably the least-deserving for this category. Arnett had a great guest spot as well, but it was more or less the same performance that he's done better on the show. I think this one comes down to Willard and Harris: Willard gives a great performance as Phil Dunphy's father, playing the emotional disconnect between them excellently, but I think this one is going to go to Harris, who had the most complete arc and diverse performance (he sings! he dances! he acts!) as Bryan Ryan on Glee.

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory

Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives

Kristen Chenowith, Glee

Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live

Betty White, Saturday Night Live

Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock

Jane Lynch, Two and a Half Men

There's certainly an interesting mix of nominations here this year. Joosten is a favorite for her role in Desperate Housewives, but maybe they've honored her enough by now? Lynch is mostly riding the Glee wave and earned another nomination here, which she most likely will not win. Stritch did well on 30 Rock, but like a lot of that show's guest nominations, its more of the same. Fey's hosting gig at SNL was good, but it was not a hilarious high for the show or the actress. And Baranski seems like more of a lock for the Supporting Actress in a Drama Emmy than this one. So rely on White to coast on her (somewhat overrated) popularity to win this one.