Emmys Nominations 2014: Best Actor, Comedy

To prepare for the 2014 Emmy Awards, airing Monday, August 25 on NBC, the Decider team will be breaking down the nominees in each major category. Check back here for all our Emmys coverage.

This year’s nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series features one long-time Emmy favorite (Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory) and five talented dark horses who specialize in dramedy. It’s one of the toughest categories to predict the outcome for because we can’t tell if Emmy voters are going to stick with what’s safe or reward something new.

We may not know which way Emmy voters will sway, but we do know that they have to judge an actor’s performance based on the strength of one single episode of the show rather than the full season’s run. So, if you’re an actor, choosing the wrong episode to represent your talents can be disastrous, but selecting your strongest one can win you Emmy gold. We didn’t make this list (because Emmy voters did) and we won’t determine the final outcome (because Emmy voters will), but we can point you to where you can stream the episodes each nominee submitted so you can decide for yourself whom you think should take home the award.


Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Season 3, Episode 1: “Wreckage”

There’s no doubt that Don Cheadle is a great actor. We do doubt, however, that Emmy voters even remembered that House of Lies was still airing on Showtime until they got their screeners. No matter how good Cheadle is in House of Lies, it will be hard for him to overcome the show’s lack of notoriety.

Stream “Wreckage” on ShowtimeAnytime.



Louis C.K., Louie
Season 4, Episode 2: “Model”

Louis C.K. took a lot of creative risks in the fourth season of Louie. Mainly, he started to veer away from absurdist comedy and into real drama. Those risks paid off by captivating his fanbase, but they may turn off more traditional Emmy voters this year who will want more laughs per minute from a comedy performance.

Stream “Model” on Amazon Instant Video.



Ricky Gervais, Derek
Season 2, Episode 6: “Episode 2.6″

When the Emmy nominations were announced in July, one of the biggest shockers was that Ricky Gervais was actually nominated for an Emmy for his work on Derek. The prevailing theory is that Gervais scooted past the competition and nabbed the nod because of the Emmy’s current love affair with all things Netflix. That obsession with the hip streaming network could grant Gervais a dark horse win in this category against his stiff competition.

Stream “Episode 2.6” on Netflix.



Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Season 3, Episode 6: “Episode 306″

Matt LeBlanc has one major thing going for him in this competition: he’s Matt LeBlanc. Nostalgia for Friends could sway Emmy voters who are on the fence, and if that’s not enough, LeBlanc does a a really great job playing a satirical version of himself on Episodes.

Stream “Episode 306” on Amazon Instant PrimeiTunes and Showtime Anytime.



William H. Macy, Shameless
Season 4, Episode 12: “Lazarus”

Shameless is one of those shows that’s always pitched itself to audiences as a dramedy, and, until this past year, it was always submitted to Emmy voters as a straight-up drama. The show submitted as a comedy this year, and William H. Macy might reap the literal rewards of the switch.

Stream “Lazarus” on Amazon Instant VideoiTunes and ShowtimeAnytime.



Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Season 7, Episode 20: “The Relationship Diremption”

Emmy voters love Jim Parsons. They’ve already given the Texan actor three Emmys for his portrayal as Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t get a fourth. This year, Parsons submitted an episode where his nebbish character loses faith in himself, gets drunk, and makes multiple phone calls to Stephen Hawking.

Stream “The Relationship Diremption” on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes.

 

Decider’s Pick To Win: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

This is one of the more difficult categories to predict a winner for and the Decider office was locked in a stalemate. Parsons has won so many times that Emmy voters might be feeling fatigue for The Big Bang Theory‘s leading man. It seems like any of the other nominees could come out of nowhere and take the prize, but that’s precisely the problem. We think that Parsons is the safe bet to win. The other nominees are all appealing to fans of dramedy, and we think that means they will split the vote between themselves.

 

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Photos: Everett Collection, Netflix, Showtime & CBS