Welcome back to the 5th Annual Marco Awards. Another round of writers’ strikes have made this year an odd one, which is more the norm than not after covid. Many new series, missing old series, and some that have come back after a long absence as they finally have been able to complet their work. It’s a lot of new nominees with some old faithfuls but it was an eventful season overall with lots of new and interesting concepts out there.
The Marco Awards arose out of covid lockdown, when we were all trapped with our smart TVs exhausting our options. When I was bombarded with requests for what to watch, I came up with the concept, as a critic, for entertainment, to present my recommendations in the context it an awards ceremony nominating the best, naming my recommendations, and adding another level to our entertainment. They always break the week of the anniversary of the covid lockdown (March 13th for those wife blocked it out), on honor of what we went through. Never forget. I also changed the order after the Oscar’s moved their ceremony to the week before I wasn’t doing movie awards the week after I did Oscar predictions. So we me stay with the most interesting and broadest category, Television.
The rules for TV are a little more complicated because, unlike movies, it’s not a one-time event, but an action over a time period. I am still the nominating committee and voting body, and have declared that a TV series will be eligible if it aired a new season on in-home streaming between February 1st, 2024 and January 31st 2025, and I watched it. There is a twist here. If I have removed my previous dicatate that last year’s Emmy winners were ineligible to avoid just reheashing the Emmys, because no one cares or watches them anymore. I’d have to look up the winners just to disqualify them. I addition “Best Guest Actor/Actress” will be defined as an actor who is featured from a single episode but no more than one entire season in a role outside the regular core cast, usually a character who drives a new plot for a season. Again, I’m just making this up as I go, like the 31st is a purely arbitrary date set by the nominating committee (me) giving the voting body (me) enough time to catch up and tabulate the results for release sometime around the anniversary of Covid shutdowns (now).
So, with that, Welcome to the 5th Annual Marco Awards for Excellence in Television that appeared all day every day in your living room. I’d like to think that these awards are a replacement for the what the Emmys have devolved into, or at the least funnier (which is a low bar because the awards show circuit in general has become pathetic). Again, I’m your host, Mark Briner, and may the best shows win. The nominees are:
The 5th Annual MARCO AWARDS 2025: TELEVISION
BEST DRAMA
Dexter: Original Sin—Showtime’s shameless insistence to change the ending of the original landmark Dexter series is now looking like the best decision ever as it has steamrolled into a series of almost as chilling franchises. From New Blood last year which picked up where the original left off, to this fun prequel which goes back to Dexter’s college days and his initial human kills as he moves from medical school to the Miami Police Force (with perfectly cast younger versions of all the familiar faces in the original). A slick look into Dexter’s origin paves the way for a third spin-off, Dexter: Resurrection, coming this summer.
Feud 2: Capote vs. the Swans—Ryan Murphy’s long-anticipated follow-up to to his neo-camp classic Feud about the on and off screen shenanigans on the iconic set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, here takes a gentler and deeper look at another 60s era feud, between critical darling Truman Capote who, falling behind on a sequel to his best seller In Cold Blood, turns to a thinly veiled account of all the personal problems of his devoted inner circle of socialites (affectionately nicknamed his “Swans”). The Swans show just how vicious a bird they can be when the go on the attack.
Interview with the Vampire—The AMC Anne Rice reboot is somehow closer to the original than the Tom Cruise movie yet takes more liberties. The vampires go to Europe in season 2 and come face to face with a vicious band of vampires who run a Vampire theatre where mortals come to see what they assume is staged guest killings nightly in their vampire operas. Stars Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid have the sexiest vampire chemistry of any franchise ever and preserve the erotic relationships of Rice’s original work that was neutralized in the Tom Cruise/.Brad Pitt version.
Manhunt—There have been infinite installments of documentaries and TV and films about the events in Dallas 1963 when Kennedy was assassinated, but significantly less about the more primitive but equally convoluted plot to assassinate Lincoln 100 years earlier. This superior recounting covers everything from the multiple other murders plotted and botched that night, the assistance John Wilkes Booth received to get out of town, and a plot of Southern sympathizers that traces into Canada who may have funded him. This account of the weeks following show that American government was capable of supporting, if not orchestrating, a presidential attack centuries before we ever gave them credit.
Monster: Lyle & Erik Menedez—Ryan Murphy’s follow up to his Emmy winning installment about Jeffrey Dahmer became the impetus for an internet revolt to overturn the convictions of the preppy brothers who savagely murdered their abusive parents, then underwent a massive obstruction of justice when the LA legal system conspired to convict them after losing every high profile celebrity case of the 90s. Fantastic performances and Murphy’s typical A-List guest casting elevate this from salacious tabloid fare to high-stakes legal drama..
The Penguin—Matt Reeves’ The Batman spins off Colin Farrell’s tertiary character in his own HBO origin series. While it plays like a mob movie more than a franchise piece (Batman references don’t even occur til the last 5 minutes of the finale) but it’s a great mob series pitting Farrell against the Falcone and Maroni families that play into the Penguin’s and Two Face’s stories. Farrell, as in the movie, is unrecognizable under the best character makeup, prosthesis, and fat suits that are the most phenomenal anywhere this season.
A Very Royal Scandal—The third installment of this BBC drama focuses on the lewd tale of the former Prince Andrew and his sordid dealings with a 14-year-old girl courtesy of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, framed in the infamous interview he did with Emily Maitliss on Newsnight that became his personal and royal undoing
WINNER: Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez. Not only was the Menendez Brother installment compelling and full of riveting performances, it was instrumental in getting the truth out to another generation, it launched a social phenomenon on the internet with these young social influencers lobbying for their reduced sentences/early release. When television can ignite social change, it deserves recognition.
BEST COMEDY
Based on a True Story—When a couple of true crime podcasters stumble upon a plumber who is a real life serial killer, who’s using who for publicity, money, and fame as their mutual dance gets more and more dangerous and closer and closer to home.
The Boys—Eric Kripke’s innovative superhero universe turned on its head is in maximun overdrive as the incorporated heroes become more and more corrupt and loathsome while the resistance against them struggle to restore decency to the attention-whore world of superheroism. Kripke and his cast have great fun spoofing all things Marvel..
Hacks—The long under-praised Jean Smart is in the role of her life as a Joan Rivers-like comedian in the second act of reinventing her career, and after a slumping second season, the edge is back and Smart is running with the material. Whether it’s life imitating art or art imitating life or both, the rapid fire humor from the viewpoint of an older woman in Hollywood is back and Smart drives the jokes home like the comic pro alter ego Deborah Vance is.
Interior: Chinatown—This original new comedy has maybe the most clever premise of the season. Comedian Jimmy O. Yang is a slacker waiter at a Chinatown restaurant who yearns to live a life as exciting as his favorite Law & Order knockoff TV series. But not as a major player, just as a random Asian background character who finds a body or something. When one night Yang witnesses a victim who ends up dead and police who show up to question him are his TV star detectives who pull him into their world to help solve the murder, the comedy enters a surreal realm. The bonus catch—every job Yang accepts as he climbs the chain to help drive the investigation are all the stereotypical jobs that Asian-American actors are saddled with in television (random background Asian Guy, Chinese delivery boy, tech guy, Kung Fu guy, Translator…), which are also the titles of the episodes. The clever parody work on so many levels, both surreal in the show and as social commentary outside it
Kevin Can F*** Himself—Perhaps the most off-the-wall original series of the season, an unhappy blue collar housewife with an immature buffoon for a husband copes by envisioning her life at home as a bad, cliché ridden 90s sitcom—complete with bright lights, wacky neighbor characters, and a laugh track—in contrast to her bland, dark everyday life outside is a gimmick that grows more disparate as her real life spirals out of control trying to salvage what she can from it.
Nobody Wants This—The most conventional comedy of the nominees, it’s a tale as old as Hollywood. From Abie’s Irish to Bridget Lovers Bernie to this charming gefiltefish-out-of-water story of a blonde shiksa sex podcaster who catches the attention of a hot rabbi and the duo fight family and tradition as they try to make sense of their relationship in such disparate worlds. This one gets bonus miles riding the undeniable charms of Americans’ favorite ingenue Kristin Bell and former OC stud Adam Brody as the Star-of-David crossed lovers
School Spirits—A clever take on the Blithe Spirit trope, a high school student suddenly finds herself unable to leave school as the students are mourning her disappearance in assemblies. Stumbling along a band of other student spirits who died at school and are trapped their til they figure how to pass on. The difference: her body was never discovered. Witty humor, a great young supporting cast and a strong lead performance by Cobra Kai’s Peyton List make it a strong debut original comedy
WINNER: Hacks. Superior writing and a career-affirming performance by Smart make this edgy comedy the clear winner in the strongest and deepest category of the season. I need to give honorable mentions to series like Agatha All Along, Disney’s surprisingly deep spin off of the also award-worthy Wandavision (where Kathryn Hahn was the breakout costar) and a much improved second season of Paramount’s reboot of Frasier.
BEST ACTOR in a DRAMA
Tom Hollander (Feud 2)—The versatile British actor loses himself in another barely-recognizable role as Truman Capote, the boozy, self-pitying, fey drama queen at the center of his own needy melodrama. Hollander is the best portrayal of the notorious auteur to date, including the cloddish performance that won the late Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar.
Colin Farrell (The Penguin)—Farrell is again unrecognizable in the role he created in Matt Reeves ‘ latest Batman film universe. Even through the layers of makeup, prosthetics, and fat suits, he still finds the pathos in a little boy the world neglected who grew up to be a master criminal in Gotham city.
Michael Sheehan (A Very Royal Scandal)—Another immersive actor, Sheehan loses himself in the disgraced Prince Andrew, deluding himself that he can charm his way out of his notorious Jeffrey Epstein pedophile allegations in a live interview on TV that, of course, became his personal and royal downfall.
Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)—The General Hospital daytime soap stud breaks out of his afterschool hours with a sexy, but deluded, portrayal of Lyle Menedez that put the brothers back in the public eye after 30+ years. Chavez charms as the protective older brother who took the abuse to spare his sibling the same.
Patrick Gibson (Dexter: Original Sin)—It’s never easy stepping into a role that has been branded and defined by a stellar talent, but the Brit Gibson eases in nicely (as does the rest of the almost flawlessly cast ensemble of younger counterparts) as Michael C. Hall’s college-aged alter-ego. He does, however, benefit from Hall providing the ubiquitious inner voice of the title character, always one of the best features of the series. But Gibson has the look, the mannerism, and the deadpan voice and dead-inside look in his eyes that Hall has mastered for the character down to an art.
Jacob Anderson (Interview With the Vampire)—As Anne Rice’s regretful vampire Louis du Pointe du Lac, Anderson lands all the melancholy and inner turmoil of the character that the Brad Pitt movie missed. Anderson also has a masterful handle on the double edged sword that is his highly charged emotional and sexual relationship with Sam Reid as the alluring but volatile Vampire Lestat.
Cooper Koch (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)—As the other half of the Monster duo, Koch as sensitive brother Erik Menendez is powerful. The fomrer model and struggling actor became instant A-list after bringing another generation to tears recreating Erik’s testimony of the horrific abuse the brothers suffered at the hands of their mentally ill parents.
WINNER: Cooper Koch. In the most stacked acting category of the season, Koch pulls ahead of the rest. He almost singlehandedly deserves the award for Episode 5, where Erik Menendez tells his tale to lawyer Leslie Abramson. The episode was filmed as one solid 35 minute take, as the longest continuous monologue ever captured on film, with only minimal prompts from Ari Graynor as Abramson. It was a masterclass in acting and Koch aced it.
BEST ACTRESS in a DRAMA
Juliette Binoche (The New Look)—Academy Award winner Binoche gives an unflinching look at Coco Chanel as the Nazi sympathizer she apparently was.
Ruth Wilson (A Very Royal Scandal)—Wilson is riveting as British journalist Emily Maitliss, whose unrelenting prime time interview of Prince Andrew regarding his involvement with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein ended up taking down a naively overconfident monarch.
Diane Lane (Feud 2)—Lane is elegant and authoritative as Capote “Swan” Slim Keith, who controls the group and their narrative, the glue that holds the bevy together.
Julianne Moore (Mary & George)—Academy Award winner Moore is intimidating in the role of notorious golden age matriarch Mary Villiers, who made a habit of securing her social status by prostituting out her children, most to wealthy landowners, but favorite son George in particular to no less than King James I of England himself.
Cristin Milioto (The Penguin)—In a contemporary Gotham, Milioto is hardcore as a woman mobster who works with Farrell’s Penguin until he double crosses her, then unleashes the hell that has no fury like….you know. Milioto acts all the traditional mobster-types under the table.
Nicole Kidman (The Perfect Couple)—As a successful New England writer who’s son’s wedding turns into a tabloid field day when a bridesmaid ends up floating in Nantucket Harbor, Kidman closss circles and protects her family, her marriage, and her upcoming book launch at all costs.
Naomi Watts (Feud 2)—As socialite Babe Paley, wife of CBS founder and president Bill Paley and the “Swan” who welcomed auteur of the day Truman Capote into their elite ranks, Watts is devastating as she deals with Capote’s betrayal of her confidences amidst a disintigrating marriage and failing health while looking completely fabulous in every period fashion, as the real Paley, named as one of Time Magazine‘s all time best dressed women
WINNER: Naomi Watts. Watts is transformed into Paley, and Watt’s subtly serves her well in her portrayal of Paley’s sad tail of betrayal, loss, and decline
BEST ACTOR in a COMEDY
Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This)—The former OC teen heartthrob rebrands himself as progressive Rabbi heartthrob who handles the Jewish humor and the romcom humor of shiksa love interest Kristen Bell with his easy interdenominational charm
Jack Cutmore-Scott (Frasier)—As Grammers suddenly hot grown-up son Freddie, Cutmore-Scott found better grounding in the character and evened the playing field with professional ham Grammer.
.Kelsey Grammer (Frasier)—Rebooting his iconic sitcom 20 years after it ended, by relocating back in Boston where he started to reconnect with his blue collar son who just wants to live a normal life as a fireman without all the cultural trappings of his now world famous father (star of a Dr. Phil type phenom show), the show plays with the original dynamic he shared with his deceased father who he moved into his fancy penthouse in Seattle in the original spin-off series. The show relies heavily on nostalgia, and succeeds best when they do plot salutes to classic episodes or feature the stellar guest stars form the old series (although Neuwirth was sadly missed this season, the over-the-top Harriet Sansom Harris as his former manipulative agent ate the scenery). The show and Grammer’s bonds with the younger supporting cast started to gel better this season, which made it sad to find Paramount canceling the series.
Chris Messina (Based on a True Story)—Messina’s frustrated tennis pro who’s trapped between a friendship with a plumber who turns out to be a local serial killer and his serial killer obsessed wife is complicated by his own failures as a man, a husband, and a tennis pro as he tries to balance all three in his ultimately dissatisfying life.
Eric Peterson (Kevin Can F*** Himself)—Peterson literally transforms the show from a dark personal tragi-comedy to a laughtrack filled lame 90s sitcom the second he arrives in a scene. The ablity to move back and forth between genres is easily overlooked.
Antony Starr (The Boys)–Starr lives up to his name as a corrupt Captain America knock-off with too many profesional and personal agendas to list. Starr is a perfect Disney villain in human form
Jimmy O. Yang (Interior: Chinatown)—Comedian Yang brings deadpan laughs to this clever story inside a story inside a TV show inside Yang’s imagination. His self aware humor as he climbs the ladder of a police investigation in the guise of every stereotypical Asian movie and TV role ever is inspired
WINNER: Antony Starr. Yes playing a comic villain gives him a slight advantage, but Starr pulls out all the stops to mill the humor from any situation while reserving the potential to be terrifying when he goes ballistic.
BEST ACTRESS in a COMEDY
Kristin Bell (Nobody Wants This)—The eternally winsome Bell is charming as the gefiltefish-out-of-water who is the shiksa love interest of the hottest rabbi ever. If she can win over him, his family, and his congregation, it’s even easier to win over us.
Kaley Cuoco (Based on a True Story)—I’ve never liked Cuoco as the obnoxious “hot” girl that made her famous onBig Bang Theory, but just like in The Flight Attendant, Cuoco is engaging even in an unlikeable part. Her bored suburban wife with a true crime fetish is equally thrilled and terrified when her plumber turns out to be the local serial killer on the news.
Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along)—Hahn was the surprise villain of Wandavision four years ago, and this season has spun her off with her own origin story, focusing on finding a coven of her own to unlock her own destiny. Supported by a ragtag band of companions whom Hahn plays flawlessly off, Agatha is an unexpected delight of the Marvel universe
Annie Murphy (Kevin Can F*** Himself)—Murphy turns in a compeltely different performance than any other actress this season, playing her unhappy housewife on two planes-reality where she’s so unhappy she considers killing her unbearable husband, and fantasy where she imagines herself as the ever-suffering wife of an obnoxious sitcom character just so she can survive. Bouncing back and forth between the two acting styles may be exhausting, but Murphy transitions effortlessly
Natasha Rothwell (How to Die Alone)—Rothwell gives a sadly funny performance as an overweight black TSA agent at JFK Airport with no friends, no love-life, and no real reason to live, until a near brush with death and a lucky encounter with a dying woman whose identity she can assume gives her a brand new appreciation of life.
Maya Rudolph (Loot)—Rudolph in another strong season as the spoiled heiress who inherits 18 billion dollars and explores her self-worth working in one of the many charities that come with it.
Jean Smart (Hacks)—Smart is at the top of her game in this smart and darkly funny look at how Hollywood treats aging women stars. And she takes no prisoners. Patterned after the career of Joan Rivers, Smart doesn’t disappoint what becomes the semi-legend most.
WINNER: Jean Smart. Smart is a force of nature plowing through sexism and agism and PC correctness with all the smarts and conviction of the inspiration Rivers. The title is ironic. Smart is anything but a hack.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR in a DRAMA
Javier Bardem (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menedez)—Bardem is utterly terrifying as abusive, controlling father Jose Menendez. The portrait is totally unflatering and Bardem bravely goes to all the violent and disgusting extremes
Anthony Boyle (Manhunt)—Boyle is theatrical and grandiose as actor/assassin John Wilkes Booth and provides a chilling insight into the sympathies and the inadequacies that motivated the OG Presidential assassin who brought our nation to it’s knees the first time. And gave us the blueprint for the government to set up his successor 100 years later.
Will Harrison (Manhunt)—Playing Lincoln conspiracist David Herold, Harrisons quietly struggles with his loyalty to leader John Wilkes Booth and the cause, his conscience, and his place in history.
Jake Lacy (Apples Never Fall)—Ever since his career making appearance as the asshole client of the first White Lotus, Lacy has excelled in playing handsome characters whose inner soullessness doesnt’ match the perfect exterior. Here as the entitled son of a woman who may or may not have been kidnapped or murdered by his father, he has no patience for his secretive father or his weak, useless siblings. Another success as another privileged white guy.
Hamish Linklater (Manhunt)—Linklater, who excells at playing colorful characters, pulls back and is equally effective as a restrained, introspective, doomed Lincoln.
Sam Reid (Interview with the Vampire)—Even though his role was abbreviated by the plot, even as a supporting actor, the magnetic Reid still teals the show in every seductive appearance as the mermerizing Vampire Lestat.
Christian Slater (Dexter : Original Sin)—Slater takes the role James Remar’s role as a younger version if Dexter’s supportive father. Getting a closer look into the unethical career choices Harry made that broght Dexter into his world, Slater is a worthy predecessor.
WINNER: Javier Bardem. Bardem’s authoritarian performance is just bone-chilling every second he’s on screen. He gives his TV sons all the momentum they need to work with in his fearful execution. He’s fearless in painting the real Monster of the series as a psychotic pedophile.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS in a DRAMA
Honor Swinton Byrne (A Very Royal Scandal)—As Princess Beatrice, Byrne is heartbreaking as the devoted daughter who puts her life on hold to be supportive of her father and prevent his catastrophe from over shadowing her own major life events.
Donna Lynne Campion (The Perfect Couple)—Campion (hilarious in her last major role as the Ethel Mertz to Rebecca Bloom’s Lucy in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) shifts gears and is the best thing in the series as a sarcastic, wise-cracking police detective who has no love lost for the fancy, no white shoes after Labor Day rich folk she serves in stuffy and secretive Nantucket.
Callista Flockhart (Feud 2: Capote vs. the Swans)—Flockhart, of the deadpan Ally McBeal school of frozen-faced acting, puts that to the best use as Princess Lee Radziwell, “Swan” and sister of Jackie Kennedy. The hautiest of the haughty in the group, Flockhart nails Radziwell’s cool, reserved, superior demeanor.
Ari Graynor (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)—Taking on one of the most unlikable characters in media history and making her sympathetic and likeable, Graynor gives redemption to aggressive Menendez lawyer Leslie Abramson.
Claire Rushbrook (A Very Royal Scandal)—Rushbrook is a welcome addition to a show about cheating and pedophilia, as a very supportive Sarah Ferguson, although legally divorced, still living with and helping her beleaguered ex-husband through the biggest trial of his life.
Chloe Sevigne (Feud 2: Capote vs the Swans)—Sevigne has always played a series of unlikeable, aggressive, defensive characters who rub me the wrong way. I was shocked how sympathetic she came across as socialite/artist/model C.Z. Guest, the only one of Capote’s infamous “Swans” who stood by him and defended him to the others to the end.
Chloe Sevigne (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)—And in a crazy double take, one of my formerly least favorite actresses turns in a second amazing performance against type, this time veering in the opposite direction as bitter, alcoholic, and equally abusive mother Kitty Menendez. And to make things worse, she knew everything and still stood by her monster husband. In a totally unsympathetic turn, Sevigne gains an unprecidented second nomination in the same category in a great personal year.
WINNER: Chloe Sevigny (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)–Sevigne gives the performance of her career and is flawlessly in tune with co-winner Javier Bardem’s monstrous behaviour. Sevigne has had a great year and stretched herself as never before, both under the guidance of Ryan Murphy. Maybe, like Lesley Grossman, he just knows how to utilize her best.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR in a COMEDY
Tom Bateman (Based on a True Story)—As the undercover serial killer Cuoco and Messina have to hide as well as assist, Bateman is alternately chilling and darkly hilarious. He walks the line perfectly and controls the pace of the whole show.
Joel Kim Booster (Loot)—The Korean-American comedian steals scenes even from Rudolph as her pretentious assistant, a fellow fish out of water in her ventures in the charity world. Even though he’s the stock judgy gay fashion plate, Booster puts his own unique humor in the role and strikes a pose for social justice.
Ronnie Chieng (Interior: Chinatown)—Cheng is an underrated comedian because he dwells in his niche humor of Asian-American culture clash. But he gets the sweet role of the series as Yang’s best friend, a burnout busboy who has no ambition beyond getting high and playing video games—until Yang’s preoccupation with the investigation at hand leaves them short-handed at the Chinatown restaurant and Chieng is forced to fill in as a resentful waiter. When the white patrons come from their trendy zipcodes, Chieng’s character has no patience with their entitled behavior and P.F. Chang palates. As he berates their ignorance of Chinese food and culture, the iPhone warriors turn him into a viral sensation, and the nastier he is, the more popular he becomes. Chieng handles the frustration spectacularly.
Chace Crawford (The Boys)—The former Gossip Boy is all the talk of this innovative superhero reinvention as the Aquaman knock-off who can’t keep his gills in his superhero suit. When he’s not sexually harassing the new hires or giving his heart to a sexually accomplished octopus, he’s causing general comic mayhem at the expense of his more intense cohorts.
Anders Keith (Frasier)—Saddled with the hardest role in the reboot, Niles and Daphne’s son attempting to follow his overbearing father’s footsteps at Harvard, Keith has to fill David Hyde Pierce’s maneuver under the gargantuan weight of his absentee TV better writing to assist him and, while obviously not the comic master with 12 seasons of chemistry with Grammer that Pierce was, but Keith is holding his own and staking his place in the blossoming ensemble. Too bad Paramount pulled the plug. Maybe the show’s homestation Peacock will do the right thing and pick it up .
Raymond Lee (Kevin Can F*** Himself)—As a high school friend of Murphy’s she turns to for a shoulder to lean on and a job to raise money to leave her beastly husband, Lee grounds the real-life half of the show the way that Peterson roots the sitcom half, with different but equal success.
Ricky Martin (Palm Royale)—The Menudo kid who went bigtime lands his best role since he broke out in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace. As a bisexual poolboy who knows more about the goings on at the Palm Royale than the socialites give him credit for, he shows his comic skills opposite heavy hitters Kristen Wiig and Carol Burnett, and he holds his own.
WINNER: Ronnie Chieng. Chieng is granted the most unique comic role of the season and hits it out of the park. Playing into the humor of his comedy act, he spices it up to a Chinese 10 when most are playing at a safe American 4.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS in a COMEDY
Karen Fukuhara (The Boys)—As a traumatized member of the resistance, Fukuhara is a residual mute with all the super strength of a ninja master. The fact that she’s as huge a part of the show as she is and competes with all the larger than life costars without a line of dialogue is a testament to her performance.
Mary Hollis Imboden (Kevin Can F*** Himself)—As the blue collar neighbor and former high school acquaintance next door, Imboden starts out as one of the boys on Kevin’s sitcom, but nicely morphs into Murphy’s best and loyal girlfriend as she notices the dissatisfaction being one of Kevin’s drinking buddies is a lonely deadend path.
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)—James remains the funniest of the hilarious staff at Abbott Elementary, and the more deluded and self-centered her principal is, the faster she races to the front of the pack.
Alison Janney (Palm Royale)—As the resident queen bee of the Palm Royale since former socialite Carol Burnett fell comatose. Janney rules with her typical caustic, sharp, dead-on deliveries of the show. Never be on the receiving end of Janney’s wit.
Patti LuPone (Agatha All Along)—LuPone has had a year that has placed her on top of the entertainment industry again. Theatrically for her recent Tony for Elaine Stritch’s role in Company, but to the other 98% of the world for her role as a diving witch taken down the road with Hahn and company. LuPone has transitioned from Broadway powerhouse to comic master, and she even gets to sing a little of the coven’s title song along the way here.
Aubrey Plaza (Agatha All Along)—As a mysterious figure from Agatha’s past who sends her down the witches’ road, the usually quirky/funny Plaza changes gears and matches comic styles with both Hahn and LuPone and shows she’s more than an oddball sidekick.
Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This)—As Brody’s loud-mouthed, controlling sister-in-law, she’s only the first of the Jewish resistance the perky blonde Bell meets in her relationship. But she’s by far the funniest.
WINNER: Patti LuPone. LuPone has not only found her new groove in flamboyant TV character parts she’s taken the internet by storm this season with her viral exposure with costar Aubrey Plaza. What’s new, Buenos Aires? Eva’s riding a second Rainbow High.
BEST DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES
Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam—A look at the shady side of superstar boyband promoter extraordinaire Lou Pearlman, who discovered the Backstreet Boyz and *NSYNC, playing then against each other while withholding their money and laundering tons of other cash.
Face to Face with Scott Peterson—This new documentary revisits the apparent open and shut case of the murder of wife Lacey Peterson. The Innocence Now project, who doesn’t’ take candidates lightly, has found dozens of open holes in his prosecution, most prominently his timeline and the police’s tunnel-visioned disregard to all witnesses who saw a van full of vagrants who broke into a house across the street the morning of the murder. Stay tuned.
Jerry Springer: Fights! Camera! Action!—The testimony of all the producers and interns of the notorious Jerry Springer Show designed the ratings smashing daytime TV show to be a powerhouse until it all became too much and a tragedy occurs with a recent guest.
Menudo + Menendez: Boys Betrayed—In yet another disgusting side of the Menendez case that gives credence to the boys testimony, a member of Menudo has come forward with his own claims that Jose Menendez sexually assaouted him in their family home as part of the deal to sign the Puerto Rican boyband to his RVA label.
Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Nickelodeon—The documentary that rocked two generations: the kids who grew up adoring the colorful world of Dan Snyder’s wacky Nickelodeon kids programming, and the parents who trusted them to it. Come to find out 20 years later that that epitome of children’s television was riddled with pedophiles and perverts with a side of sexual harassment and labor abuse.
Secrets of Prince Andrew—What else needs to be said about the former Duke of York and his involvement in the pedophilia of Jeffrey Epstein. But this expose lays it all bare and pulls no punches of a story that needs to be told
This is Zodiac Speaking—The children of a woman who was intimately involved with their teacher who was a suspect as the notorious, never apprenended Zodiac killer with a timeline that ties him to several murders and their late mother’s cache of loveletters and documents between he two.
WINNER: Quiet on the Set. The expose no one saw coming was the most important of the year, the sexual child abuse that was dangled right in front of every parents’ unsuspecting nose. The heartbreak of watching former Nick star Drake Bell recount the horror of his sexual molestation at the hands of a line coach was traumatic enough. But analyzing the nasty behavior that Snyder blocked for adolescent actresses that we failed to see for what it was left every parent of a 20 something severy disturbed and feeling they failed their job.
BEST REALITY COMPETITION SHOW
American Gladiator—I don’t get it, but this obstacle course on testosterone is a show I never seek out but when I stumble on it I can’t turn away. The level of athleticism is mesmerizing.
The Great British Bake Off—This gentle show with a classical score masterfully blends competition with art, respect, and impeccable manners as the single calming influence for audiences when the rest of the world, like this program’s obnoxious American cousins, is a nerve-wracking terror. Grateful for not only a new traditional season, we also received a much needed Christmas present with a complete holiday special also, And yes, it will be referred to as its proper name, not the legally mandated one in this horrible litigious country. Get over it, Dough Boy.
The Physical 100—A worldwide competition of the best and strongest of all countries compete in the most physical challenge of all for the ultimate title.
RuPaul’s Drag Race/All Stars—The current season 17 of the original is as strong as ever. Although everything will pale after the all-winner season, runway looks keep getting more elaborate and RuPaul and company run a tight, competitive contest.
The Summit—The new series about a team that has to make it to the top of a mountain peak while eliminating the competition along the way is like uphill Survivor.
Survivor—Jeff Probst returns with another heavy-handed “new era” of Survivor. Despite promises of new and exciting twists, everything post-Covid has become progressively more boring, particularly the casting. And Probst, notorious for manipulating and needling his players, is content to worship and cozy up to the “superfans” at the show’s expense. It’s time for a goof villain again. Although, like sex, even bad Survivor is good Survivor, remember one third of the winning combination is “outplay”.
Traitors—This new exciting show features Tony winning actor Alan Cummings as the host of an elimination competition set in a gothic Scottish castle as a group contestants vying for $250,000 while a handful of traitors exist in their midst who eliminate the others if they aren’t voted out. The stylish show plays like as if Survivor was a dinner party hosted by Lady MacBeth.
WINNER: Traitors . This has always boiled down to a two-player category, but this fresh, timely newcomer is actually the best of both. The thrills and scheming of the best eras of Survivor with all the fashion and camp of a fun season of Drag Race. And Cummings is the perfect host to sell it all.
BEST REALITY COMPETITION HOST
Manu Bennett (The Summit)—The former Spartacus gladiator is a good match for this ultimate new age snow-capped gladiator show.
Alan Cummings (Traitors)—The Tony winning host brings all the requisite Shakespearean gravitas to package this lofty gothic reality show and sell it to the Anglo masses
Noel Fielding (The Great British Bake Off)—If Hollywood is the kinder, gentler Simon Cowell, British comedian Fielding is the loopier, quirkier British cousin of Ryan Seacrest as he encourages the contestants along with his goofy humor to effectively alleviate the tension.
Alison Hammond (The Great British Bake Off)—The actress-comedian is a great replacement for Matt Lucas and has a winning rapport with her cohosts and is the withering influence to frazzled cotestants.
Paul Hollywood (The Great British Bake Off)—Although comparatively gentler and more refined, Hollywood is equally as demanding and intimidating as the Simon Cowell of biscuits and breads. His steely blue gaze can unnerve, but the prospect of a rare handshake makes putting one’s baking credibility on the line worth it.
Jeff Probst (Survivor)—Probst returns this season continuing to cowtow to “superfans” and displaying his new propensity to “Jeff-splain” every element of the game that we’ve been watching for twenty-plus years. He’s a solid host in absolute control of everything, but he’s becoming an annoying ghost of what he formerly was.
RuPaul (RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race)—RuPaul excels in keeping the mood of the show light but competitive, with tongue-in-cheek risqué commentary and his beefy assistants, the pit crew, keep the action fun and flowing. Superior casting this year in both franchises give her much to werk with too.
WINNER: Alan Cummings (Traitors)—Cummings is the show with his campy pseudo-Shakespearean game and his campy high-fashion androgynous drag make him the perfect Lady MacBeth to host this high-stakes weekend in the country. Make no mistake, Cummings is the show, and it’s a clear winner.
BEST GUEST APPEARANCE by an ACTOR
Patrick Dempsey (Dexter: Original Sin)—As a lifelong friend of Dextar’s father Harry, Dempsey mines new ground as an anger consumed officer and father who goes to disturbing depths to rectify the wrongs against him.
Nathan Lane (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menenedez)—The usually broad comic Lane shows us another side as writer Dominick Dunn, who tragically lost his daughter to a toxic boyfriend, starts out typical Lane as the toast of his famous dinner parties, but, as he covers the Brothes’ salacious double murder trial, gives way to his own demons his daughter’s murder he’ll never get over.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Boys)—Morgan excells as another heavy, this time hovering over the counter-patriots with a score to settle agianst the coronated super heroes.
Evan Peters (Agatha All Along)—AS Ralph Bohner, alias of Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver in the X-Men Universe, Peters’ Bohner is stuck in the New Jersey witness protection program with an ankle moniter confining his super ablilities.
Robin Lord Taylor (Kevin Can F*** Himself)—The former Gotham Penguin shows up as a much less sinster drug dealer who causes trouble for our heroine trying to escape her bad marriage and suffers at the hands of a woman on the verge
Russell Tovey (Feud 2: Capote vs the Swans)—As Truman Capote’s toxic bisexual lover who prods him into turning his beloved Swans’ personal lives for the fodder of his next book, the usually likeable Tovey turns a dark corner
Michael Zegen (The Penguin)—Zegan has fun as the entitled son of mob boss Falcone who crosses Farrell’s Penguin early in his career..
WINNER: Nathan Lane. Lane mines never before seen pathos as he transforms from his usual life of the gay party to a broken father who will never be the same.
BEST GUEST APPEARANCE by an ACTRESS
Carol Burnett (Palm Royale)—As the society matron who used to control influential social at the Palm, Burnett spends most of her time in a coma and gains equally huge laughs literally without lifting a finger.
Tovah Feldshuh (Nobody Wanted This)—Feldshuh is a modern day Nancy Walker, inheriting the standard hovering Jewish mother and does Walker proud here as Brody’s helicopter kosher mother faced with his innerfaith relationship.
Sarah Michelle Gellar (Dexter: Original Sin)—The former Daphne Blake moves from Mystery Machine to Miami Homicide as the forensics queen who hired and trained young Dexter Morgan.
Leslie Grossman (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)—Much like Mel Brooks was famously the only director who knew how to use the unique talents of the legendary Madeline Kahn, Ryan Murphy is the only one who knows how to use Grossman to maximum effect. Always getting the stagy comic role in Every American Horror/Crime/Sports Story she’s ever cast in, Grossman lands tragicomic gold as the notorious Judalon Smyth, infamous patient/girlfriend of the unethical psychologist treating Erik Menedez, who broke the whole case open with her tape recorded confessions with the doctor.
Demi Moore (Feud 2)—Moore started off what turned out to be the biggest comeback year in recent history. Before the Golden Globe and The SAG awards, she turned in this sad, memorable performance of fallen Swan Ann Woodward who may or may not have murdered her unfaithful husband in the shower–”thinking he was an intruder”
Harriet Sansom Harris (Frasier)—Reprising her role as Frasier’s overbearing , manipulative agent Bebe, the always dependable Harris shows she hasn’t lost a step in the last two decades.
Vicki Lawrence (Monster: Lyle & Erik Menendez)—Comic legend Lawrence earned this nomination in a role that was only one pivotal 11:00 scene, as the angry, foulmouthed juror calling Lesley Abramson’s defense “Bullshit” and lobbying for the death penalty so hard that she whipped herself into a furor and had a heart-attach, thus removing from the jury. Lawrence was so cantankerous and abrasive she made Mama Thalma Harper look like a Melanie Hamilton, in perhaps the most memorable 5 minutes of the intensely provocative series.
WINNER: Carol Burnett. What basically came down to a battle of the Carol Burnett Show costars of course falls in the legendary comedienne’s favor. Burnett proves she’s in that stellar stratosphere that can be funnier than most just lying there comatose, without a line or a conscious movement in a lesser comedy, is still the funniest thing on television at the age of 91. When she finally regains consciousness, she certifies it.
BEST STAND-UP COMIC PERFORMANCE Filmed for TV
Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Special—Bloom, with the help of her extremely underrated Crazy Ex-Girlfriend costar David Hull, gives us a performance that is more performance art than standup as a simple standup routine turns into a conversation and negotiation with Death itself. Initially odd but eventually thoguht-provaking.
Anthony Jeselnik: Bones and All—The caustic comic with the deliberate and twisted punchlines lands strong in his first special since covid. Jeselnik is cold, ruthless, and nothing is off limits to a comedian who, like the masters, finds humor in discomfort.
Hassan Minhaj: Off With His Head—Minhaj again nails every nail on the head as he explores the stupdity of American politics and the world in general, with a typical stop at Indian-American culture. AS always, Minhaj shows the hard truths in a logical way none of us want to admit.
Matt Rife: Lucid—A Crowd Work Special—Accepting his strength isnt’ so much traditional stand up (which have become less funny as he releases them, none as effective as his original self-fiunded Onlyfans) as much as working the crowd off the cuff, he uses his wits and fast smarts to put everyone in their proverbial seat
Ricky Valez: Here’s Everything—“Joe Biden is so old. He’s older than the song “Zippity-Doo-Dah”. And that’s the trouble. We have a Zippity-Doo-Dah-assed President in a Wet Assed Pussy era.” And that one joke sets the whole tone of Velez’s Gen Z burnout comedian for a new generation, filled with additional new age Seinfeldian observations.
Ali Wong: Single Lady—The aggressively funny Wong turns in a different act this time, fresh off divorce and what it’s like being a middle-aged divorced woman. Wong can find humor in any situation, and the bitterness of divorce is no exception. Sample joke: “When male comedians get divorced, they date the hottest women on the planet. My friend, a female comedian at the top of her game, is dating….a magician”. Still crude, honest, and funny as hell.
Jimmy O. Yang: Guess How Much?—Yang, in his Asian Everyman persona, gets big laughs in his lowkey look at the face off of Eastern/Western culture.
WINNER: Hassan Minhaj: Off With His Head. Again a deceptively strong category., with Minhaj just getting better and more relevant each special. Jeselnik has revived his career with a strong internet campaign and this new concert. Wong, always funny and edgy, reinvented herself. Valez is a welcome new voice. Yang has always been quietly underrated. And Bloom did something no one is doing anymore. But in the end, Minhaj is just the right voice for this time and he’s not afraid to tell the truth (remember the death threats over his Patriot Act criticism of the Saudi Prince?), and this time the truth hits home, basically that none of your favorite political leaders care a crap about you, so why do we care so strongly about them? Plus all the standard intercultural magic he works, Minhaj takes his second Marco by an edge.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT RECOGNITIONS
The major lifetime achievement and the series I devoted over 6 months revisiting goes to the Dan Curtis game-changing gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Remembering I loved it as a kid, and a little fearful to revisit its admitted crude by today’s standards execution, I was rivited to what I found and sat through all 1225 episodes form the beginning (200 episodes before Barnabas Collins dropped into town). The acting and the writing are superior with a cast of New York stage actors who treated their craft devotedly. Arguably the most beautiful cast of any sop opera ever, they were all game for everything Curtis threw at them. And the show was ahead of its time in many ways. Most notably in the creatin of Barnabas Collins, Jonathan Frid became the first “reluctant vampire”, not the typical monster like Lugosi or Lee or Palance, but creature of the night who mourned his lost humanity. Add in its innovative tome travel plots, golden age movie star Joan Bennett as matron Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, and a supporting cast that still remains the best ever. Ingenue Katherine Leigh Scott breathakign as Maggie Evans, Nancy Barrett as rebelious Carolyn Stoddard and every other colorful character she was ever asked to play (the best was 1897 preacher’s daughter Charity Trask possessed by the spirit of Cockney dance hall queen Pansy Faye), Tennessee Williams vet Grayson Hall as the stalwart Dr. Julia Hoffman (one of the best actors in the series, cast on a typo for a character initially intended to be Dr Julian Hoffman), Thayer David as Van Helsing stand-in Professor Timothy Stokes and John Karlen as Barnabas’ human protector Willie Loomis are some of the best charcter actors around. Add a ten year old David Henesy as one of the best child actors ever (and the onll cast member to never blow a line on camera), Louis Edmonds histerical as prissy patriarch Roger Collins, and the divine Lara Parker merely radiant as the with Angelique who started it all by turning Barnabas into a vampire. Not to mention the parade of the most handsome and sexy men on daytime, Joel Crothers, Christopher Pennock, Roger Davis, and Don Briscoe, and the first television appearance of future television superstar Kate Jackson as Daphne Harridge, a ghost from 1840 trapped in the house of Collinwood. I highly recommend anyone who wants a trip down memory lane to take that journey to Collinwood. Yes they flub lines and set pieces fall down and you see the occasional boom mic, but remember they never thought they’d be seen ever again. There was no syndication reruns for soap operas back then, it was put on a mini live theatrical melodrama eveyr day and move on to the next without going over budget with the superior period costumes for all the time travel. And I got so much more out of it as an adult, mostly the multiple salutes to classic monster literature, like Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, The Wolfman, and others. It was an event and explains why the kids like me who rushed home to see it in it’s brief 5 year run still love the experience today. Dan Curtis was a genius. If you hesitate to spend 1225 20-minute episodes, I’d suggest at least revisiting his 1971 horror theatrical release, House of Dark Shadows, which repackages the Barnabas Collins origin story as a current 70s top notch horror film.
The other revisit was, after seeing the movie Saturday Night, about the real time before the first episode of Saturday NIght Live almost didn’t air, I watched the real first episode. It was so bad it looked like they threw it together 10 minutes before airtime. I’m not sure they made the right decision.
PAST WINNERS
BEST DRAMA
2021 Hunters
2022 Dopesick
2023 The Last of Us
2024 The White House Plumbers
BEST COMEDY
2021 Dead to Me
2022 The Righteous Gemstones
2023 Reboot
2024 Beef
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA
2021 Al Pacino (Hunters)
2022 Michael C Hall (Dexter: New Blood)
2023 Evan Peters (Dahmer)
2024 Justin Theroux (The White House Plumbers)
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
2021 Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit)
2022 Margaret Qualley (Maid)
2023 Michelle Pfeiffer (The First Lady)
2024 Uzo Aduba (Painkiller)
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
2021 Ben Platt (The Politician)
2022 Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones)
2023 Keegan Michael Key (Reboot)
2024 Stephen Yeun (Beef)
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
2021 Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
2022 Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)
2023 Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me)
2024 Ali Wong (Beef)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
2021 Jon Jon Briones (Ratched)
2022 Clive Owen (American Crime Story: Impeachment)
2023 Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird)
2024 tie Taylor Kitsch (Painkiller) & Corey Mylchreest (Queen Charlotte)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
2021 Carol Kane (Hunters)
2022 Julia Garner (Ozark)
2023 Neicy Nash (Dahmer)
1014 Lena Heady (The White House Plumbers)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
2021 Alex Newell (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)
2022 Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
2023 James Marsden (Dead to Me)
2024 James Marsden (Jury Duty)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
2021 Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
2022 Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones)
2023 Judy Greer (Reboot)
2024 Jane Krakowski (Schmicago)
BEST DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES
2021 Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich
2022 Sons of Sam
2023 The Staircase
2024 American Nightmare
BEST REALITY COMPETITION SHOW
2021 RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars
2022 RuPaul’s Drag Race/All-Stars
2023 RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars
2024 Survivor
BEST REALITY COMPETITION HOST
2021 RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars)
2022 RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race/All-Stars)
2023 Ru Paul (RuPaul’s Drag Race/All-Stars)
2024 RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race//All-Stars)
BEST GUEST APPEARANCE BY AN ACTOR
2021 tie Matt Bomer (The Sinner) & Tom Pelphrey (Ozark)
2022 Taran Killiam (American Crime Story: Impeachment)
2023 Nick Offerman (The Last of Us)
2024 Khallid Abdalla (The Crown)
BEST GUEST APPEARANCE BY AN ACTRESS
2021 Gillian Anderson (The Crown
2022 Shalita Grant (You)
2023 Sally Field (Winning Time)
2024 Kathleen Turner (The White House Plumbers)
BEST STAND-UP COMEDY PERFORMANCE Filmed for TV
2012 Fortune Feimster: Sweet & Salty
2022 Bo Burnham: Inside
2023 Hassan Minhaj: The King’s Jester
2024 Chris Rock: Selective Outrage)