posted September 7, 2009 at 13:15 EST in Press Room Pop Culture News
Entertainment Betting: Who will Win Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
by Charles Jay
The primetime Emmy Awards take place on September 20. Here are the nominees for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, along with the odds as they are posted at BetUS Sportsbook.
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles
Sunday at 8:00 PM ET/PT on CBS
Odds for best supporting actor in a comedy series:
- Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother +150
- Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock +175
- Rainn Wilson, The Office +200
- Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men +300
- Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock +400
- Kevin Dillon, Entourage +500
Neil Patrick Harris (+150 at BetUS) -- Harris has been nominated for three Golden Globe awards, for three different projects - the motion picture "Clara's Heart" (with Whoopi Goldberg), where he had a Best Supporting Actor nod, "Doogie Howser M.D.," for which many people still know him best, and "How I Met Your Mother," the series for which he has also been nominated for an Emmy three times running in this category. He certainly must be a favorite of Emmy people, because he is hosting this year's awards show. His is the only Emmy nomination for his show this year. Sure, he is the favorite, though I wouldn't vote for him.
Tracy Morgan (+175 at BetUS) -- Of course, this "Saturday Night Live" veteran is absolutely uproarious as himself, basically, on "30 Rock" (playing the character "Tracy Jordan") and deserves some respect here, because he is part of a massive wave of Emmy nominations for the show. But this is his first Emmy nomination, and you have to wonder whether voters will be looking at him as someone who is just doing an extension of his standup act. Also, do he and fellow cast member Jack McBrayer cancel each other out in this category?
Rainn Wilson (+200 at BetUS) -- How would one describe Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute character in "The Office"? Mercurial? Sneaky? Demented? Diabolical? All of it? Certainly he's fantastic, and he's been rewarded with Emmy nominations for three years in a row now. We hear he's writing a book called "Soul Pancake," which is an attempt to "'de-lamify' issues of philosophy, creativity and spirituality." Wilson has taken to doing interviews about his Emmy nomination wearing only underwear and covered in pudding. That gets him publicity. Does it get him votes?
Jon Cryer (+300 at BetUS) -- Here's one of these guys I just don't figure. He keeps getting nominated for this award - in fact, it's now been four years in a row - and although must admit that I have not seen a lot of his show ("Two and a Half Men") I contend that it's for very good reason. I don't want to get into a thing about whether he is funny or just pedestrian. Cryer may be considered a perennial nominee, but I wonder if he's just the perpetual bridesmaid. He certainly doesn't stack up to some of the people in this category, does he?
Jack McBrayer (+400 at BetUS) -- He plays Kenneth Parcell, the NBC page, on "30 Rock," and I'm not sure there has been a character quite like him on a sitcom. Completely a country bumpkin, he could be classified as Jethro Clampett - without the sophistication. Of course, when left to the wonderfully warped mind of Tina Fey, this makes for some very wild and bizarre situations in the faux-NBC setting. McBrayer has gotten some better parts in movies lately, as he's appeared in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." This is his first Emmy nomination, and I think he is the ideal supporting cast member. I consider him a genuine darkhorse in this category.
Kevin Dillon (+500 at BetUS) -- I don't have any problem with Kevin Dillon getting an Emmy nod for his role as Johnny Drama in "Entourage." My problem is that you have a guy like Dillon's cast mate Jeremy Piven, who has won this award the last three years, and he can't even get a nomination, while you see people like Harris and Cryer with a chance to win. Maybe they figured Piven had won enough, and that it wouldn't even be fair to put him in this category any more. Didn't the Little League people do that when the Taiwanese won the world title too many times? I don't know. All I can tell you is that he didn't become un-funny just all of a sudden. Dillon, by the way, has garnered three nominations in a row for this award, and though I wouldn't mind seeing him win, I just don't know how that looks positioned against Piven's absence.
By the way, according to BetUS, "any wagers placed by employees or family of CBS or the Emmy Awards will be graded No Action."
So if you were thinking about it, DON'T DO IT!
